Suttree.com: Casual Games, Social Software by Duncan Gough

So, the next-gen is lining up pretty clearly now. The Wii is out, but in short supply, the Xbox360 is out, selling well and moving into a good stream of games and extras (Live Arcade, add-ons, Halo 3, etc) and the price for the PS3 is pretty much set at around £425.

So, which will I buy to get my next-gen gaming fix?

• Wii

• My wife bought me one of these for Christmas. However, HMV saw fit to cancel the order on a technicality and she spent the remainder of the holidays trying to find a replacement. So, given that I’m not in the habit of chasing after big companies to literally give them my money, the Wii is off the list until something more than Wii Sports comes along to make me want to play it. The Virtual Console could well be that extra incentive, but not yet.

• PS3

• Given the huge amount of negative press, from John Carmack to everyone else you meet in games, the PS3 should be an automatic ‘no’. For that reason alone I’ve been quietly considering buying one - the games will be good, the video quality high and Sony will no doubt manage to pull something out of the hat during the lifetime of the console. But, at around £500 for a console and two games, I just can’t afford that.

• Xbox360

• The Xbox360 is streets ahead. Microsoft took a gamble launching early but they’ve consolidated that position and made some extremely well informed decisions. However, I don’t have an HDTV and I won’t buy one for some time to come. I’ve played Xbox360 games a couple of times now and none of them have leapt out. In fact, they’ve all suffered from those plastic, false looking graphics and lack of basic addictive gameplay ideas. Live Arcade makes up for that in a big way, and Microsoft seem to have done well in grabbing some exclusive titles for the Xbox360, so there is a decent incentive to buy, but just not enough for me to buy it. And it’s loud, loud is last-gen.

None of the next-gen consoles seem to have a clear lead. Should I repeat what I did about this time last year and take a step back? Last year I bought a Gamecube on eBay for £30 and I’ve picked up the odd game for £5 to £10 here and there. The Gamecube gave me easily my best gaming experience last year, in the shape of Resident Evil 4, so is now the time to buy a PS2? The original Xbox seems to be a victim of the all-consuming focus on the Xbox360, so that rules out any last-gen Microsoft choices, but a PS2 could well be Sony’s finest hour. There are hundreds of good games available, across all genres and most of them are cheap. I could buy second hand, too, as it’s last-gen hardware I’m not bothered about bumps and scratches.

Or should I go portable? I bought a PSP and regret it with the exception of Loco Roco. A DS Lite would be a sensible choice, and one I almost made a number of times last year. However, aside from brain training games there’s nothing I can’t do on a Gamecube. Like the Wii, the DS Lite is, for me, in need of a few good games.

Where does that leave me, then? Here’s where:

• PC

• Ah yes, the venerable Personal Computer. Not a Mac, either, a Windows PC. Why? Well, let’s see:

  Cost - not good, I’ve got components but I’d need a new motherboard, cpu and ram. That’s about £350 from somewhere like Komplett, £400 with a case included. Cheaper than a PS3, just.

  Online support - not online helpdesks, but online ability. PC games have had his for years, Counter Strike being the daddy. This inherent online ability opens up the door to MMOs, too, which consoles are just beginning to experience. Updates come through online too. It’s a tried and tested solution for PC games.

  Exclusive titles - well, not as many any more, given that Half Life 2, Doom 3 and probably Crysis have all been co-opted for consoles, as will Spore, no doubt. But, if they’re not exclusive it’s for a good reasons - PC games are so innovative that console makes *want* them.

  Casual games - kongregate keeps me happy, here, but it’s not just casual games though..

  Indie games - Could you imagine something like flOw, rRootage, Defcon, Darwinia, New Star Soccer or Gish originating from a console? Me neither.

  Browser based games - Hypefighter, Dofus, Runescape, etc. Part casual, part indie.

  Plenty of game genres - Just look at this variety of games I’ve been able to list so far - sports FPS, puzzles, simulations, MMOs, etc.

  Extras - PC isn’t just about gaming, it’s a home entertainment platform. I have open source web browsers, email clients, office suites, IM, social networking, photo sharing, an online identity, news channels, youtube videos, gossip, reviews, weather, etc, etc, etc. These aren’t just extras anymore, in case that wasn’t obvious. I could probably build something to fit in the living room, making the most of wireless everything, if I didn’t already have a Mac Mini doing that job well enough.

  Home Entertainment - PCs sync with just about every known video camera, still camera, flash player, phone and calendar. They have a built in dvd player, cd player, dvd burner and cd burner, can play audio (mp3s, wavs, wmas, flac, ogg) and films, can download audio and films (in the UK, TV station like Channel 4 are starting to offer time-shifted versions of their programmes too), supports a wealth of free and cheap software, including some great developer tools for building your own games, has plenty of usb and fireware ports, can stream tv and radio, hooks up to a webcam for video chat, can use skype for free calls, fits into my home network easily, talks to both Mac and PC, etc, etc, etc.

  So, it’s a PS2 or a PC. I haven’t upgraded my PC in years, so that edges it, but it’s expensive, which I still can’t justify. While there’s still no clear winner, you can see the direction I’m inclined to take. For a long time PC gamers have been derided as ‘hardcore gamers’, giving consoles a mass market appeal that is more marketing than fact. I’m not a hardcore gamer, I’m an All Round Gamer. And the more console manufacturers push the next-gen consoles away from gaming and toward connectivity, the more the highlight the Uncanny Valley that exists around the powerful but hamstrung consoles as internet devices, and powerful yet ugly PCs as all-in-one entertainment devices. And since Dell bought Alienware, I can’t help thinking that combination could create a nice looking, high spec PC with DirectX 10 support and be next to noiseless.