I've been thinking a bit lately on this favorite hobby of mine. I've been thinking about the past. I've been thinking about the present. And I definitely have been thinking about the future. I keep wondering where gaming will be in 5 years, 10 years, even 20 years. Looking back at what I played as a kid, and how I played, is very different from today. Gaming has changed in the past 20 plus years, and I don't know if I like it.
I remember a time when gaming was pure fun. I remember hooking up the Atari 2600 to our 13 inch dial color TV. I remember playing brightly colored games that looked ambiguous but played great. I remember the classics that had me hooked then, and those same games still do today. I still own an Atari 2600 with most of the same games that I had as a kid. I remember playing Zelda on the NES for the first time. I remember Sonic on the Game Gear. I remember Rogue Squadron on the N64. I remember Gran Tourismo on the PS1. I remember Final Fantasy X on the PS2. I also remember only having one console during each of those periods. Then I never had to worry about multiplatform releases, or which console has the best exclusives. I used to read gaming magazines for whichever system I had, Nintendo Power, Computer Gaming Monthly, The Official PlayStation Magazine. I never worried about what the other guy was playing and it was great. But time does change things.
The present we have is one of conflict, half truths (or outright lies) and stolen ideas, all presented with a fresh coat of millions of polygons. I don't know when it happened, but gaming has lost the heart it once had. Just look at the news. Company A states that they have x number of people on their network, although Company B contends that they have Y more people then that. Company C doesn't say anything, they just don't give a damn as long as their console keeps selling. And it keeps on going round and round. It's gotten so bad that I don't know who or what to believe anymore. I may sound a little jaded and cynical, and I am. I am tired of console wars. I am tired of companies pushing out games that are no where near complete and require several updates to be finished. I'm tired of all the hate for no reason. Can't we just be happy that there are three successful consoles on the market, each with many good games. What brought this train of thought on? I think I finally had my buttons pushed once too often with all these damn Killzone 2 VS. Halo Wars articles I've been seeing.
Give me a second to explain this. OK, Killzone has been in the news for many, many years as a potential Halo killer. We've all heard it before, even before the game was finished it was tauted as being the one game, the one FPS, to unseat the king. We all know that the first Killzone didn't exactly meet expectations, but it was far from a bad game. Now, onto today. We have the release of the biggest Real Time Strategy game for the Xbox 360. Coincidentally, it has the Halo name attached to it. This game is putting up good sales numbers, which is great considering the fact that most Halo players wouldn't be interested in a game of this genre. Now I am ready to state my point. In the whole KZ2 VS. Halo Wars thing, I say this. The games are in two completely different genres and have absolutely no basis for competition. Halo Wars is not a FPS and therefore, not a direct competitor to Killzone 2. So why all the comparisons in the press? Answer me that one.
My point is that gaming should be fun. The reason for getting a console or a game should not be based on which company puts out the most outrageous press release. I don't care which console has the bigger install base. I don't care that Game A sold 250,000 more copies then Game B. I only care that the games I buy are fun. I care that a developer fulfills their promise of delivering a completed game as close to perfect as they can. I care that my console will not break down shortly after buying it. I care that I can download demos to see if I like a game before I buy it. I care that I can get as much truthful information about a console or game as I want. Enough with the bullshit. Lets get back to having fun.
1 Response to "The Consoles"
....which way to the open zone? lol
Good stuff. I too am sick of the console bickering. I'm fairly new to gaming though, maybe that's why i haven't taken a side or pledged my alligence to one console and one console only. I own all 3 and play them all the time, if someone denies themselevs great games for the sake of the fanboyism attached to a certain console, then their loss. I'm just gonna tune them out.