We’re on the cusp of a new generation of gaming consoles with the releases of both the PS4 and the Xbox One this month. The only problem is I’m starting to not care as much. I remember when I first got hyped about a console launch. It was the Dreamcast and Sega‘s choice of the 9/9/99 release date. While I enjoyed my PlayStation and Sega Saturn, I was heavily anticipating games like Sonic Adventure, Soul Calibur, and Marvel vs. Capcom. My life was simpler then: I was a junior in high school, had a job with some extra spending cash, and my only bills were related to my car (insurance and loan payments). It would be the first time I could grab a console for myself, and the Dreamcast happened to fall into that groove of “can afford/really want”. I followed every piece of news, every preview, every bit of info that trickled out, and geeked out considerably when I got the system home.
This was repeated again with the Wii‘s launch in 2006: I knew it was going to be underpowered compared to the PS3 and Xbox 360, but it was again in that “can afford/really want” groove, and I believed in Nintendo‘s promises of motion control gameplay. My excitement was palpable, and once I got it home my wife and I spent hours with WiiSports, Marvel Ultimate Alliance, and Call of Duty 3.
Then two weeks later I bought an Xbox 360, which I replaced twice that same night, and three more times over the following 18 months, and I started to wonder just how well gaming consoles were constructed nowadays. I wasn’t alone, as we’ve seen problems with both Microsoft‘s machine and the PlayStation 3. You never heard of these problems happening at launch, even as recently as the PS2/GameCube/Xbox era. Things weren’t built as hastily; they were built to last, and, you know, actually work.
Next came the greed. Horse armor. Codes I had to input to prove that I wasn’t a thief – or worse, someone who *gasp* bought the game used. Lies. Unreasonable restrictions (thankfully reversed in some cases, but usually only after massive outbursts) on me as a consumer. Developers and publishers were no longer people just looking to make something entertaining; they were now people just looking to make a buck. Is this truly the industry I used to love and admire with childlike wonder?
Let’s not even think about the culture that my fellow gamers are responsible for. Abuse, bullying, sexism, racism, just general assholery. Hell, some websites have to actually tell their audience not to be jerks. Their behavior at times makes me ashamed to admit that “yeah, I’ve played a few rounds of Call of Duty with that guy, he seemed cool at the time.”
Finally, comparing this generation’s tech with the next, so far the differences are, well, minor. Ooh, fancier grass. Ooh, slightly clearer shades of brown and grey. Ooh, mandatory installs that mean I’ll have to upgrade my hard drive in no time.
Now I know, eventually the next round of games will probably blow my mind. Heck, just compare The Last of Us with Heavenly Sword to see how far games have come over these past seven years. And I know, there are plenty of developers – many of them independent – that are doing great and amazing things, that truly do remind me why I got into gaming in the first place. Smaller developers like Telltale Games, Supergiant Games, ThatGameCompany and WayForward both entertain and excite me from artistic, nostalgic, and technical standpoints. Juggernauts like Nintendo, Rocksteady and Naughty Dog always craft masterful experiences that I’ll keep coming back to enjoy. Heck, some companies are even killing off the Online Pass idea. There’s good reason to think that the future of gaming could be very bright indeed. And of course, PC gaming is easier than ever to get into, with of course a few exceptions.
Time will tell. Here’s hoping, though, since I love this industry, and I love getting to write about it, read about it, interact with it, and just know about it. I can’t think of anything else I’d rather do. I just hope I can keep remembering to focus on the magic of the experience that got us all here in the first place, rather than the squabbles over whose machine is better and why I absolutely NEED to spend an extra $20 to get content I technically already own.
Here’s to a new generation of gaming. Hopefully it won’t be my last.
Feature image credit: Isabelle Hartmann
