While everyone is rejoicing over the Sony conference, I thought I'd take some time to ponder over a more grim topic. The WiiU is currently a major underdog of a system. The consensus amongst most gamers is that it is going to go the route of the Sega Dreamcast, meaning that it will have a short lifecycle of about 2 years or so and drift slowly into cult status.

Id like to not beat around the bush here and state my current thoughts about what I predict will turn out to be the biggest failure of a gaming platform since the Neogeo Pocket Color. Basically, comparing the WiiU to the Dreamcast is far too generous at this point. It is about eight months since the systems release. In eight months, the Dreamcast had a fantastic library of interesting and unique games that were all exclusive to the system. What the WiiU has are a couple of exclusives, not all of which are receiving stellar reviews. The rest of the games are third party games that are already better on other systems. Upon the Dreamcasts release, it was the most advanced hardware aside from the PC and the visuals were revolutionary. The WiiU is about to be decades behind in the hardware department when November comes around and they are in direct competition with the PS4 and Xbox One. Frankly, WiiU has neither the quality games nor the system requirements.

Indeed, a dark cloud seems to be lurking on the horizon for Nintendos newest console, especially since EA is not developing anything for it. If that sounds familiar, it should, as it was the same ill omen that marked the beginning of the end for Dreamcast. However Nintendo still has some games up their sleeves with the upcoming Pikmin and Zelda titles, though I doubt that the sales of these games alone will be enough to save this sinking ship.

Perhaps if Nintendo hadnt jumped the gun in getting this thing out so soon it could have had the chance to succeed. They should have had a launch line up that looked like the following: new games in all their major franchises including Metroid, Mario, Zelda, Pikmin etc. plus the third party games. They also should have used their unimaginable funds to invest in better hardware for their system, instead of believing that innovation and fun control schemes alone would keep their platform afloat and then not investing in exclusive titles.

But I digress. As it is, I dont imagine that Nintendo will be in the hardware race much longer but I hope that the games released before WiiUs end are fun enough to make the system a collectors treasure.

Having just viewed the XBone media briefing I am disapointed to find out that I will be missing out on the following games in the future: Ryse: Son of Rome, Killer Instinct (remake), Halo 5, Dead Rising 3, Titanfall. Though I may be missing out on these exciting titles, it is well worth it for a chance to boycott with the masses and get Microsoft's online and used game policies changed. To everyone who was impressed with the show, take a breath and think to yourself: would it really be that bad to not play those games?

After the dissapointing Microsoft reveal, I am thinking of making the jump to PC platform. That, and the fact that the price of high end gaming machines are becoming more reasonable. With that said I'm still looking foward to the Playstation 4.

Hey there Gamespot friends. I just got my first portable system last month in the mail. A Gameboy Advance SP. I figured that it was a good place to start as a collector of games and because Im on a semi-retro kick (collecting games from the year 2000).  The backwards compatibility is a nice touch too. So far Ive been collecting color games exclusively. Ive played Bionic Commando: Elite Forces and found it very enjoyable and Micro Machines 1 and 2 which I was pleased with as well. Im currently enjoying the Abes Exodus port; Oddworld Adventures 2. I am looking forward to playing a bunch more and have been investing much of my spare funds on my small but growing collection. Thanks for reading and please comment if youd like to suggest a game you think I should try out. I play and enjoy almost every genre.

Ive been listening to a lot of ranters on the internet lately and reading up on blogs of gamespot readers and even industry journalists. The video games industry and its future is looking very grim right now. Ive been inspired to create a little blog post of my own. The following are the reasons that the game industry is headed down the tubes.

1. Multiplayer only is dooming this generations retro appeal. Multiplayer only lasts so long for a game. I can no longer unlock content for Conker: Live and Reloaded because the live servers for Xbox are no longer in service. There are countless games that are nearly useless due to this style of game SOCOMs are doomed to be Frisbees or beverage coasters as well as well as all the co-op only action games like RE5 and the Army of Two games. Even Dead Space 3 having a co-op mode spoils the game for many people. Some argue that you can just not play it but the fact that the mode is still there is like finding a hair in my food. Less and less single player emphasis is making gamers like myself and others lose interest in the hobby.

2. Corporate greed is sucking the life blood from the gamers. Thats right; all the major publishers are Shinras waiting to happen. Capcom is one of the worst along with EA and Ubisoft for charging you for content already on the disk literally cheating the consumer out of what they paid for like a criminal extortionist. Collectors editions too, are a scam. Games are expensive enough at 60 buck but now they want to give you an art book and some plastic trinkets that you dont need for 20-140 dollars more. Its insulting. Game Stop is a major perpetrator of corporate greed. By making deals with publishers to lock away content that should be available for everybody in order to increase new game sales and pre orders they made it to the very top of my list of most hated companies. Plus the fact that they wont give any of the profit of their used games to the original publishers is making publishers want to make it so their games cant be used by multiple people. Such a decision would make an entire generation of video game disks unplayable and worthless.

3. Video game journalists are likely on the take. Many intelligible well-spoken people who have an interest in the video games industry has at least a hint of suspicion that publishers pay journalists off to give their games favorable reviews whether it be money for ad space or sexual favors most of us know for a fact that its happening. What infuriates me is the way that these journalists pour salt on the wound by picking apart readers who speak out against it by using their words against them in an article and embarrassing them right before turning around and giving them a wise ass grin and blowing them a kiss (cough, Gameinformer, cough!).

4. Most developers play it to safe. What I mean here is that there are no original ideas outside the indy market anymore. Im sure you all know by now that every first person shooter since Call of Duty 4 is Call of Duty 4 with a different skin on it. I realize that people are tired of hearing the beat of this drum but damnit its true. Every other action game is Resident Evil 5 or Gears of War. I have no qualms with more of the same if its really good and spaced out over time but these days its ridiculous. Even beloved series are chucking what made them great for what works and what is popular (I was particularly disappointed in the newest Hitman entry). This mentality of the developers is outing their original fans for the new generation of 10 year old kids who like dubstep and Rihana. You know the type, little kids who call you a noob queer over the live games. Basically they need to revive the old genres that gamers had so much fun with a decade ago or take some risks making new ones.

5. Gaming legends are getting the broski reboot. Chris Redfield was once an intelligent guy who could solve mysteries and cleverly escape from horrifying creatures in Resident Evil but now he is a hulking meathead with infinite ammo high fiving his brehs after every headshot screaming PWNAGE!! at the top of his lungs. And the sad part is that he isnt the only one Dante and Laura Croft have also succumb to the 90s babyfication of modern culture. This is a disturbing trend that if left to continue will likely generate disturbing results (like Bayonetta with a Bieber hairdo).

In any case Im depressed by the direction that my life long hobby is headed right now but I can only vote with my wallet. The reason that the game makers can get away with this crap is because we, as consumers either dont care or feel like we have no choice and bite the bullet with our cash. Not me though. Im in a retro nirvana that I dont plan to leave until things start looking a little brighter. I am exclusively buying non online games on the internet through independent sellers and I am rediscovering nostalgic gems and playing great games I hadnt in the past. Its my way of holding on to my gaming hobby while sticking it to the man (even if it isnt enough to make him feel the prick).

Thank you for reading and special thanks to the following people:

AngryJoe and AlphaOmegaSin on Youtube

Johnsteed7 here on Gamespot

for the inspiration for this blog.

Please add me my tag is The Manitou23 and I'm always up for meeting new gamer friends.

I was thinking about how multiplayer games are fun and exciting at the time they are first on the market yet the thing about games that keep you going back, even decades later for the nostalgia is a good single player campaign. It's depressing seeing developers water down campaigns in order to focus on a competative/co-op component that will be obsolete within a few years or until the next sequal comes out. Even worse is that if you want to wait for a price drop its probably too late to get in on achievments or trophies or whatever for multiplayer. I'm glad the 'multiplayer only' craze is starting to dwindle down a bit for the fact that I love my alone time and most of that time is playing games. It's good to see some new virtual adventures on the horizon. Anyway that's my little rant. Thanks for reading.

I am currently playing Front Mission 3 on the PS1 and it is very hard to get into. the introductory battles brief you on how to play the game but ultimatly I forget about all the complex combat features when i am in the thick of things. Also the opportunites to level up are limited to the scripted fights and when i recieve a bronze or silver ranking i feel obligated to restart the whole mission because i feel that I will miss out on valuable experience and reach the end of this apparently long game unprepared for difficult boss battles. How do you all feel about overly complex and strategic games? Is it all to much or do you guys find it rewarding to play and figure things out?

I finally got the bad tastes achievment. I guess I've had it coming for a while.:lol: Anyway what are some of your favorite crapy games? I'd love to read some responses.

#1: Grand Theft Auto III

The reason that this game has the best music of any game released in 2001 is because of its variety. Their is a radio station for everybody. spaning all major genres of music, there are about 5-7 songs in each and the licenced tracks are not highly recognizable by the masses so it still felt fresh. these songs would grow on you as you played the game more and more. Great soundtracks would continue to be a major feature of the franchise.

Other games with great music from the year:

Max Payne, Final Fantasy X, Oni