I'm hoping this doesn't go on too long as it isn't what you would call "earth shaking news" (that happened in Japan today).
It all started with last week's E3, or rather the gaming media's coverage of the new "mini-" E3 up in Santa Monica. The websites and podcasts have been dishing up a Hometown Buffet of items on new games, the war between the console makers, and how great the future of gaming will be. As a dedicated gamer (or nut, take your pick), something was becoming clearly obvious to me. My epiphany was that like it or not, costly or not, I was going to have to have an Xbox 360 AND a PS3 if I didn't want to miss all the incredible gaming experiences that were building on the horizon. I felt this was going to be a fact of life as important as eating McDonalds french fries - you could go without them, but would you really call that living?
That same night (or the next), I got a chance to play a game I got from Gameworld - the old Transformers game for PS2. I haven't had a chance to see the new movie, but I saw that the old game had pretty good reviews and I found a nice copy for a decent price (complete with manual, of course). I had a bit of difficulty at first (one of the games that maps several features to the shoulder buttons), but after an hour or so, I was fairly hooked. Nice 3D graphical environments, good selection of weapons even on the early missions, decent controls, good camera, and I could turn Optimus Prime into a semi-truck. That night, lying in bed, I thought about something that is frequently not far from my mind - how the hell am I going to play (much less finish) all the games I've bought. I have hundreds of titles that I haven't ever even booted up, that I would probably like just as much as Transformers - probably more.
Then it hit me - I already have my Library of Eden. The quality of the PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube games is more than sufficient to transport me to other worlds. And they are the zenith of what I've come to expect from a videogame. I grew up with games that were self contained without downloadable content, friends lists, or (worse) patches. Then why did I feel like I was missing out not having a 360 or PS3? Because I'm flooding myself with podcasts, and websites, and magazines that are all talking about the new systems and their games!
That's why I'm changing a few things. For now, I'm staying away from gaming podcasts completely and going back to MP3-books. Also, I'm only visiting gaming websites for review info and to see what is releasing for the week. What I'm not changing is trying to get in as much play time as possible.
(I should mention that while I did feel it "necessary" to get a Wii, it doesn't really fall into the same category as the 360 and PS3. It's cheaper, doesn't need HD, and because of the motion controls, it offers a different experience than the other consoles.)
So, I'll see if this relieves some of my "next gen" anxiety. I'll never say never when it comes to something new, but for now I'm happy with the "old gen".
Quick Bits: We all got Promy's done on Saturday with the help of Jinxy, Skorn, and Hell! All 3 done in about 3 hours....Playing Super Paper Mario on the Wii. I have to admit, they did a great job with the controls. It wouldn't have been as much fun on the Cube....Doing a little GTA GBA. Overhead view is ok, but not great....Also playing a little Lego Star Wars for GBA. Nice to see that the levels are different, but it gets a little too repetitive sometimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment