@sirapathetic01 Umm...you do realize that, until the PlayStation came out, Nintendo almost entirely ruled the gaming roost for over a decade, right? Genesis was around, but they barely made a dent in Nintendo's market. That having been established, third party software was the vast majority of the games available for both the NES and the SNES.

Most of my memories from childhood up through high school revolve not around all of the great things I got to do as a kid, or the neat places I lived; rather, they involve the games I played before, during, and after the "fun" my parents had planned for me.

Every summer, my mother would get me a book a pool passes to the city swimming pool, and after riding my bike there, swimming until it closed, and getting back by the glow of lightning bugs, I would plop down in front of the television for an all-night session with my NES.

Whenever I went to stay with my mother for the summer, she would rent an NES from the video game store in the small town thirty miles from our farmhouse, and I would spend every night, all night, playing The Legend of Zelda, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior.

Even younger than that, when my parents would leave me with my first babysitter, I would spend entire evenings in the bedroom in front of the tiny television playing Dragon Warrior and Super Mario Bros. 2.

When I got Chicken Pox, the worst part was when my uncle convinced me that I would get it again if I used my controller, and spent my entire birthday playing Duck Hunt and Super Mario Bros. on it while I listened from my bedroom.

Every significant experience from my childhood is not only colored by, but inextricably linked with my love of video games.

Now that I'm in my thirties, there's little I enjoy more than when the games of my past get rereleased on Virtual Console or PSN, if only because I'm reminded of times when bills weren't my primary concern. My 3DS accompanies me everywhere I go, just waiting for the moment when I can pull it out when spending a whole afternoon at the doctor's office, waiting for the night to end so I can close up the restaurant, or just whenever I have a moment.

The thing for which I'm really nostalgic is the FINAL quality of games that were released before Internet connectivity. The games were tested and most of the bugs were fixed before the games ever hit the market, and you never had to pay extra to "unlock" whatever content was on the cartridge. I'm honestly offended when companies expect me to shell out $50-$70 for a game that is, for all intents and purposes, incomplete, and then ask me to pay an extra $100+ in DLC (Square-Enix, you've gotten very bad about this), just to unlock all of the content already programmed into the game.

The only exciting news for me would be that they're halting production, if only to watch the BroGamers' heads simultaneously explode.

In what world does this asshat live?

@Timmy_Gwar @JumpyLuweegee Right...because the XBOX is doing SO well in Japan.

Basically, if consumers play a demo and find out that the game sucks or they don't like it, they don't buy it.

And isn't there a lawsuit, right now, about a game trailer not being representative of the actual game?

So, were I a game designer, I might glean from this data the following:

"Perhaps we need to stop making games that suck, have no replay value, and that people don't want to play."

@TheWalkingGhost @TheMatrixCBC Well, not all of you.

I can't say I disagree with this. I get that some games will contain both violence (even of a sexual nature) and drug use as a theme, but if such behavior is not only encouraged, but rewarded with "Achievements" or "Trophies," it really is simply gratuitous.

@perkypossum Forgive me for asking, but exactly how do you define the concept of "winning?" You seem to be making an incredibly specious argument based solely on your own personal opinion, rather than basing your argument on facts.

Allow me to break down my perspective into three simple points:

1.) Exactly how can a console be considered the "winning" console in a console war when they can barely give a 360 away in Japan, arguably the largest gaming market (in terms of sheer spending habits)? In terms of sheer numbers of units shipped (globally), neither the XBOX nor the PS3 can even begin to touch the numbers of the Nintendo Wii (lagging behind by over 20 million units), and yet "hardcore gamers" consider it a failure, despite the fact that is has made the more money for its company than either of the other consoles, and has several IPs that are not only well-known, but iconic around the world, and that continue to sell far beyond any of the IPs for other systems.

2.) The XBOX 360 targets a demographic that is almost wholly white, male, and between the ages of 18-35; furthermore, the vast majority of games for the console target one of two audiences: FPS fans and Sports enthusiasts. Outside of those genres, the 360 has little to offer gamers that fall outside of those parameters, with the sole exception of the Kinect, which in two years has largely failed to be incorporated into most of the games released for the console after Kinect's launch.

3.) The argument that the 360 "won" the console wars is unsubstantiated, and largely comes down to a matter of opinion. Despite being a tech company whose main function is to produce software, the XBOX, its website, and its interface are woefully inept, from a design perspective. Additionally, Microsoft's attempt at creating a currency that is seemingly unrelated to the currency of its largest user base (the U.S.) is mind boggling. Then, rendering specific pay-to-play apps (such as Netflix) unusable unless you upgrade to an XBOX Live Gold membership was just another slap in the face.

While I appreciate your perspective, I would question whether or not you've spent much time playing actual games, rather than using your 360 in much the way the XBOX One is designed - as an overpriced cable box.

That seems about right. I felt that way about my 360 after about a month.