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The Power of Gaming

This time last year I was pretty bored as a fan of video games in general, something was very wrong. The industry revolved around the Dragon that was the PS3 and the Phoenix that was the Xbox 360. (if you’ve gotten a red ring you can figure out why the 360 is the phoenix) The two monsters fought what was essentially a cold war. There were very little exclusives and there only seemed to be one difference between the two consoles, the 360’s smaller price tag. For the whole year I felt as if there was no competition between the two major platforms. This year, however, I feel refreshed because it seems as instead of simply staring at one another the two beasts have finally begun to make moves. With the prominence of blu-ray discs developers have been boasting its power of storage, even claiming to be able to take gaming to new heights with the new technology.

We’ve already seen examples of how they’re attempting, breathing the flames that are  MAG, Killzone 2, Heavy Rain and the like. Does this mean that 360 owners are doomed to regret their purchase? Not at all, the bird’s still got some life in it, The 360 seems to be getting more cost effective by the minute with its frequent price drops, Sony has some catching up to do in that regard. Soon you will be able to store games onto your hard drive which will allow cut back on load times and increase the longevity of your disc by cutting down on the disc spins in the console. This allows developers to use multiple DVDs to equal the quality of a PS3 title because not only will multiple DVDs eventually reach the amount of space of a Blu-Ray game, with the new storage feature load times should be not a thing of the past but an inconvinence so minor it could hardly be considered one. Sony though has more than just the format to fight with, a Dragon’s got other tools and those would be the fact that Sony not only has 3rd party support but that also their first party titles are for the most part amazing games.

At this point it seems like the dragon has that phoenix pinned down.

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Tags: 360, Gaming, ps3

Games Have Changed

Video games are one of the best sources of entertainment by becoming mainstream and accessible to everyone. They’re selling like hot cakes because they appeal to most audiences. However, that wasn’t always the case. Games themselves, the feel of games, and the definition of playing games have changed and will continue to change.

Before the CD-Rom era, games were often brutal, long experiences. Most people would talk about how poorly the levels were constructed, how unfair the AI was, how easy it was to get stuck/lost in the game, and how they wouldn’t “lose to the game”. They would spend money on software that took much of their time to complete and fulfilled their masochistic impulses. That was what it meant to play a game. A large number of the insanely difficult titles are considered classics and the most memorable.

When the Playstation came out, its hardware brought more options to the developers’ table. This sparked the RPG revolution. Final Fantasy VII was THE game that made roleplaying games mainstream. It was critically noted for its graphics, characters, cinematics, atmosphere, and gameplay. Its cinematics brought the gamer closer to the story while the person feeds on the eyecandy. It was perfect for its time and it made a big push for games.
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Tags: Gaming, history

Quarter Dollar Gaming

The arcades were the end all and be all of gaming back in the late 80s to mid 90s. Many major franchises made their debuts in the arcades, such as Street Fighter, Donkey Kong, Double Dragon, Bionic Commando and others. Arcade gaming was the equivalent of the Monday Night Football game with your buddies, the only difference was that the arcade was open everyday. Even when the first home consoles came out they featured games that were watered down versions of arcade games. Arcade titles were top of the line in sound, speed, and graphics, it was also a very competitive place to be. People battled for top scores around the clock, day in and day out. When it came to fighting games people plunked down quarters to not only learn the game but also to prove their mettle as a gamer.

Do you remember the days when gaming consisted of a joystick and only the buttons you needed? When to get the best possible graphics you had to get out of your house? When you could make friends or meet a half decent woman while playing games? When you could cut school to play games and not get in trouble? If you don’t, we here at Gaming Vice do, and if you’ve been living under a rock for longer than I’ve been alive I’m talking about the arcades.

These games were a lot more personal too, when you lost, you didn’t just lose a game, you lost that quarter. These games were for pride as well, there weren’t internet thugs calling you a “noob” from fifteen states away, these were real people calling you a scrub to your face, and what could you say, everyone saw you lose. On the flipside if you were the best at your local arcade people saw you as a king among gamers. You could play as long as you wanted on that same quarter. It was a fun and exciting time. Something happened that rocked the boat though, home consoles started to rival the arcades, but that was no big deal at the time it just meant you could play games at the arcade and at home and have a good time all the time. Then it got bad, consoles became better than the arcades in the mid 90s, arcades across the United States began closing in rapid fashion.

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Tags: Arcade, Dollar, Gaming, Quarter, revival

High Level Gaming

Do you like to think of yourself as a competitive gamer? Love to be cheap or cheesy with Blanka’s electric shield in Street Fighter 2? Think that you’re the sickest sniper around? Watching a video on youtube thinking what’s that guy doing that I can’t? Why’s he considered a pro and you’re not?

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Tags: Competition, Gaming, High, Level