Seriously…who cares? Just Enjoy The Console!

I can hear the fanboys foaming at the mouth at that headline.

To many gamers, Friday officially marks the beginning of the eighth generation of game consoles. Don’t mind the fact that it really started last year with the Nintendo Wii U, but today’s launch of the PlayStation 4 (as well as the Xbox One coming out next week) is what most people will consider the actual start of the next console war.

There are a lot of people who are asking me about which console I will be starting with, and to tell you all the truth, my answer is going to be neither until at least early February. I will be taking my time to decide on which console would be the best choice for my money.

I know I said that after E3, that it was Sony that won the event and truly convinced me to get a PS4. However, I will admit, my interest in the system waned a little bit. None of the console exclusives really impressed me, and last Monday I finally had a chance to handle the Dual Shock 4. Granted the controller felt nice, but it was also a bit on the cheap side, almost like the PS3’s original Sixaxis controller. Thankfully the PS3 evolved into the Dual Shock 3 which felt a lot more rugged, but the Dual Shock 4 felt like the former. Then there was the touchpad. I was hoping it would feel as solid as the touch strip on the back of the PlayStation Vita. But when trying to use it, the pad felt like it was shifting around and would eventually fall off.

I’ll give a good example. Has anyone out there ever used the Blackberry Storm? It was a touchscreen phone whose gimmick was that the touchscreen can be pressed down like a mouse button. However, that screen shifted around a lot, and I felt like it was going to break off. I’m hoping the construction of the Dual Shock 4 will improve over time (or at least there will be a good comparable third party controller.)

But my biggest issue of this whole "next gen" debate is the whole resolution debacle, namely with Call of Duty: Ghosts. Now I admit I’m playing the game on my Xbox 360 which will be used in my final review, but all I’ve been hearing about is how the PS4 version will be running at 1080p resolution whereas the Xbox One version will only run at 720p. However the reviews that are coming out show that the PS4 has frame rate issues, whereas the Xbox One version is smoother. When it comes to a fast shooter like Ghosts, wouldn’t you all agree with me that a faster frame rate is more important?

But it seems that to a lot of gamers, it’s the graphics that are more important than how fun a game is? It’s almost as if they favor playing a glorified tech demo than something that is meant to be fun. And even more, with the whole resolution debacle, I hope gamers also realize that launch titles are not truly indicative of what a console is capable of. Games will evolve and change over time, and probably not that much time. A single launch title’s restrictions, or even a bunch of launch titles, won’t mean very much even a year into a console’s release.

Remember the PlayStation 2? Most of the launch titles looked like they could be done on the Dreamcast. Some were even worse looking than Dreamcast titles. But then it turned around and became one of the most successful consoles in history, with games looking and playing better than anyone had ever seen before. It’s going to take a few years, or at least a year, for developers to figure out how to make games work well with the new machines. Given a little time, we will all see the new machines’ true potential. But it might take a little while.

For all of those who are getting their PS4s today, or who will be getting an Xbox One next week, enjoy your consoles. Don’t let the fanboy comments rip you apart, especially when it comes to the graphics quality. You can start enjoying the eighth generation right away, and it looks to be a good one. Just know that unlike most things in this world, no matter which console you choose, things will only get better.

Currently Playing: Battlefield 4 (360), Call of Duty Ghosts (360)

Waiting For: XCOM: Enemy Within