A patch used to be a good thing in gaming. They were used to fix compatibility problems after initial release and add features to a game etc. Now I must say I am a little concerned about the future of gaming when you see the signs the industry is giving us. Not only is the Industry trying to stop us from reselling our games by stating we are licenced our games and do not own them, but also when we buy these games a great many of them is barely or not at all a finished product. I bought a game for my ps3 on Friday, and I am not even done with chapter one when then the game freezes at a main quest location. I can do anything but the main quest which is I don't know....probably the whole point of the game. I always keep two saves just i case these things happen, but guess what... It still happened. Even when I start the game from scratch it happened. This is just one of many gaming frustrations me and many many other console owners put up with this year. I started to read about and see if there was a patch soon to be launched to fix the matter, but guess what, it might be a week or two maybe more untill I actually can start playing the game again. I understand that large games can be hard to release totally polished and flawless, but I dair being so bold saying that the industry is misusing the term patch as an excuse to ship out games unfinished. Pre-ordering games for an extra bonus item is only encouraging this trend.

What I'm meaning is this: Where are our rights as a gamer? We gamers are customers and should be treated the same way as any other group of customers, being able to actually play the game is a minimum. I personally don't care if the game's engine is the hottest and newest thing there is, I only expect it to run so that I can play MY game. Sometimes I think it was better back in the days when a console did not have Internet as a feature. What has it really given us? over-prised mini-games, DLC this and DLC that and a whole lot of patches. I'm not saying we the gaming community are completely innocent in all, thinking about all the downloading that has been and still is going on in the world. But it is not right that the honest and average gamer should keep up with outlandish prices unfinished and up-sliced products either. That said, there are still many many good reasons to continue playing games and having a blast doing it.

I'm only saying as a ps3 owner: Gaming is indeed becoming a patchwork.