consoles
Thoughts on console games
I’ve often wondered why it is that in recent years my interest in computer gaming has dropped off. It usefully had something to do with not being able to keep my PC at the tech level it seemed it needed to be in order to play the games I was most interested in. Then there was that I was getting all of the fun gaming experiences I was after from my table top games, and I didn’t need to sit alone in my room squinting at the screen. Oh and I also had a partner who wasn’t so keen on me doing that either.
But with the arrival of “next-gen consoles” (as they are still sometimes called) suddenly all those games I used to want on my PC could be played through a console. All I needed then was to just pay the $500 (rather than $2000) for the Xbox 360 and I’d be playing like the old days.
Except it also drew my attention to the games that were out there. And even though there were pretty and action packed they lacked something important that I have come to love in table top gaming. And that is deep character interaction. I know that to create a game with that kind experience would be so hard, it almost isn’t worth it but I think some games soon to be hitting the shelves might be getting close. Games like Mass Effect 2, Alpha Protocol and Dragon Age seem to be pushing that roleplaying experience one step further.
This feeling is summed up very nicely in a Kotaku article just after E3
I’m not sure what it says about me, that my biggest game moment of E3 2009 was a dialog decision. Maybe I’ve seen too much over the years to be impressed by simple game announcements or the promise of technology still a good year away. Maybe I’m just a science fiction roleplaying dork. Either one works.
I guess being a roleplaying dork just means I like complex human interactions, even in my pre-scripted games. So in anticipation of this glut of CRPGs coming out in a few months I’m going to take the plunge and buy my first console. Just as soon as I can get over my internal, PC game loving snobbishness.