Yesterday Matt produced an editorial that I feel is deserving of counterpoint. Portable gaming definitely offers a bevy of perks, rooted primarily in the realm of conveniences, but I think console gaming is getting an unfairly bad rap here. I'd propose that the experience you can get from a nice, or even just adequate, home theater is one whose lure can't be so easily discounted.
Would you argue that watching a movie on an iPod is comparable to watching it on the TV in your living room? Sure, you see the movie, you know what happened in it, but was the experience itself up to snuff? Film is an audio-visual medium, and even mere comedies are directed with purpose, framing, and the quality of the experience in mind. I'm not talking about how high-def the screen is, or how many speakers you've got—merely whether or not the content is presented to you in a fashion that can capture its scope. The same is true for video gaming—an equally-audio-visual medium.
Let's run with some examples.
PixelJunk Eden, a platformer available on the Playstation Network, operates on some exceedingly simple ideas. The game could function, almost identically, on any portable system from the past decade. That said, much of what makes it so engaging is the audio-visual experience. It's graphically simple, but that simplicity is especially striking on a large screen. Large swaths of primary colors are accented by a thumping bass-heavy soundtrack, which combine to create something that just doesn't feel the same on a tiny screen with headphones.
There are certain games, were they shrunk down onto a portable screen, that would lose much of what makes them so compelling. I don't mean to demean the importance of the gameplay itself, but we're not playing text adventures here. There's no shame in being pulled in by the audio-visual experience a game provides. I find myself incredibly excited by Final Fantasy XIII for exactly this reason. It's not just a matter of "pretty cutscenes," but rather the entire gameplay experience being presented in a fashion that dazzles the senses.
It's all a matter of scope. The picture being plastered on your wall, and the sound filling the room. Truly, it's a logic that can even be applied to NES games. It doesn't have to be spectacular source material to benefit from an increase of scope. Hearing those Super Mario Bros. beeps and bloops come out of my TV in their original unabashed format is different from them being relegated to the tinny speakers on a handheld or the isolationist privacy of a pair of headphones.
When I play on a handheld, I feel like I'm taking control of the experience. When I play on a TV, I feel like the experience is taking control of me. Portables are great, it's true, and much easier to insert into a busy life. They can be a fine alternative when the world demands it. But an out-and-out replacement? Maybe if your only alternative is a 13-inch CRT from the early 90s. You can upgrade a handheld to have power and control comparable to console gaming, but you can never replicate the scope.
Would you argue that watching a movie on an iPod is comparable to watching it on the TV in your living room? Sure, you see the movie, you know what happened in it, but was the experience itself up to snuff? Film is an audio-visual medium, and even mere comedies are directed with purpose, framing, and the quality of the experience in mind. I'm not talking about how high-def the screen is, or how many speakers you've got—merely whether or not the content is presented to you in a fashion that can capture its scope. The same is true for video gaming—an equally-audio-visual medium.
Let's run with some examples.
PixelJunk Eden, a platformer available on the Playstation Network, operates on some exceedingly simple ideas. The game could function, almost identically, on any portable system from the past decade. That said, much of what makes it so engaging is the audio-visual experience. It's graphically simple, but that simplicity is especially striking on a large screen. Large swaths of primary colors are accented by a thumping bass-heavy soundtrack, which combine to create something that just doesn't feel the same on a tiny screen with headphones.
PixelJunk Eden dazzles on capable displays
There are certain games, were they shrunk down onto a portable screen, that would lose much of what makes them so compelling. I don't mean to demean the importance of the gameplay itself, but we're not playing text adventures here. There's no shame in being pulled in by the audio-visual experience a game provides. I find myself incredibly excited by Final Fantasy XIII for exactly this reason. It's not just a matter of "pretty cutscenes," but rather the entire gameplay experience being presented in a fashion that dazzles the senses.
It's all a matter of scope. The picture being plastered on your wall, and the sound filling the room. Truly, it's a logic that can even be applied to NES games. It doesn't have to be spectacular source material to benefit from an increase of scope. Hearing those Super Mario Bros. beeps and bloops come out of my TV in their original unabashed format is different from them being relegated to the tinny speakers on a handheld or the isolationist privacy of a pair of headphones.
When I play on a handheld, I feel like I'm taking control of the experience. When I play on a TV, I feel like the experience is taking control of me. Portables are great, it's true, and much easier to insert into a busy life. They can be a fine alternative when the world demands it. But an out-and-out replacement? Maybe if your only alternative is a 13-inch CRT from the early 90s. You can upgrade a handheld to have power and control comparable to console gaming, but you can never replicate the scope.