Well, it all began with my first console - the Playstation One, which I received at the age of 5. It was amazing - it was like discovering one of the greatest treasures of all time, and it certainly was! The PS1 was a part of the first generation of consoles that utilized the 3D platform in games, and it included classics such as The Legend of Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, Tomb Raider - some of the best and most influential games of the late 1990s and early 2000s. And Spyro was by far my favourite...ooh the nostalgia!
Of course, in 2004 there was a new console in the block - the Playstation 2! Whilst obviously being a follow-up to the PS1, the PS2 pushed the boundaries of 3D gaming by being one of the first consoles to use online play! And like the PS1, it didn't come without some of the most iconic games; Devil May Cry, The Simpsons: Hit & Run, Grand Theft Auto 3, and by far one of my favourite video game series, Kingdom Hearts! I had been obsessed with this game series since I first played it in 2006, and I've been back and played it over and over again just to relive my childhood! I had the original PS2 console design for almost 7 years - it saddens me that on the 1st April 2016 they shut down the last of the PS2 online servers...I mean, I thought it was a joke with it being April Fools, but when it wasn't…*sighs*
Moving on, I decided to switch sides and obtained my Nintendo Wii and my Nintendo DS Lite around 2007/2008, and they were both incredible. I loved the fact that the DS was handheld - I could play it anywhere and everywhere with games such as New Super Mario Bros., Professor Layton and the Curious Village, Nintendogs, The Legend of Zelda and the Phantom Hourglass - I was hooked as soon as I turned it on - I could sit there for hours just to complete a certain level, and this feeling was merely emphasized with the Nintendo DSi! Come on, IT HAD A CAMERA! Me, being 12, I had countless amounts of fun taking funny pictures of my face and playing it with friends!
But the most fun I had was with the Wii - The Guitar Hero series, Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii - my goodness! No wonder it was Britain's favourite console. The whole family could get involved as using the Wii remote literally got you moving about the place and jumping around with joy! That's why the Wii was so popular - it removed that unhealthy obsession of just sitting on the sofa all the time and staring at the screen by yourself; you needed social skills to fully enjoy it! A touch that people seemed to have forgotten...
I switched sides to the Xbox 360 in 2011 - it was the sleek glossy model version that came with the doomed first version of the Kinect. I mean, the Kinect was awesome as far as I was concerned! It's just that there weren't many games that could be made as you needed room to actually move, and the games needed to actually be playable (Sonic Free Riders, anyone?) Regardless of the Kinect, the Xbox 360 is just as fun as the PS2! With games ranging from the Halo series and Red Dead Redemption to the Bioshock series and The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, you had endless options to explore its potential. I guess that will also fade into history too…
Now? Now I play...nothing. I don't really know why. As much as the 8th generation seems appealing with the Xbox One, PS4 and the Wii U leading the way, I don't really go and desperately obtain them. Don't get me wrong; I still love games! But I often find myself watching playthroughs on YouTube nowadays - it's been months since I last completed a game, over a year even. I don't really know the reason. Is it because I find the modern consoles too overpriced and overloaded with online content and DLCs? Is it because they're too popular? Have they lost their touch for me? Or am I just being over-dramatic and lazy? There are definitely good games out there - The Last of Us, Heavy Rain, Dark Souls, the Fallout series - the standards just seem to be getting higher! I recommend everybody go out and play these games ASAP, before the next generation comes along and shoves more stuff in our faces.
Don't worry folks - I'll get back into gaming soon. Gaming is one of my passions that I have sadly neglected. I need to feed it and get it back up on it's feet! I need to grab a controller and play the first good game that I find. I need to sit down and compensate for wasted time and lost youth! GAMES AHOY!
I enjoyed your nostalgic meandering, right up until you suggested that the Wii U was up there "leading the way".
The Wii U is not up anyway, unless it's up on a chair with a rope, or perhaps a particularly dirty creek... Nintendo completely lost their way with it - and 'innovated' without thinking of human interaction. Why would you create a huge cumbersome controller that only lasts 4 hours on a charge?!? Why would it be a screen that basically provides nothing that a well thought out on-TV UI could do. Just, why, Nintendo. And why do you keep pumping out the same games, decade after decade?!
And don't even get me started on DLC content that publishers seem eager to pump out...
Rant over.
Anyway, I would encourage you to get back into gaming, and while I am what most would call 'a fanboy', I think the Xbox One is the way to go. Their gaming lineup this year is pretty incredible, and as a platform I think they are the most compelled to innovate as they really botched their launch.
That said, PS4 is ever so slightly more powerful, and can often be found cheaper...