Ive been a PC Gamer my whole life. While having a Genesis as a kid, it was more of a distraction when I wasnt out riding my bike or shooting my BB gun. When I had a big move as a child at the tender age of 11, my parents decided to buy me a computer for my room as I had shown interest to general computing. This computer also came with a copy of Civilization, Warcraft, Privateer, X-Com, Tie Fighter, and Doom, courtesy of my uncle. These were really the games that I grew up on and formed the foundation of my gaming hobby. For a majority of gamers, fond childhood memories are filled with Mario or Sonic. For me, it was a space marine on Mars, and tech trees. For the next 6 years, PC is all I played. Eventually, I even became a competitive Team Fortress (as in the mod for Quake), Tribes, and CS player. No Dreamcast, N64, PS1, or PS2. I only returned to console gaming when my non-gaming friends started getting into a game called Halo and realized the awesomeness that was LAN parties through networked X-Boxes. Although this information seems rather self-indulgent, Im using it to stress how little Ive been exposed to the console world as a teenager and young adult, and how that has given me extremely biased tastes.
My family and extended family view me as a gamer, and for this reason, I have ended up with the main consoles for this generation. I received a 360 as a gift, my wife received a Wii as a gift, and I bought her a DS as shes a fan of the Nintendo classics and platformers. The console I had not received was a PS3. From my viewpoint, the 360 served as a Geometry Wars 2 and Forza machine. For everything else, it felt like an underperforming PC. The Wii was nothing more than a short distraction, and the DS was a Civilization Revolution machine. I probably didnt put more than 20 hours of total gaming into the console world for the past five years.
As a long time lurker of this board, Ive often looked over the PS3 threads with bewilderment. How can so many people have so much fun playing games where you hit the X button when it asks you to, or sit through hours of cutscenes? Games are supposed to be emergent with an integrated narrative in my mind. However, there were a few games that stuck out to me as wildly interesting. Namely, Demons Souls, Valkyria Chronicles, Flower, inFamous, and the Pixel Junk series.
Last Christmas, I decided Id finally take the plunge and see what all of the hubbub was about. I bought a PS3 with the games named above, and jumped in. My first impression was probably the most important compliment that I can give a console: it was treating me like an adult. Clean interface, no silly avatars or overly comical menu. As Christmas time is the only vacation time I get for the year, I spent quite a bit of time diving deep into Demons Souls and Valkyria Chronicles. These were games that were so unique, and so immersive, that I finally started to see what I was missing out on. There was no handholding, and a very difficult learning curve which is something Ive always appreciated. Again, I was being treated like an adult.
Flower and Pixel Junk Eden were mind opening experiences for me, as I found myself enjoying games where it was nearly impossible to fail and were extremely linear. The magic is that although everyone paints the same picture in the game, how you paint that picture is entirely up to you. This led me to Katamari Forever, which I can't praise enough.
After 16 years of being almost exclusively a PC Gamer, I now find myself dedicating a decent amount of time to a console. There really is nothing like these types of experiences on the PC, which is the reason why I find myself constantly pulled back to the couch. In addition to that, they hit some of the same chords that a classic PC gamer appreciates: immersion, emergence, and integrated narrative. For you PC gamers holding out, or with a dislike of Japanese development, its worth a shot. You might find yourself surprised.
In before tl;dr?
My family and extended family view me as a gamer, and for this reason, I have ended up with the main consoles for this generation. I received a 360 as a gift, my wife received a Wii as a gift, and I bought her a DS as shes a fan of the Nintendo classics and platformers. The console I had not received was a PS3. From my viewpoint, the 360 served as a Geometry Wars 2 and Forza machine. For everything else, it felt like an underperforming PC. The Wii was nothing more than a short distraction, and the DS was a Civilization Revolution machine. I probably didnt put more than 20 hours of total gaming into the console world for the past five years.
As a long time lurker of this board, Ive often looked over the PS3 threads with bewilderment. How can so many people have so much fun playing games where you hit the X button when it asks you to, or sit through hours of cutscenes? Games are supposed to be emergent with an integrated narrative in my mind. However, there were a few games that stuck out to me as wildly interesting. Namely, Demons Souls, Valkyria Chronicles, Flower, inFamous, and the Pixel Junk series.
Last Christmas, I decided Id finally take the plunge and see what all of the hubbub was about. I bought a PS3 with the games named above, and jumped in. My first impression was probably the most important compliment that I can give a console: it was treating me like an adult. Clean interface, no silly avatars or overly comical menu. As Christmas time is the only vacation time I get for the year, I spent quite a bit of time diving deep into Demons Souls and Valkyria Chronicles. These were games that were so unique, and so immersive, that I finally started to see what I was missing out on. There was no handholding, and a very difficult learning curve which is something Ive always appreciated. Again, I was being treated like an adult.
Flower and Pixel Junk Eden were mind opening experiences for me, as I found myself enjoying games where it was nearly impossible to fail and were extremely linear. The magic is that although everyone paints the same picture in the game, how you paint that picture is entirely up to you. This led me to Katamari Forever, which I can't praise enough.
After 16 years of being almost exclusively a PC Gamer, I now find myself dedicating a decent amount of time to a console. There really is nothing like these types of experiences on the PC, which is the reason why I find myself constantly pulled back to the couch. In addition to that, they hit some of the same chords that a classic PC gamer appreciates: immersion, emergence, and integrated narrative. For you PC gamers holding out, or with a dislike of Japanese development, its worth a shot. You might find yourself surprised.
In before tl;dr?
rolouge "update available" 5 gigs in size......, had to wait almost 2 hours for install.
