Ryan M. Eft has 8 chronicles

1. I've made up my mind; 2009 will be the year of...
   

   Player Chronicle -- Posted on Dec 22 2008

   The PS3. At least for me. Between Uncharted 2, LBP and White Knight Story, it's time to start pricing what I'll need for my doorstop. I've been on the fence for my next system for months, but I gotta tell you...two years ago, if you'd told me current-gen system #2 would be a Playstation 3 and not a Wii, I would have checked your blood-alcohol levels.
   
   Besides the fact that Sony is actually starting to roll out the content now, what has made my mind up is the extreme lack of quality first-party software on the Wii. This is an odd turn-around from generations past, when third-party material dried up and the reliable, soothing "there there" provided by Zelda, Mario and Metroid was all we Nintendo fans had to sustain us through the long, cold winter. When the Big N said it was trying to court non-gamers, I didn't realize there was also an implied "to the exclusion of devoted fans". But that's exactly what they've done: those of us who kept them at least semi-viable through the arid years of the Nintendo 64 and the Gamecube are now starving for content as they push out...Wii Music. Mario Superstar Sluggers. Oh, but at least 2009 will have Wii Sports 2. There's a system seller.
   
   My gravest letdown as concerns the Wii is that the highly promising, seemingly bold ideas behind the technology have not been implemented in any way that is changing games. Even if you ignore the lack of depth perception in the remote, the Wii Motion Plus is
   A: an admittance that the remote is not fully functional out of the box and
   B: A brazen declaration that they are going to charge you money to make the controller do what it was supposed to do in the first place.
   
   Ironically, next year seems to have potential for the third-party dry spell to moisten up a tad, with games like The Conduit, Madworld, Muramasa and Cursed Mountain. But with Nintendo not only announcing no major new titles, but actually still trying to defend the horrible mistake that is Wii Music, it's too little, too late, and the Wii may suffer an even worse fate as pertains my personal spending than the Gamecube did. I bought the Gamecube when the price went low; I may just wait for whatever comes after the Wii, see if they get it right this time.
   
   Final Fantasy may be the light at the end of my tunnel on another system, but in the meantime I have other awesome options. I can't buy a Wii with the vague hope that in a year or two of releases with potential but no real guarantee of quality, I'll see a Zelda. Which will of course be the same game as the last Zelda, with new dungeons. Tradition is a fine thing in moderation, but Nintendo wanks off its old money-makers with such devotion that it all grows stale. The very best Zelda game of the 3D mold released in 1998, and I can't blame gamers (and Nintendo) for wanting more of it. But what people really want is to experience those old feelings of wonder for the first time, and thus all sorts of excuses are made for why evolution is not allowed within the Nintendo canon. No other company in games gets away with this nonsense.
   
   As for the PS3, I'll admit it: I'm going to buy it for a handful of games. That's one of the things you should never do with a system. Regardless of how much the fanboys holler, MGS4 or Zelda or even FFXIII are not, alone, worth spending several hundred dollars. But by the end of next year, we'll have two Uncharted games. We'll have Infamous. We'll have White Knight Story. Little Big Planet. Media Molecule has a three game contract. I still would like to play Folklore; not a major title, but it appeals to the sort of gamer I am. If KH3 became an exclusive, it would really seal the deal, but I won't speculate that far in advance.
   
   I'm fully aware that once I have it, I'm going to suffer most of the criticisms I have leveled against it. Long months with nothing to play (in the acheivements vs. trophies battles, acheivements always win), lack of a really compelling interface, and the fact that Home sucks dead dogs. I guess for those games I mentioned, I'm willing to live with that. We'll see how that turns out.

   
   

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Ryan M. Eft has 2 comment s on this chronicle.

1. Ryan M. Eft
   Posted On Dec 22 2008

   Blu-Ray has no effect on my decision. I won't be spending 30 bucks a film anytime soon. But the lack of enthusiasm for the PS3 was deserved, and even now they aren't where they need to be. I make the decision with remaining reservations, though since I'm not buying it immediately, we'll see what, if anything, has changed the landscape by the time I make my purchase.

2. BigNeen004
   Posted On Dec 22 2008

   2009, the year of the PS3.... I hope so! Regardless, I am and have been enjoying my PS3 since June '08.... seems like soo much longer!
   
   It is very sad that so many people buy the PS3 with the lack of excitement that you have stated above. Don't get me wrong, I was included in there too, when I bought mine there were just promises of games to come and the wait for FXIII (this was before it was announced for the 360, that may have changed my decision). I could not be happier with the purchase, although the addition of an HDTV helped too! There are plenty of games out now to keep anyone busy for weeks on end and even if there weren't, Blu-ray baby!