What the next generation means to me

[gambit6613]

The other day i read something on a gaming website that really got me thinking. I think it was on CVG when someone said it?s most likely that the PS4 and the next Xbox will be the last generation of consoles to be made in the way/form as we know it, i know this is just speculation but i got this feeling of deep sadness.

I have spent the past 25 years of my life playing games, i don?t think i have had a day gone by that i have not played some game on some console/computer. I start playing games in 1987 at 6 years old with the Atari ST, my first game i ever played was Arkanoid. I can still remember rushing downstairs one morning and seeing my dad playing on it after setting it up before he went to work. Since that day i have so dearly loved my gaming hobby and i have owned each and every major gaming console and handheld, except for 3DO and the Atari Jaguar.

I sometimes think that i have been so fortunate to have been able to grow up, live through and experience what i personally would call the golden age of gaming, which for me is from about 1989/90 up to about 2000 when my friends and i had all the time in the world to spend playing games and each cycle of console brought new games, new ideas. Nowadays games just seem to be yearly updates of the previous year?s game with very little in terms of new ideas. I also have much more time constraints, such as work and family commitments etc so my free time is now quite limited.

The thing that made me feel very sad is that i have grown up enjoying each cycle of consoles safe in the knowledge that there will always be something new in the future to look forward to, always having the excitement of what the graphics and what new gaming possibilities will be like next time round. For me it was not just about the way games looked, i always loved the excitement of what the next console will look like, what the pad design will be like etc.

Just the thought the next generation could be the last of what i would call proper consoles than that for me is such a sad prospect. The comforting thing is that at least i will have hopefully 7-8 years of gaming ahead of me as I know it now and that?s a nice thought. After that than who knows but the mere thought of consoles being download only, with no physical game and all you will need is a tiny little box, or maybe even just an app that connects via internet/cloud, that will be a sad day. I really do just hope that there will be enough of an outcry so this does not happen.

But i fear im of the generation of gamer that will be in the minority, old fashioned and behind with the modern digital world. I know thats its probably inevitable that this is the future of gaming but not yet, im not ready to move on from what i know and love.

[Neon Ignition]

If the next gen is the last to be based on traditional console design then there's still Nintendo and I fully expect they'd benefit greatly from being the last hardware maker left. For me, I don't trust network security and consistency enough to rely on it 100%. Nor am I willing to shell out full price for games I can't get rid of later. There would no doubt be some Id get but for me the hardware is king and Ive always got retro back catalog to fall back on

[Brad]

Gambit, I think you're in good company here. Lots of traditionalists. I'll happily buy games that are digital download only. As long as they are less than a fiver! You want ?20 or more for your game? Disc or cartridge please and no DRM (or DRM that I know has been broken so as to protect my investment). Diablo III? haha! No chance Blizzard. I am old enough that I suspect I'll knock gaming on the head in the next few years. My first console was a Grandstand Pong machine. Can't remember the model number but it was in the 70s.

[nakamura]

The more gaming moves away from my ideals the more time it gives me to play the hundreds of amazing games I still haven't played.

[capcom_suicide]

Been thinking the same recently. Strange to think that it's me now who is the old dinosaur, stuck in my ways whilst the world laps up Angry birds and IOS touch based games.

I will aim to be the old dude who tips his cap to the next genertion gamer and I'll
vanish without making a scene. Retro gaming will be very important to me in the coming years.

[MisterBubbles]

I think thats the spirit cavalcade was using in the Vita thread, so your not alone, if 69pers as i'll officially call them, or the Apple gamers ever take over as said before im out of new gen gaming. And the crash will follow thereafter.

[Golgo]

In the words of the architect Leon Krier: "FORWARDS COMRADES, WE MUST GO BACK!"