The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.com Wednesday, February 9, 2011 - 5A The Michigan Daily - michigandailycomWednesday, February 9, 2011 - 5A NGP needs a home MothUP takes off again Sony's newest toy might not have an audience By SHIN HIEFTJE Daily Arts Writer Sony's recently announced new portable Playstation device, codenamed "Next Generation Portable," is an absolute beast of a machine. With a bright five-inch OLED touchscreen, a quad-core computer processor and graphics processor, the NGP lends itself to nearly PS3 level graphic capabilities. Sony showed off a fully- fledged version of "Metal Gear Solid 4" on the portable to give an example ofwhat was possible. Unlike the original PSP, the NGP also has two analog sticks for better control methods. There is a touch pad on the back of the device as well, much like a laptop mouse pad. On top of all that, there are also two cameras, motion sensors, a gyroscope and accelerometer, GPS capabilities and 3G wireless support built in. All of this sounds incred- ible, and from a technological 1 perspective it is incredible. But stepping back to a consumer's perspective, one can't help but wonder who it's actually for. Sony's main pitch seems to be of the console's ability to play PS3 games, touting the power and graphics of franchises like "Uncharted" and "Killzone" on their small screen. But wait - don't those people who want to play PS3 games already have a PS3? Though Sony hasn't announced a price, most industry veterans are spec- ulating the price between $300 and $400. Are PS3 owners really willing to spend the amount they paid for their PS3 for a por- table version of the same thing? Wouldn't a consumer deciding between a PS3 and an NGP favor the version that could be played on a big screen TV? Considering most Americans travel by car, few are in a position where it would be convenient to play on- the-go. The NGP would certainly make sense for Japan - people commute bytrain constantly and over long distances, and often have tight livingspaces. An NGP might be preferable consider- ing the Japanese might not have room for a large TV and a PS3. But on the American front, there aren't that many people taking public transportation outside those in major cities. Perhaps kids riding in back seats would be an ideal demographic, but that doesn't seem like the market Sony is targeting, since the most prominently featured titles are shooters. .Of course, there is the touch screen functionality, which adds a new element of gameplay. Sony has saidthatthe games will come on "new media," but hasn't been clear on the kind of flash mem- ory the device has. Regardless, digitally downloadable games are now possible, meaning we could now see low-price touch games in the vein of the iPhone. But it comes back to the origi- nal question: Who is it really for? COURTESY OF SONY Don't the people who like touch games already have an iPhone or iPod Touch? Why would they buy the NGP when their primary device already has so much func- tionality? And it's not even like the NGP would be able to replace the iPhone - while the NGP does have 3G capabilities, Sony has explicitly stated that it can- not be used as a mobile phone. Despite this, maybe all this negative speculation will ulti- mately be irrelevant. The fact remains that the NGP could be a worldwide hit for years to come. Perhaps developers will cre- ate incredible new games using motion sensors, cameras and great dual joystick controls all at the same time. The problem is that Sony hasn't really shown off many games that utilize all the interesting parts of the console. The touch pad on the back can be rubbed in the new "Uncharted" game to climb vines - which is neat, but not especially exciting. Like everygame platformever released, it will all come down to the pricing and the software. If it's affordable and companies come out with top-of-the-line creative games, it's easy to see this device doing gangbusters. But if it's $400 and there are mainly iPhone games or portable versions of PS3 games, then it's not hard to imagine consumers saving their money. By DANIEL CARLIN Daily Arts Writer There is a homey quality about Ann Arbor. Even in the snowy and somewhat irksome winter weather, the community still M comes together otbUP to gawk at vis- Tomorrow iting luminar- at 7 p.m. ies, watch local performances Work Gallery and cheer on Free the Wolverines. Though the sense of togetherness is alive and well, we seldom take the time to listen to unfamiliar voices. MothUP, an initiative encouraging oral storytelling, has recently found a home within the University and Ann Arbor community, allowing more voices to be heard. Tomorrow, MothUP will hold its third story- tellingcompetition, with the theme "missed connections." The Moth is a non-profit orga- nization founded in 1997 by poet and novelist George Dawes Green. While in New York, Green wanted to recreate the evenings when moths would be drawntothe lights where he and his friends shared stories in Georgia. Green's Moth has led to numerous programs, such as Moth Mainstage, which is a national tour, and the Moth Sto- rySLAM program, an open-mic storytelling competition in Los Angeles, Chicago, Detroit and New York. The rules are fairly simple at each event: A theme is given at the start and storytellers' names are drawn from a hat. No notes are allowed and a time limit is given - Ann Arbor's is five minutes. Competing through stories. The Moth also gained momen- tum through a successful podcast series. LSA senior Stephanie Spen- cer Smith became a fan of the pod- cast and immediately connected See MOTHUP, Page 6A Little 'Vision' in nun biopic By MACKENZIE METER For the Daily At the time of the Crusades, corporal punishment in religious orders was commonplace. This self- punishment sometimes ** consisted of wearing a Vision: From the tight, spiked Life of Hildegard belt called a cilice, the Von Bingen barbs of At the Michigan which dug into the flesh Zeitgeist and caused excruciating pain. Without liken- ing "Vision: From the Life of Hil- degard von Bingen" to exactly the kind of agony that a cilice would elicit, suffice it to say the film's length and meandering plotline bring forth a similar sense of inter- minable, unbearable discomfort. "Vision," a subtitled German- language film written and directed by Margarethe von Trotta, intri- cately and listlessly weaves the account of real-life Catholic abbess and canonized saint Hildegard von Bingen (Barbara Sukowa, "The Invention of the Curried Sausage"). Set in a German monastery about 900 years ago, the film provides a glimpse into the daily lives of some of the most pious people in the world without assuming the role of a documentary. However, the film never provides any background-on von Bingen or why she deserves to have a movie made about her in the first place, so the result is a dark, drawn-out picture without any sense of purpose or resolution. Hildegard von Bingen is acknowledged in real life as a ven- erable philosopher, Christian mys- tic, composer, writer and visionary. But the film instead focuses almost entirely on the visions she experi- enced since early childhood - com- A nun movie without Whoopi. posed of some vague, recurring "living light" - naturally prompt- ing her family to leave her at a mon- astery of monks and nuns at the age of eight. There, she is given to an older nun named Jutta (Mareile Blendl, "Zwei Manner und ein Baby"), a woman who is already See VISION, Page 6A UM nwaer .OSU b 'LIKE' THE MICHIGAN DAILY ON FACEBOOK There's a difference between communicating ideas and experiencing them. It's the difference between memorizing a foreign language and thinking in one. Between studying ruins and excavating them. Between analyzing dreams and living them. The difference is huge. And it's the very essence of the University of Chicago Summer Session. Where students are engaged at every level-intellectually, socially, personally, and professionally. Where you can benefit from the value of taking university courses in an accelerated, intensive format. Join us this summer for an extraordinary learning experience at the academic home to 85 Nobel laureates. FOR STUDENTS IN HIGH SCHOOL, COLLEGE, AND BEYOND. JUNE 20-AUGUST 26, 2011 3, 4, 5, AND 6-WEEK SESSIONS