Sometimes it’s more fun to prompt you guys to write your thoughts than simply force ours upon you. It’s even more fun when it’s wrapped up into a little game. What’s the game today? It’s called “What’s missing?” I think it’ll make for a great discussion (and by “discussion” I mean it’ll devolve into pitchforks, torches, and trying to track down someone’s real world addresses over the internet!) What could be more fun?
Here’s how it’s going to work. There aren’t many rules, but try to follow them exactly or else this won’t work (very well). I’ll provide a list of gaming systems and you are to reply with your own answers for each system. Answers? Answers to what?!?! Whoa, hold up a minute, I haven’t gotten there yet. You’re going to narrow down your ideas to the ONE key idea/attribute that’s missing from each system that would have the most impact on improving that system.
Here we go with my answers first (after the jump of course):
The first person that writes “The system is perfect as is!” goes to the head of Ploogle’s cyber-stalking list and you will have to deal with a torch and/or pitchfork at the most inconvenient time possible! So if you’re a smart ass and do that only to say “Look, no torches or pitchforks!” I want you to keep in the back of your mind that you’ve only established there’s a more inconvenient time for it to happen sometime in the future. Stew on it even…
Please provide an answer for each system. I realize you’re going to be more familiar with some platforms over others, but please give it your best shot.
Here’s my list, please copy/paste into the comments and replace my answers with yours. Remember the rule, only ONE key attribute per system and let’s make these comments pertinent to now not 2+ years ago when some of these systems launched.
- Xbox 360 – Better exclusives - As weird as this sounds, I wish the 360 had more compelling exclusives that appealed to me. The multiplatform advantage the 360 used to have is mostly a thing of the past now, so for folks that own both systems, the exclusives are most important. Microsoft just went through a string of exclusives that didn’t appeal to me personally. I had high hopes for Banjo, but I’ve just resigned myself that the 360 isn’t the system for platformer fans and both the PS3 and Wii make better choices. I’d also like to see more racing games that AREN’T Forza or PGR. Where’s the 360-exclusive counter to MotorStorm? You can’t argue Pure because it rocked on the PS3 too.
- Playstation 3 – Lower pricing - I realize (and agree with) the “value” argument, but bottom line the PS3 is pricing itself out of the race for a LOT of gamers who are “happy enough” on other systems.
- Wii - Compelling “traditional” games - More devs need to make compelling, original, “traditional” games for the Wii. There are some, but they’re few and far between. Yes, the Wii excels at “party games”, but there is room for SO much more. The fact that true gamers can still play retro titles and have fun should prove we don’t need uber-powerful systems to be entertained. Don’t abandon the basics of gaming, Wii developers.
- PC (High-end gaming) - Slowing down hardware lifecycles – The march goes on. I gave up on traditional gaming on the PC because if you stop upgrading your stuff, you start having to bump down quality, resolution, etc. in no time. Not to mention Win-rot just naturally degrades a system over time, PC gaming degrades too quickly for me. I almost wish PCs were more static, with “current” models and product life-cycles like consoles. I understand this will ruffle more than a few feathers, but I can’t afford the time or money to keep up with a PC for gaming purposes.
- PC (Casual gaming) – Centralized experience – Steam is making progress, but there needs to be a centralized place to go for a nice and slick interface for browsing, buying, and playing casual games. The problem isn’t that people don’t realize that, the problem is that a whole bunch of companies think they’re the ones to bring that to market. With everyone trying to be “the one” it only ensures there won’t be one. The market is huge and still largely untapped. If someone nailed the convenience factor and reached critical mass, things might settle into (mostly) a single destination with super ease of use.
- Playstation Portable - Two friggin’ sticks - Enough said.
- Nintendo DS (you can specify Fat, Lite, or “i” at will) - More oomph under the hood - I know the DS handles several genres well, but if it had a bit more horsepower, I think it would excel in a lot more areas. Take racing games for instance. The PSP wipes the floor with the DS. With more processing power, this wouldn’t have to be the case. Frame rates and draw distance would be nearly the problems they are now. I hope the next “real” refresh of the system packs a wallop, but Nintendo clearly knows better than me. Their systems may fall short of my expectations, but their bank account sure is impressive!
- iPhone/iPod Touch - Real buttons/sticks – It goes against the very nature of the product, but I’d love to see real, physical buttons put on the thing. Sure, make them on a panel that slides out of few allowing the thing to function just like it does now, but without physical buttons (and sticks) there is an uphill battle of form over function that gaming will feel the brunt of.
Okay, there ya go! My (typically) long-winded responses. No worried if you’re brief, but I’d like to see everyone touch each platform in their comment. I can’t wait to read what you guys think!
Popularity: 1% [?]
| Related Posts:
|
I added my reply in the forums. It was a little long to add here.
I only copied the ones I know enough about to criticize.
Xbox 360 – Accessories – I would gladly fork up for the convenience of wi-fi if the adapter weren’t at a ridiculous price. And even if Microsoft won’t let me use my own hard drive (which they should allow, but that’s another point altogether), they should at least price the upgrades somewhat fairly. I can buy a 500GB hard drive for $80 and yet MS sells a 120GB hard drive upgrade for over $100?
Playstation 3 – Lower pricing – I agree 100% here.
Wii – More originality – This is similar to your point Rothbart. The vast majority of Wii games are junk, and pretty much all the rest are either party games or first-party sequels to long-standing Nintendo franchises. I don’t own a Wii, but I still *kind of* follow news about it. I want to see more new, original IPs come out. An example of a game that caught my eye and looked really interesting is The Conduit.
PC (High-end gaming) – I don’t really have a problem with the fast pace of hardware cycles… or at least, if more game developers worked like Valve, I wouldn’t. Example: this was a long time ago, but the original Half-life 2 looked amazing when it first released. But I still managed to run the game on low settings on an integrated Intel 845G graphics chip. Of course it wasn’t as pretty, but it wasn’t as glaringly ugly as most games are with the settings turned down, and the performance was still good enough. More time needs to be spent supporting a wide range of hardware so, on average, a system doesn’t become outdated as quickly.
Playstation Portable – Two sticks – Like you said.
* Xbox 360 – Better Reliability – i love my xbox and its only red-ringed on me once but as far as i’m concerned once is one time too many the ridiculous failure rate is unacceptable.
* Playstation 3 – Better/more exclusives – there are very few games that i feel like i’m missing out on by not owning a PS3 (the only ones i can think of are uncharted and maybe GT5) i might consider buying the next PS if this issue i have is looking like its being addressed.
* Wii – less gimmicks – honestly i can’t think of one wii game that would make me want to own a wii (unfortunately my brother bought one), they are all so…. i don’t konw, shallow? i guess is the word i’m looking for there is just no depth to any of them. the killer though is that Zelda TP is on gamecube
* PC (High-end gaming) – Slowing down hardware lifecycles – i agree entirely with what rothbart said
* Playstation Portable – Better Piracy protection – i will never buy a hand held console that no dev is willing to make games for.
* Nintendo DS – definitely agree with rothbart here i had a lite and it just felt like old tech
360: I have exactly 2 issues…..
1) MORE EXCLUSIVES! I agree completely…. perhaps more so as a primarily PC gamer.
2) FREE online play. Again, coming from a PC end where we are used to this as the standard (even if it means we have different companies handling different games), I kinda want it. And if you cant give me option 1, then this one becomes an absolute must. Why SHOULD I pay to play a game online when the PC version of the same game doesnt make me?
PS3:
Price: Yes, I am interested, but not interested enough to fork over what they want… frankly, it doesnt have a good enough killer app yet.
Wii:
1) MORE FPS! Seriously, Metroid Prime set a bar I think most developers are afraid to try to match at this point. Only reason I can think why we dont have something awesome in it’s wake yet.
2) BETTER storage option. Im still convinced it would be possible and work well to run games off the SD card WITHOUT copying the whole thing to memory first. Hell that you can copy that fast only makes me more convinced. This works…. but….
PC (high end): WINDOWS FREAKING LIVE! GET RID OF IT! I mean, it’s not a bad service… in theory… but when it just becomes another DRM because you cant use more then one gamertag with a CD-key…. that’s just anal, and frankly, we have better ways to handle it without restricting players so damn much. Also the standalone program sucks beyond compare.
PC (casual): Actually, I have no issue with this… I dont use these often, but when I do, they are nothing but good to me.
PSP: 1) second analog stick… couldnt agree more (STILL wouldnt make me play FPSs, but…)
2) A little internal memory would have been nice…. not to download per se, but for an option for saved games, it would have been awesome.
DS: screen protectors: WHY THE HELL CAN NO TWO BE THE SAME? Seriously, my brother and I got one each… same kind… I couldnt use his DS (my stylus skipped) while mine was perfect…. wtf, man!
Diortem,
there was an update for the wii a few weeks ago that means you can run games and channels direct off sd card
I know… but it works by copying the game to a temporary space on your internal memory before you play. If there is a game already there, it gets swept away first, of course….
I still think that’s rather… unnecessary, considering how fast it copies.
* Xbox 360 – probably have to agree with roth. give me show stopping exclusives. things that make me proud to own the console.
* Playstation 3 – fix the online. its pathetic when i go to rent a movie and i can’t watch it till the next day. as far as price i think its good. if the exclusives were better that would force people to buy, like how many people are gonna drop the cash for gow3? to me the online is a bigger issue.
* Wii – actual games that people want to play…think im done here.
* PC (High-end gaming) – probably have to agree with roth on this one as well.
* PC (Casual gaming) – not to sure on this one, my mom is a casual computer gamer and she uses gamehouse and has no problems.
* Playstation Portable – go digital.
* Nintendo DS (you can specify Fat, Lite, or “i” at will) – more original games, rather than rehases of all the other titles and franchises. and use the hardware for what its worth, don’t use the touch just because its there, only if it makes the game better.
* iPhone/iPod Touch – for what it is, the platform works quite well. like the red show said, im not gonna pick this over a real portable system, but if im waiting in line at the post office yea ill pop it out and play. maybe just to see some real games rather then just a touch the screen all over the place kinda thing.
Xbox 360 – A red lights fix
PS3 – Lower Price
Pc (High End) – A good controller and headset that works with lots of games.
DS – More Power
PSP – SOME GAMES PEOPLE :O
this is a reply to ReaggieMan’s comment:The red lights are the red rings of death that means there is a problem witch can easily be fixed from well calling up on the phone to get it repaired for free!
ps3-Can agree it is on the pricey side but its all worth
Pc high end – these games are so high in graphics and with all this A.I. what not lets face not everyone in the world has Alien Ware Computers !!lower the graphics a little so at least more people can get to play Crisis and every other game in the world of high end
PC- casual there is absoloutely nothing wrong with these types of games there are people who want to play mindsweeper and just flash games which is cool.
DS- with DS-I out theres some buzz going on which maybe it will be better then the other 2 ds’s the original and lite but who knows i have to see for myself
PSP-Good but needs second analog stick and some better games over all for a handheld it good graphics!
High end PC: Release HL3 or else.
Yep. Thats it…
Oh, hang on. Release Operation Flashpoint 2 or else!
Yep thats it for me.
Hey where’s the PS2??? </3