Player3Podcast

By: Dizzy Cooper

 

Wait through the false sunrise and ride towards the true sunset. In my life as a gamer, I have been both adamantly passionate and vehemently disappointed by video game titles across the console board. Yet whether I felt this, that, or the other, one constant remained true, you needed to buy a console to play any of them. With the new-gen consoles having been released in late 2013, there has been a surge in innovation and quality over the past year, but that quality is a feature that improves with age. As the consoles age, more titles are released and are at the disposal of gamers; this is my true sunset, that I desire to ride towards. Yet many gamers fall for the false sunrise, the hopeful beginning of the fresh 8th generation console with the promise of engaging launch titles. A false sunrise that has the consumer to spend a large sum of money just to wait for games that make the expenditure worth it.

 

Hi, my name is Dizzy, and I have yet to buy into the new-gen consoles.

 

As a 26 year old born and raised in America I have had the privileged to experience the evolution of the technological format. From the cassette player, to the Walkman, to the iPod. From dial-up, to ethernet, to Wifi. From Xbox original, to Xbox 360, but the next step has not been an easy one for me. I found as I grew and learned about my surroundings and my own placement in society, that the next step wasn’t a required milestone in my technological journey. Many people have asked me why I haven’t graduated to the 8th gen consoles, pseudo-questioning my title of “gamer”. I wish I had a single answer, I wish I could sum it all up in a nicely packaged box, but it’s bigger than that. With my decision to not buy into the the new-gen consoles I took to culture, society, and personal outlooks as my reasoning. 

 

Clutching onto Nostalgia

 

The demise of Couch Co-Ops. This has me kicking and screaming. Growing up in the hay day of console development, games brought people together. My friends and I would team up every weekend and take turns playing Halo, these were the times where camaraderie was built. Now there has been a shift in that culture, where games were once a hub for humans to enjoy each others company, games have become a hotbed of aggression, separation, and facts about my mom I never wanted to know, all in reaction to online play and the death of the couch co-op.

I probably sound like an old man crying about how “back in my day” but socializing has always been a driving feature of video games. The first video games developed were centered around two people going together (Chess, Tennis For Two, Spacewar!). I am sure most people would rather have a pizza night with friends as they play a game, rather than being berated and cursed at by a 12 year old who No-Scope 360ed you.

 

It’s all about where we get our kicks.Where we find our joy is different for everybody, but in terms of couch co-ops, our beloved culture of gamers has drastically shifted into an anti-social, maladjusted identity that was never meant to be.The accessibility of being “connected” is causing us to be even less connected- “Hey lets play Titanfall.”, “Okay, let me drive all the way home, not get online, nevermind no servers found, I’m going to take a nap.” I am pretty bitter about this, I know that gamers are hospitable, they are accepting, but developers are carting them off into their darks rooms, not giving them an option or chance of being present with other physical bodies. The new-gen consoles weren't created with us in mind (us as in mid-90s gamers), they were developed for the “new” gaming culture, where every man, woman, and child is playing lone wolf under the guise of “connected”.

 

 

Systems are an investment and you always want your investment to pay off. Few people would buy strings if they had to wait months for quality guitars to be made. Nobody would buy tires if they had to wait years for cars to be manufactured. I wanted to make sure that there was going to be a consistent stream of quality content before I bought a new-gen system. The investment needs to pay off. Customers who waited in line for the iPhone 6 release stated that they did not want to wait for the technology to get outdated. This concept does not apply to the console wars because the technology’s lifespan is determined by the content released.

 

Here at P3P, we say “No Pre-Orders” in response to wanting developers to release games that aren't broken and reflect our investment in believing in the title. I apply this to my decision of why I did not buy 8th gen. I wanted to wait and see what was released to justify my buying into in the console, I wanted to see the quality of titles reflect my investment. I chose to wait. Being on top of trends and in-tune with the “next best thing” has never been my style- if there could be a concise reason why I haven't bought 8th gen, that was it. 

 

Consumer Social Hierarchy 

 

The kid down the street got a new bike, my cousin has a holographic Charizard, or I bought the iPad first day. This consumer social hierarchy has always existed, being the first on the block or the first in the office makes a person a momentary celebrity. In this technological era there is a drive in humans, a social drive, that makes us want the “new” and “improved”, a yearning because our older version is no longer relevant. I am still strapped with an iPhone 4S, so my personal disposition deems is acceptable to still use my 360 or PS3 with no fear of social fallout. The release of the new-gen consoles may have made the technology obsolete, but it did not cause the systems to be bad, to drop quality by itself. 

 

As an adult I no longer feel a desire to be in the “in” crowd, if my needing to own the best new thing is required to be pertinent, I choose to be an outcast. Our consumer culture is fueled by this hierarchy, that no one wants to be left behind, and parents have to deal with this having children who take social hierarchy seriously. The drive to want the new technology is not existent in me, so I understand I cannot reflect with the compulsion some techies feel.

 

Who Earns, What I Earned?

 

In conclusion, none of what you read was scientific fact, there is nothing wrong with buying consoles launch day and there is nothing wrong with waiting years to upgrade. What I attempted to convey was the falsely devised stigma for not buying the next best thing. People go decades with the same vehicle, people stay married for half a century, having technology determine your self-worth or social position is a man-made idea that focuses on high cost with low return. Live life as you please, use a flip phone proudly or drive a 70s van like a boss, determine your own value without filtering it through a brand.

 

After waiting over a year and seeing what the new-gen consoles have to offer, and seeing they will fulfill their promises, I will be investing in a PS4. Companies have begun advertising games that tailor to me, because we shouldn't grovel at the feet of the system eating up every game they release, rather we should let the system work for us. Don’t throw coin at their “graciousness”, be the money-bags that developers need to appease.