Buying a console a few years into it's "lifecycle"

Have you ever bought a console years after it was first released? What are the very first things you do?

Well, for me I have done this numerous times. My Wii and PS3 were late purchases, only my PSP and 360 were day 1(ish).

The first processes into owning a new console are extremely daunting. You start by researching exactly what you'll need, and then you set it up. Those first steps are fine but afterwards? It's hard.

Day one of my PS3 I was overwhelmed by what to buy and what to do. I'm one who can spend up to and over an hour playing around with settings, and the PS3 is very in-depth. From it's wifi to HDMI connectivity, to PlayStation Home and PSN.

Even transfering from Xbox to PS3 was odd, because PSN did things differently, you don't buy anything for a starters and you go through what I deemed to be a primitive sign-up process.

Afterwards, there is the choice of games to buy:

The PS3 is a terrible console because of this. There is MGS, LBP, inFamous, Killzone, the early "hiddem gem" titles like Folklore, Motorstorm, etc. (I should note that I got my PS3 in 2008)

When you have these games the process of "settling in" is still odd because you don't really treat it as a gaming console just yet, it's really new. You may play for a few hours of each game but it's SO daunting, especially if you have a pile of back-purchases lined up.

Even if you "settle in" there is a tough choice if you held onto your previous console : which platform do you buy multiplatform titles for? I chose the PS3 because it was my newest console, it was a decent investment (£320) and the fact is you still need to make a small collection so you have all genres (this may be just me).

Luckily my experience with the Wii was different, for starters getting it online for the update was too simple. Then signing up was simple. There were no extras, the only odd thing was using a motion controller.

With back-catalogue buying of a Nintendo console it's much easier. You get the franchise you like the most, my first game being Metroid Prime Trilogy. Enough gaming to get along with in itself, and then after that it's a case of nitpicking.

Then the choice of buying multiplat games for it was very easy: don't. The wii version is essentially what would be the PS2 version or PSP version with motion controls added.

This is by no means slagging the Wii off, I think that the Wii is great when the game is good but otherwise I do believe my points are valid.

I wonder what your own experiences are of buying a new console are? Did you find it daunting? Exciting? Spent a lot of money? Spent as little as possible? Any problems?

Battlefield 2143 / Final Fantasy X prequel.

The first few games a gamer plays, are the games that have the greatest impact on his/her gaming career. A few years into their career, they look back and remember how they began, in comparison to where they are now. This is where I am at. Looking pretty dull for me now, what with all these shooters that are bringing nothing to the table coming out one after the other, but on a side note, to take sides, I'd have to say that Battlefield 3 is the clear winner. ;)

Anyway, the games that I grew up with didn't really differ from the norm in their day, but were great games none-the-less.

Final Fantasy X, Air Combat, and Battlefield 2142.

For this blog post im putting a focus on nostalgia, and two of those three games in particular.

Final Fantasy X, great RPG gameplay, over 100 hour’s worth, blockbuster story, and over-all a great experience. Likewise with the stand-alone experience of X-2. Anyway, my opinion is that Square Enix is doing everything wrong, FFXIII wasn't exactly the greatest game in the series, graphics don't make a game, along with the desperate upcoming release of XIII-2, and the never to be seen Versus XIII, and we can’t all forget the broken release of XIV.

Final Fantasy X still has a lot of potential. A possible HD collection bundle, and a prequel if the HD collection is successful, based around the Pilgrimage of Auron, Braska and Jecht. It's all hypothetically possible, but whether they do it or not is the question. Truth is, Square would probably earn more doing this, than wasting their money and time building upon the worst Final Fantasy release of all time. I'd frankly settle for a HD collection, and probably get all my nerdy mates to make me a classic gameplay and graphics Final Fantasy X prequel. (For teh s**ts and giggles xD)

Battlefield 2142. Who remembers the awesome Titan game mode? Yeah, I remember spending every afternoon after school playing it with my friends, owning noobs in walking tanks that we just called 'Walkers' and dropping onto enemy Titan's in pods from APC's. Intense Land and Air combat that entertains me, even to this day. A remake of 2142 is the only Battlefield we haven’t heard anything about (Vietnam in BFBC 2, 1943 etc.). Imagine if they were to implement a 2142 expansion pack in Battlefield 3, like they did with Vietnam for Bad Company 2? Fully destructible environments, great graphics, the vehicles we've all come to love, and the classic Titan mode. The thought makes me shiver in excitement...

Another nostalgic hit, that would sell s**tloads, and make gamers happy.

So yeah, I await a Battlefield 214(3) and a Final Fantasy X prequel. Complaints? Did I do something wrong? Mistakes? Wrong information? This is the first of many blog posts, there's bound to be mistakes, feel free to rip me a new one. I strive to get to industry standard eventually.