Xbox 360=I Am Outdated
So now that the first opening salvo of the next generation consoles has thundered through the marketplace I now find myself once again feeling pretty behind the times. This is always the way it goes, although this time I’m in no huge hurry to actually get a new console. At least not this one anyway. The Xbox was an okay system, and I’m sure the Xbox 360 will have its share of impressive games (Although to be honest, the only exclusive I’m actually interested in for it is Halo 3) but if you’re the kind of gamer that can only afford one system, or is more interested in hardcore, “purist” gaming, rather than the usual tourist-y stuff pumped out by Electronic Arts, then you know that the PS3 is the machine to get.
I admit it, I’m something of an elitest when it comes to gaming. I was there in the late 70′s with the Atari 2600, ploughed my way through the Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Atari 600 XL, Amiga, Playstation, Playstation 2, GameCube and Xbox. I KNOW games. I know them very well. And overall the Xbox is really mostly flash, with little in the way of substantial games. The good stuff, the stuff that pushes gaming, things like Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, Devil May Cry, God of War, Shadow of Colossus, Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts… all of these formidable titles have their home on the Playstation, and of all the consoles I’ve played to date, it has been the Playstation (Both 1 and 2) that have had the greatest number of memorable titles for me.
So while some out there are already hooking up their 360s and taking part in the dawn of the next generation of consoles, I will watch, maybe give the 360 a try at the GameAxis offices when they get one in, but mostly I will wait. Because I have an irrational faith in the Playstation consoles, and from what I have seen already, it will be the system that will deliver on the promise of showing gamers things they’ve never see before. Lord knows I could do with more of that…
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Speaking as a total gaming neophyte, I chose to go PS2 over X-Box just because while browsing the available games for both platforms I found that the Sony brand featured a lot more whimiscal and imaginative titles than Gates’ brand did. All of the x-box games seemed to be so serious and “cool” in that macho way that has always struck me as ridiculous.
Maybe it was just a case of what was available in that particular store at that particular time, but since then I’ve always associated the PS2 with fun enjoyable titles and the X-box with grim death simulators.
Is that a mistake on my part?
No, that’s not a mistake, that’s another aspect of the Japanese influence on the console.
The Japanese have always had a more open-ended, whimsical approach to the possibilities of games. They still follow the same wish-fulfillment principles, but it’s not as obssessed with power game as the American psyche. The Nintendo GameCube took that whimsy too far. The Xbox is practically non-existent. The Playstation however, managed to strike a nice balance, although I’m still sorry that Parappa the Rapper never made it to the PS2. That was a CLASSIC game, and if you can find it, I highly reccomend you pick it up. It’s a PS1 game, but thanks to the miracle of built-in backwards compatibility, your PS2 can run it. It’s a music game, TONS of fun, and not insanely hard…