Joshin' with Jason

Pt. 2

I won’t be getting to my little piece on the Contoller tonight after-all. Quite a bit has been said here, and I think we might need to back off a bit…

…BUT FIRST!:

“Evan, if you think this is what I mean about hardcore, competitive gamers, then you are sadly disconnected from the PC gaming community and have fallen victim to a long dead stereo type.”

That is not what I think of when I refer to “hardcore gamers” although they would certainly fit into that category. As far as my level of disconnection…yes. I am disconnected from those individuals who think that they can’t have a both enjoyable and competitive game experience on anything BUT a PC. We’re quibbling over what is realistically a one-sided argument. How many “Console Gamers” do you know? I don’t think I know any…and I play a hell of a lot of console games. You never hear of someone say something to the effect of, “I’d never touch a PC for gaming, that’s just crazy-talk. How could you possibly have any fun sitting at a computer for hours on end?” I haven’t. Sure, there are people that don’t game on their PCs, but that’s not because they are anti-PC gamers.

“This is what happens when you try to have a discussion with Console gamers, they immediately feel attacked as if somebody somewhere said that Consoles suck and you are a lesser person for preferring them over PC gaming ..

Some of these retorts, while possibly valid for some other discussion, aren’t even close to the initial discussion presented …Most likely because there are no REAL valid arguments to shut down the points of our fearless author (IE.Bob), since most are simply mathematically factual, so some backdoor tactic of arbitrary irrelevant arguments are thrown forth.

So to those people, I leave you with this ..”

What is what happens? You get a counterpoint to nearly every aspect of your posts? What’s the point of asking the question or voicing your opinion if your too “set in your ways” to ever hear the other side of the argument? If someone is going to take the time to write a well-worded and informed article on the world of PC and Console FPS, should one NOT respond in kind with counter-points to the majority of the article. I don’t think any of my arguments were off-base, and they certainly weren’t arbitrary, irrelevant or back-door. You need to consult dictionary.com and find some different adjectives. If you’d like, I can fire up my PS3 and send you a nice screen-shot of the site in 50” of glorious HD, right from the comfort of my couch, or chair, or carpet, or even toilet if I so choose.

If you are under the impression that I feel attacked in any way, then you are under the wrong impression. This article wasn’t written to attack anyone. It’s an opinion piece…and a valid one at that. Your kind words however, are spoken like a true PC Elitist. There’s plenty of “attack” in your little jab at us foolish console morons. I know what you are going to say… “I play consoles all the time!” A) Sure you do, sure you do. B) I guess that makes you the resident expert then doesn’t it. I’m very sorry that I like to AIM my reticle and pull a trigger when I want to simulate shooting someone. Throwing out funny Billy Madison quotes isn’t going to prove whatever point your little diatribe was trying to get across. If you truly feel dumber after having read what I’ve written, it’s probably because the bulk of it went over your head. Believe me, I can throw out movie quotes with the best of ‘em, but frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. Oop, there I went and did it! Back to my point on the article being an opinion piece, that is where the discussion should end. I’ll get to it as soon as you inevitably (I like that word) read the next paragraph(insert punctuation here)

Furthermore, I don’t see how myself or especially Nick could ever, EVER be labeled as “Console Gamers”. That’s nonsense. How about the simple title “GAMER”, because that’s what we are… Gamers. Tried and true. I have played just as many games on the PC as I have on consoles in my life. Hell, I wasn’t even allowed to have consoles as a child. My entire gaming experience growing up was on a 286 with a monochrome sepia colored monitor that was originally intended for night-time CCTV surveillance. It was a huge deal when I got my first CGA color monitor. Where in the World is Carmen San Diego never looked so good! We’re coming to the crux of what this is all really about. Because I don’t LIMIT myself to playing exclusively on a PC for FPS(only one very specific genre mind you), I’m what’s known in PC circles as the dreaded “Console Gamer?” That doesn’t make sense. That’s like your mildly racist Great Aunt telling you that you shouldn’t have a black friend because “he’s one of ‘those’ boys.” Don’t think that I don’t understand what you’re getting at. I understand the culture of clan based gaming. I understand the culture of owning/operating private servers. I get it, I really do. I’m all for it actually, it’s good fun had by all.

“To experience the full potential of this competitive genre, one needs to play First Person Shooters as they were originally intended, on a PC.”

Nope. To experience the full potential of this competitive genre, you need to play First Person Shooters on ALL available platforms; as they are NOW and have always been intended. Not just so you have a more informed opinion, but because in order to get the “Full Potential” out of anything, you need to experience it…well…

…fully.

-UncleHerpie

Just in case...

As I’m sure everyone will agree, this DEBATE didn’t start here and it darn sure isn’t going to end here. There are however, many points that can be made on both sides as to the superiority of this or that. What we need to establish is exactly what we’re arguing about.

When you talk about “hardcore” and “competitive” gameplay, are you only referring to these extremist individuals who can be found on any given night, huddling in front of their monitors with bloodshot eyes, cervicalgia, carpal tunnel and more Mountain Dew than even I can realistically drink? If that’s what we’re talking about then we are on two different wavelengths. Let’s be honest. For THESE people, FPS games are just an extension of their RPG mindsets. They look at their “rigs” as gear that they can aquire to enhance their capabilities. Video Cards and RAM have become the “Helms of Imperceptible Detail” and the “Boots of Indomitable Framerate.” This leads me to question where the “competition” actually is. Does having better gear make you a better player? No. No it does not. All is does is give you an edge over another player. The competition becomes more between one person’s dedication and/or finances and another’s.

I consider myself a “competitive gamer”, in that I play to win. I don’t know if I would consider myself “hardcore” per se, but I’m probably borderline. However, if I’m in the right mode, or if I’m fired up about a game…I’ll cross that line in a heartbeat. There’s the other side of me that takes these games for what they are…GAMES. That may seen like a cliché’ and generic argument for the subject at hand, but let me get to my point. Games were intended to be many things, and competition is certainly part of that. It’s not however the most important part. There are SOOOO many factors into what makes a great FPS great. The burden of this responsibility rests on the shoulders of the developers, not on the platform in which the games are played on. That being said, the argument can be made that console FPS’s (of which there ARE fewer quality titles), can be, and in some cases ARE more enjoyable, entertaining, innovative and immersive.

I’m gonna try to confine my points to some basic broad topics and not re-hash much of what has already been said.

ORIGINS

The origins of FPS games is NOT found in PC lore. Not at all. FPS games got their start where nearly ALL games did, right in your good ol’ neighborhood arcades. You can try to argue that the playability of arcade shooters inevitably led to home versions of similar themed games, which in turn found a home on the PC. Let’s look at this though. Consider the interfaces of both the PC and your average home gaming console. Which of these more closely resembles that of the original arcade shooters?

These origins, which were loosely implemented on the NES and Sega Master System had one fundamental flaw…Free Roaming (specifically the lack thereof). Light guns and blasters aside, the object of these games was to place the gamer in the shoes of the character they control on-screen. (i.e. a First Person Shooter) Now, because these games were on a rail-system, that is to say that one couldn’t veer off the set path as dictated by the game “engine” and the storyline; their immersion was limited. There needed to be a fundamental change in the way these games are played. How was this achieved? I think this question will lead us all to the same inevitable conclusion…the PC. Why was this? Well, let’s face it. The Consoles of the day simply could not and should not have tried to do what needed to be done to take the FPS genre to the next level. Along comes DOOM (or Wolfenstein 3D if you really want to be picky). Id software clearly redefined shooters into what we now consider to be the modern FPS. So yes, the modern FPS can trace its roots right back to the 386’s of yesteryear. But just as they made the jump from arcade to PC, it would only be a matter of time before the jump was made to the home console.

We can start name dropping for this game and that, and compile a list that will most likely favor that of the PC. That, in and of itself does not negate any argument that a console gamer may have as to the validity of his/her claim that a FPS can be better on an XBOX or a PSX. All we have is a list of titles on various formats. Unfortunately, it is difficult to find a suitable analogy in another medium. I can’t say that a movie was more enjoyable on Laserdisc than it was on my Betamax, but I can say that I didn’t have to rewind my laserdisc… See, it just doesn’t work. For every DOOM 2, there’s a Redneck Rampage. Conversely, for every GoldenEye, there’s a South Park FPS(the S is for snowball btw).

Let’s talk about GoldenEye for a bit. I know you said that you had played it, and for good reason. It was great. Undeniably great. It has some intangible qualities to it that I can’t even put words to. Licensing aside, why wasn’t Perfect Dark able to live up to it? It improved on GoldenEye in nearly every conceivable way except one: a story that people played INTO, not just a story that people played through. Aside from that, Perfect Dark was a remarkable achievement in the development of console FPS technology. We’re back to where we started. While Perfect Dark was turning heads in one direction, there was Quake to kick everything in the @$$. Another instant classic that was responsible, DIRECTLY responsible for the development of other good PC FPS games. The quake engine was instrumental in the FPS dominance of the 90’s. Why? Why was it able to do this? Technology. Again, the argument of technological limitations lends itself to your perspective. Again, however… I can argue that GIVEN the technical limitations, great console FPS titles can overcome these boundaries and provide us with a more enjoyable and thus greater gaming experience.

MULTIPLAYER

Here’s where we bring out the big guns. The birth of Multiplayer was on the home console. 2 or 4 player split-screen in your friend’s basement till the sun comes up; we all remember it. You didn’t have your friend come over all the time so you could take turns playing Doom. It simply wasn’t possible. This catered itself to being a more social experience, which in-turn had more of an impact on your run-of-the-mill gamers. It wasn’t just nerds playing single player games on their PCs. I mean, jeez…even Atari was multiplayer! I digress…what we’re really talking about here is Online Multiplayer. Once more, we find that the roots of this fundamental quality of modern FPS are found on the PC. We can go over the advent of this, and the implementation of that… but it won’t settle anything on the grand-scale. For all intents and purposes, we can agree that PC and console multiplayer are dissimilar but comparable entities, each with their own pros and cons. XBOX Live has “Matchmaking” which works extremely well, especially considering the sheer numbers of gamers on-line at any given moment. PC games have independent and privately-hosted servers…which is awesome. This however, opens up avenues for further debate. Modded content is a double-edged sword. It can lead the way to great things(Counter Strike) and very, very bad things(cheating, hacking, unfair modding, aim-bots, etc…). This will be much easier to talk about in person. I don’t think I have it in me to type about all this. Come to think of it, I’m already starting to get irritable and uncomfortable from sitting at this sweet Alienware PC for so long… I sure wish I was on my comfortable couch with a controller in my hands…

Tune in tomorrow folks, where if permitted, I will detail the advantages of the console’s “CONTROLLER” over the PC’s emotionally detached, third-person, non-realistic and alarmingly business-like interface. It should be a doozie, and unless you walk around thinking to yourself “W” “A” “S” “D” to get you from one place to another, I think I’ll win you over…

-UncleHerpie