Posted by We’re back with our “thinking about thinking” series! If you’re interested in our previous deep thoughts, check out the Metacognition series. Join us for some deep thoughts (and maybe the occasional not-so-deep thought) about gaming. If you find one you’d like to answer, you can either comment below or write a post and share the link so we can all read your fantastic thoughts!
What consoles do you own/have you owned/would you like to own? What console (if any) do you not care if you own or not, and why? Or do you prefer PC altogether?
This seems like a huge set of questions, but they’re pretty straight-forward at the same time.
I’ve owned: Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), Super Nintendo Entertainment System(SNES), Nintendo 64 (N64), Wii, PSOne, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, Playstation 4.
I currently own all of these except the Super Nintendo, although I’ve recently reacquired the NES and Nintendo 64, so my game collection is much smaller than it once was.
Regarding what I would like to own, I’d go for a Nintendo Switch and a Playstation VR, although I’d want to try out the VR before purchasing… I can just about almost play first-person games without feeling like I’m going to be sick, so VR would either be terrific or horrific.
I’m not much of a PC gamer, although I used to play on the computer more when I was younger. There’s not reason for this, other than I sort of fell off the bandwagon, I suppose, and now I have neither the time nor the money to build/buy a decent rig (although my gaming laptop does the job as far as I’m concerned), and with most games I’m interested in playing being on consoles, PC really doesn’t give me anything to convince me to be a complete convert.
Regarding which console I have no interest in buying, honestly it would be any sort of Xbox. I think they’re perfectly fine systems, and I’ve been tempted to purchase one mostly so I can bother Shelby and Jennifer from Falcon Game Reviews and Nerd Thoughts Blog. But… again, with pretty much the same games being released on all platforms, I don’t see a reason to have two consoles that pretty much do the same things.
That’s sort of an interesting concept, considering how hard Sony and Microsoft try to draw lines between themselves and create separate societies around themselves. They certainly try to cater to different people at times, as we saw at the last E3, during which Microsoft – the same people who do the computer thing – tried to sell their console based on specs, while Sony – the same people who do the electronic entertainment thing – tried to sell their console for the experiences it could offer.
Pasts
Did you ever wonder if that was the real difference between Xbox and Playstation?
Microsoft has historically dealt in computers, and so it utilized those ideas – so heavily mired in not wanting people to share program discs – when it botched the “sharing” aspect of the Xbox One while simultaneously focusing on specs, which are important to computer owners/PC gamers .
Sony, on the other hand, has been mired in the world of entertainment, and had more of its thumb on the pulse of how people actually interact with entertainment media, namely wanting to have a memorable experience and be able to share it without punishment or someone watching them.
To this day, Microsoft focuses on technical prowess and Sony talks about storytelling. And sweet Nintendo just quietly plays in the corner with the young and the young-at-heart.
What about you? What consoles have you owned/do you own/do you want to own? Does each company have its own personality because of its past, or because it’s trying to create a niche for itself? Let me know in the comments!
Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon,
~ Athena
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The problem with the Xbox One for me is that there aren’t any games on it that I couldn’t also play on the PlayStation 4. Meanwhile, the very few good console exclusive games I’m interested in tend to indeed be on the PlayStation 4.
As for Nintendo, I’d say their greatest strength is that they tend not to play by anyone’s rules but their own. It is very refreshing playing a mainstream release with likable leads after playing one that featured a protagonist who wouldn’t seem out of place in a terrible nineties comic, for example. Granted, this doesn’t always work out for them, but it did feel for the longest time that they were the only company that actually cared about innovation (and not just from a technical standpoint).
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Exclusives definitely move consoles, that’s for sure. I’m in the same camp. The exclusives I do want to play are on Playstation, and otherwise, it’s the first non-Nintendo console I ever played on, so it’s sort of habit to just keep playing on the system (and with the controllers) with which I’m familiar.
Yes! I think even with the Wii U, we saw that even when they so-called “fail,” they fail *for Nintendo.* That’s like it being a bad game versus a bad *Zelda* game. There’s a popular feminist quote that goes, “Well-behaved women seldom make history,” and I think something similar is true in games. Well-behaved companies rarely have staying power. That’s what we see with Nintendo, I think.
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To be honest, I don’t think that quote applies to Nintendo at all. They’re arguably the most well-behaved AAA developer out there, and despite what the many, many loudmouthed detractors claim, they’ve done a much better job shaping history than a majority of their current rivals, and they have the staying power to prove it.
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I see what you mean. I don’t mean “well-behaved” in regards to causing controversy, because they are far from that, like you said. It just seems like they see a “way of doing things,” shrug their shoulders, and do it their own way. Following the crowd is not the way to shape an industry or history, and I think if people don’t see the immense impact Nintendo has had and continues to have… well I’m not sure that’s a person I’d want to try to reason with.
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I can agree that following the crowd blindly is not a way to shape history. As a contrast, I look at the critical acclaim Naughty Dog garnered with the Uncharted series and The Last of Us, yet no one seems to want to take cues from them (or if they have, their efforts weren’t met with nearly the same level of critical and commercial success). I don’t think it’s because the Naughty Dog writing staff is just that good either. I feel it’s because, at the end of the day, Naughty Dog are followers, not leaders. Meanwhile, Dark Souls openly defied the trends that were going on in the early 2010s with its punishing difficulty, unique combat engine, and minimalistic storytelling that better complements the medium than splicing in Hollywood-style cutscenes, and even just seven years later, its influence on the medium is far more apparent.
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That’s a very good comparison. Would you say that Naughty Dog’s success is more to perfecting a game, rather than innovate or just copy/paste the same game year after year? After all, perfecting something is lauded, but can never really make the same splash as leading the charge, so to speak.
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In all honesty, I feel Naughty Dog’s games have a noticeable lack of polish. I feel they manage to resonate with critics and fans alike because they push that “video games are art” argument as far as they can. It’s less that their games are just that good and more that everyone needs them to be that good in order for video games to be taken as seriously as other mediums. If there’s anything wrong with that premise, then video games go back to square one wherein they get dismissed as children’s toys. It’s easy to accept for someone who has been convinced of the medium’s artistic qualities this whole time, but I can see why anyone else would find it a difficult pill to swallow.
Either way, I feel Naughty Dog’s is a rather conservative movement, as they style their games as though they’re making films, leading to instances in which the story and gameplay actively cheapen each other. Naughty Dog knows of Hollywood’s many historical accomplishments, so they try to emulate their success to land themselves a seat at the cool kids’ table. On a similar note, it’s like how Yager Development tried to make the gaming equivalent of Apocalypse Now. In the medium itself, these undertakings could be seen as impressive, but they’re just lifting things that were done better elsewhere, not fully comprehending why they worked or that many of these moments came about in irreproducible ways, and essentially making lesser versions of them all while helped by that unsaid “it’s good for a game” connotation rather than just being genuinely good. Then of course, the ultimate irony is that in 2017, it turns out many of the cool kids were never all that cool to begin with.
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“It’s good for a game”… ugh that’s probably one of my least favorite things to hear about a video game.
I think that’s a fair assessment. I haven’t played The Last of Us or anything Uncharted, but I can definitely see them “needing” to be good in order for video games to “maintain” their relevancy (in some people’s eyes). Now I want to check them out and see for myself what (if anything) the fuss is about…
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In fairness, I’ve never actually seen that exact qualifier used, but the connotation is still there. As I’ve said in the past, the medium could use more self-esteem.
If you try them, I’ll be interested to hear what you have to say.
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I currently own a NES, SNES, Genesis, PSOne, N64, Game Boy Advance, Dreamcast, PS2, GameCube, Xbox, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PS Vita, 3DS, WiiU, PS4, Xbox One, and Switch. I’d like to add an Atari 2600 (the one I had is lost to time), a TurboGrafx 16 (I’m not really sure what happened to my TG16), an Atari Jaguar, and a Sega Saturn.
I think all three do have distinct personalities built by their games. And I tend to side Nintendo (for their whimsy) and Microsoft (for their technical mastery of the shooting and racing genres). Don’t take that to mean I don’t like Sony, I do but their exclusives haven’t clicked hard with me since the PS2 era (and yes I love games like Uncharted and HZD) and I haven’t ever been a big fan of their controllers (a bit to small for my larger hands) and their sticks and triggers (I prefer offset sticks with concave nubs and a more defined trigger than the parallel sticks with convex nubs and a squishy trigger) or their online infrastructure (why does it take me hours to download anything off of their servers when I pay for superfast internet and my Xbox gets me everything in minutes).
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That’s an impressive list! We had an Atari 2600 at one point, as well, but by the time we got our NES, it was gone. I’m not sure if it broke, or what happened to it…
That’s fair! Xbox is definitely a powerhouse in regards to specs. That’s interesting what you say about the controller; I don’t have particularly small hands, but the Xbox controller just doesn’t sit as well as the PS controller does. At the end of the day, as long a we can game the way that makes it fun, that’s all that matters.
Although I do agree that the PS network is sort of annoying. I haven’t had too many problems with it, but I’ve heard stories…
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Well, if I had pick only one thing to take to a deserted island I would probably pick PC even though I almost never play any modern games on it anymore. I’d be able to have hundreds of old PC games and hundreds more emulated old systems so I’d have enough good games to play until I died.
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(Which I realize was not really what you were asking, but that’s what popped into my head after reading this)
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That’s actually a very clever way of looking at it!! You’re right, of course 🙂
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Owned, but no longer have: Atari 2600, Sega Master System 1, PlayStation (before it was a One), PS2, Xbox, Xbox 360, N64, GameCube, Wii
Owned, but broken, and will be fixed when I have the time ebcause it’s just a stupid power-button jam: Sega Mega Drive 2
Owned and quite operational: PS3, Xbox One, Amiga 600
Would like to own: Neo Geo, PS4, SNES, 32X
Would like to re-buy: Gamecube, N64
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Another impressive list! I would love to re-buy a SNES, and was so happy when I (re)acquired the N64. So many awesome games. Good luck with your Mega Drive! I guess I should have put my NES on the “to be fixed” list, as well, but I think they still count! 😉
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Aye, they’re still owned, so they definitely still count. The good thing for me is that if I can’t fix it, I know a guy locally who said he’ll do it for me, so i’m determined to get it working again. As a bonus, the control pads from it will also work with our Amiga 600.
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Nice! That’s awesome. Good luck with your repair adventures 🙂
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Brace yourself. I own the following systems: NES, SNES, SNES Classic, N64, GameCube, Wii, Wii U, Switch, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Boy Advance, DS, 3DS, PS1, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Vita, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Custom Gaming PC (my old boss helped me build it), Sega Genesis, VTech Socrates, and cheap Android phone. *catches breath*
I’ve always hated the system wars nonsense that happens on mainstream video game sites. Who cares? Play what you like and shut up about how much everything else sucks, as I say. Anyway, I own so many systems because I like collecting video game stuff as a hobby. I would really like to own more of the retro Sega consoles some day. PSVR is also on my radar. But for now, I’m just focused on the massive backlog of stuff I’ve accumulated thus far 😛
I do like to play all sides and brand loyalty really means nothing to me. My Microsoft consoles are my biggest dust collectors though. I just don’t have time for them since Sony and Nintendo always steal me away. Also, there are very few mobile games I want to play to due freemium mechanics and whatnot. Oh and my PC has been getting lots of attention recently because I own the PC versions of all the Dragon Age games 😀
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Ah, the list. Over the course of my life, I’ve owned an NES, a Game Boy, SNES, GBC, GBA, N64, Gamecube, PS2, Wii, DS, PSP, Xbox 360, PS3, 3DS, WiiU, PS4, and Switch. And a few gaming PCs. I’m actually fairly into PC gaming, even if the AAA releases can be more of a pain in the butt on PC than on console. The combination of the thriving indie scene and the huge sales you can get on PC make it more of an attractive prospect. My family also had a pre-NES gaming system that we’d hook up occassionally, although I have no memory as to what it actually was. Don’t think it was an Atari. Was always more distracted by the NES and SNES than the simple four-color games they had on that one. I did have to learn typing on that machine though, because we didn’t have a home computer until just before I left home.
Out of those, I’ve held onto all except the NES and SNES. I was gifted a new SNES some years ago, and have rebuilt some of that collection of games, but still miss quite a few. And of course, I’ve lost a handful of games for the rest over the years, but I keep going.
As far as systems I want… I don’t know. My list is pretty comprehensive, I don’t think there’s much I’m really missing there. It would be nice to still have my NES, but Virtual Console has been keeping me up to date on them. LIkewise, the PS1 has a great library, but between PS2’s backwards compatibility, and the PS3 digital store, I’m cool there. Maybe a Playstation Vita. There’s a handful of games only on that system that I’d like to get my hands on, but not enough to justify making the purchase. Even if there’s expansions to my beloved Persona 4 on there.
As far as consoles I don’t need go, the Xbox One. It does have a few good exclusives, but I’m able to get almost all of those on the PC, so… no real reason to. Living in a rural area, I was one of the people really offended by their always online policy before it launched, and I still haven’t gotten myself over that.
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Oddly enough, I was just asked today if I had a PS4 or Xbox One, and I had to answer with the former. I do own an Xbox 360, because there are a few RPGs I’d like to play on it, but in looking at what the Xbone had to offer, there really weren’t any games for me, so that would be one I don’t need to own. The only system I want, but don’t have right now is the Wii U, which I’d like because there are games that are exclusive to it. I have a PS4 (two if I count my husband’s), PS3 (again two counting hubby’s), PSVR, PS2, PSP, PS Vita, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo DS, Game Cube (which I could probably part with since I have the Wii), NES Classic, and the fore mentioned Xbox 360. These were acquired over MANY years lol, and I obtained the Xbox 360 for free through a lucky windfall. We also have NES and SNES roms on my husband’s PC, and I have a Steam account and some PC games. I wish I had more time to play them all. I’ve yet to even turn on my Xbox o.O
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Another impressive list!! I hear you about the Wii U. I’m torn as money is tight and there are games I want to play on the Wii U, but it seems like the Switch took what was good about the Wii U and improved on it, so…. haha all a moot point until I have more discretionary funds, but still!
The poor Xbox seems to be getting the least amount of love, at least in this comment section…. You’re in good company, at least!
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I’d love for Wii U games to be ported to the Switch. You’d think Nintendo would do that since the Wii U was never very popular to begin with, and they have a newer, better system now. There are only two games I really want to play on it: Captain Toad and one of the Xeno-games. I can’t quite remember which one it is hehe.
It just doesn’t make sense for me to buy another system when I have so many already and games to boot.
I feel bad because it’s a good system that has a lot of great games, but none of them are the kind I like to play
If you love FPS, it’s really good for that. If it had more exclusive RPGs, I’d definitely be interested, but the PS4 has the market on that.
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