What went wrong?

[Quadratix]

In reading the new E3 coverage and keynotes and game annoucements, I'm seeing a pattern of all this excitement about the live arcade, about downloadable Disney movies, about virtual home environments, about expanding the marketplace so grandma can play bowling.

But, I just can't help but think that these re-focuses ultimately hurt the consoles.

Instead of trying to be pure, unadulterated gaming machines, they are pushing to become your entire entertainment center. I think this would lead to a jack of all trades, master of none situation.

The days where you put the disk in and just sit and play your games for hours on end still seems possible, but now it can be interrupted by a Live invite, or 3 friends wanting to play tennis or a movie you downloaded being finished.

Maybe I'm just used to an old paradigm, where my computer better be the best computer and do all the multi-tasking i want and for my console to be the best console and provide gaming experiences my computer cannot.


Thoughts?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Well, you have the options to not be bugged with all those notifications. You don't have to do anything on Live or use the multimedia features.

The way I see it is they're taking advantage of the power they're stuffing in the machines. They spent quite a bit of money making sure that the hardware for gaming is good, it just happens that it can also be used for a lot of other things, so you're getting extra capabilities when they could be offering none of them. When you factor in that Sony and Microsoft are taking a loss on the hardware, and giving you the extra capability as well, then really I don't see how you can complain.

Another point is that Live Arcade is a great outlet for good old school and simple games.

There's still plenty of great quality games to be had, in fact, this year and the next couple might just see an abundance of great games that we haven't seen for quite some time. The increased competition (Microsoft is getting really serious, Sony is trying to keep their status, and Nintendo has apparently found a new philosophy that has given them a big boost) is going to bring even better games in the future as well.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: Quadratix
In reading the new E3 coverage and keynotes and game annoucements, I'm seeing a pattern of all this excitement about the live arcade, about downloadable Disney movies, about virtual home environments, about expanding the marketplace so grandma can play bowling.

But, I just can't help but think that these re-focuses ultimately hurt the consoles.

Instead of trying to be pure, unadulterated gaming machines, they are pushing to become your entire entertainment center. I think this would lead to a jack of all trades, master of none situation.

The days where you put the disk in and just sit and play your games for hours on end still seems possible, but now it can be interrupted by a Live invite, or 3 friends wanting to play tennis or a movie you downloaded being finished.

Maybe I'm just used to an old paradigm, where my computer better be the best computer and do all the multi-tasking i want and for my console to be the best console and provide gaming experiences my computer cannot.


Thoughts?

That's a valid concern. You could easily argue that Sony hurt themselves by trying to win the next gen DVD race by using the PS3 to get Blu-Ray drives into homes. But I personally don't think stuff like the downloadable movies/shows has hurt anything. It's not like game developers are spending their hours putting that out there. That's a different set of people.

What's your problem with the Live Arcade though? That IS gaming. I love the new downloadable games these new systems have. It's been GREAT for my wife. We own 25 XBLA games and most of them we own because of her. They are exactly the types of games she likes to play. It really help me out when I can justify a system purchase when it has games for her too Anyway, I really like the cheap games the downloadable games provide.

Also, I'm not bothered by invites. That's gaming too! I mean, is it really a bad thing that your friends are asking you to play some games with them? Also, I think you can disable some of the notices in the settings, but I'm not positive on that. You may only be able to disable them while watching a movie.

 

[RagingBITCH]

Like dsman above me said - no one is forcing you to use these features. Gamers are asking for more content and more from their consoles. Not everyone is purely focused on just games anymore. Consoles can be strictly just that - console single or multi player gaming, no internet, no IM, no movies, no added downloads. It's what you want to make of the gaming experience.

 

[CKDragon]

For the most part, I agree with Thraxen. Many of the changes have been improvements in my eyes.

One thing that's not an improvement: $$$ for Horse Armor.

 

[Ichigo]

It would seem almost stupid to me if someone could not find ways to avoid these situations. Unplug the ethernet cable, don't download the movies, and buy only the games you like. Where is this problem? I'm sorry the industry wants to expand the market, but in either case they are still developing great games right now.

 

[BD2003]

That day came when consoles became so powerful that it became trivial to add such things. More of a "why not?" thing than a "why?".

Earlier consoles like the snes ran on 1.7mhz processors with proprietary cartridges and no internet...they could do much of anything but play games. Nowadays consoles have ghz level processors, and standard media, and net connectors. The same gaming hardware can be put to use to play movies and what not. So why not?

And being perfectly honest, other than playing movies, theyre not really any good at the media center/news/internet stuff they try to pull off anyway. But its still a freebie.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Ichigo
It would seem almost stupid to me if someone could not find ways to avoid these situations. Unplug the ethernet cable, don't download the movies, and buy only the games you like. Where is this problem? I'm sorry the industry wants to expand the market, but in either case they are still developing great games right now.

Well said.

For myself, I only have so much space in my A/V rack, so being able to pull double duty is a big plus.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Arcade, VC and PSN games is a big plus for consoles. Being able to sell games directly to customers for $5-10 lets the console makers offer many games that they could never afford to put on traditional store shelves.

Wlal-mart only has so much shelf space, and they want to fill it with best-sellers at $20-60, not $10 niche games. Even AA titles disappear from shelves soon after release, as soon as sales slow down.

 

[Quadratix]

Just wanted to scope out opinions...

I myself have a modded Xbox and would've probably stopped using it entirely if it wasn't for the media center compabilities that were added and the nostalgia of playing old-school games on a new console.

So, the new features are definitely a plus, but with so many derivative titles coming out ( Halo 3, RE5, MSG5, Mario Galaxy etc, etc), I wonder if too much time is spent developing PS3 Home and easier ways to milk $4 dollars out of you and I mean honestly, does Wii need any more casual, pick-up-and-play, party titles?

I just see all these "Why not" features steering the focus away from truly impressive games.

 

[Kev]

As much as they tout the 360 as a media center, I still think of it as a video game machine with ***** media playing capabilities.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: Quadratix
Just wanted to scope out opinions...

I myself have a modded Xbox and would've probably stopped using it entirely if it wasn't for the media center compabilities that were added and the nostalgia of playing old-school games on a new console.

So, the new features are definitely a plus, but with so many derivative titles coming out ( Halo 3, RE5, MSG5, Mario Galaxy etc, etc), I wonder if too much time is spent developing PS3 Home and easier ways to milk $4 dollars out of you and I mean honestly, does Wii need any more casual, pick-up-and-play, party titles?

I just see all these "Why not" features steering the focus away from truly impressive games.

I disagree with the bolded statement.

This year alone is probably the "most full of quality titles" year that the gaming industry has seen in a very, VERY long time.

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: Kev
As much as they tout the 360 as a media center, I still think of it as a video game machine with ***** media playing capabilities.

I can say **** but not *****y... that's retarded

"(6) Foul language in topic titles and excessive foul language is not permitted. With uncensored language comes an increased requirement for responsibility among users. Moderator discretion applies."

Please refrain from the use of expletives. -DP

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: Quadratix
So, the new features are definitely a plus, but with so many derivative titles coming out ( Halo 3, RE5, MSG5, Mario Galaxy etc, etc), I wonder if too much time is spent developing PS3 Home and easier ways to milk $4 dollars out of you and I mean honestly, does Wii need any more casual, pick-up-and-play, party titles?

I just see all these "Why not" features steering the focus away from truly impressive games.

IMO, you are trying to tie together two unrelated issues. Sequels were around long before the consoles started offering more services. Think about all the series like Mario, Sonic, Ninja Gaiden, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, etc.. that got their starts during the 8 and 16-bit eras. I don't think things like movie downloads really have any influence on game development.

Now things like Home and downloadable content are different animals. I do think some companies do/will abuse such things, but for the most part it hasn't been too bad so far.

 

[Oyeve]

I am just glad for the competition. 3 major console on the market, all have online capabilities. Anyone remember the days of the Atari 2600? ANd how they dominated the gaming market? They nearly singlehandedly killed the gaming market until Nintendo revived it in the mid 80s. Atari put out more crappy games than good games, and even tho some other consoles came out, like Coleco and Intellevision, Atari was the Brand everyone wanted whether the other systems were better or not. Atari signed the big game names and did a horrendous job at making games. Sorta like how ipods dominate the portable music market even tho there are much better players out there. people know ipod and buy it and pay through the nose for it. We are sheep.