It’s a good time to be a Gamer

Video games have come a far way over the years. While reminiscing I don’t need to go back too far to be amazed by the tremendous growth and transformation the gaming industry has gone through in the last 10-15 years.

Information overload

Currently we have a vibrant industry with different genres, platforms and games to choose from it can be overwhelming at times. Not long ago I used to be have to wait for months on end to play a special game and many of the games I was playing were many months sometimes many years old but I was just being introduced to them. Now with advances in gaming and in technology in general I find myself right in the know on any video game I am excited about, getting daily updates for a game like Super Smash Bros Brawl and even following developer diaries of games like Call of Duty 4 and Assassins Creed. Now there is barely any wait, as whenever a game is released if I want to I can be playing it a matter of days, not weeks or months like previous years.

Platform Roundup

The Nintendo Wii recently became the leader in the current generation of the console wars (and the second largest company by market capitalisation in Japan…^_^…)with the largest install base in the current generation selling over 13 million units so far, knocking the Xbox 360 into second place although it had a one year lead in terms of release date. The Playstation 3 started slowly but with various deals, re-kitting and specials sales are finally beginning to pick up, but for now the leader of the previous gen is holding up the 3rd place spot. PC gaming (nicknamed the grandfather platform) is immortal and with games like Crysis coming ensures that it is not overshadowed by it’s younger, specially equipped console brethren. In the handheld market the 50+ million selling Nintendo DS (which started out as just an experiment) is having a field day while the Sony PSP is enjoying a decent surge in sales as a result of a hardware remodel, special edition packs and a prequel to one of the most famous Final Fantasy games; Final Fantasy 7.

Master Chief has been all over the charts lately

I need 4 more eyes and 25 extra fingers

Now my concern is not what I’m going to playing in the coming months but how the hell will I manage to play so many games! The last few weeks along brought me Metroid Prime 3, Halo 3 and Bioshock and then next few weeks have Call of Duty 4, Assassin’s Creed, Unreal Tournament 3 and I’ve just picked a random couple games off the top of my head, I’m scared to look to deeply because there is bound to be something I overlooked (omg I forgot Folklore is out!).

[confused]