Generation Gap
So I've been a gamer for over 17 years, and it's been a little while since I've really been excited, at all, with a new generation. The last one was when I was all gung-ho about the Sega Saturn (and subsequently anti-Playstation... until I got one for a birthday, and I can't say I didn't appreciate it), looking forward to everything it had to offer me. As it turned out, my PS-X took over my gaming life, and I was constantly buying new games for it. I just couldn't get enough.
My Saturn (which I bought LATER, BTW) is now sitting in a box, collecting dust, while my PS2 is playing all of my PS1 games.
The 32/64-bit generation and earlier I fully enjoyed, and I was thrilled for new games and systems. I love ALL of my Genesis systems (I have one of each model), my SNES is still alive after all of the hours I've put into it, and while I'm on my third NES I'm still playing (with a few FamiCom titles thrown in there too, though I never owned a Master System or TG-16). But I just haven't felt that same surge of game-related love for the current gen.
I have all three of the major systems of the current generation, the XBox, Gamecube and PS2, but I never really was driven during it, and I think I know why. The games were getting mroe "realistic" (which I hated because I was trying to ESCAPE reality), they were a lot of rehashed ideas (GTA and all of its clones, over and over seemingly the same sports games, etc.), game developers in many cases were trying to leave the past completely behind (when all I wanted was some quirky, weird-lookin' characters to take me away to a dream-like world)... and the lack of what even felt like original ways to create great games and enthralling worlds.
Maybe it's just because I grew up in the generations I did, and I want to go back to Dreamland with Kirby, or the Mushroom Kingdom the way it was, or some other place that I'd never experienced. And though there are a few games that I've seen that have given me a little of that rush (Katamari Damacy and Guitaroo Man being two excellent examples) I just haven't felt the desire to load up on current-gen games.
Maybe the next generation will change all of that. The Revolution just might be coming, and won't Wii all be surprised.
(Yeah, bad way to slip that in, but I liked it.)
The Revolution/Wii just might be what I've been waiting for. As I watched the Nintendo press conferance when they debuted the controller's speaker and the demos of how the controller will be used, I was interested. The games, many of which looked simple enough (playing ping-pong by swinging the controller like a paddle, or weilding a virtual sword, even throwing out the lure for realistic fishing) were beautiful, and not just the aesthetics; they looked good in how the players were enjoying them, putting themselves into the game. I have to admit, it reminded me a LOT of those virtual-reality games that were five bucks a try at the mall (anyone remember those?) which I did enjoy... twice, maybe. I couldn't afford it more often than that.
The XBox looks too expensive for what I don't really want to play, and the PS3 hasn't "wowed" me yet with games (and discouraged me with a $500+ price tag), but the Wii... just might be about right.
My Saturn (which I bought LATER, BTW) is now sitting in a box, collecting dust, while my PS2 is playing all of my PS1 games.
The 32/64-bit generation and earlier I fully enjoyed, and I was thrilled for new games and systems. I love ALL of my Genesis systems (I have one of each model), my SNES is still alive after all of the hours I've put into it, and while I'm on my third NES I'm still playing (with a few FamiCom titles thrown in there too, though I never owned a Master System or TG-16). But I just haven't felt that same surge of game-related love for the current gen.
I have all three of the major systems of the current generation, the XBox, Gamecube and PS2, but I never really was driven during it, and I think I know why. The games were getting mroe "realistic" (which I hated because I was trying to ESCAPE reality), they were a lot of rehashed ideas (GTA and all of its clones, over and over seemingly the same sports games, etc.), game developers in many cases were trying to leave the past completely behind (when all I wanted was some quirky, weird-lookin' characters to take me away to a dream-like world)... and the lack of what even felt like original ways to create great games and enthralling worlds.
Maybe it's just because I grew up in the generations I did, and I want to go back to Dreamland with Kirby, or the Mushroom Kingdom the way it was, or some other place that I'd never experienced. And though there are a few games that I've seen that have given me a little of that rush (Katamari Damacy and Guitaroo Man being two excellent examples) I just haven't felt the desire to load up on current-gen games.
Maybe the next generation will change all of that. The Revolution just might be coming, and won't Wii all be surprised.
(Yeah, bad way to slip that in, but I liked it.)
The Revolution/Wii just might be what I've been waiting for. As I watched the Nintendo press conferance when they debuted the controller's speaker and the demos of how the controller will be used, I was interested. The games, many of which looked simple enough (playing ping-pong by swinging the controller like a paddle, or weilding a virtual sword, even throwing out the lure for realistic fishing) were beautiful, and not just the aesthetics; they looked good in how the players were enjoying them, putting themselves into the game. I have to admit, it reminded me a LOT of those virtual-reality games that were five bucks a try at the mall (anyone remember those?) which I did enjoy... twice, maybe. I couldn't afford it more often than that.
The XBox looks too expensive for what I don't really want to play, and the PS3 hasn't "wowed" me yet with games (and discouraged me with a $500+ price tag), but the Wii... just might be about right.
posted by Unknown at 12:32 PM
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