• 28Nov 10

  Why I've Been Leaning Towards Classic Games

  I really don't know if anybody really reads my blog posts but I feel the need to write one every so often. Lately I've been playing more and more classic games. It seems that, to me at least, many of the big games are the same thing every year. What are the big games of this holiday season Call Of Duty:BO, Medal Of Honor, Gran Turismo 5, Guitar Hero 17&1/3, Madden 2009 revision 2, Halo ? Every holiday season I am less interested in what they have to offer for the two "Next Gen" systems because it seems so repetitive.

  Or maybe it has to do with my hatred for 360 right now. I was on my 2nd 360 that just quit working right after The latest update for the system, meanwhile my 19 year old Sega Genesis just keeps plugging away along with my 23 year old NES, 10 year old Dreamcast, and 10 year old PSone. granted I had to replace my Playstation once but it wasn't 200-300 dollars to replace after being out for 5 years, and it was because I wore it out from playing it so much. Considering MS was lucky if I played my 360 once a week this is just not acceptable. I have a close to launch PS3 and a launch Wii that I have had zero problems with, to me that is the way these systems should be considering how much they cost(at least the PS3 and 360).

  Another reason has to be the constant updating. When I'm ready to play I want to play. I don't want to have to update my system or update my game before I play. I want to just pop the game in and play the game. If I wanted constant updates I would still play PC games. there is no reason we should have to have an update for a game that just came out because the publisher released a broken game to make a deadline. granted there were games that weren't up to snuff before updates but those games typically didn't do well and the companies that did this repeatedly didn't last long, but now it seems to be the status quo.

  I think that the biggest reason for me is the continued increase in cost to my favorite past time and I just can't justify the added cost in time and money. I shouldn't have to re-buy my console every other year, I shouldn't have to pay extra for content already on the disk or that used to be included in games, I shouldn't have to update my system just to play a game, and I should be able to find more original games. If the big game companies keep it up they are going to be no different than the movie and music industries, manufactured hits, no originality, and decreased profits. I think it's already begun, but what do I know? give me your thoughts

  • Posted Nov 28, 2010 1:32 pm GMT
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• 12May 10

  DLC and online gaming Trojan Horse

  I have been reading a lot of video game news lately and something has been brought to my attention especially in the last couple of weeks. The big video game companies are getting too big for their own good. It has been going on for sometime now so this isn't some brand new development. It just seems that that big companies are giving us less and less and charging us more and more.

  I was really disturbed when I found out that 360 and ps3 games were going to be $10 more than their last gen counterparts, I mean $10 more for the same sports rehashes year after year, GVE ME A BREAK. Then all the DLC for some of these games started coming in and that's when I really took notice. paying ridiculous prices for horse armor and the like, things that could and SHOULD be included in the game. The supposed "extra value" that having all this DLC for games is completely bogus, the extra value would be to include the added armor, weapons etc in the game rather than charging extra for it. On top of that one company started charging for cheats for their games, which used to be included in a lot of their games FOR FREE, CHEAT CODES ARE NOT BONUS CONTENT!! they are already in the game.

  The most recent news that really pushed me to write this blog is Sony's removal of features on their ps3 and EA's removal of on line play on used games if you don't pay them $10.00 for a key. in EA's case that's equivalent to you haven't to pay the original maker of a vehicle a fee to continue to use a feature of the vehicle like the stereo or key less entry. In Sony's case it's like the manufacture giving you a choice between removing the stereo because it allows you to listen to radio stations that do not pay fees to the manufacture or removing the wheels so that you can no longer use the vehicle for it's main intended purpose. If this were the case in the auto industry most people would be walking, riding bikes, or riding buses.

  Now you may be wondering so what's my point? If these big corporations got their way their would be no used market you would not be able own a physical copy of a game, and every time you wanted to play an old game you would have to buy it from them again, or so it seems that is what they want from their actions. Where would the video game industry be today if you couldn't play your old games anymore without paying a fee or couldn't complete a game 100% without a feature that is no longer available. This is where it starts to get all screwed up. IF someone can't come back and play a game 5-10 years down the road and have the same great experiences from it that people who played it today have what becomes of our game industry when it's future talent can't learn from previous mistakes and triumphs, Let's hope it doesn't come to this. I believe if we continue to support companies that continue to introduce worthless DLC, draconian DRM, and removal of features we are going to be the ones that pay in the end.

  In the end I think the biggest downfall I see with all of this along with Downloaded games is what happens when the companies decide to no longer support a platform, game, or lose a licence. You will no longer be able to play said game, or DLC if your system dies. The biggest example of this was the Sega Chanel which allowed you to play some games that you could not purchase in any other form, though you did not pay a per game fee, those games are not available for anyone with a U.S. system to go back and play without paying for that right again(Wii VC), and that's what I believe these multi-billion dollar companies are going for.

  • Posted May 12, 2010 3:22 pm GMT
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