The tyranny of cross-platform choice

[wraggster]

via joystiq

You kids today think you've got it so good. But ya don't! Back in my day, there was only one dominant system, and we bought all the crappy games that came out for it, and that's the way we liked it, dagnabbit!

Now you got all sorts of different systems clogging up your fancy-schmancy entertainment center, and what's worse, publishers are coming out with the same game for all of 'em. The last Madden game came out on 11 different systems, for Pete's sake!

You might think it's better to have a choice, but it's not! Now ya gotta choose between the fancy graphics on the PS3, the online features on the Xbox 360 and the swishy control scheme of the Wii. Things ain't looking so good now that you got that decision staring you in the face, eh sonny boy?

Even the portable versions are getting a second look these days. Back in my day, portable versions knew their place as the neglected, pixelated, black-and-white cousins to their console superiors. Now these upstarts are rivaling or even bettering their rightful console masters. What's the world coming to!

Hey, don't walk away while I'm ranting at'chya. I need someone to drive me to the pharmacy to get my pills. Come back here and listen to me tell you how bad things are, consarnit!

[werpu]

I cannot remember one time where one system was dominant, in the early eighties, you had the atari 2600 and about 5 major consoles besides it, then apple2 a and the ataris and commodores,
after that, nes, neo geo, c64 and later st and amiga and then snes, and the sega systems additionally, after that there was the pc, nintendo, sega and later also sony...

I think the current state of affairs is pretty much like it used to be, just the variety of cheap homecomputers was replaced by a dominant all in purpose PC and the number of console makers are now down to three.

[samthegreat68]

uhh what was the point of this article? tell us crap we already know??

[g00gy]

Yeh consoles in the old days each had their own mascot.

[JKKDARK]

There were true companies befire. Now we have crappy companies like Sony and Microsoft which aren't true video games companies. Plus these two cpmanies have A LOT of money, they get all the games on their systems and then developers make poor quality games.

[Tetris999]

uhh what was the point of this article? tell us crap we already know??

YUP

[werpu]

Well most of the old games were $#@! as well, same goes for the companies trying to get into the console business.

I can remember the Atari 2600 days, Hashbro, Mattel, Banday all wanted to make the quick buck out of the new business. The Atari 2600 was flooded with cheap clones of cheap clones of pacman. The problem is that the games are prefiltered by selecitve memory and mostly forgotten.

[Broadus]

You know, there are still console-exclusive games. To my great displeasure.

[Basil Zero]

Sony and Microsoft respectively made decent games:


Sony with God of War and Legend of Dragoon ,along with some intervention with some of the FF games.

Microsoft with Gears of War and Halo(LOL)


i say let it be the way it is, the end will justify who's more dominant.

[cswallstreet]

Reading that reminds me of what Grandpa Kong would say on the Donkey Kong Country on the SNES.. of couruse while hes beating you with his cane like on the game.