Email: If I want to read, I'll buy a book ? Malstrom's Articles News

Hello Master Malstrom,

I thought about what you meant when you said, ?If I want to read, I?ll
buy a book!? and realized something ? everything in this world has a
particular job. Movies are there for me to watch powerful drama. Books
are there for me to read a story. Phones are there for me to call
people. My computer is there for me to browse the Internet and do
things like word processing.

What I?m getting at is that video games and video game consoles are
becoming too bloated. Games are constantly trying to replicate movies
with ?drama? and ?story? in the form of cutscenes, and forcing gamers
to read entire screens of dialogue in a booklike fashion. And the
consoles are no better ? I?m fine with Internet connectivity for
online gaming and such, but since when do I need a web browser to play
a game? Why is there software for me to watch movie trailers and
software to take pictures and video? It?s a game console, for
goodness? sake! Not a 50-in-1 multimedia device!

I think that when gamers buy consoles and games, they do it to play
games. Think of the NES ? was anyone complaining that it couldn?t take
pictures and emulate computers? Of course not. We buy game consoles to
play games. I?m fine with seeing a blank screen when I don?t have a
game in my console and I don?t want to have to go through 20 menus to
get the game started. I don?t need 20-button controllers or USB
attachment ports. I?m fine with a D-Pad and three buttons ? A, B, and
Pause. A few optional controllers like joysticks and light guns
wouldn?t go amiss either. When I buy a game console, I should just be
able to plug it in, stick a game inside, turn it on, and see the stage
select screen. Game consoles have jobs, too ? they don?t need to
imitate all the other forms of media.

Am I saying games like Wii Fit and Brain Age shouldn?t exist? No,
they?re fine ? what I?m saying is that they should be optional. We
shouldn?t have to go through all this junk just to play a game.

You hit a home run with this email. Viewing products as ?jobs they perform? is what disruption is all about.

Who approaches video games for the job of drama? Certainly not the gamers. Not even our beloved friends, the hardcore gamers, want the drama. However, game developers seem certain that the job of games is to provide drama. While they think that, a Wii Sports comes along and upturns their world.

The Wii and DS were successful because they lacked bloat. The Xbox 360 and, especially, the PlayStation 3 were stuffed with bloat. But when I look at the 3DS, all I see is bloat. I just want to play video games. Why do I need voodoo 3d? Why do I need all these cameras? And when I see the menus, I say, ?This is not for me.? Why do game consoles need operating systems for the player to maneuver through?

The NES was originally showcased at CES as a computer with a keyboard. People were not interested in it. Many Atari era consoles came with keyboards and tapes that ?taught you how to program?. But kids don?t want to program. They want to play games. And that is what game consoles should do.

What I wouldn?t give for a simple game console with a controller that had like three buttons. All these game consoles seem like too much. These handhelds seem like too much.

As for controllers, we should be able to fit any controller we choose with a game. The Genesis controller didn?t stop players from buying a six button controller to play Street Fighter 2 (oh those were the days).

What do I want from a next generation game console? I want it to play games and that is it.

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