Can you guys remember the N64, it was a console that did not even have a start up mode, you just put in a a game and off you went, well don't you just miss all that. I mean we have internet, shopping, chat, facebook, twitter, achivements, downloads, weather reports, news reports, photo's, music, videos when all I really want to do is play games. Not only from that standpoint but I'm sure it would be cheaper
You do realize that all the consoles allow you to go straight to the game, right? I'm not even talking about "go to start-up screen, press start", but the fact that it will automatically go to a game if it's in the disc drive.
All I want from a console is the abilty to play a game and download more, no achivements or friends or online play or nothing!
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So you want to go back to console gaming circa 1996? Congratulations on being one of the only people in existence who would think that getting rid of all the strides we've made since the Dreamcast pioneered online console gaming is somehow a bad thing. Perhaps the DS would be more your speed.
" Can you guys remember the N64, it was a console that did not even have a start up mode, you just put in a a game and off you went, well don't you just miss all that. I mean we have internet, shopping, chat, facebook, twitter, achivements, downloads, weather reports, news reports, photo's, music, videos when all I really want to do is play games. Not only from that standpoint but I'm sure it would be cheaper "
I hate it when my Xbox refuses to load a game and puts me through to Twitter automatically.
I remember the N64 and I remember N64 games costing a lot of money. They charged $80 for some games and that's $100 in todays money. So cartridges are certainly not cheaper. One of the biggest reasons they moved away from cartridges was the cost.
No. Though games are still by far #1 priority I love that today's consoles have become more than a videogame playing box. More than anything, I love how today's consoles keep a log of your gaming history. I would LOVE to have a log of all the PS2 games I played.
Frankly, I can't imagine that the system software attributes all that much to the overall cost of the systems. It would be interesing to know the details on that tho.
All I want from a console is the abilty to play a game and download more, no achivements or friends or online play or nothing!
"
I don't understand what you're talking about here. What system forces you to do something before you can play a game? That is other then updates which lets face it, is a necessary advancement in gaming.
Consoles are moving that way because the developers want their systems to compete with computers. They want to make consoles THE home entertainment system.
And @dagas: made a great point. Games are no more expensive now than they were back then. In fact, we're quite lucky that video games are one of the few things that haven't seen prices rise.
Take a look at this page, which is a snapshot from November 27, 1999, from the N64 page of EBWorld (before it was EBGames/Gamestop), and you will see the prices look pretty much like prices of today.
" So you want to go back to the cartridge era? Man have fun with that............... "
Yeah cartridges were a hassle, I had a NES that required a whole ritual before it finally could boot up the game properly. Blow into the cartridge, put it in, turn it on, then off, then on and off again a few times, take it out and blow into the cartridge again etc. Some days it wouldn't work no matter how much I tried. So I can't say that consoles had better quality back then even though a lot of people complain about quality these days. Although it might just have been because it was old and used before I got it. I got a brand new Master System II when they were selling them out for pennies in 1995 and it never had those kinds of problems.
consoles could do with less superfluous features (because when i play games, i love nothing more than to wax bullshit on twitter), but they're at a pretty good spot where they are now, i guess. not that i would know, the filthy pc gamer that i am.
All we're doing is putting a PC in the living room, we're just taking the decade long scenic route and giving Microsoft a cut for holding our hand the whole way there. Dedicated video game consoles are already a thing of the past; the 'current gen' devices have so much functionality that they're just personal computers by any other name, and it looks like they're only gonna keep going further in that direction.
Consoles have evolved with the world around them. Although I only really use my consoles for games and downloading more games/content. Achievements are just another leaderboard. I would be fine with seeingg everything else (internet, shopping, chat, facebook, twitter, weather reports, news reports, photo's, music, videos)removed as I have a laptop that can do all of that.
I'll never complain about a console having too many features, but just because I have a 360 doesn't mean I ever use it to watch films or stream music or anything like that. My PS3 has tons of features I never use, such as the browser and sharing media with my PC. The only additional feature I use on any of my consoles is LoveFilm (British Netflix) on my PS3. But it's nice that it's there and doesn't do any harm, and I don't buy into those applications making things more expensive. Maybe you could make an argument about Xbox Live, but Sony isn't charging any more money for LoveFilm on my PS3. I download a ton of games, though, and I do like me some Xbox achievements.
I'm not a nostalgic person, so I can't say I ever crave for consoles to be simple like they used to. Those systems had their time and now we live in an era where consoles do a whole lot more than just play games, and that's nothing but a good thing. And because they're online, our consoles can now do more than they ever could. Just remember, this is the first generation of consoles to standardise patches for console games; in the old days, a broken game was just broken. Ain't nothing you could do, except not buy it.
It's bascially now a cheap computer, then you call that diverse? It's more like catching up. If you want to just play games, get a xbox 360 and don't pay for the rip off service they call xbox live, problem solved.
Why would you want less meaningful features? I can understand not caring about Twitter and that stuff, but no online mutliplayer or commutation? You can still play single player games if that's you thing, but why take out the ability to do more?
The Xbox 360 could be without all of the whistles and doo-dads it has. All it needs are videogames, movies, downloads and a marketplace from which to purchase content. It doesn't need Twitter, Last.FM, ESPN, or anything else.
The cost to develop a consoles front end software is minimal compared to the cost of the hardware itself. You wouldn't save money if this were to happen. And it's not like it forces you to go through the menu's at the start, you can make it boot right into the game.
All that shit means income and is what makes this generation of consoles cheaper, if anything. Well... Not the Wii since they make a profit of each console so fuck whatever Nintendo does.
Yeah, having that opening dashboard is a killer. I am nostalgic for the days where I didn't have to tap A a second time and couldn't look around to see what friends were online first etc.
I think it's archaic to call them gaming consoles after this generation because they're never going to go back to having video games as a sole purpose. At this point, I use my 360 more as a device for Netflix streaming than I do gaming. If I really wanted, I can get AT&T U-Verse from my 360 instead of having a receiver (though it's terribly expensive). Not only is a good strategy to sell units to families or non-gaming households, but it's nice not having sixteen boxes sit underneath my TV.
There is absolutely no need to use any of the other features if you don't want to, and if you are really that bent out of shape about pressing a button once to get to the game then you probably have a lot of other problems you need to deal with first.
" So you want to go back to the cartridge era? Man have fun with that............... "
Yeah cartridges were a hassle, I had a NES that required a whole ritual before it finally could boot up the game properly. Blow into the cartridge, put it in, turn it on, then off, then on and off again a few times, take it out and blow into the cartridge again etc. Some days it wouldn't work no matter how much I tried. So I can't say that consoles had better quality back then even though a lot of people complain about quality these days. Although it might just have been because it was old and used before I got it. I got a brand new Master System II when they were selling them out for pennies in 1995 and it never had those kinds of problems. "
With my SNES, I had to place it directly in front of a piece of furniture (wall unit, table leg, etc) and place my TV/VCR remote between the cartridge and the table leg, since if the cartridge EVER tilted backwards, my game would freeze and corrupt itself. It took about 20 minutes to start a game, and any time it worked on the first try, it was the miracle of the week.
I'd love the ability to hide any console UI element I didn't use. It would cut my 360dashboard down to a fantastic fragment. No ads, no ESPN, no game with fame, no Major's Minute, no social networking. Sadly, I'd pay even more than I already do for gold to hide shit they claim as features.When I log in, it should go to my profile, not ads. And your friends should be adjacent to your profile, not multiple options away.
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