Why is it that whenever someone calls us "hardcore" gamers our immediate reaction is to say the same about the other console gamers? To me, the whole "I know you are but what am I" retort was gauche in preschool. For instance, I have heard so many people responding to attacks with, "So what its a media center, all the consoles are media centers. If you notice, these consoles are sold among HD tvs and sound systems. Accusing PS3 of being a media center is like accusing the sky of being blue"
Because I have manly chest hair, I shall be the first to finally admit that PS3 is a hardcore system. Maybe even.... a media center. There I said it. How many among you can do the same? Not many I should think. Most of you would rather have us b_e_l_i_e_v_e that the ps3 is some kind of futuristic appliance that has traveled back in time, completely skirting the issue of whether or not it is hardcore or MC (for short). I applaud you for your efforts friends, but I think such exercise is futile. Blu-ray, is just a modern format, it is not space-age; wireless is simply a standard.... it is not magical, and its crisp hd visuals are not powered by dilithium crystals. This is now, and sadly, it is far from what we have grown accustomed to.
You see, traditional gaming has always been more casual. Characters like megaman, sub-zero, and strider were household names; games like contra, civilization II, and the Gran turismo were simple and straightforward, so much so that they almost played themselves. So of course, Sony went and made (what I think is) this ridiculous system that constantly feels the need to compensate for a lack of casual games by making big budget disasters like MGS4, Valkyria chronicles, Killzone2, Little Big Planet and teh Haze simply to generate buzz about the system. As the saying goes "better bad publicity than no publicity".
Why didn't we stay with traditional gaming? The fact of the matter is, the PS3 cannot even handle 1 or 2 waggles per second. It just doesn't have the computational power. If it were really from the future it would have known that in 2029 AD we evolve out of thumbs and therefore they would have replaced the dualshock with some kind of seven fingered power glove. And is anyone else a little tired of the simple little motion control mini-games we play where we have to lean the controller to lean in the game? To me, it simply feels unfinished. Where are the PS3 games that support full waggle, I ask? why isn't there some kind of remote control like object that would allow me to repeatedly strong punch my way through street fighter 4 or search through menus in the upcoming disaster ff13? We like to say that we don't want that kind of control, but in reality, games are just as good with it. The answer is because the ps3 simply cannot handle it.
I think it is for similar reasons that we defend against the accusations the ps3 is hardcore. In a way, we have deviated from the traditional mainstream market. I think maybe we should try out some more mainstream games, or maybe write to Sony that we would like some simpler games. Maybe they could even play themselves... I don't know, anything is better than this.... this... sham of an experience we call AAA. If it is AAA, how do we know that? Shouldn't we not have FFF games to compare them too? I am going to take action on this. Mark my words, and mark them well. If we continue on this path, hardcore may actually end up killing traditional gaming as we know and love it.
On top of that, whenever something negative about Sony is brought up, Leo-J strolls in and takes it upon himself to answer for every one of us, but I frankly don't like his condescending and often sarcastic tone!
:P
Also, squilliam makes me laugh because I always picture Kirk saying his words.
EDIT: added a strikethrough over Haze because it doesn't belong in that same category
