There are a lot of options out there for gamers right now, which turns out to not be such a great thing. In the gaming world, it seems that the only person who doesn’t win is the consumer, because if we want the ultimate experience, we have to waste a bunch of money to get every platform. I don’t even want to think about all the money I’ve spent acquiring my consoles. But now that I’ve made those investments and the platforms have had some time to mature, it’s time the developers owned up to what they’re still doing wrong.
PC
I don’t even know who would fix the PC’s problems, but it’s biggest issue is a lack of uniformity. When I buy a console game, I know that it will work exactly as it works on every other console. When I buy a PC game, it might work great or it might not work at all, even if my system is high end. The problem, of course, is how to get uniformity without limiting choice. I don’t have any answers, but something needs to change.
Xbox 360
First of all, you’re still charging people to play online? While your service is slightly better than Sony’s offering, it is certainly not enough of an improvement to warrant a monthly bill. Let me list a couple reasons why I object to that bill:
- A lot of your demo downloads are only available for Gold subscribers. That means I have to pay to download a free demo. What part of “free” don’t you understand?
- Game developers these days seem to have decided that their games are just too pretty to part into split screen modes, instead requiring friends to either a) set up a second TV for a LAN party or b) send their friends home so they can play online. The problem with option b is that in the old days, I could have just played that co-op game sitting next to my friend for free. Now, I have to pay an Xbox subscription premium just to be anti-social.
Of course, there’s still the huge, obvious problem of the red ring of death. How long has your console been out and you still can’t fix it? I have an NES that has given me less problems than the Xbox. Get your act together.
Playstation 3
As I understand it, Sony has decided not to bribe developers into giving them exclusive content. While I admire your commitment to fair practices, Microsoft does not share my sympathy. You are depriving your loyal customers of a lot of nice downloadable content. Unless you can convince game developers not to jump on the Microsoft bandwagon, it’s time you start throwing out some cash.
Speaking of Microsoft, they gave you a pretty good idea how to run your online community, but it’s taken you an awful long time to get yours in shape. You’ve finally got it mostly right, but you’re missing a couple features that keep Microsoft’s offering ahead of yours, namely unity. The Xbox has a very unified experience stretching across games, whereas you seem to leave that up to game developers. Game developers are lazy. Do it yourselves.
Fix your controller. I don’t mind the d-pad being where it is, but those long-throw triggers need to go. The sensitivity seems too quirky, but the easiest fix would just be to have the back curve up rather than down so my fingers don’t slide off all the time. How hard is that?
Finally, get developers onboard with your software. Although Xbox fanboys will disagree, it’s pretty obvious the PS3 has the most capable hardware, but mutli-platform games tend to get the short stick when it comes to your console. I don’t know if Microsoft is just paying the developers to sabotage your console ports, but something needs to be done.
Wii
The Wii is the biggest case of lost potential. Unfortunately, it has also sold so many units that Nintendo thinks it must be perfect. Wrong. First off, all of your display options suck on anything but a standard definition, 4:3 television. Move it to high definition and everything just looks bad, but move it to a widescreen TV and you’re in trouble. Sure, you can set the Wii to display widescreen, but it only looks right if you also set your TV to stretch mode. That works fine if you’re only ever going to play Wii games, but lets face it, your game library is lacking and people like me are going to play Virtual Console or GameCube games. Every time I load one of those up, I have to switch my TV back to side bar mode, because otherwise it stretches the 4:3 picture, which, by the way, still doesn’t fill the screen, for whatever reason (hint: it’s not a problem with my TV). Even if you can’t play nice and just support HD, you could at least make your system work with widescreen TVs.
Next, we’ve got the control scheme. The latest products out of Nintendo are meant to be innovative, but, unfortunately, what that really means is that you are forcing developers to rethink everything they do just so they can sell games for your system. It seems that a lot of the time, that means that the developers are simply going to ignore the console. Even if they don’t, how long do you think people are actually going to enjoy waving around their controller? I, for one, have started to completely avoid games that require constant motion. I play video games because I want to be lazy, not because I want to exercise my forearms. Developers seem to be listening and are starting to ignore motion controls in action games like the upcoming Muramasa. Good. Sure, motion controls are great for shooters and racing games (if done right), but most of the time they’re just annoying. Forcing your “innovations” on developers leads to second-rate games, leading to decreased customer satisfaction. Fanboys will say that it’s the developers fault for not catering to the Wii, but let’s be honest: it’s Nintendo’s fault for forcing them to do so in the first place.
DS
I have more trouble finding things that went right with this platform than I do finding things that went wrong. First of all, the DS suffers from the same problems as the Wii: it’s too unique for its own good. If it was the only handheld on the market, that would be fine, but it competes against the supremely normal PSP. Like the Wii, developers have to rethink not only control schemes, but also display schemes.
And why do we even need two screens? Sure, they work great when you want to display a world map or something, but often a game simply doesn’t need a second screen, so developers have to come up with some gimmick just so gamers don’t feel like they are underutilizing their investment. It isn’t a totally awful idea to have two screens, but the execution needs work. For instance, it might be better to have the second screen just slide out. That way, it can just stay hidden if a developer decides not to use it, thus we aren’t forced to stare at a blank screen and don’t feel like we’ve wasted money.
Why on earth is there a microphone on this system? I can not think of a single practical use for it. I have never thought, “Oh, awesome, I get to yell at my DS on the crowded subway to activate my next objective!” And now you want to add a camera, too? Please, stop. I don’t even like the touch screen most of the time. It seems to encourage developers to use it more than necessary, much like the Wii’s motion controls. For instance, in Zelda: Phantom Hourglass, the touch screen is useful for drawing paths for various weapons, but I despise having to use it to control movement and to swing my sword. I think I have managed to execute a forward roll on purpose exactly twice. I would much rather not have you waste all those buttons.
Playstation Portable (PSP)
The UMD is the single worst idea Sony has ever had, at least when it comes to gaming. As if a big screen doesn’t waste enough battery life, now there are also moving parts. Why was the UMD ever necessary to begin with? I can fit more data on an SD card than I can on a DVD. There is no practical reason for stupid little discs. Thankfully, Sony seems to have listened, and has begun selling games as downloads only. However, that is not a very ideal solution for people like me. I like to trade in my old games when I want new ones, but there is no way to trade in a downloaded game.
Aside from a lack of quality content for older gamers (a problem also plaguing the DS), the PSP’s biggest problem is expense. Even when I see a PSP game I would love to own, I am not about to throw down $40 for a game for a portable system. Wii games are only $10 more than that. As far as I can tell, the new download-only option for games seems to be lowering that cost, and I hope it stays that way.
Last, but certainly not least, is the problem everyone has: the second thumb stick, or lack thereof. The PSP seems to suffer from an identity crisis. On the one hand, it is basically just a portable PS2. On the other hand, Sony seems determined to keep it a typical handheld system and refuses to put a second analog stick on it, despite the fact that just about everyone that owns a PSP would like one and developers continue to make first-person shooters for the system. Those developers have even begun programming games to allow PS3 controllers to be connected to the system so that players have access to the additional thumb stick. Either keep the system a standard handheld and remove the one thumb stick or go all the way and add a second.
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Have any additional complaints? I’d love to hear ‘em in the comments. NO FLAMING!