To add fuel to the fire, gaming has gotten so reliant with online that it has become a necessity. Again businesses follow the money. Games are incomplete off the shelf, requiring updates to fix them. Online services are preparing us for the future. That future will be download only movies, games, etc. While this may sound convenient, one must ask how this could be more beneficial to us versus how we do things now and in the past. The only thing I see is online service pitting themselves between you and the games. The only way to play is forcing us to subcribe to online to play games. It further requires us to agree to terms. To me, there is no benefit to relying on a service that may discontinue like Xbox did. Today, I can still play my old games without the threat of losing them. Let's stop cutting each others throat and work together to keep gaming as more than just an online toaster.

Think about it this way: yes, as the market grows to embrace the "casual gamer" you will see an increase in the number of watered down titles that don't appeal to the hardcore gamer. But the flipside is that you will see the number of hardcore gamers growing, as gaming becomes more and more socially acceptable and more and more people are exposed to gaming. Some of those casual gamers, hell, a lot of those casual gamers, have the potential crossover and become dedicated fans.

Also, if the video game market stayed the way it was back when it was the sole domain of the "hardcore," the market would have stagnated. The reason why we have things like the PS3, the 360 and the Wii is because the market was viable and the demand was there. This was no doubt helped along by the mainstream popularity of the Sony Playstation 2.

As more and more people play video games, the market will continue to grow, which means there will be more potential profits, which means companies have even more incentive to produce games and hardware. Yes, this does mean that you'll see more and more watered down crap games that appeal to the average Joe. But that doesn't mean that developers won't continue to try and push the envelope and that we won't continue to see groundbreaking titles on the level of a Metal Gear Solid 4 or a Halo 3. Casual games may sell but companies will continue to chase after that blockbuster hit, that mega popular game flies off the shelf.

There's no need to feel threatened. This is good for the industry as a whole and we should embrace it. Yes, it'll come with its fair share of negative aspects but they're far outweighed by the good.

Of course, I fully support any initiative to eliminate fanboyism, so I appreciate that aspect of your argument.

A_a_A

ACEMANWISE wrote:This console war has gotten out of control. We, as gamers, should be looking at how screwed gaming is becoming now and the near future. Casual gamers are running the show. The Wii has penetrated the casual market. It is the #1 selling console. As such, businesses follow the money. What's sad is casual gamers probably don't care about games anymore than using their toaster. They find a cheap toaster, have breakfast and go about their day. To them, gaming is nothing more than satisfying a hunger for entertainment. Yet here we are fighting over consoles that are becoming extinct.

To add fuel to the fire, gaming has gotten so reliant with online that it has become a necessity. Again businesses follow the money. Games are incomplete off the shelf, requiring updates to fix them. Online services are preparing us for the future. That future will be download only movies, games, etc. While this may sound convenient, one must ask how this could be more beneficial to us versus how we do things now and in the past. The only thing I see is online service pitting themselves between you and the games. The only way to play is forcing us to subcribe to online to play games. It further requires us to agree to terms. To me, there is no benefit to relying on a service that may discontinue like Xbox did. Today, I can still play my old games without the threat of losing them. Let's stop cutting each others throat and work together to keep gaming as more than just an online toaster.

true but live is the shit....but i agree with everything els.

their trying to fuck us backwards.......and im getting tired of it........this whole online dependent gaming is garbage...paired with over priced substandard internet connections. i will resist the digital distribution.........