AtticGamer

I find myself burning out on modern games rather quickly if it's not a perfect fit for me. I have taken a taste for "easy" or "no death" games, even non-games like Proteus. Sometimes I just like to breeze through a game.

In my case it's because I have a job now and I also go to the gym, besides going out with friends occasionally. I'm also a dedicated gamer, on the games that I like, I try to do everything that I can (except if it's silly collecting or lazy difficulty settings and such). I recently beat Invisible Enemy on Hard in REmake, but I don't feel like that about many games, and I surely dislike where games are going these days, though there are more that appeal to me now because of the sheer huge output that is happening. I have no interest in Destiny, Watch Dogs or Tomb Raider. Resident Evil and TF2 are my most played modern big budget games,so that's why I sometimes feel out of the loop. I'm a bit cautious now...I might play stuff on Steam but when possible I get a drm-free version with it for backup (humble store) and spend less on what I'm unsure of liking. The age thing is mostly an issue of available time, not necessarily growing out of it.

I'm in a weird spot. I grew up with Nintendo but they have no desire to attract third parties and their own games are becoming stale after 20 years of playing them. This forces me to turn to the other systems. Based on their own misadventures or evil intents, neither Sony or Microsoft are viable. PC it is, but I don't like DRM so I begrudgingly play games on Steam. Then I realized the only modern non-indie games I really like are the Portal series, Team Fortress 2 and Resident Evil, which has been promptly ruined recently. Maybe it's just a phase, but modern games seem to be too hand holdy and at the same time frustrating because there are usually too many game mechanics to get your head around (RE6 comes to mind with its weird combat/dash), as well as lazy hard modes (1 hit kills and bullet sponges). Also, they are becoming too cinematic in a totally different way than FMV games were, they are full of camera artifacts, sickening motion blur, bloom, flares and low framerates, all that to add to the cliché story and throwaway characters. Luckily, old PC games and modern indie games like Proteus, Year Walk, Haunt the Hause, Limbo and slightly bigger stuff like Trine or Amnesia being DRM-Free gives me faith that one can still play some decent stuff while being free from a needless client. They are so cheap I can swallow a few bad indies too. I've been thinking of going this route, specially as I have no guilt in missing out on the big games anymore, even considering going back and getting an Atari 2600 or expanding my ZX Spectrum collection. For the record, I'm 24. I'm baffled as well.

This whole thing strikes me as an omelet, the elements spread over so that any sort of identity is lost. Comparing the focus on games that the original Xbox and early 360 had and this, it's depressing how things changed for worse, but that's Windows 8 Microsoft I guess. The 24 hour online check is just dumb and further reinforces the idea that a gaming PC is a better investment as the limitations of the DRM are similar, but there's more choice and lower prices with the PC (nevermind the non-stagnant hardware). Wii U may be an (apparent) disaster, but at least there's originality to the system and a focus on games with Miiverse and a different controller (as useless as I think it is). PS4's concept goes even beyond with streaming and helping friends via cloud play for example. That's two consoles that know what they want to be at least, a gamer's machine. Maybe it's just me, but I've never cared for my systems to be linked and under one ecosystem. I'm happy to have my Steam account, my Google account, my Nintendo Club account and my Nintendo games, my Windows PC and Android phone. Never felt the need for these systems to connect beyond transferring files, and I hate the idea of being under one company's wing. That's probably why I like Nintendo's online hesitation and their desire to only be your game's machine, nothing else. PS. Xbox One looks like the most uninspired VCR ever.

Just came home with a brand new, forgotten behind the glass, copy of Doom for the 32X, directly from the store. The lady had to remove the two price stickers and everything, it cost 5 euros. Now I just need a 32X.

I hate those types of characters, from all eras. I cannot identify with them whatsoever, same with bad-ass-big-boobed-10%-body-covered chicks. A rational man, secure and adaptable to all physical and emotional situations. A feminine woman with something to say without being a bitch or a daddy's girl. Middle ground holds the virtue for VG characters.

A plasma TV will offer the best response time and that is surely needed for games. Their contrast is also pretty high and have very natural colors, I see them as the true successor to CRTs. I have played Xbox 360 on a 32" Samsung LCD, model C530/550 and I enjoyed it, sure the response time is slower but it's very, very pleasing to watch and play. And those models are available in 37" and, I think, 40". Btw, a 600Hz sub-field drive is something that happens before the image hits the screen. I don't know exactly how it works but usually the actual refresh rate is 100Hz or 200Hz, but the subfield drive eliminates artifacts and jaggies plus makes a smoother image, one of the reasons some plasma tvs look so great.

Totally excited about this. Haunted House is my favourite Atari game.

I don't know what the problem is, they haven't changed more than Pac-Man did.

I don't think it will necessarily be a failure, but I'm definately not on the boat for this one. They should innovate in games themselves, not the controllers.

No. It's clear the way it is.

I don't know what personality a console has. Older consoles were different from one another because technoloogy was still in its infancy and 1 or 2 years difference could be apparent unlike the PS3 and 360, and controllers were a little less standarized than now. I think all 3 current gen consoles have their own strong identity, each one has its audience, its online service, its motion controller/unique gimmick and unique features. By your definition of soul, all major consoles since the late 70's have souls in my opinion. Saying Dreamcast has a soul and the PS2 doesn't or vice-versa is nonsense bias to me. Soulless consoles are like the CD-i or Arcadia 2001 that don't have very good games or a thing to distinguish them, but even still. This thread is a little pointless.

I think the charm (soul is a stupid name for it) of a console depends on your experience with it. Gamecube and Dreamcast to me have less charm than the PS2 or Xbox 360, mainly because I didn't play them enough and/or had bad experiences with them, or I just didn't like the games. I grew up with a SNES, and I find it way more charmful and polished than the Mega Drive. People who grew up with a NES may not find anything special about a ZX Spectrum for example. There are people who find charm in NES rip-offs that they had as kids, who's gonna deny it?

Buzz Bombers .

Good buy. The Samsung LCDs are okay too, the latest gens at least, the only problem is the bluer blacks and 16-bit color on cheaper models, as I would love to get a cheap Samsung LCD if those problems were fixed.

Yes I do know that some LCD TVs were advertised because that's what the TV stations used to broadcast in, it accepts the 480i picture and makes it 480p, which is still standard definition (except in some countries). Most of those TVs were worse than most CRTs really, the only real advantage is when you can send in a progressive image via component from a Xbox 360 or Wii and get the full, stable progressive image. LCD cannot display interlaced material, I'm just saying it doesn't make much sense why they can't. I think the UMD library issue is up to the topic creator, as for me most of the worthy titles are available online, bar some retro collections.

There is no such thing as a 480i/576i LCD, the 480i/576i signal is received and deinterlaced before reaching the TV and becomes 480p/576p, same for those HD Ready TVs that claim 720p/1080i, the 1080i is deinterlaced and re-scaled to 720p. On a 1080p set, the 1080i is deinterlaced to 1080p. LCDs/Plasmas/LED TVs don't play interlaced material, though there is not a reason they shouldn't but it's just how they are. Btw, keep in mind UMDs drain battery life and take longer to load.

For a 32inch TV, Sony is your best bet in my opinion. Sony's TVs are not that great compared to Panasonic and Samsung in the >40" sizes but for cheaper products, a LCD or LED-LCD Sony UX TV is a good bet. Like any TV, go see it at a store with a good video source and see if you like it.

Samsung Plasma TVs, you cannot go wrong. If you want something cheaper, a Panasonic Plasma will be good too, but not in the same league. If you want something even cheaper, Sony is the one making the best LCDs out there. It's great if you just want a 32" set. On a plasma, demand 600Hz or 400Hz sub-field refresh rate (it only says 120Hz usually, because it's the actual rate but the sub-field stuff is important). Basically, Plasma is the best technology out there for TVs, it has the natural look of CRT (it hides artifacting better than LCD), has great contrast (without looking too fake or excessively contrasty like LED-LCD) and now lives for as long as any other TV using another technology. Really, buy a Samsung plasma, a 50" one at least. Or if you're like me and don't have a ton of cash, get a Sony LCD (UX series). Remember, buy a good TV because it's something you'll look at for at least 10 years and you don't want 10 years of thinking "If only I've gotten that one..." or "Those blacks are blue, argh...", regretting your money.

I'd say Playstation. So much variety and mostly easy to find.

Here's mine.

I think this generation is moving at the pace that all generations should have moved at. Time was taken to settle all the problems and features of the consoles, great games were released and gave people time to jump on the HD train. The last generation, except for a few great classics, was worse than this one in my opinion. Now we have sophisticated and intuitive gameplays with tutorials, frequent auto-saves and checkpoints, great graphics and online play placed solidly, not to mention wireless controllers and peripherals that seem like a throwback to the 2600's days of crazy accessories or the early 90's. Contrary to Nintendo, I like actual new games on the same controller as last generation. It's a more valid improvement to innovate in the game itself and not solely on the control method. I thought the graphics for PS3 and Xbox 360 weren't that much of a step up from their predecessors until I saw Resident Evil 5, not even in HD. If RE4 made my waters break, RE5 made me sterile.

Just for the record, the PSP 3000 does not have an interlaced screen. LCDs are progressive by nature. People have reported seeing things similar to scanlines (there are none on progressive screens), which to me is BS; what they must be seeing is a lack of softening of the image due to a faster response time and with less blur you see the indiviual pixels more easily. I would pick up the Go, though I have a 3000. It's smaller, has internal memory and if you're in the US you can purchase alot of PSP and PS1 games off the PSN. I live in Europe and sadly most PS1 games are not present in our store, which sucks.