In times of what our generation may call "yore" (i.e. the 70's and 80's) our fathers (and hell even grandfathers) had little more than a little 8-bit box the size of a VCR deck and controllers roughly the size and shape of bricks. Back then, this was innovation. The games themselves were little more than interactive etch-a-sketches and, while certainly dated by our standards, were, and are, still fun. I myself, despite being little older than 18 years old, have played and enjoyed many of these old games like Space Invaders and the original Final Fantasy in full, wonderous 8-bit graphics that would give the modern gamer a brain anuerism.
Since my first true system was a GameBoy pocket in the mid-90's, I dealt with the 2-color roughly 16-bit graphics, and having only a few games, loved it. I expanded my collection slightly, but never got more than a few games for it, and then recieved an N-64 a short while after its release. I loved that too and even today I don't mind the 64-bit graphical display (and swear that Ocarina of Time is the best game EVER).
Having moved into my early 10's, I recieved a GameCube after its release and still love it too, and then bought myself an XBOX 360 only a year after its release. The point that I'm trying to make here is that gaming has been quite a passion for me, and that my limited range of full exposure is merely a result of my age and current financial situation.
Back then, if I could afford it, I would have had a GC, PS2, and XBOX with all of the games I could stand, and I have loved gaming for years even without being able to.
But as of late, gaming has taken a dark turn for me. I tire of the marketing, I tire of the gimmicks. The innovation, the progression, the one-upmanship of the companies that drive us into the future. Before, it was simply the graphics, with each new generation growing a full two fold each time, until HD, being the new horizon, became the "look at me" stamp placed on games in hopes of selling them. This was a title that has since become ubiquitous and standard issue for most games put on the market today and has become essentially, as it was, meaningless.
Now, the new ubiquitous phrase that seems to have taken the entertainment industry by storm: 3D.
Yes, 3D has been around for quite sometime, this is not news. But the fact that the goal has been to make EVERYTHING 3D sickens me. While appreciate that the title no longer means that random effects will be flying out of screen on occasion, serving absolutely no purpose and looking silly in a normal setting, and has since meant that the effect gives a sense of physical depth, it still seems like the "new" hip gimmick to attract a crowd.
For example, Avatar, James Cameron's latest release. Did I see it? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Definately. Did the 3D make it any better? Not really.
The reason being is that, while the depth is certainly cool, it really adds no value to the typical movie-goer. I don't mean that it isn't "cool," I mean that there is nothing to gain. It's still a movie, and we still are not able to interact or even touch our "3D" surroundings that only seem 3D, but are really still an illusion conjured up by clever technology. While the effect is not unlike looking at something with your own eyes, it still doesn't change the fact that there is nothing physical, and that you are still basically looking a flat surface.
Back to the Avatar analogy, I watched again in 2D recently and nooticed that it wasn't really that different than viewing it in "3D." Yes the visuals seemed to be given depth in the 3D iteration, the 2D managed to convey the true beauty of the work better than its 3D counterpart.
In all, I'm just not convinced that 3D is truly better, and that people should be so anxious to spend a ton of money on overpriced illusions, at least until it becomes the standard and price drop to where it becomes reasonable for the average Joe (or Joan) to own such a piece of equipment (though how you spend your money is your own business and I don't care either way, I'm just saying).
Another thing is motion controls. While certainly a step in the right direction for an interactive media such as gaming, it is still a gimmick. The Wii does well in this respect (and in fact, I LOVED Metroid Prime 3 with the motion controls) but is still fairly glitchy. While they continue to put forth more gimmicky games with gimmicky controls (and truly it is astounding at the amount of crap that the Wii has in its library although the same can be said of ANY console) I have been perfectly happy with the good old game pad on my XBOX and my mouse on my laptop.
But now motion controls seem to have also become "the next big thing" in gaming and are now on the same track as 3D.
Now, I won't mind if these new games have the option of sticking to the old and conforming to the new built in (in fact that's how it should work for any new technology) so that the average gamer doesn't need to buy the new "technolgy" to keep up, but I'm afraid that this might not happen. If you want to play the new game, these companies will have you by the teeth and there will be nothing you can do but conform or be left behind.
I don't like this road, and until it can all be brought into a single, fully interactive experience, with options to allow for the old ways, I'm afraid I will stick with my XBOX and computer, and ignore these people who seem to be pushing forward.
Log in to comment