The next-gen of gaming, also known as HD Gaming, started with the
introduction of the Xbox 360 way back in November 2005. It is another
thing that PCs were capable of HD gaming much before the consoles, it's
just that they picked up much later.
Coming back; I spend good 25-30 hours a
week playing on my Xbox 360 and PS3, and occasionally on the Wii --
that just means that I do enjoy my consoles. But the fact is that like most things in life, console
gaming
isn't perfect. So much so that I've come up with a list of reasons for
the same.Whether you agree or disagree with my list, let me know in the
comments section.

5) Highly Visual Centric (Xbox 360 and PS3): A
good looking game can really turn heads -- MGS4, Gears of War, Bioshock
and Uncharted; they're stunning games, and have been praised universally for
the same. But it takes a lot of talent to makes such games, which not
only look great but play just as well.
However, these days every developer wants
to make games that look really good, but in their quest for visual
supremacy, they lose out on the basics -- the games just aren't fun to
play! NFS Undercover, Assassin's Creed, Afro Samurai, Face Breaker,
need I say more? Nintendo's Wii is an exception in the visuals department, but most of its games get boring very soon.
4)
Expensive (Consumer): I know PC gaming ain't cheap, but the same
applies to consoles as well; in some cases consoles tend to be more
expensive. Let's take the Xbox 360 for example, the HDD, the Wi-Fi
adapter, headset -- all freaking expensive!
"Xbox Live" is a godsend and
there are no two ways about it, but I am forced to pay to play a
multiplayer game, which is insane. I can buy an original PC game from
my local store for about Rs. 1000 ($20), but the same game on the PS3
costs me Rs. 2500 ($50).

3) Expensive (Developer): I don't really
care how much the developers pay for making a good game, but if that
leads to developers churning out weak games, I get livid! Developers
can't risk millions of dollars and expect a small return, for every $1
they spend they need to make $10, which means low risk and minimum
innovation.
I was really impressed by Electronic Arts (EA) when they tried new games like
Dead Space and
Mirror's Edge, and I hope EA stays on this course.
Making a new AAA title is really expensive but with the right amount of
time and effort, we do get games like Fable II.
2) PC gaming is messed up: The biggest reason why PC gaming is dying is due to piracy,
everyone likes free stuff and the internet is filled with torrents. But
take a look at MMORPGs, there is a huge population that pays top dollar
for these games, which means gamers will pay for a quality product. A
game like
World of Warcraft takes years to develop and is best
experienced on a PC. But console gaming has lead to a new breed of
"easy-gaming", you can't quick save on a console, so developers make
sure you don't die that often (Prey, Bioshock) and in some cases you
don't die at all (I am looking at you,
Prince of Persia). I'm sure
that most of you will disagree but let's face it, console gaming is a
breeze compared to the old-school offerings on the PC.

1) The
Fanboy-ism: I enjoy playing games on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 and on
the Wii (occasionally) but I hate the fanboy-ism. There are no issues
when you support your favorite brand but it's getting a little out of
hand. Every decent forum is now filled with PS3 supporters, Xbots and
the elite Wii squad. What surprises me the most is the fact that people
take the console war so seriously, from ridiculing games on metacritic
to starting anti-PS3/Xbox/Wii websites. It's truly insane and brings to
notice the repercussions of a quarter life crisis.
