I remember our first video game console was the Nintendo (NES) in the early 1990s, well-equipped with some of the greatest Mario games known to man (Duck Hunt was no slouch either.) Then, we moved onto Super Nintendo a few years later, which had so many classic games, a very simple interface, and the quick “blow on the cartridge” approach to troubleshooting. I was not part of the N64 craze, so I missed out on the classic Super Smash and Mario Kart battles, but I returned to action with a PS2. And that’s still where I am. Not that I don’t necessarily want a PS3 or an XBox 360, but at this point I feel that the gaming industry has plateaued as a whole, with improvements seeming increasingly marginal relative to what they used to be.
Since graphics and processing are already extremely powerful, many of the incremental changes between generations of consoles (e.g. PS3 compared to PS2) have come in the games themselves. While these additional features make the gaming experience richer, it has also become much more difficult to learn. I would like to consider myself a techie who embraces new gadgets and improvements to current devices, but I have become a luddite when it comes to video games. A few reasons come to mind for why this has happened:
1.) Too little time - In elementary, middle, and a lot of high school, video games were basically my life. They were extremely popular because it was a way to quell boredom (and we all know how much I hate being bored.) Now that we actually have responsibilities and other things to go out and do, video games have become a secondary activity. So, my constant curiosity about new systems and games is gone.
2.) Too expensive - What used to be $25 for each game on a SNES and $40-50 for a PS2 have now become $60, with very little room for discounting. Unless it was Grand Theft Auto or Madden, I rarely bought games at the full price anyway. Now it’s extremely difficult to find any games at all for considerably lower prices. One game for $60? It’s tough to fork over that much for Madden ‘12 when the only noticeable difference over Madden ‘11 is updated rosters.
3.) Too complex - This is probably the most difficult part for me to accept. So many of these new games on PS3 and XBox 360 have extremely steep learning curves, and since I don’t have the time or patience anymore to sit down and try to improve, I don’t bother. There are so many different button combinations and new joystick directions that it’s hard to keep track of it all. We’re used to a certain threshold of difficulty from the gaming systems we grew up with, but now those who are playing on these new consoles seem to have an incredible capacity to learn all the new concepts. What happened to the two button NES? Hit A to accelerate. B to brake. Done. Obviously that’s an exaggeration, but it’s clear that there used to be a much smaller barrier to entry to be competitive in a game than there is now.
That last reason made me realize how my parents and a lot of their generation feel about technology today, and that we will probably feel the same way once our priorities change (it’s already happening). We take computers, smartphones, and tablets for granted, quickly doing what we need to do because we “understand” how to use them. For our parents, these devices are so complex compared to what they grew up and learned that it’s tough to devote extra time and energy to adopt them, especially when there are so many other responsibilities they have. I’ll certainly try my best to keep up with the times, especially with technology, but I already see my priorities changing. All I know is that our kids are ridiculously smart if the PS5’s games and controls are “easy” to them.
(Aside 1: I felt like I could keep rambling without any structure about this topic, but I cut it off because I wanted to keep the length manageable.)
(Aside 2: There are actually a lot of things about video games - the marginal improvements in games themselves, the age when we have the highest capacity to want to learn the games, the longevity of the PS2, the future of the industry, etc. - that I’d like to discuss in more detail at some point, so stay tuned.)
