Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Why Can't My Gaming Console Just Play Games?

After a long period of trepidation, I bought a few months of Xbox Live Gold this summer, and to be honest, I'm glad it was on sale. Whenever I do turn on my Xbox 360 and glance at what my friends are doing, they are watching Netflix. It almost feels like people own current gen consoles to play Madden or Call of Duty, and watch stuff on Netflix. I have no issue with any of this in particular, but more with the fact that video game consoles are capable of doing so much now that console makers have pretty much pushed their core application to the back burner. Sadly, for the most part, gamers fell for it.

Think about it: as video games became prettier and consoles became capable of everything from washing your car to providing oral pleasure, the overall quality of the gameplay in their core products has gone down. Most people seem more likely to turn on their game consoles to watch an episode of Mad Men or South Park than to play a quick round of Pac Man DX or Ms. Splosion Man. This sadly all adds to my point that for the most part, the video game industry is in a bad place creatively.

So to be honest, I won't be renewing my subscription to Xbox Live Gold after it expires next month, and I'm not sure when I will purchase another subscription, because apparently nobody is playing video games right now. Call me a cynic, but I'm still really big on my gaming consoles having games on them, oh and this isn't merely a shot at Microsoft, because it seems to be the same thing with all of the consoles hitting the market.

At the gaming conventions that have been going on, publishers have trying to make people care about the software they're putting out, while the console makers are talking about all these non gaming related applications being heaved onto their systems. The video game industry and those that make money from it have essentially duped gamers into spending more money for more fragile equipment that while producing gorgeous visuals, are becoming nothing more than a new version of the Sega Channel.

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