[Nealand Liquor]

Most western third-party hits this gen are insipid, barely-game dreck.

I disagree completely. There is no difference in your comment towards western devs than the ones that get thrown at eastern devs.

[thirty]

Some of you guys seem actually angry at the OP.

Yeah I really don't get it. Not really to hot on the direction of a company for my gaming needs but wouldn't mind investing, and watching from a different perspective this gen but It's horrible. To make it more fair I wouldn't buy a ps4 or next box either if they pulled the same thing but funny enough I wouldn't invest in Sony or ms either if they tried what nintendo is trying lol. Only nintendo can pull this kinda thing off. It's annoying and interesting at the same time.

[Boss Doggie]

Decent point but why would any of us want the best 3rd party games on the most inferior HW? I'm posing the question because the answer is obvious. The Wii had a great run but not because it was the best.

Heh, inferior hardware and then playing a non-PC game.

See that's the point I'm trying to make.

[redcrayon]

The Wii didn't, so tell me how it is going to work for the U...

Basing a prediction of the market performance of the 360 on the original xbox would have been folly.
Same for basing a prediction of PS3 on PS2.
And a prediction of the Wii based on the gamecube.

Expecting a new set of consoles to fall into line with the last is just crazy when that is the exact time that all platform owners and developers invest in new software, new IP, new markets, new strategies, new marketing, new peripherals, all with the intention of doing better this time around.

I genuinely don't see what the problem is with WiiU. It won't make AAA action games with guns and swords go away or stop being developed for better hardware and down-ported to it even if it does become the market leader, which I absolutely wouldn't want to hazard a guess at until all 3 new machines were out.

If anything, so far we've seen a stronger commitment to getting those kind of games on WiiU in addition to the usual quirky Ninty stuff, but who knows, maybe that'll fade with time when the other machines come out, maybe the whole tablet thing is what everyone will go mad over for a few years. Maybe Kinect2 will become the new Wii and we'll all just bitch about that instead.

Making predictions at this point is just crazy when we don't even know enough about Nintendo's system to have an idea of even a third of the factors in play.

[Fivefold]

Oh wow. I'd love to see a list of games and series' you love.

No "dudebro" love here, as much as I find the term idiotic.

Still, japanese games would surely get a wider audience if they got rid of the childish anime fan crap. Bayonetta had nice gameplay but absolutely embarassing aesthetics.

[IceIpor]

I have a similar complaint.

If it weren't for the console 360/PS3 versions, we might have gotten a decent Dragon Age out of Bioware.

Of course, one could argue that Bioware was going downhill already... But it also seems likely that developing a game for simultaneous release on a console affected it as well.

[Stewox]

Nintendo attracts a lot of haterz

The difference is that nintendo haters don't have a clue what they're talking about, most of the time are 13 year old newbies who don't know tech and simly don't like nintendo art-style.
Unfortunately

You can see many people expecting WiiU to have all kinds of heat issues like X360 just because it's HD, just wow.

There a reason it's easy to be a PS360 hater because both of these had so much issues, We all know how hard PS3 is to developers, just the hardware design, on the X360 side you have RROD, online costs, unstable hardware, disc scratching, HDD ripoffs ..etc etc

When WiiU releases it will be the best console ever, the question if the PS4/720 beat that will be in reliability, stability, quality of design. Hardware power cannot be regarded as valid factor, because it's subjective, it's a matter of choice not effort or ability, Ofcourse I didn't even mention 5 other factors, may discuss this more later.

[cosmicblizzard]

Still, japanese games would surely get a wider audience if they got rid of the childish anime fan crap. Bayonetta had nice gameplay but absolutely embarassing aesthetics.

Bayonetta wasn't aesthetically like an anime at all. Neither are most popular Japanese games outside of Dragon Quest.

[redcrayon]

People who enjoy games should really understand how the progress of the artform is inextricably linked to the progress of technology.

However, the progression of the artform isn't essential.

This generation I've spent more time on simple stuff like Cave Story, Super Meat Boy, Etrian Odyssey and Fire Emblem than everything else combined. Seeing as all of those games would have been possible in the 80s (and I played and enjoyed their spiritual predecessors back then) It just leads me to conclude that power and storytelling techniques can advance all they like, I'm perfectly happy playing the simple stuff I was playing 20 years ago. I'm still not bored of it, and there are still games to make like that that remember they are games in all their pixellated silly glory rather than the gradual move towards photo-realistic graphics.

My favourite gaming advance that the technology has allowed is the download services putting all that stuff at my fingertips, whether it's on mobile, tablet, portable, console and PC, not the latest beautiful game world.

Sure I loved Skyrim and Mass Effect too, but I don't see gaming as getting 'better' because of the visuals, in the same way that a modern action film isn't intrinsically better than one made in the 40s just because the sets look less wooden, the script is simpler, and more stuff blows up in the first five minutes.

Another great thing about smaller and older games having more channels to customers is that it caters to everyone- people that don't care about graphics like me still invest in the same powerful consoles but for different reasons- the only reason I'd pick up a 360 again is for the arcade/indie titles, and the legacy range of Nintendo's consoles is getting pretty big these days. Shame it's not all available, but still.

[Reg]

I'll go where the games are.

[Littlegator]

guys im going to quit video games if there aren't more triangles on the screen next generation

People who enjoy games should really understand how the progress of the artform is inextricably linked to the progress of technology.

Using the word "inextricably" doesn't mean you're allowed to use logical fallacies.

In regards to the discussion at hand, namely the graphical output of a machine, an argument can very easily be made that the progress of the artform is nearly independent of the technology, moving forward. Any game made could be rendered on current tech. The hardware only dictates how pretty it will be.

What's entirely subjective is what constitutes the artform of video games. I am very much in the camp that game design and fun are ultimately the defining characteristics of video games. Better graphics can make something objectively better, but beyond a certain point, are not crucial for a masterpiece to be considered just that.

[Boss Doggie]

It's not next gen until we play video games in motorcycles

[onipex]

The Wii didn't, so tell me how it is going to work for the U...

The Wii U is starting out with better support , but really no one knows if it will be the main third party console or not. I think it will need a game like Darksiders 2 or ZombiU to sell 2 to 5 million ( fat chance for both) for any kind of strong third party support to happen in the West and even then the console still might not get the support.

[Evilink]

No "dudebro" love here, as much as I find the term idiotic. Still, japanese games would surely get a wider audience if they got rid of the childish anime fan crap. Bayonetta had nice gameplay but absolutely embarassing aesthetics.

Still gonna play it and still gonna love it!!

I'm finding an interesting trend at work where almost everyone I talked to had no idea the wiiu existed or what it was about, even after I tried explaining the game pad and the wiiu vision as a whole...they just couldnt see it...Almost reminds me of the stealth sega launch scenario...A couple comments really struck me, the first; "Wii is gay". In other words this guy has been burned by the wii branding before and no amount of reasoning or educating about the differences from wii to wiiu could reach him. Sorry Nintendo, you may have lost some of the hard core set with your past console. The second comment was; "oh, so they're trying to do what sony's doing with ps3 and vita". For these guys, their current hd console may be enough for them already as xbox will have smart glass and sony can already emulate what Nintendo is doing. In a round a bouts way I guess I'm saying this upcoming gen is still anyones ball game, there's already a certain mindset or stigma attached to the wii line, and for many...welp, they're confused as to why they'd add a wiiu to their hd family of home consoles.

I think in some ways that it was Nintendos execution with the wiiu unveiling that shot themselves in the foot, it was kinda anticlimatic when you remember how the wii was handled. If only the wiiu was backwards compatible with wiis hype train...

[Vdragoon]

First, the WiiU stole your games... now this.

Oh, Nintendo what have you done.

[Boss Doggie]

No "dudebro" love here, as much as I find the term idiotic. Still, japanese games would surely get a wider audience if they got rid of the childish anime fan crap. Bayonetta had nice gameplay but absolutely embarassing aesthetics.

You imply the opposite of childish anime fan crap is palatable (i.e. bland murrican guy)

Also Bayonetta's aesthetics ain't anime (she'd be terrible in anime due to her size and proportion). It's based on super model sketches.

[demidar]

First, the WiiU stole your games... now this. Oh, Nintendo what have you done.

Nintendo just wants to watch the world burn.

[Kai Dracon]

You imply the opposite of childish anime fan crap is palatable (i.e. bland murrican guy) Also Bayonetta's aesthetics ain't anime (she'd be terrible in anime due to her size and proportion). It's based on super model sketches.

Bayonetta is glamour x super models x disco x rocky horror picture show.

A lot of people are going to burn hot at this, but if you're embarrassed by Bayonetta, you may be taking your video games too seriously. And may be terminally unable to Get The Joke.

Western video games are just as absurd by any 'intellectual' (more likely pseudo-intellectual) standards. The difference is that their tropes are merely safe and familiar, thus nearly invisible, to a new generation of western geeks.

[redcrayon]

We've only just begun to see the tip of the iceberg. Next up: complain Wii U is pointless without games that use its unique technology. Then complain games that use its unique technology are ruined because they don't play like games on Xbox who wants shit that's different. And it 'ruins' the game for multiplat. ... which is another thing I've been thinking about lately, due to the PC. The silliness over "standard" controllers. On my PC I have a gaming mouse, a keyboard, a game pad, and one of those Nostromo gameboard-thingies. There is no 'standard' for video game control or interface, only people who just play one platform that is limited to one device and then get annoyed when they encounter something that's different. Though funny enough, PC has games that are effectively exclusive to it as well because of control and interface issues; games or entire genres that require something more than a gampad to be really functional.

It's not just controllers, sometimes gamers complain if the control scheme for two completely different games using the same controller isn't the same.

Console games are pretty locked in on joypads to having left stick- movement, right stick-camera, d-pad=secondary menu etc, and I sometimes wonder if that's why so many action games feel so similar to each other.

I appreciate that randomly changing the 'fire' button to 'down' on the d-pad wouldn't be good just for the sake of change, but I wonder if it ever limits the imagination of developers that they have to conform to that stuff or the playtesters won't 'get it'.

Customisable controls really should be standard too.

[DjRoomba]

Op, you need to get out more

[TheOGB]

If Wii U doesn't dominate, the entire industry will have to hang up its jacket. Yeah yeah doom and gloom, but the roads MS and Sony are headed down seemingly lead to ruin (if not immediately, then not long afterwards), leaving only Nintendo and PC. I'm at least half serious.

But hey, THISISNEOGAF.gif and all that
No really, what do I know

[Boss Doggie]

Bayonetta is glamour x super models x disco x rocky horror picture show. A lot of people are going to burn hot at this, but if you're embarrassed by Bayonetta, you may be taking your video games too seriously. And may be terminally unable to Get The Joke. Western video games are just as absurd by any 'intellectual' (more likely pseudo-intellectual) standards. The difference is that their tropes are merely safe and familiar, thus nearly invisible, to a new generation of western geeks.

Exactly.

While I find moe dumb I also find the bland, gritty male equally dumb as well.

That's why I'm still baffled as to why people think Jensen is a great character. He's boring as a brick, his voice is like something is stuck in his throat, and his aesthetics screams of "look at me, I'm cool!"

Contrary to say, Vashyron.

[G-Unit]

OP is so fun... i mean hater

[demidar]

It's not just controllers, sometimes gamers complain if the control scheme for two completely different games using the same controller isn't the same. Console games are pretty locked in on joypads to having left stick- movement, right stick-camera, d-pad=secondary menu etc, and I sometimes wonder if that's why so many action games feel so similar to each other. I appreciate that randomly changing the 'fire' button to 'down' on the d-pad wouldn't be good just for the sake of change, but I wonder if it ever limits the imagination of developers that they have to conform to that stuff or the playtesters won't 'get it'. Customisable controls really should be standard too.

Think that's the problem with buying a Box-that-just-works, no customization lest you alienate/split your playerbase with multitudes of peripherals. They also might not be accustomed to using different interfaces due to being relegated to one controller for most of their gaming life (obviously this only counts those who aren't into PC gaming) and that impedes more unique control methods that devs want to push in lieu of gamers "not getting it" like Kid Icraus: Uprising for example.

[Nightstick11]

Console people are so dramatic.

Seriously.

Anti-Nintendo fanboys are by far the worst kind of fanboys in the gaming universe.

Fact.

I can tell you this: I stopped caring about DS in 2009 because I didn't feel like playing N64-looking games anymore. Rather, I didn't feel about paying 40 bucks for a N64-looking game in 2009.

Serious question: Why do you play games? The DS has one of the best libraries of all time.

Anyone who thinks it makes a difference is an idiot, we're on the most diverse era of gaming ever seen, there's crap FPS games on the 360 and PS3, proper verions of those on the PC and proper console games on the Wii You can't fucking lose as a gamer!

While I admire the enthusiasm and agree with the general sentiment, I just wanted to point out there's a lot more than crap FPS games on the PS3.

Pretty much. The Wii had it's role as a disruptor, made motion controls windespread, made Nintendo a shitload of money, but industry-wise it wasn't really important at all in the end. Compare third-party revenues between platforms. Then we have the WiiU, which doesn't bring anything new or disruptive to the table, not even better graphics. It will have run-of-the-mill PS3 and 360 ports for a year, then it will literally become a Zelda/Mario platform. Exclusives like Bayonetta 2 are pretty irrelevant since that's just japanese nonsense that doesn't really sell consoles anymore.

That's an awful lot of wishes to ask to the fairy god-mother.

Your delusion about the Wii and its impact is amusing.

Also, "japanese nonsense" is the best in the industry, and in fact created this industry.

It won't. PC+PS4+Xbox8 will.

Protip: These are all separate platforms. Idiots can combine the three, but I assure you that Sony and Microsoft don't consider themselves on the same team.

[redcrayon]

Bayonetta is glamour x super models x disco x rocky horror picture show. A lot of people are going to burn hot at this, but if you're embarrassed by Bayonetta, you may be taking your video games too seriously. And may be terminally unable to Get The Joke. Western video games are just as absurd by any 'intellectual' (more likely pseudo-intellectual) standards. The difference is that their tropes are merely safe and familiar, thus nearly invisible, to a new generation of western geeks.

Good post. I don't see why everything has to be aimed at everyone.

Anime games are aimed at the Japanese teenagers, where gamers tend to be younger than the Western players. They tend to have low budgets as they realise the market is small.
Western shooters are aimed at guys brought up on a media diet of war films and TV shows and would also sell better worldwide to other countries if they didn't flog a continual narrative of US/UK troops shooting German/middle eastern/Russian/Asian people in the head. Budgets are big as practically every Westerner born since WWII has been raised watching that stuff.
I grew up watching war films and reading about all that stuff too, WWII/the cold war etc, and nowadays reading the news about action in Afghanistan etc. It's just cultural shorthand to us, familiar, safe and also looking slightly weird and obsessive to outsiders.

[Rm88~]

Personally, games that don't take themselves too seriously >>> stuff like Killzone 3. Oh man, Killzone 3, easily my most cringe worthy moment in gaming. There's a reason I avoid those games in the first place.

[RedSwirl]

This has probably already been said, but those complaining about multiplatform games next gen being up-ported from Wii U holding back the PS4/720, are basically making the same complaints that PC gamers are making now whenever they blame the 360 and PS3 for holding back their platform of choice. Last gen I don't remember many people complaining that the PS2 held back the Xbox and Gamecube (okay maybe the Gamecube camp had its outspoken voices). In fact there were quite a few games last gen developed specifically between Xbox/PC that ended up being markedly worse on the other two consoles.

Up-porting from the lowest common denominator and most popular console is simply the best solution for the largest amount of consumers. Going the other way around is likely to result in more examples like the console version of Battlefield 3. It'd be nice if every down-port could get the same treatment as The Witcher 2, but that just ain't gonna happen.

How is the Wii a clear winner at all? We're not debating hardware sales numbers. If we're talking about the whole industry, we need to talk in terms of third-party software sales. Amazing image macro btw, really drives the point across.

Sales and probably profits as well.

[Rash]

I'm a Nintendo fanboy, so I'll actually be MORE interested if the Wii U dominates, honestly.

[demidar]

Personally, games that don't take themselves too seriously >>> stuff like Killzone 3. Oh man, Killzone 3, easily my most cringe worthy moment in gaming. There's a reason I avoid those games in the first place.

The only word I understood from that video is Vasquez lol.

[encephalon]

Do you play games to play good games or do you play games to witness advancements in tech? I would reassess my priorities, if I were you. The most important thing is a diverse, quality library. If the Wii U can approach anything comparable to a PS2 or even PS1 like experience "next gen" (this gen?), that's reason to celebrate.

[Rm88~]

The only word I understood from that video is Vasquez lol.

Is it that incredibly bad in English? There's no way I'm going through that game again, in any language. "Just look at how serious this game is! People are cursing, and characters died! It's almost like the movies, guys!".

[redcrayon]

Look at all the parents who got a Wii for Wii fit, or the college girl who got one for Christmas who otherwise never played games. So many of my non-gamer friends had Wii's. They played with them for 6 months and didnt touch it again. Most of these people wont be buying Wii-U in my opinion. The fad is over. 3rd party support that was bad on Wii will be worse on Wii-U due to lack of units sold compared to Wii. Nintendo owners generally don't buy 3rd party software. I don't think Nintendo is going to sink because of this. They will make a ton of cash selling Wii-U. It can't cost that much to make, and Nintendo prices their hardware to make money. That being said, i kinda want one. I never owned a Wii so it would expose a ton of great games to me that I've never played. Nothing in the launch lineup gets me that excited though.

It's a bit unclear to say 'Nintendo owners' don't buy 3rd party software. That's untrue, and besides, you say yourself that many Wii owners won't be buying the WiiU- so why judge a new, unknown audience by the previous audience you say will be disappearing?

I also don't think WiiU will sell as well as the Wii (it was the right product at the right time) but assuming that gamers won't buy good games when Ninty seem to have gone out of their way in the last year or so to secure a reasonable line-up seems a bit odd.

If anything, we might see Nintendo move towards the middle ground as MS goes for the casual market with Kinect 2- perhaps the audience that Nintendo lost to the smartphone market will flock back to the next 360, who knows, certainly not me! :D

[demidar]

Is it that incredibly bad in English? There's no way I'm going through that game again, in any language. "Just look at how serious this game is! People are cursing, and characters died! It's almost like the movies, guys!".

I wouldn't know, I didn't play KZ3 because it's boring to me. But from what I've seen it's a lot of guys shouting stuff and "raw" emotions.

[Neiteio]

I'm a Nintendo fanboy, so I'll actually be MORE interested if the Wii U dominates, honestly.

What? Nintendo fanboys should want Nintendo's feet held to the fire. It's what got them 3D Land AND Mario Kart 7 back to back.

[Killer Yakuza B]

Threads like this one remind me so much of Bob Dylan's 1966 tour, what with the whole "Judas, I won't buy anymore of your records" stuff.

I don't believe you. You're a liar. PLAY FUCKING LOUD.

Western video games are just as absurd by any 'intellectual' (more likely pseudo-intellectual) standards. The difference is that their tropes are merely safe and familiar, thus nearly invisible, to a new generation of western geeks.

Great post, as always.

[mavs]

I'm not interested in going forward if the PS4/720 don't come in a 'slim' form factor right out of the gate. Fucking just about out of room under/next to my TV.

[Eusis]

I've been wrong before, but I don't think the technological difference will feel as big this time. It doesn't seem like graphic technology's advanced quite as much in the last 5-7 years as it did in the prior period of time, everything will be in 720p at the least, and going by the ram (and even the more conservative GPU guesses) Nintendo isn't simply going for parity with what the rival did but actively surpassing by a significant margin. And frankly, I don't think it matters at all for consoles, Japanese games would likely flock to it while disregarding PC, while 90%+ of the PC games will also see PC release anyway so you can have your stupidly nice looking version there instead.

Mind, I've also been pretty big on handhelds this generation. Technical level doesn't matter enough to me unless it actively feels like it's constraining the game, IE Last Story's erratic frame rate, and going by a solid chunk of recent 360/PS3 releases it's going to happen on the high end consoles anyway.

[demidar]

I've been wrong before, but I don't think the technological difference will feel as big this time. It doesn't seem like graphic technology's advanced quite as much in the last 5-7 years as it did in the prior period of time, everything will be in 720p at the least, and going by the ram (and even the more conservative GPU guesses) Nintendo isn't simply going for parity with what the rival did but actively surpassing by a significant margin. And frankly, I don't think it matters at all for consoles, Japanese games would likely flock to it while disregarding PC, while 90%+ of the PC games will also see PC release anyway so you can have your stupidly nice looking version there instead. Mind, I've also been pretty big on handhelds this generation. Technical level doesn't matter enough to me unless it actively feels like it's constraining the game, IE Last Story's erratic frame rate, and going by a solid chunk of recent 360/PS3 releases it's going to happen on the high end consoles anyway.

If most Japanese devs have trouble getting used to the power in this generation, then why would they be so willing to jump into even more powerful consoles? That's the question I tell myself when I think about the PS4/720's future, and my answer is they'll probably stick to the Wii U seems it's equitable with what they've just learnt how to use. Graphics have advanced to the point of good enough, and any increases past this won't look as good as going from PS1/N64 to PS2/Xbox/GC.

[Rm88~]

I wouldn't know, I didn't play KZ3 because it's boring to me. But from what I've seen it's a lot of guys shouting stuff and "raw" emotions.

I only played it because my brother rented it. I said "why not?". Well, it was pretty clear why not afterwards. My absolute least favorite flavor of gaming.

[Eusis]

If most Japanese devs have trouble getting used to the power in this generation, then why would they be so willing to jump into even more powerful consoles? That's the question I tell myself when I think about the PS4/720's future, and my answer is they'll probably stick to the Wii U seems it's equitable with what they've just learnt how to use. Graphics have advanced to the point of good enough, and any increases past this won't look as good as going from PS1/N64 to PS2/Xbox/GC.

I admittedly felt like the same would be true from PS2/GC/Xbox(/Wii) to PS3/360, but the jump wasn't as drastic, and it didn't open quite as many doors for gameplay possibilities (GTA3 couldn't be done on PS1. Skyrim could probably go on Xbox so long as graphics were throttled and snow obscured the landscape). It'll probably be even less so with the next generation, and it's possible such possibilities won't even be pursued due to the costs associated with them. Seriously, the idea of fully controlled narratives was an amazing idea when I was really young with newer technology, but that actually seems to have largely plateaued with computer hardware circa the late 90s, and we've got more than enough hardware and storage for well detailed open world games now as the likes of Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption show.

[demidar]

I only played it because my brother rented it. I said "why not?". Well, it was pretty clear why not afterwards. My absolute least favorite flavor of gaming.

Agreed, not all games should take themselves seriously, and not all games need to be "Oscar mike, danger close" militaristic. We've been saturated with that I feel and a goofy game is the perfect palette cleanser.

I admittedly felt like the same would be true from PS2/GC/Xbox(/Wii) to PS3/360, but the jump wasn't as drastic, and it didn't open quite as many doors for gameplay possibilities (GTA3 couldn't be done on PS1. Skyrim could probably go on Xbox so long as graphics were throttled and snow obscured the landscape). It'll probably be even less so with the next generation, and it's possible such possibilities won't even be pursued due to the costs associated with them. Seriously, the idea of fully controlled narratives was an amazing idea when I was really young with newer technology, but that actually seems to have largely plateaued with computer hardware circa the late 90s, and we've got more than enough hardware and storage for well detailed open world games now as the likes of Skyrim and Red Dead Redemption show.

The problems you've listed are mostly a design problem, we have ample computation to do those things. The problem is controlled narrative and it's ilk don't show well as opposed to eye candy tech. It's like trying to show a Hitman trailer, many people won't be excited looking at all the patient stealth and deliberate planning so instead they show guns and shooting and explosion and shouting. Tech is at a good point, design is extremely lacking.

[Garcia]

It would be a ps2 situation again and I'd be ok with it if it were to happen.

May the Gods of Olympus listen to your words.

[sp3000]

Up-porting from the lowest common denominator and most popular console is simply the best solution for the largest amount of consumers. .

People in favor of lazy port jobs, only on gaf

[Canis lupus]

Personally, games that don't take themselves too seriously >>> stuff like Killzone 3. Oh man, Killzone 3, easily my most cringe worthy moment in gaming. There's a reason I avoid those games in the first place.

Wanna share why its cringeworthy? I don't speak Spanish.

[pants]

I thought a bit about this thread after I logged out last night. In conclusion I'm only a few thousand points away from earning my Ace Combat jacket, there is zero way I will hang it up when I am so close.

[Crub]

Wait, good graphics is the only reason you play games? Then why don't you game on PC?

[Canis lupus]

Wait, good graphics is the only reason you play games? Then why don't you game on PC?

I for one, like playing games on the couch. :p

[Brashnir]

I for one, like playing games on the couch. :p

...And there's 11 more pages. congratulations.

[richisawesome]

I for one, like playing games on the couch. :p

My PC is hooked up to my 52" 1080p LG TV in my living room via HDMI, it boots instantly into Steam's Big Picture Mode, and everything's accessible and playable from my couch using my wireless 360 controller.

take that