Am I the only person who wishes all three gaming consoles could unite and become a super-next-gen system? Xbox 360 with it’s great Live Marketplace and easy online use, mixed with the fantastic game-play and amazing video quality of the PS3, wrapped around the complex controls of the Wii-mote and Nunchuk; wouldn’t it be a day in Utopia. I know it will never happen but much like the new XM and Sirius merger, I feel it would benefit all gamers, new and old. One system where all the games are able to be played. I’m a little surprised some company hasn’t yet attempted to create a super system evolved from all the great things used within each console. I say this because with each of the three systems there are some issues that others have corrected.
I’ll start with the Wii, which corrected the most boring and basic issue I believe, and that is the family consumer friendly gaming experience that Microsoft and Sony have yet to indulge. The Wii has brought the family together and made young families complete once more when it comes to video games. But look at the problems with the Wii. Online use. The Wii’s multiplayer is so much more complicated than both the PS3 and Xbox 360. Maybe it’s not too crazy for hardcore gamers but I believe for a regular family atmosphere it is; if say two fathers want to play Tiger Woods together how long do you think it would take them to figure out how to do that, if they even could. But within this statement lies the rub; how much better is it playing Tiger Woods golf, and bowling, and tennis, and Zelda, when you actually get to swing your remote.
Other than the Xbox 360’s massive suicides (RRoD), which seem to have been rectified as of late, one major issue I have with the box is it’s lack of high definition movie playback. Now, I understand Netflix is coming soon to a console near you, but I enjoy actually owning a DVD (Blu-ray now), and I wish I could play it off of my 360, because I love my 360. It’s annoying that the console doesn’t support, somehow, playing Blu-ray discs. I also wish it were easier to access and stream things from your computer to the Xbox. I understand it’s possible to link your PC to the Xbox 360, but I can’t do it easily with my Mac. It may be “boo-hoo” for me, but there are lots of people out there I would think with this dilemma.
The PS3 is probably the most solid of the systems out there today, even though I don’t enjoy it as much. To me the PlayStation family has always seemed complicated to use and not as user friendly as the other systems. But an issue which has been coming up is the massive storage space needed for game installs. I understand the Xbox 360 needs game install space as well but not as massive as the PS3 needs. Also the PlayStation Network is not as solid as Xbox Live. I think this could be the reason they aren’t yet charging for it, but they eventually will because there is a lot of money to be made from it, and with this money they can, hopefully, upgrade the PSN and make it better.
So what I’m really most interested in is not complaining about the things I wish the systems would change, but more in gathering up all the data I can on what the majority would like to see fixed, changed, added, indulged, whatever–compile a list and see if the video game companies can come through on any of the wishes gamers want on the newest next-gen systems which I assume they are working on. If three new systems come out in the next 3 or 4 years, I know personally, I’m going to have to think vary hard about which one I’m going to get, and which ever one has answered the majority of my dilemmas is obviously the system I am going to buy. So what do you think, problems and dilemmas with any system however trivial…
To an extent, I can agree with you. I don’t think any of the consoles of this gen are really “must-have” material. The must-have console died with the Dreamcast. This current generation of consoles is now a “might as well buy it” generation, where you feel compelled to get all three consoles just so you don’t feel left out. That’s how Nintendo finagled their way into selling the money-printing Wii.
The fact is, the Wii is a lot of fun when you first get it. And I still love bowling on it. But what else is there. The new Smash brothers got old real fast for me, especially once I tried Sonic and didn’t like him. I would like to try out the Wii Fit, but not for the price they want for the peripheral. Everyone I know who has one has gotten sick of it after a few months, when you find out that flailing your arms around is pointless and your 4 year-old nephew beats you in boxing by just flicking the controllers back and forth an inch. It is an excellent idea completely half-assed by Nintendo.
The 360 has been a great console, with the exception of the RRoD, which thankfully my pimped-out core never suffered. My big complaint would be the influx of FPS’, which frankly I do not enjoy. If I want to shoot someone, I will go play paintball (which I do), because that way your opponent feels it and can’t be a pompous jackass. Spawn camping and teabagging ruined FPS for me, and the fact that every FPS feels pretty much like every one before it, (except they look nicer and have one or two moves the previous one didn’t) makes me not want to play them. I have only really enjoyed the more original FPS, like Resistance (alternate universe WW2 setting with aliens), the Halo series (got all three games for free, and although they are fun, I don’t see them as worth their price tag) and Bioshock.
The PS3 is only now starting to get really worth buying, due to a lot of excellent releases in ‘08, but the reality is that ‘08 is pretty much 2 years too late for the PS3. LittleBigPlanet is probably the most absorbing game I have played since Pac-Man (no, not exaggerating) but unfortunately it is being eclipsed by the big sellers (Resistance 2, Gears of War 2, and a bunch of others). LBP is going to go down in history as one of the greatest games almost nobody played.
As for combining the three consoles into one, bad idea. No competition means they will stop even trying to entertain us. So instead of getting underwhelming 10 hour games, we will start getting subpar 4-6 hour games, for the same price.
No, I really don’t want on consol to rule them all. Because that’s just it, the company’s will sit back and get fat and greedy due to no competition. Look at the NES, eighty plus percent of the market; churning out crap after the first three years. Why because you either bought their crap or found another hobby. Sure you can point to SMB3 or some other game and say this was a great game. You would not be lying, but look at the rest of your collection and see how many of them are really classic games, very few. It’s the same with the Wii, which sucks balls by the way, one or two must have titles a year and then nothing but crap rushed out the door just to make a buck.
No this is not a Nintendo hater on a rant; but facts are facts and they did abuse their power while “ruling” the game scene. I love Zelda, Mario and the rest as much as the next guy or gal. But bottom line they feel they are successfull if their games sell. They could careless about third party sales so very few quality games come out on their platform that arn’t branded Nintendo.
Every game system and company has it’s faults. How they overcome those faults is what makes this industry worth watching. I love games and I want as many a month as I can afford to buy; or as many as my Wife will allow me to spend, anyway. I don’t care if they are on the PS3, Wii, or my fav Xbox 360/XBLA, just give me quality and quanity each month and I do not see both of those happening on only one system each and every month.