So, let’s get this straight: There are industry analysts, small to large game studios, publishers and even some casual to core gamers who think the console model is dead or close to death because retail games are too expensive (yes, they are), consoles aren’t as powerful as they should be (that’s a matter of opinion and a more importantly, a developer’s skills), and a few other things I keep hearing over and over online. Yet they almost all seem willing to buy into this new set of Android-based controllers that turn a phone into a handheld system, all-in-one PC-like boxes and other inexpensive to costly under the set tech (which seem to be hated by those who build their own custom gaming rigs) that will play games already running on mobile phones and tablets. No thanks, boys – I’d rather sit on a hot stove while reading Ulysses in its entirety… twice.

And don’t get me started on selling the free to play business model as a “service” or this whole “monetization” and “gamification” nonsense along with hard to escape “social” elements to most games that make it seem “fun” to share too much information you’ll defintely regret at some point down the road. You want ads with that (but still have to pay for content that SHOULD be free because it’s ad supported) sir or madam? I’d say users should be paid if they buy a game (that’s not a sports game featuring stadiums already crowded with eye-singing billboards) and see anything resembling a product placement interfering with their gameplay experience…

Even worse, both Sony and Microsoft have floated the idea (and a patent application or two) to lock pre-owned games out on their next home consoles (what, not used DVD’s or Blu-Ray discs?), as well as go to more download-only content, meaning ANY users in the US or around the world in an area with no or low-speed service is basically out of luck if they want to game the way THEY want to. Yikes. Whatever happened to the age of “plug and play” and no mandatory updates, patches galore, contracts and TOS agreements to digitally sign before you even pick up a controller. Oh, that’s right – your iThing or device has no controller. or it does, but it makes you look like you’re holding something out of an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation or a Mission Impossible movie.

Hmmmm. Well, I happen to like my dedicated consoles and being able to walk into a store or hit an online shop and buy games I know will work on them as opposed to having a box that’s a big or small brick that can’t run anything because it always requires a high speed internet connection and a good chunk of the content is stuff that’s already free or cheap enough that I have to wonder if the people who made it are eating right. Eh whatever – if the industry wants to crash itself into dust before the decade is out, let them go right on ahead. I’ve got a nice stockpile of games here I actually own and plan to own that I can play when there’s that big cloud crash that takes the internet down for a few days in some places and all those people who shelled out good money for tech that won’t run offline are wishing they had something to kill time with while they’re waiting for their service to come back.

Hey, maybe I’m wrong (and crazy), but this is a definite case of a solution coming that’s got a slew of problems no one seems to want to discuss because it requires looking at the entire user base of ALL types of gaming systems, not just one type that’s got plenty of built in issues. As always, we shall see, right?