The Last Generation
Is it time to give up the home console?
on January 17, 2013 at 1:35 pmI would say that, on the whole, this has been a pretty great generation of consoles.
A lot of that has to do with the sheer length of time the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 have been on the market. More than six years! I you had told me back in 2006 that I’d still be picking up new Xbox 360 games well into 2013, I probably would have looked at you funny. Because you’d be a time traveler, or psychic or something.
We’re just hearing the death knell of the Playstation 2, with Sony shutting down production. So long shelf lives aren’t without precedent… though they may soon be a thing of the past.
As I enjoy the last bit of newness left on my 360, I can’t shake the feeling that the all the bullshit that crept in this past generation will be even worse in the next. I picture a dedicated Windows 8 machine with Kinect integration… or, y’know, a PC.
The increasing PC-ification of consoles has me wondering: what’s keeping me from making the switch to PC gaming? I’ve always been a console man, due to personal preferance and space/budget constraints. But every day, something comes along to knock those excuses down.
But it’s expensive!
I’ve calculated how much I’ve spent on hardware (at least 2 Xbox 360s paid in full), games new and used, peripherals, and DLC. Do you really want to know?
But I want to pop a disc in and just have it work! PC games always have patches and shit!
For the most part, they can have problems addressed a lot faster than it takes to pass Microsoft’s certification system. And if they don’t, there are communities of enterprising nerds who’ll cook up their own solutions.
But DRM! Accounts!
And you don’t have that on consoles? Let’s look at, I dunno, anything EA or Ubisoft you’ve purchased. Remember those slips of paper that practically scream “Fuck you, used game market!”?
But I want to play on the couch in front of my TV!
There are cables for that.
But I like using a controller!
A friend looks up from “Far Cry 3″ on his PC, controller in hand. “Dude, what? Lots of games support controllers, and work great with them.”
But my friends! I can’t abandon them!
Oh, you mean the friends who spend more time on their PCs? And how many will make the jump to the next console generation?
But you can’t get used games for PC!
I dunno about that, but you can already get new games cheaper than console games at retail. And there are sales ALL the time. And free content, indie games, browser games… shall I continue?
But I don’t have space for a rig! And what about that Macbook Pro you’ve been eyeing? Can’t have it all, big guy!
Hmm, I have a point there. I’m sure we can work something out, though. Just think, not having to look at ads before starting a game! Heck, you could IM and look up FAQs WHILE PLAYING THE GAME! Wouldn’t that be swell?
Sorry for internal monologue, I think I’ve edited way too many of Tyler’s articles and he’s rubbing off on me.
In any case, this debate still rages in my head. On the one hand, there’s my intense hatred of being fucked over by Microsoft and the frustrations of modern consoles. On the other is fear of the unknown: becoming one of “those guys”, the sneering PC Elite Master Race of Gaming.
It’s not too dissimilar to my “conversion” to Apple products over the past three years. In truth, I’m bipartisan; coworkers assume that, because my family and I have used DOS and Windows-based machines our whole lives, we’re automatically opposed to anything else. It really just boils down to personal needs and preferences… and consoles aren’t meeting them anymore.
I think I’m ready to put down roots outside of the walled garden of console gaming. The PC gaming market has blossomed… OK, screw the plant metaphors. I’m just tired of console bullshit… if I’m going to be hassled, I might as well do it for a platform with more freedom.
Any advice all y’all have for a PC gaming noob, I’d appreciate. Leave a comment or shoot me an email.
Brian Diefenbach is a simple man trying to make his way in the universe. He is the editor of Control Freaks and was a geek before it was cool – possibly before you were born. You kids get off his lawn!
I suppose if you’re going to hassle with playing games on windows 8, it might as well be on a machine that you can also use to do homework. I ended up buying the xbox 360 because I was abandoning the Windows operating system, but still wanted to play windows games. While I met great friends through xbox live, I certainly missed out on all of the wonderful additional content available to pc players, like mods, indie games and hats in TF2.
Every year gaming in linux gets a little easier, and a few more titles become available. I’m able to run a few windows games under an emulator, but now that TF2 has a native linux build, I think it’s become clear to me that I won’t be taking part in the next generation of consoles, at least not with any of the established players. (We’ll see if Valve manages to surprise us or not)
How could I forget the hats? And gold farming. But yes, I’m intrigued to see what Valve brings to the table, it might be just the ticket for someone like me.
I have recently considered building home cabinets. With the cost of Arduino machines going down, new lighter weight monitors, and growing number of nostalgiacs with money I could easily do this. Can you imagine your home with an arcade that only costs about the same as the consoles you bought to begin with? Of course if I went the route of Big Evilness there would be a credit card reader where the coin slot should be, even in the home machines.
I absolutely think digital will dominate the future…as long as people learn from what Valve is doing is Steam.
However, I don’t think consoles will ever completely go away. This generation has proven that consoles don’t just have to be a place to go to play a video game. They can also be an entire media centre. (Yes, that’s a typo but I left it for those folks from the UK who spell things incorrectly.)
PCs are great for those hardcore gamers that remain truer geeks. The types that love modded content, tweaking things to their liking, and think that a mouse and keyboard is the best way to control absolutely everything.
Personally, I don’t care about mods. As someone who reviews games, I’m predisposed to hate mods. Of course, I don’t HATE them, but I don’t use them. I’m just a stickler for playing a game how it was released and only gong by patches released by the developers. To me, mods are like using a Game Genie. They’re a way to enhance and play around with your game but they’re like a cheat code. I’m a purist, even if that makes me a stupid gamer with things that are notoriously broken, like all Elder Scrolls games.
I promise I’m going somewhere with this.
Even though I’m a hardcore gamer, I like things to be relatively effortless. I like having a machine that is a dedicated entertainment device. PCs require tweaking, troubleshooting, etc. Personally, I hate playing with graphical settings and seeing what works best with my setup.
Sure, consoles will always be capable of LESS that PCs but there is a consistency with consoles there that can’t be beat. I highly value that consistency and I think the casual market also likes that. They don’t have to worry about upgrading components or keeping up with compatible drivers or wondering whether or not they’re going to be able to run a game. If the game they buy matches the name of their console, then they can play it. That’s important to the average consumer.
Now, I mentioned digital earlier and I absolutely think things are moving towards being more geared towards the digital realm. I may hate it, as I like owning physical things, but services like Netflix have proven that people would rather stream things and iTunes has proven that people don’t care about owning CDs. I just think consoles are going to be an even stronger all-in-one device for the common man.
Well, that is as long as companies realize how amazing Steam is and can adequately imitate their model.
Basically, consoles are never going away but they are definitely taking notes from the PC. I just think they’re taking the PC and making it more streamlined and accessible for people who aren’t techy. Pretty much what Apple is doing but with less lawsuits and more actual innovation.