Current Gen gaming, how was it for you?

[VegaLA]

It's not over yet. We still have CoD Ghosts, the amazing new IP Watch_Dogs, Titan Fall for the 360 and of course GTA V later this summer. There's still life in the old dog yet, what with some new titles being released in 2014. However, I'd like to know which system you chose for this gen, when you got it, why you got it, what were the highlights and what disappointed you. Think it would be an ideal way of seeing the current gen out, and perhaps maybe extend the life of this gen beyond 2014.

Yeah I went with XBox 360. Easy decision to make as I was an original XBox owner had many old CaBBers on my friends list as well as being practically married to SimonG from this forum on XBox Live. And of course as an online Co-op player, XBox Live pretty much had me locked in. Dead Rising had been announced as a 360 exclusive and Peter Moore had shown off his tattoo at E3, finally allowing me to get in on the GTA adventure from day one.



I still carry the scars of trying to get this console on launch. Almost every morning I'd be standing outside the Target store, me, and some other dude who was after the same thing, waiting for those doors to open, walking at a brisk pace to the gaming dept., trying to beat the other guy there but not trying to look desperate. In the end I had to resort to camping outside of Best Buy in West Hollywood. Got there around 5PM Saturday night, only to find a big queue waiting. I heard there were 30 Xboxes to be sold the following day, I was 32ND in line. I stuck it out and was rewarded. Sort of. The only game that appealed to me on launch was Kameo. I have yet to complete it too!



And here is the thread on the 360 PS3 consoles:

http://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,7704.1440.html

Worth reading just for the titles that did not make the cut and my desperate hunt for the 360 that finally ended just before Christmas!

Blu Ray on the PS3 did not sway me. I had owned a PS2 but was one of the few people on earth that could not gel with it. I sold it after a year of ownership. I think I outgrew the controller, maybe it was Sony's stance on online gaming. I could not believe that the one game I'd like to play online, Resident Evil (Outbreak) had been stripped of its online functionality in the UK (US too?). The price on launch and their attitude really made my decision that much easier.

Highlights.

Dead Rising.

While vacationing in London in September 2005 I got hold of a magazine hyping the upcoming new Generation of consoles and one of the new exclusives to 360 was Dead Rising. A free roam Zombie game based in a shopping Mall. It's as if Capcom had pulled me off the street and asked me exactly what game I'd like to play and they would design and deliver precisely what I ordered. Sold. I think this was the first ever game I started replaying immediately after completion. Unfortunately it was not on the shelves till September the following year, but I was there day of release.
The hype for this game centered on the numbers of Zombies on screen at once and the ability to use any item as a weapon. Naturally it was not perfect. The AI was incredibly annoying, I'll never get that achievement for escorting 8 characters to safety, but did manage it in Dead Rising 2, so the developers were aware of the problem. There was also that bug where the escaped convicts re-spawned in the open air area of the Mall, making that shortcut from one area to the other that much more difficult.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpITTFEawu0

That trailer above shows Frank in an early build, looking nothing like Frank West!

Achievements.

Yes, achievements, not everyone's favorite feature, but I thought it was a nice touch, so did Sony. Microsoft's idea of having a console career Gamerscore actually had me gaming more, and as a result not only did it up my competiveness with friends on my XBL list but it did entice me to play more out of certain games and discover some nice secrets in certain games I may not have found otherwise. The less said about GTA IV years after everyone else had stopped playing the better.
Got to mention CaBs own MattyHustedUk, who managed to get a Gamerscore of 203245, the highest score on my Friends list.

Sleeping Dogs.

This title came out of nowhere! While in Hong Kong and checking for any news on the upcoming GTA V, this game was mentioned. Sounded like a John Woo fan's wet dream come true. And it is!  On release I did not immediately gel with this game, but as you explore more and get involved it does pull you in. I was eventually addicted and it more than took my mind of the wait for GTA V.
What makes this game even more surprising is that it was an abandoned 'True Crime' project from Activison. I hope they're regretting the decision to drop it now, but I really hope the sales are enough for a sequel. With online Co-op mode of course.

Check out this trailer for some DLC, done in the old style Chinese movie trailers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0G0blKNUG0

Crackdown 1 & 2.

Another sleeper hit, so much co-op fun was to be had in this fictional world. Hope this series has not been put to rest.

1Vs 100

Great online quiz game. Would play this with the family, but sadly it was too popular (?) and they pulled the plug!!!

Gears of War.

To be honest I'm really not that into the whole jock/grunt military attitude that Gears is built on, but by the second game I actually bonded with some of the characters, mainly Santiago. Gears 2 was far superior to the first outing, but it was really Horde that had me hooked.
Many hours were spent with SimonG, Big Jack and Neil playing what Big Jack had summarized as Space Invaders for the new generation. My time spent on Horde with you guys was some of the best online gaming experiences on the 360.

Disappointments.

That RRoD!

Yeah, I fell victim to that and sent my original XBox 360 back to MS for repairs. The second time it died I let it be. I had found an exscuse to get a new Pro edition that was on the 'safe list' from the curse of RRoD. I know a few people who went through more than 2 360s due to the RRoD, but thankfully my Pro from 2008 is still in service and functioning like a trooper.

The Halo series.

After the triumph of Halo CE, and the online MP success of Halo 2 on the original XBox, Halo 3, the first Bungie game built for the 360 was a bit of a flop. I did enjoy the co-op campaign with SimonG, Terminallyrelaxed and Huzzie but once it was finished, I was done. ODST was very somber for me at that rough patch in my life however Reach did pick it up, but not enough. The less said about 343i's first Halo game, the Halo CE HD remake the better, but it did lower my expectations for Halo 4, which was more of a return to form. Overall though CoD took the MP crown out of Halo's hands and ran it to death. 
Yes, I'm just as guilty for running with CoD as those 12 year old kids in America, but I did enjoy some of the short campaigns with the games and they never outstayed their welcome, allowing me to get some cash back on trade in while the title was still in demand.

Star Wars titles.

Well....there weren't any. Actually, there was the 'Force Unleashed' games. Two of them. The first one was a bit of fun, had its moments but certainly not enough to make me buy a sequel. The previous Gen had plenty of Star Wars games, and the Battlefront games, although limited in scope did provide plenty of online fun. LucasArts pretty much ignored this Gen and finally disappeared. Shame, there was so much they could have done with the 360 and PS3.

That was the current Gen for me.

Overall this generation has been a great deal of fun for me, particulary online. I have to mention GTA IV. Despite the bitter aftertaste some of you felt after the game had been played to death the hype in motion did bring a unified 360 CaB.



I did miss a bunch of popular games. Assassins Creed series, Oblivion, Alan Wake, Mirrors Edge, those lego games, The Batman Arkham games, Bioshock franchise...plenty to go back to if the output dries up in the next year or so. 
So what was your current gen experiences like? Which console did you get, what were the highs and lows? Any games or features worthy of a mention?


Rejected Post titles include:-

Talking 'bout my Generation

8 years of gaming, how was it for you?

[Sexton Brackets Drugbust]

Got a PS3/GTAIV when the title was first released. PS3 was an easy choice for me based on the type of games that were exclusive - I hate most FPSers, which seemed to be the XBox360 focus - and haven't ever regretted it.

Looking back, there are no 360 exclusives I'm disappointed to have missed, but loads of PS3 titles I would've been gutted to miss out on.

The Bluray player was a nice bonus.

In some ways, trophies are fun, but in others they've ruined games for me. My OCD nature requires me to unlock them if I know I can - this only becomes an issue with missable trophies, where I can't focus on or be completely absorbed by the unfolding gameplay and story, because if I don't speak to character x at 27 unique and specific points, I can't get the platinum. It's pathetic, but it genuinely stops me enjoying some games as much as I could. Well thought out trophies, that can be achieved at almost any time can be fun.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Spent 2008 into 2009 on the three f's- Fallout, Fifa, Fable

Returned in 2012 for Skyrim and F1.

And PGR4, Halo 3 co-op, naturally.

[mobias]

I went down the (expensive) road of getting a PS3 on launch. It was an easy decision really since I was a PS2 owner, liked the Dualshock controller and thought from the outset the PS3 had by far the better exclusives. I would have quite happily got a 360, and would have probably had a good time on it since I know more 360 gamers than PS3 ones, but like I said it definitely had the better games.

This current gen has been defined by online gaming for me. I spent more hours playing Warhawk online than any other game this gen. I still play it in fact and its poorly under appreciated sequel Starhawk. Definitely two of my favourite games this gen.

I also loved Motorstorm. I love arcade racers and the Motorstorm series really ticks all the boxes for me, lots of crashing and over the top mayhem all beautifully rendered and put together. Motorstorm Pacific Rift is, in parts anyway, one of the best looking games this gen in my opinion.

Uncharted 2 in another hugely memorable game. Linear games like it really aren't my cup of tea but its just so well done and inventive that bits of it really do leave you breathless. Just a shame about the ending. Uncharted 3 is worthy successor too.

And lastly Red Dead Redemption. Its the Jaws of gaming. A nightmare to make, a lot of people including people at Rockstar thought it was going to be a complete turkey of a game yet it came out as one of the best open world games ever made. A real masterpiece. Online its still a lot of fun too. 

[Viero_Berlotti]

Top three games this gen, Fallout 3, Red Dead Redemption, Demon's/Dark Souls.

Fallout 3 just sucked me in and I felt really immersed in the world that had been created. I just loved wandering around the wastelands discovering things. For some people the bleakness was a turn off, but I loved that too. New Vegas was decent as well, but I thought there was little bit too much going on in terms of all the different factions, it felt a bit muddled. Plus it pushed the PS3 as far as it could go technically, with a memory buffering problem that caused the game to sporadically freeze for a second every few minutes whilst in the wastelands. It took you out of the game and ruined the immersion that made Fallout 3 so great.

Red Dead Redemption was a brilliantly conceived game world as well, a compelling story and one of the best lead characters in gaming history. An excellent end to end 'experience'. One of the few games I enjoyed playing the mini games and trying to collect all the achievements in too. For me RDR knocked GTAIV into a cocked hat.

Demon's/Dark Souls sits at the top of the pile for me though. It's like a great thrash metal album. On the surface it's brutal and unforgiving, but underneath it's complex technical perfection is something to be admired. It's a game that has actually ruined playing other games for me, and has upped the bar in terms challenge and core gaming mechanics. Innovative online multiplayer features too.

Also worthy of a mention is MGS4, which despite it's interminable cut scenes was still a joy to play and did have definite moments of Kojima genius. UFC Undisputed 3 was also another game I spent many hours on. You could just pick it up and play it as a fun, arcade style, button bashing brawler, but it was also complex enough to offer a deeper challenge if you so wished. EA have got the licence for the next UFC game, so  who knows how that will go.

Looking forward to GTAV and Dark Souls 2 being the last hurrah for me on the PS3.

[Jerzy Bondov]

Well, I suppose I'll be the first person to mention the Wii. I got it just after launch and 7 years later it's easy to forget how brilliant it was at the time. Wii Sports has to go down as one of the best pack-in games of all time, just a perfect demonstration of everything Nintendo had planned for their new console, for better or worse. I was at university at the time and we stayed up all night bowling and playing baseball. I was just starting to get tired of it when Super Mario Galaxy came out, and I developed 'Wii claw' from holding the nunchuck for hours at a time. What a spectacular game.

My housemate had a 360 at the same time and it's amazing to think how different the thing was compared to how it is now. We were amazed that you could rip CDs onto it and listen to them while playing games. No mention of that feature for the new generation. Gears of War and Dead Rising were a good laugh, and we had a great time with Crackdown, but really most of my attention was still with the Wii until we got Guitar Hero 2, which just took over our lives to a frightening extent.

I got a 360 for myself in 2008, with Gears of War 2, Mirror's Edge and Fallout 3. Didn't really get on with Fallout 3 I'm afraid to say. Once I got Rock Band 2 it had much the same effect as Guitar Hero 2. I have spent a sickening amount of money on Rock Band DLC and instruments this generation, peaking at the release of The Beatles: Rock Band. That is a beautiful game and I will admit it made me cry more than once. I'll never get rid of my 360 for that game alone.

As others have said, Red Dead Redemption is probably the stand-out open world game for me this generation. I feel like I waited most of my life for a game like that to come out, and when it did it was everything I'd hoped for. I still go back to it now, especially after watching westerns.

More recently I thought The Walking Dead was stunning and Tomb Raider was great. But you'll notice that I, as with everybody else, have stopped talking about the Wii by this point. Even Super Mario Galaxy 2 couldn't quite bring back the magic for me, and I haven't even played Skyward Sword. Since I moved house I haven't unpacked the Wii. But I'd hate to forget how amazing it was when it came out, and for me nothing on the Xbox has quite matched those all night Wii Sports sessions. That was a different time in my life, but a really good one.

So my top five games of this generation so far are: Wii Sports, Super Mario Galaxy, Red Dead Redemption, The Beatles: Rock Band, and The Walking Dead. But I've still got some games to catch up on, so I feel like there's at least a year in this generation for me yet.

[MojoJojo]

Hmm, this is the first console in a long time that I've had as while it was current. That said I got it in August 2008, and there have been long gaps where I've not touched it due to children and so on.
Stand out game for me would Batman: Arkham Asylum - really love that game. Such a brilliant combination of fluid combat, stealth and exploration - and presented with a story and atmosphere that suit it's comic book origins well. It's the first time in a long time that I've started to feel regret that I'm reaching the end of a game.
Mass Effect deserves a mention simply for the amount of time I've spent playing it. Unfortunately I think ME2 was a mistake - I played it and enjoyed it, but the story was so weak that I wasn't left wanting more - as demonstrated by the fact I still haven't played the third game. Oh, Lair of Shadow Broken was excellent though - just a shame there wasn't more like that in the main game.
Couple of honourable mentions for Xbox Arcade games - Shadow Complex, Bastion and Lara Croft:subtitle. Simple perhaps, but I think I got more enjoyment out of each of their short playtimes than I did in the many hours I spent trying to find Skyrim entertaining. I think I have warmer memories of the arcade games I have played this generation than most of the proper releases.

[Consignia]

I started off the gen, buying into the hype and getting a Wii. Initially, it did serve me quite well, there were a couple of nice Nintendo games, but nothing spectacular. It feels such hassle to get it started that means I rarely bother with it. Support did drop quite quickly, and the only interesting game after the first couple of years was Mario Galaxy. The only thing I plug it in for these days is a quick game of Taiko no Tatsujin, as I got the drum kit for it.

After leaving university and starting my first real job in 2007, I found I actually had money and splurged on a PS3 and HDTV. It was initially very light going in terms of interesting games. However, it did become a very steady performer in it's adolescence. Even now towards the end of it's life, it's been boasted by Playstation Plus, which shoves loads of games my way which I've overlooked. I hardly ever have to buy games for it now, and the only ones I do are off beat ones that wouldn't get a look in from Playstation Plus.

I did get a UK 360 purely for Dead Rising. I played it at a friend's house, and was wowed instantly. Sadly, it's had very little reason for me to return to it. Most cross-platform stuff I played on the PS3, and there has been few exclusives that interest me. I do have a Japanese 360 to play the few Japan-only 360 games. But even then, my favourite of those eventually jumped ship to Sony, so that's that avenue pretty much exhausted.

Overall, I think it's been a very slow burning generation. I would still be happy for the PS3 to steadily release games for me to pick up. I haven't really got an appetite for the PS4, but I'll probably pick one up anyway being the technology magpie that I am.

[I.D. Smith]

Xbox 360 for me. Bought it on the 7th March 2007 (I keep a detailed diary of my life), so I was a late-ish adopter. Prior to that I alternated between gaming on my ancient PC (which meant my choice of games were getting more and more limited), and, when I got the chance, having a go on my brother's Playstation 2, Xbox and superior-to-mine PC. I'd actually gone off games a bit round this period. I still read about video gaming, and considered it my main hobby, but in terms of playing them I just didn't have the arsedness. I'd get bored very quickly. The only games I can remember playing with any real enthusiasm round this time were the Knights of The Old Republic games, Oblivion, and Fable. This isn't a comment on the quality of the games around this time, by the way – it wasn't them, it was me.

Anyways, my PC eventually died on me, and since I'd recently got a new job and had some money to burn, I decided to get myself an Xbox 360 (I think it was the middle version....the Pro, was it? It was the one that was an upgrade from the Arcade, but still didn't have an HDMI input). I figured it'd be nice to have a console of my own again to save me having to having shots on my brother's consoles when I got the chance (the last console that I could call my own was my 90s Playstation) and also to save me the hassle of upgrading and maintaining a gaming PC. So I got myself an Xbox 360, with Dead Rising, Gears of War and Crackdown. And I didn't use it much at all. I bought the odd game here and there for it, but I still just couldn't get into anything. I did this for about a year and half or so before getting the Red Ring of Death, and then the console was quietly shelved (not literally) and allowed to gather dust (literally). It was only after some badgering off of friends that my dusty RRoD console was a waste of money, that I decided to get it fixed, probably about a year or so later. Thankfully, it was still just within its warranty, so I got a free replacement. For whatever reason – possibly some backlog-of-Dopamine rush or something – I really got back into gaming at this time. It was like hooking up with an ex-partner, with all the old feelings rushing back like it was when it was fresh and new, although, admittedly, I have no idea what this actually feels like, and I'm only basing it from what I've seen on TV and in Films. Still, from what I gather, getting together with a former partner and rekindling the romance must feel like getting your Xbox 360 back after the Red Ring of Death – I'm pretty certain of that.

I can't remember exactly what I played during this time (I can't be bothered referring to my diaries, and it's probably not that interesting anyway), but the last game I played on that particular Xbox was Red Dead Redemption, which is definitely up there in my Top 20 Games of All Time. I then upgraded to the Elite, and finally got to use the HDMI bit on my telly. As well as playing new games around this time, I also got back into games that I'd started back during my gaming-boredom years, namely Half Life 2 and Oblivion. Half Life 2, in particular, I started circa 2004 on the PC, played a couple of levels, and then gave up. I bought it again, pre-owned Orange Box, for the Xbox and loved every minute of it, including episodes 1 and 2. Was actually quite sad when I finished it. Oblivion I started on my brother's PC, and although I loved it (been an Elder Scrolls fan since Daggerfall), it was one of those games I liked to wander about and take my time with, and I felt a bit guilty about doing that on my brother's PC time. So, got the Game of the Year Edition on the Xbox and finally, finally completed an Elder Scrolls game (never finished Daggerfall or Morrowind). Didn't finish Knights of the Nine or Shivering Isles though – will need to get back on that at some point.

I'm rambling a bit now, so I'll start wrapping up. Here's some of my highlights:

Skyrim – Like Oblivion, it's got its problems - none of which I can think of at the moment apart from that guy who keeps saying "obsessed with death" in Windhelm -  but I loved Skyrim. The only Elder Scrolls game that a) I played exclusively on a console, and b) that I completed around the time of its release, rather than years after or not at all. I took a week off work around its release to play it with no distractions. Great days, Eddie!

The Arkham games – Bit of surprise for me as I wasn't that bothered with it when release. I liked Batman as a youngster, a bit, but I wasn't fussed enough to get any games – last Batman game I had was Batman the Movie on the Atari ST. Still, picked up Arkham Asylum pre-owned on a whim one day and ended up loving it. Can't really explain why, but I got sucked in by all these characters that I had a vague, on-off knowledge of, all being in the one game. Loved it so much so that I got all hyped for Arkham City, which I equally enjoyed. It was a great starter before the main course of Skyrim, which came out a few months after. Man, late 2011 was great!

The Walking Dead – Another game I downloaded one night on a whim (two whims in one post!) and got sucked in. Can't say too much for spoilers but.....weep!

Half Life 2 – Mentioned it above, but suffice to say I went from almost disliking it in 2004, to finally seeing what everyone was banging on about around 2010-11.

Red Dead Redemption – Never got into Grand Theft Auto 4, but this was great. Some bits jarred a bit (John Marston seemed a more sympathetic character than Niko Bellend, but still annoyingly went along a bit too willingly with certain characters more than I'd have liked), but still great.

That's all the main games that stand out in my mind. Special mentions go to Braid, Limbo (did it in a day, though), Peggle, a couple of FIFAs, Pool Nation, Alan Wake, Battlefield 1943, Ghostbusters (I was a huge Ghostbusters fan as a kid, so this was as good as it gets, even though the actual gameplay was just alright when you get down to it. No to Ghostbusters 3, though! Leave it alone!), Mincecraft, and I think that's it.

Can't think of any real disappointments. I've still never got into Mass Effect. I've had it for years, but I'm still only about halfway through it. Not a bad game, but it just never grabbed me as much as the Knights of the Old Republic games did, which I tend to compare it too. Grand Theft Auto 4 was impressive at first, but I got quite bored with it quickly. LA Noire has been a bit of a slog, although enjoyable at times. I did come close to buying the HD DVD Drive for my Xbox, before I knew that HD DVDs were going to be the loser format. Thank goodness I didn't.

So that's it, really. Probably my most used console since my SNES back in the 90s.

[vrailaine]

Have barely touched this generation. Spent most of it playing older games on my PSP. Would have considered getting a Wii, but my parents' place was such an unbelievable mess that I'm not sure where I could have played it.
The other two machines looked like they'd need a HD  television, which I'm yet to live in a place that actually has a reasonable sized one. Didn't really matter anyways because there were so few games to grab my interest at all (Journey, Flower, Fez, Catherine, Ni No Kuni, Heavy Rain, the Last Guardian... Skate?)

I played Portal and Half Life 2 though, if they count, on the PC though, if it counts.

[Thursday]

I did have the wii for a bit, but then sold it because there wasn't much that interested me. I've always been a playstation person so I went with the PS3, the free online and blu ray were convenient to me, even though I didn't use it much, so that helped justify the higher price. There weren't quite as many as exclusives as I'd hoped for, although my copy of The Last of Us has arrived a day early, and is just waiting to be played. And the PS store did bring some nice surprises like Flower and Journey. So I'm glad I went with it, even through all of Sony's cock-up's and arrogance.

[syntaxerror]

Got an Xbocks 2009, try and stay a few years behind with gaming so it doesn't cost me a fortune. Will eventually pick up a ps3 in a few years when they're dirt cheap just to play MGS4.


Highlights

Skyrim

Oblivion

Mass Effect

Deus Ex: HR

Portal 2

Fallout 3

Fallout: New Vegas

Lowlights

Bioshock

Fable 3

[spanky]

What?

I went with the heavyweight PS3, but also owned (and sold) a Wii during, as well as a DS and now 3DS.

When?

Roughly 2-3 months after release, so I'd guess at May 2007 or a few weeks either side.

Why?

Basically because the preceding Playstations had done me right, so I had no real reason to switch. Apart from the giant price tag, and lack of games at the time compared to the 360 which had quite a head start. There were probably more compelling reasons not to get it, but it worked out lovely in the end.

How?

Money can be exchanged for goods and services.

Highlights

Motorstorm was this generation's equivalent of Smuggler's Run, in that it's the early title that shows off some of the potential of the system. And you're off-road a lot.

Having backwards compatibility was quite a major pull of the PS3, as San Andreas in particular had a few more outings and I even picked up a load of PS1 games for pennies around the time too (Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis is still one of the greatest tennis games ever made)

The Uncharted series confirmed that I made the right choice over buying a 360 in the end, as it's still the only console exclusive title that would come close to dictating the hardware purchase (there was the matter of MS getting the GTA expansion packs, but exclusive soon became 'exclusive' in that one)

GTA IV revealed a lot of flaws in time, but the city itself is still an incredible achievement and fun to pootle around. Same with Red Dead Redemption -  I tried to play again and Marston feels so slow and cumbersome to control when compared to games that have come out since like Tomb Raider, but it's still great to mosey around looking at all them purty sunsets. (I hope Rockstar are finally giving up on the 'hammer button to run' nonsense for GTA V. We've all got analog sticks, just implement them.)

The Saboteur was a beautiful mess, I sung its praises in that 'shit games you like' thread enough though.

Disappointments

PES. I've never seen such a sudden fall from grace. Combine that with the FIFA Euro 2008 demo which was a revelation in comparison, and that was my head turned. I understand that the new PES is a complete rewrite so I'll give it a chance to impress.

YLOD. Not just that, but my preference at the time for Sony to replace my fat 60Gb PS3 with another of the same rather than a new thin one with larger HDD. This was so I could continue playing PS2 games (I didn't) and because they were no longer available, rather than a new one it was a 'reconditioned' one. It's still running strong, although the slotloader drive needs a lot of coaxing to cough up a disc every now and then.

Online gaming at the expense of single player. I don't hate people, but I do hate people online. FIFA is full of shits trying to score the exact same goal with the exact same teams. Call of Duty and other FPS titles are completely off my radar now after finding that you pay full whack and the campaign mode is more of a quick warmup before you get into the real meat of the game, having homophobic slurs flung at you in various different dialects and dying somehow but not knowing why. (I'm basically terrible at all FPS games and it's everyone else's fault)

Saints Row 2 and 3. Both games just scream 'we're doing all the things you can't in GTA!' which makes them seem a little too forced. The main problem is how lightweight and unresponsive the games handled. They remind me of when Driver tried to take a potshot at GTA Vice City, but with more wacky japes.

[Big Jack McBastard]

I went from oldbox to 360 not long after it was released, 200+ titles have had their day on the old dog and it died on me three times, repaired twice replaced once. 84000-odd on achievements (surely I'm still in second place?)

Guitar Hero 3/4/5 took a significant chunk of my time, III probably coming out on top for the most hours played, though now I think about it stacking it against Fallout 3 or Oblivion you might have a close run thing. Little bursts vs mammoth sessions makes it hard to square away which one was top dog.

My mate, who doesn't have a console, loved GH (and Boom Boom Rocket) and I was an obsessive with it (them) so my mad-fingering[nb]easy now[/nb] would increase by orders of magnitude whenever he came around, his eyes would bug out of his head watching me turn away from the screen on Expert or taking swift tokes from a nearby J or glug of a vodka based mixture to keep me fuelled and not miss a beat. I knew the some of the rhythms to Boom Boom Rocket so well I had to shut my eyes to concentrate on the sequence properly, opening them again netted me some priceless looks from his direction.

Gow3 also consumed a great deal of life, I'd do a few hours nearly every night, teaming up with Beardfaceman and his (always on 'Insane') pals or jumping into matchmaking and running into Vega, Neil, Penfold and co. I racked up some 236 levels on Horde only to have my game glitch and send me tumbling back down to zero which caused some vociferous 'Fucks!' and confusion later on as I kicked mighty dick grinding back up to about level 30 and putting the 'veterans' on my teams to shame with my apparent noob-savantism. It was good fun going through the campaign and battling waves of shitters with folks from here, some lengthy, hard fought 50 wave games in there and some last minute saviours who rolled in to fill the ranks when my random matchmaking teams inevitably lost a man or three to not having enough arse.

Some daft titles like Earth Defence Force get a thumbs up from me too, while hardly spectacular pieces of innovation or plot they did have fucking gigantic city crushing beasts and robots running rampant in a sandbox which you don't see enough of in well known titles with their hyped-up bombastic events. Half an hour of EDF madness puts them to shame.

Same for Beautiful Katamari, rolling up a whole galaxy to plug a black hole is hell of an idea, hilarious and batshit as only the Japanese can be for what it lacks in finesse no other game touches it for it's audacity. Bayonetta probably taking second place for madness there.

Dragons Dogma was a nice surprise with it's scalable giant enemies, looping timeline and arena of hidden nasties.

Shadows of the Damned was an amusing jolly romp though hell.

The Darkness games were delightful exercises in tearing out hearts and dismembering willy-nilly, Jakie's brain going sideways in both creating some interesting plot divergences.

Oh and of course the Condemned games, the first being one of the earliest titles on the box with it's brutal hand-to-hand, or rather pipe-to-face combat, collecting dead birds and scraps of metal to try to shed light on a conspiracy like only a true loon would, sinister string-pulling background machinations turning the public mad. Those statues in the first and that fucking bear in the second providing some solid "OH FUCK ME" moments.

It's not been switched on in months however as PC gaming has taken over round these parts, GTA V will be my last game for it and then.. I'm not sure about the next gen at all, *maybe* a PS4 at some point down the line but definitely not on release and I've never really gotten on with the Sony controllers. There's no way in hell I'm continuing onto Xbox One though, the amount of batshit ideas and own-foot-shooting they've already done is more than enough to steer me away.

[mobias]

I've never really gotten on with the Sony controllers.

There's been good things coming out of E3 on the new PS4 dual shock controller from those that have used it. Its more weighty and is slightly more spread out. The thumb sticks are greatly improved too by the sounds of things.  Sounds like they've taken on board criticisms from 360 fans that the PS3 controller was too small and lightweight. 
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/413810/previews/e3-preview-dualshock-4/

[The Always Red Society]

I used to play on my old housemate's 360 a lot and owned a Wii but am seriously considering getting an 360 or PS3 when prices drop for the next gen in order to catch up on the last 3 years of good games.

Which should I get?

[Big Jack McBastard]

The clincher will be do I upgrade my PC or get one of these and to be perfectly honest I've no interest in paying for games anymore.

It'll have to be seriously kicking ass to pull me in.

[mobias]

The clincher will be do I upgrade my PC or get one of these and to be perfectly honest I've no interest in paying for games anymore.

It'll also be down to what games you want to have. There will clearly be far more PC to console ports next gen but there will always be some games, particularly of course first party games that you will never play on PC. Its pretty obvious I think that the PS4 will get more PC games than the PC will get PS4 games. I'd get a PS4.

[I.D. Smith]

It'll also be down to what games you want to have. There will clearly be far more PC to console ports next gen but there will always be some games, particularly of course first party games that you will never play on PC. Its pretty obvious I think that the PS4 will get more PC games than the PC will get PS4 games. I'd get a PS4.

I was always surprised that Red Dead Redemption never came out for the PC. There's probably a good reason why, but I've never read or heard it so far.

EDIT - "never read or heard it" as in I've never read or heard any reasons at all - not that I've read and heard reasons which have not met my approval.

[syntaxerror]

I used to play on my old housemate's 360 a lot and owned a Wii but am seriously considering getting an 360 or PS3 when prices drop for the next gen in order to catch up on the last 3 years of good games.

Which should I get?

Go where the games you want to play are : )

[Cold Meat Platter]

Go where the games you want to play are : )

Yup. You don't choose your beer according to what glass it's in.

[George Oscar Bluth II]

It's crazy how long this generation lasted. 2005-2013, eight years.

In comparison, the original PlayStation was 1995, replaced by the PS2/Xbox generation in 2000. Why did this one last so long? Is it because there's not really anywhere to go from here?

[Still Not George]

Looks like we may end up getting a PS3 (used, most likely) just to play The Last Of Us on.

[The Region Legion]

Quite sad I don't make an appearance on this list because we were definitely XBAWKS buddies at the time, and I was in Amsterdam when I first played that one - lined up at the Freerecordshop.nl down the street to get it on launch morning. This despite the fact that I had pre-ordered the UK version and had only days to wait for its arrival - TOO LONG, NEW GTA IS AVAILABLE RIGHT NOW GO GO GO.

I digress though. This was the first generation since the Super Nintendo that I was on the cutting edge of consoles, having skipped the rest in favour of the PC, which remains my platform of choice.

Bought a 360 on Boxing Day 2006 following a nice little cash injection from my father and little else to spend it on other than booze and drugs (what a year). Didn't bother holding out for the PS3 because I'd not heard anything good about it, the launch price was nearly double that of the 360 at the time and the 360 had Tony Hawk's Project 8, the Pro Skater versions of which me and my friends had been enjoying on the Dreamcast around the same time as a retro title.

So, I picked up a bundle at Game with Viva Pinata, Tony Hawks, PGR3 and an XBox Live Arcade bundle.

Viva Pinata got dull quickly, mostly because I'm not 5. That's fine, I didn't expect be sucked into it really, but I'd heard that it was fun and indeed it was for a while. PGR3 was a racing game, mostly got it to check out the graphics and I had enjoyed Burnout 3 on the PS2 so how different can it be? Very different apparently, barely even bothered with that before trade in. Even Tony Hawks was a little disappointing due to its new-found focus on graphics versus size of stages and the incessant requirement that a game be "open world". The most fun amongst me and my friends was found with Geometry Wars.

However, the real highlights came later. Dead Rising. Prey. Burnout Revenge (on which I was once World Rank 314). Saints Row 1 - still the best GTA clone ever, and still only available on a soon-to-be-dead console. I hope Volition focuses on a PC port now that the franchise is done. And later GTA4 which, despite not having any love for now, was a great experience on the first playthrough, just has none of the replay value that the other games in the series had in spades.

But after that my interest pretty much died. I bought a Wii the same year, very much enjoyed Super Mario Galaxy and being able to have my childhood NES & SNES games in my little apartment without having to find storage space for the old consoles and cartridges... bought a PS3 in 2009 pretty much solely for the Blu-Ray functionality (I have, in fact, never bought a video game for my PS3). That was the year that I truly "discovered" Steam, despite having been signed up to it since 2004 thanks to Half Life 2. Left 4 Dead and it's sequel came out, I reintroduced myself to Team Fortress 2 and I've never looked back.


The Wii U piqued my interest due to the secondary screen/controller which seems like it should have some really interesting applications, but they seem to have dropped the ball, and the less said about the PS4 and the XBone the better. I think I'm officially out of the console game, but considering it's been 6 years now since getting back into it, I'm very pleased with the around £500 I must have spent over that time on games and console accessories alike! Seems like a much better shelf-life than any console before it.


Probably should have just bought a PS2 though.

[The Always Red Society]

Yup. You don't choose your beer according to what glass it's in.

Yes but both pubs serve a lot of the same beer.

As in most of the games I'm interested in are cross-platform - is there any exclusive games or benefits of either console in the opinion of others on here was my question.

[lazarou]

We're at the point where a lot of the interesting exclusives have kind of bled through. The Mass Effects were a major draw for the 360, but you can get the decent ones on PS3 now. Dark Souls was a major point in the PS3's favour, but now Demon's Souls can give you a lot of the same fun on 360.

What's left are a handful of titles, and despite being a 360 user this entire generation, I'd say PS3 has the edge there. Valkyria Chronicles, Uncharted, The Last of Us(probably), lots of very strong stuff.

[The Always Red Society]

Yeah whilst a few years back I would have stuck with xbox I am leaning towards the PS3 now.

[Cold Meat Platter]

Yes but both pubs serve a lot of the same beer.

As in most of the games I'm interested in are cross-platform - is there any exclusive games or benefits of either console in the opinion of others on here was my question.

At the start of the "generation" most cross-format ps3 games had lower frame rates and slightly worse lighting/textures/shadows but recently its pretty much even. Both have good exclusive games depending on your tastes. Blu-Ray on PS3. Xbox live is more reliable and better than PSN. Xbox dash is more clogged up with adverts and shite. Microsoft are wanks. Sony are also wanks but for different reasons. Controller preference is important. But consoles are about games and if you want to play anything specific get that one.

[mobias]

Xbox live is more reliable and better than PSN. Xbox dash is more clogged up with adverts and shite.

Playstation Plus is excellent though and is how Xbox live should be. If you're paying for a service you should rightlyfully be getting for free because you've actually already paid for it with your service provider (ie access to the internet for gaming) then you should at least get something extra for your money. At least with PS+ you get free games, early beta testing invites and cloud storage for game saves amongst other things.

What the PS3 doesn't have is cross game chat. One major advantage of the 360 which almost trumps everything.

[lazarou]

Another thing the 360 gets really right is downloading and updating. Games and demos install as they download and are good to go the second they're done. Even on my shitty 2 meg connection, patches rarely take longer than ten seconds. At worst, the (rare) system updates take about ten minutes. My experience with the PS3 has been much worse on all of those fronts, though maybe it's gotten better as that was a while ago.

On the negative side, the dashboard has become an ad-driven living nightmare.