[Paratech]

I was reading the May23rd issue of Time where it was discussing Videogames, consoles, and the XBOX360. To be honest, I was thinking how I must be an "old fart" as I really am not "into" many of the things Time was claiming the 360 would do...

IMSHO consoles are to play video games. I think the idea of plugging an MP3 player or playing DVDs. I have a DVD player, so I don't need one in my console, and while choosing my own music in a game is "cool" *I bought the PC versions of Grand Theft Auto 3/Vice City for this reason* it's not necessary...

I enjoy playing video games, I enjoy listening to music and watching DVDs as well, but I don't need everything on one console...

I prefer playing video games on my console. That said, I was curious as to how other gamers feel about their consoles. What do you want to be able to do on a console? How many "extras" do you expect? And are you willing to pay the $$$ for the features?
:hdbash:

 

[Boltzmann]

I'm only interested in extra features that cost nothing (or almost nothing). One example is the ability of the PS2 to play DVDs.

I don't think that a console should be a whole ****ing home theater, though

 

[cooliscool]

Change my clothes for me, make me breakfast, and drive me to work/school. It'd also be nice if it could give me a shower, but I won't push it!

Seriously though. I want my consoles for one thing: playing games, and that's it. The "extras" I never use, to be honest.. I find standalone devices far better, and just more accessible. The extras however are an added bonus, so it doesn't hurt, but it doesn't apply to me.

In the words of the gaming Messiah, Reggie Fils-Aime, "We're all about the games."

 

[GryphonKlaw]

I want a console to play games. If they add on all that extra stuff at no detriment to the gaming, I think of it as a bonus.

 

[Aided Onslaught]

Here's how I see it, if they are going to use dvds from game media, you might as well put a dvd player in it...I feel if it fits and it can add to games, then put it in, and if it's a extra and doesn't effect price to much, might as well...

 

[psicomaniaco]

I want a console that doesn't break after some months!! Meh, It would be great if the newer consoles where like the old ones. I mean, I still have my Genesis + Sega CD here, and it still works!! Damn, even my Atari still works!!

 

[Kazuya]

Some people buy them just to say: look, my ps2 owns, it can play dvds (thought they never use that feature :lol. You have to admit it's a selling point. The problem is if the laser wears down easily... cough ps2 cough.... that's why i prefer to use another device to pay my dvds. So if they are adding a bonus it's ok but you need to be able to use it for a long time for god's sake.

On the other hand, when i buy my ps3 it will have a blue ray disc player. I'm pretty sure i won't buy an stand alone one by that time so it will really be a bonus to me.

The mp3 player feature of the xbox 360 is an extension of the features used in some games in the xbos: you can choose what music you want to hear when playing games.

 

[KanedA]

when I bought my PS2 then in few months I wanted to make from it my home multimedia station and a PC. Now all I can tell you is that, I'd like my future console just to play games, be backward compatible, and it would be great if some programmers could write emulators for it

 

[Ryos]

I want a system that plays the games I want to play. I don't care about extra features such as playing DVDs because systems will almost invariably be an inferior medium for something like that compared to a dedicated peripheral in the same price range. My $30 DVD player (gotten for free) plays better than my PS2, for example.

 

[Kane]

Special features are nice, but it's not what I buy a console for.... except in the Xbox's case which is where I wanted a decent DivX player which I could incidently play games on. I came to embrace the Xbox as a gaming machine, but on the whole, I buy a console for games and special features are just a bonus

 

[Cid Highwind]

I bought my DC for emulation purposes at first, after that I started to look for games that might be interesting. And it seemed there were a lot more than I thought there were.

If I'm ever going to buy a new one it's nice they all have DVD playback, but without decent games, I would buy a different console and buy a seperate DVD player for €30 or something.

 

[__Xzyx987X]

I consider all the extras to be irrelevant. The criteria that will determine the next console I buy will be the following:

1. Online support. These days I don't have a lot of time to really get into a game, so having something I can just pick up and play with a bunch of my friends is ideal.

2. Innovative games. And I'm talking about stuff that really breaks the mold. Games like Katamari Damancy, Ape Escape, Super Monkey Ball, Jet Set Radio, DDR, ect., are the reasons video gaming has yet to go stale on me. I really have no desire to play yet another FPS that differentiates itself with some stupid gimmick (bullet time anyone?).

3. Staying power. God knows I don't need another 32X, or Sega Saturn. After laying down several hundred dollars on a console I don't want it to be over before it even gets started.

As for the rest, I really don't care that much. Heck, I'd buy another console with the graphics capability of the Super Nintendo if it could deliver on the above.

 

[Boltzmann]

Damn you americans and europeans. DVD players are too cheap for you guys. It's no wonder the DVD playing ability is more interesting to me than to you.

 

[Dark Watcher]

I was reading the May23rd issue of Time where it was discussing Videogames, consoles, and the XBOX360. To be honest, I was thinking how I must be an "old fart" as I really am not "into" many of the things Time was claiming the 360 would do...

IMSHO consoles are to play video games. I think the idea of plugging an MP3 player or playing DVDs. I have a DVD player, so I don't need one in my console, and while choosing my own music in a game is "cool" *I bought the PC versions of Grand Theft Auto 3/Vice City for this reason* it's not necessary...

I enjoy playing video games, I enjoy listening to music and watching DVDs as well, but I don't need everything on one console...

I prefer playing video games on my console. That said, I was curious as to how other gamers feel about their consoles. What do you want to be able to do on a console? How many "extras" do you expect? And are you willing to pay the $$$ for the features?
:hdbash:

Old eh? Look here ya young wipper snapper!

J/K We too have mixed emotions about the added features in todays video game consoles. We suppose The PS2 truly changed our views, but the benefit of extras actually were used by us sooner.

There was a time where we were being sent from one military base to another. We didn't carry much, but we loved our videogames. It was then that our Sega CD pulled double duty as a music CD player.
Fast forward to PS2 era...We were not too excited about backwards compatibility because that would mean our Playstation 7501 model would be pointless, since we never part with old faithfuls....but we found other uses. The PS2 gave us two bonuses...At this time we didn't own a DVD player (they were still expensive in 2001)..So like many we chose to capitolize on the feature and at the same time get some good gaming. The PS2 became an "Low budget" entertainment hub in our main room. We could play music, movies, and games from the same unit and save on having to purchase a DVD player, etc..The PSX 7501 (Old Faithful) became our quick fix in another room, and became our travel console during buisness trips.
We would later purchase a DVD Player, but the PS2 still served as a spare DVD Player for our spare room (sometimes you want to watch one thing while other watch another).

We never really used the Xbox music ripping features, and didn't need to pay the extra $$ since we no longer needed DVD. We have done thus far without Xbox Live..not too much of an online gamer, and when we do it is free on PS2..So as far as M$ authorized features, we found no use on Xbox...However..it serves other purposes

Gamecube wise...it is strickly game driven...the only added perk is the GBAPlayer. It makes things easy on the eyes for long games like FF Tactics.

Now with the next gen systems......The WebTV / WiFi like functions of Revolution and Xbox360 may come in handy if we are in a quick search for gaming hints, but we already have a computer for that...If it costs extra then we can do without it. the 360 customization face plates are pointless to us...The ability to do HD is currently pointless to us since we don't have an HD or HD ready TV, and it will be a while before they come down in price. Once again Xbox Live is currently of no interest. The PS3 Blu Ray will be a nice perk, but will also find little use movie wise since they are geared towards storing HD content....perhaps later on it will be of some use.

We can't think of other features right now...need coffee...bottom line is eventually we make use of extra features, but that is just what they are...extra...if they are free then it is all good...if not..then let us just play games :thumb:

 

[kuaikukia]

Damn you americans and europeans. DVD players are too cheap for you guys. It's no wonder the DVD playing ability is more interesting to me than to you.

That's good to hear . In my place, DVD player is way too expensive. But with PS2, I can also watching my favorite DVD movies

 

[Samor]

We can't think of other features right now...need coffee...bottom line is eventually we make use of extra features, but that is just what they are...extra...if they are free then it is all good...if not..then let us just play games :thumb:

*Samor makes DW some virtual coffee

I agree on that; my ps2 has DVD capabilities but I don't use 'em much; aside from that I'm annoyed by the lack of SCART (better picture) support for DVD's out of the box. Actually it's annoying how in Europe you always have to buy higher quality video cables anyway.
Then there's a space issue for me; and the type of screen I'm using; for the consoles I use an MSX monitor; It's similar to a TV, but without a tuner, and highly optimised for a SHARP picture ("high res" text mode on the MSX(2) has to be readable). Being optimised for a home computer, this monitor works equally well on a console (it's sharp but not pixelated like the same resolution on a CRT or TFT monitor). It's totally NOT optimised for regular A/V cables though, as the sharpness looks bad on lower quality inputs. That also means PS2 DVD looks quite bad, as for some reason PS2 owners aren't allowed to use SCART with the DVD (stupid). There's an unnofficial ps2 disc available that fixes this issue (it's afaik a legit disc), but hey, twice that price and you have a decent standalone dvdplayer anyway.
So... I use the PS2 for the games, and I downloaded camo's for MGS3 over the internet. Why not, it was free.
Same with my mobile phone, I guess... my current one has a camera. I'd never buy a phone for the camera, but while it's there, hey, all good fun.

 

[Dark Watcher]

Thanks for the coffee boost Samor!