Topic: Some of my opinions and all. General VG Stuff, Linux, etc (Warning Long Read)

[Johnny]

Part 1

Before I begin, I just wanted to give you a little background about me. I'm 35 years old and I have been playing video games since I was 3 years old. I owned an Atari 2600 and an Atari Computer. I have owned many consoles and handhelds over the years which include:

Atari 2600
Nintendo Entertainment System
Sega CD/Genesis
Game Boy
Game Gear
Dreamcast
Playstation 2
Gamecube
XBox
XBox 360
Wii

and most recently PSP, PS3 and Ouya. Last year, I sold my PS3 and PSP to my disappointment with the gaming industry. I expected a change in the open thinking when I received and Ouya and was severely disappointed with how Boxer 8 (the company that makes Ouya) handles their business so this was sold as well. I have pretty much given up on conventional gaming as well as most anything cliche and conventional. I instead have chosen to pick the options which can spawn for me dozens of other options. 8 years ago I decided against ever having a copy of Microsoft Windows on any PCs I own. I will go into why in the next paragraph.

Since I have been gaming on Computers from the old days to PCs, to old to new consoles a couple of things have really disappointed me with the industry. Lets first go into when I didn't know any better and was a Microsoft Windows user. I used to get these copies since Windows 3.11 from other people (who knows where they got them) and use them. This was back when not many people adopted Linux. I remember my first copy of Red Hat Linux 5.5. You could barely get into the GUI and you got stuck with a terminal because you didn't know what you were doing. So I used Windows for a while, and played around with many different Linux distributions from time to time. Linux wasn't quite to where I felt I could easily get a machine up and running and Windows was. Years passed and 2005/2006 arrived. I finally got fed up with not just the lack of options on Windows PCs but alot of other things. I felt that many applications demanded a fortune of money that I wanted to use. Pirated copies would pretty much destroy the OS or give me a virus or spyware. Also it wasn't very hard to get viruses or spyware either due to Windows being ridiculous as far as PC maintenance was concerned. If it wasn't the viruses and spyware that got me it was the constant defragging and lags. I have been a Linux user from 2005/2006 and never looked back. Most of my gaming had stayed exclusive to console gaming and for my PC I would use it strictly for web browsing and BSing on forums and IRC. This was until Linux actually adopted a pretty decent gaming community with the introduction of Steam. Don't get me wrong, Linux still has a long way to go but I figure why not have hopes for something I like and something I want rather than go with Windows which is something I DON'T want. Which brings us to the console industry. Recently, I have grown disenchanted with the gaming industry. Which I'll explain in the next paragraph.

I don't know if you guys will know what I'm talking about or remember this. But do you remember there was a time when you could get a new game for $35.00 at its highest cost? Do you remember a time when you could buy a console and it came with a game and two controllers for about $100.00? Games were high quality and creative. Anyone out of their basements making all sorts of games. It would start off with trial and error and if they fell short they would actually LISTEN to the fans about what they wanted. Well I do. Sadly those days are long gone and we're stuck with a money pit of an industry who is so closed minded. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of things I loved about my PS3. But I started to see the industry as a whole sucking the creativity out and replacing it with boring FPS games like Halo and Call of Duty with tons of clones of those games. Also each game rapidly approaching $80.00 per game makes it less of a value for redundancy. Also if you're not a big dev you get nowhere with these soul sucking corporations. I finally had enough. Sold my PS3. Best decision I feel I ever made. I'm actually looking to support the future of gaming. This is open source based gaming VIA Android or otherwise. I want to support people I talk to who struggle to make games and care about what everyone else wants to see out of a game. I don't want to see anymore clone games or third rate products from arrogant corporations who don't care about us. Sony I feel made this clear when they got rid of Other OS and how they handled the PS3 hack attacks on the public. Even though they are letting PS4 have Indie games on it I remain sceptical as to Sony's actual agenda for doing so. It is very likely to be self motivated and a way to save face. So as if you didn't guess by now, these companies don't care at all about you as the fans. Why support them? Support other fans like yourself who are trying to change the industry. Hence I have chosen that whatever way I can, I will try to support independent software and independent console developers and independent game developers.

So that's a little on my mind about the gaming industry. The games I grew up with and the people I wanted to become, are basically pieces of ancient gaming history. This is unfortunate. I always wanted to be a game developer. But now I would never want to be anything like they are and do what they do to fans. I could never in good conscience. So to the independent developers I give you my full support. Hopefully, you could fight against the machine enough to actually make a positive change. Because options for people are always best.

Part 2

I have seen many games which suck hard but have professional graphics. I have also seen people go with the retro 8 bit style and for the games to be great games. Mostly, I think the value of a game shouldn't be how it looks at all but how it plays. Don't get me wrong, if a game looks like an Atari 2600 game or horrible looking sticks in MS Paint then obviously that will factor in. But all I'm saying is to keep in mind that nobody needs a damn blu ray or other expensive hardware which drives up the price of a console to make people buy the games. They just need great games.

In fact I'll go as far to say some people will spend their time buying more $5.00 to $15.00 games on PSN, XBLA, and the Wii store or buying used titles rather than throwing out $60.00 to $80.00 on a new game. I think the industry has forgotten what's really important. Its not the packaging that's important, its what's inside.

Sometimes even in remakes, better graphics and special effects can even ruin a game and make the nostalgia great memories you had of the game into a nightmare. Even with movies it can ruin a movie. Think of all the people who complained about the digital remastering of Star Wars 4. George Lucas figured people would love it and some people absolutely hated it. Sometimes a classic is mean't to be a classic and shouldn't be fooled with. Though in some cases it does work. Bionic Commando Rearmed is a good example of a remake actually working out well. Though when they tried to make Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, that's when they kinda killed the whole concept and as Capcom does, they ruin something when they try to milk it.

I was asking some people why they buy consoles and its primarily because of the hardware. "Oh this console is more powerful." I'll be the first to admit I was always guilty of that. I am even ashamed I got rid of my Dreamcast for a PS2 even though Dreamcast was discontinued. Some of the games on Dreamcast were fantastic and fun to play. This is what's important in a console. Not an all in one unit which can do everything short of your laundry. A console should be about the games. This is why people buy it. Especially now when movies can just be digitally downloaded. Why throw hardware into a console that is unneeded.

Anyways closing this up, instead of playing the latest Call of Duty, Halo, etc etc fad games and thinking "Whoa what great graphics it has" or "Wow I could take this anywhere" grab yourself an emulator and try out some classics. You may find that the gameplay is pretty damn good and addicting. Games should be exactly that, GAMES not movies. Because honestly play time in a game to me is more important than watching half an hour impressive looking cut scenes. I mean if you want that go to an IMAX theater. I think something you can pick up and not put down makes it all worth it. So don't judge a game by its graphics.