Console Wars

Since Nintendo and it’s rival Sega went from 8-bit to 16-bit, then to 32-bit, the console wars have become steadily less inspiring. The key-push to the war was always graphics. The system with the best graphics usually won out, or got left behind. Now, Playstation and Xbox are on-par with each other in terms of graphics, with Playstation leading the race. With the next-gens we’re reaching the limits of what our TVs can even reasonably display, but they’ve given up on “gimmicks” like 3D display. That being said, the debut games on the next-gen consoles won’t look much different than the last games on the old consoles. This has always been the way. What’s the advantage, then, or the reason to update?

The Wii U is already out and being lambasted for not having the most advanced hardware. It’s considered a Wii with a iPad. It, however, has tons of backwards compatibility, and easy access to it’s back-catalogue of games. You can literally play the Wii on the Wii U. The new PS4 and Xbox One (X1?) both spit on that concept. You apparently can’t load a 360 game onto a One, despite the technology being there and it being connected to your old Xbox account.

Beyond that, the new systems have little to offer that couldn’t be made available with an app, like on the later-day 360. The One boasts the Kinect 2.0, which isn’t something people necessarily want. The Kinect 1 was nothing more than an expensive gimmick for the 360, with few gaming options. Players were always promised integration with their favourite games, and that never happened. The “big” Kinect games like the Star Wars one were on-rail jokes.  People traded in the Kinect Adventure game it came with, and you could buy it for pennies used. That’s likely because no one wants to shout commands at their TV, or wail their arms around like crazy when they’re trying to unwind. Have you ever tried using voice commands? On any system from the Kinect to Siri, to Google Voice? It DOESN’T work. Having the integrated Kinect 2.0 only adds to the cost of an already expensive system, plus gamers are being told they’ll have to pay extra to “unlock” used or borrowed games.

The gaming industry hates the used gaming industry because it creates a secondary economy. The great thing about the secondary economy is that’s it’s a viable alternative to the first, which sucks. Every new game comes out costing around $70, and without the secondary market, it’d stay that way. Only the AAA titles are worth that expense, but the full content is always kept from players in the form of “downloadable content” which can cost double the shelf price. Essentially, you’re always paying for half-a-game. The secondary market cuts through that bullshit. Garbage titles will soon find themselves in the bargain bin. With Xbox or Playstation controlling the market, they’ll never likely dip under the $40 mark until well over a year has gone by. They’re fleecing the consumers every way they know how.

Their other forms of “integration” aren’t phenomenal. Being able to link your gaming console with your handheld device like Vita, or your smartphone, isn’t really useful. I’ve tried using the Xbox app on my tablet, and beyond being able to search for videos on youtube slightly easier, it’s useless. The One was really pushing it’s integration with TV viewing, neglecting the fact that no one watches TV anymore. Nobody. It’s all downloads, Netflix and youtube. People want to be freed from their TVs. There’s little point in even owning one anymore, except for having a bigger screen.

Then there’s the “exclusives.” These are the real reason to decide between consoles. Nintendo pumps out the same stuff it’s been giving us since the 80’s. PS4 has ??? and God of War. The One has Halo and ???. The Halo franchise doesn’t even belong to Bungie anymore. As for Infinity Ward and the Call of Duty franchise that’s the game-killer, Infinity Ward isn’t even Infinity Ward. The rest of the sports games belong to EA, which is the worst company in the world two years running, and will likely fuck up their launch titles on both systems while they’ve dismissed working with Nintendo outright.