Hardcore Gamers Cringe at E3

It seems to be bad days for the hardcore gamers out there, as now Microsoft is targeting the elusive casual gamer market after the Wii’s flyaway success. This Year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is not really offering much to that crowd. In fact, the gaming industry seems to be in a slump. Only Nintendo is offering truly innovative things. The PS3 and Xbox 360 are essentially nothing more than graphics upgrades to their predecessors. While I’m sure that’s a debatable topic, there is little to prove otherwise. That’s coupled with the announcement of more mediocre games and a half-arsed attempt to “redesign” the Sony PSP.

I myself am not a hardcore gamer. However, it’s hard not to notice the slow decline of gaming. Perhaps its just that I remember the golden age of gaming back in the 1990s, notably the early 1990s. That’s when the big name franchises got their start, when LucasArts was pumping out one fantastic adventure game after the other, when games were simple and fun. As EA’s president correctly observed, games have become overly complicated. Console shooters are notorious for this. Aside from that, many games have a rushed feel to them. I think KOTOR 2 was the saddest example of a game that was rushed into production before it was ready. While still a good game, it has a very uncomplete feel to it. Many games these days suffer from serious glitches and bugs, some making them unplayable. Others have weak stories. Even more have clumsy control input systems. Sure, the graphics keep getting better and better but the games themselves keep getting worse and worse. I think Nintendo has proven with the Wii that graphics aren’t important anymore, and I think that’s what’s bothering the hardcore gamers.

However, nobody who would call themselves a true hardcore gamer would never play console games to begin with. Their domain is PCs, where they can freely change parameters, boost the system, produce game mods, etc. Consoles were always for the casual. So don’t attack them if you don’t like what they’re doing. They’re not for you anyway.