• 22May 13

  Yes, 'because it's popular' is a perfectly good reason to buy a console or game.

  I often see GameSpot users deriding others for liking what's popular. That's too bad because there are perfectly good reasons for going with the flavor of the month.

  Personally, I'd take a PlayStation 3 over an Xbox 360 on the console's merits. The PS3 is more reliable, more powerful and has more features. During any other hardware generation, that would have been enough.

  But, unfortunately for the Sony machine, it's lacking in one critical area: my friends. The buds I play games with stick to the Xbox for the most part. Again, that wouldn't have mattered a few hardware generations ago because most of those people lived down the street from me. Playing games together involved one of us hoofing it to the other's house, and it didn't really matter that we owned two different versions of "Street Fighter II." As long as we could pull off a Shoryuken on the other system's game pad (or arcade stick), we were good.

  Things are different in the "Street Fighter IV" era. Those buddies don't live down the street from me. In many cases, they live down the coast. Or across the country. And people don't come to my house to play games anymore because my wife would shoo them off. As for my new friends -- the people I work with every day -- they don't play games. So, if I have "Street Fighter IV" on the PlayStation 3 and my friends have "Street Fighter IV" on the Xbox 360 or PC,  we just aren't going to be able to play together.

  That is the sole reason that I am willing to pony up $60 a year for Xbox LIVE. I think it's a sad reason. I hate that Microsoft has this kind of advantage. But, it's either pay the LIVE fee and stick with Xbox or play "Street Fighter IV" by myself. That is, of course, unless any of you know a quick and easy way to convince about three dozen of my friends to abandon the Xbox 360 and all the games, Achievements, accessories and downloadable content they've accumulated and switch to PlayStation 3. I'm thinking you probably can't help me there.

  This can be applied to individual games, too. I love "Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown" and don't care as much for "Tekken Tag Tournament 2." Go online and try to find any competition on VF, though. It's dead. As much as I like it, I've only played a few rounds of VF: FS over the past year. I've logged many more into games I don't care for as much, and, to be frank, I've actually enjoyed them more because of it. Playing a competitive game -- even a great one -- by myself is no fun. Given the choice between a less-popular game I love and a popular game I like, I'll go with the popular game every time.

  So, yeah, when I am torn between the PlayStation 3 version of "Injustice: Gods Among Us" and the Xbox 360 version, I'm going with the Xbox 360. That would be the case even if the PlayStation 3 version were the better of the two. And as much as it pains me to say it, if my PlayStation 3 and my Xbox 360 were to die today and I could only afford to replace one, I'd go for a new Xbox. Sorry, Sony.

  • Posted May 22, 2013 6:06 pm GMT
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• 21May 13

  The new consoles.

  I've just about had my fill of console gaming. Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft have all revealed their new consoles, and, well, I don't see the point.

  The things that used to attract me to consoles -- the games, namely, but also couch multiplayer -- are now passe, I suppose. Apparently, these companies are more interested in providing all-in-one entertainment boxes than giving me a reason to pick up the game pad. Problem is that I have a small PC that can do that. And even if I didn't, I would only need a WiiU, PlayStation 4 or Xbox One to fit my needs. With so few exclusive titles, there aren't many compelling reasons to own all the consoles anymore.

  In fact, there aren't many reasons for me to pick up a console at all. I haven't actually played a game on my PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 in more than a week. And, I've been playing games. I've played Tomb Raider, Bioshock: Infinite and NBA 2K13 and a few other multiplatform games. That's the problem. Ninety percent of what's worth playing now is on all consoles and PC. And, not surprisingly, they look and play better on PC.

  So, why keep a console around? Well, I like Nintendo games. More specifically, I liked Nintendo games, before they became little more than a new New Super Mario Bros. here and a new Animal Crossing game there. I haven't been thrilled by what I've seen so far for the WiiU.

  I like fighting games, too. Those are somewhat hard to find on PC. But, with Capcom seemingly intent on killing the genre through its moronic DLC policies and release schedules, I have to question how much life that genre has left.

  Finally, I like motion controls well enough. Sure, the PC has its share of motion devices. Hell, the mouse is a type of motion controller. However, it doesn't have games like "Dance Central" and "Sports Champions." It looks like the console guys plan to keep making those games, and, to tell you the truth, I'd buy them. But, to me, motion control games are to be enjoyed in addition to excellent traditional games. I love "Dance Central," but I don't really want to play it by myself. Yes, I'd buy a console for motion controls, but not if it doesn't have a large stable of good so-called 'core exclusives.

  Which brings me back to the reveals. So far, we've seen very few exclusives aside from the Killzones and Forzas and all the other entries in the good, but tired, franchises we know very well. No fighting games, and that makes me sad. But, we have decent-looking motion controls. But, I ain't spending full price on a brand-new console for that.

  That means I'm going to wait. We'll see if Sony and Microsoft can pull something together for E3. If they can't, the money I have set aside for new consoles is going into new PC hardware.

   

  • Posted May 21, 2013 4:23 pm GMT
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• 9Sep 12

  Radio silence.

  So, I just got a new job as a business reporter for a daily newspaper. Things appear to be going well. I haven't started yet, but I have made the move and have settled in. I hope to be able to blog on the weekends. However, I have to see what my schedule is before I can make any promises.

  I know I haven't been posting lately. Sorry. It's been a busy summer. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, The Last Story, Binary Doman, Bulletstorm, Blacklight: Retribution, Diablo III, Dust: An Elysian Tail, Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown, Hybrid and 3D Dot Game Heroes have been eating up my free time since May. I have a few things to say about Amalur. Maybe later.

  • Posted Sep 9, 2012 2:02 pm GMT
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