I've wanted to do this blog for some time, but having started Heavenly Sword last night, it's prompted me to finally get to it. When I started Heavenly Sword, the first thing I had to do was wait several minutes for a software update before I could play. Once it finished, I expected to play... but then it had to install game data. Jesus... I just want to play the stupid game. I also remember MGS4 did the same thing. It had to take about 10 minutes to set up. So I'm thinking to myself... game consoles never used to be like this.

The first console I owned that I put my own money into was the old 8-bit Nintendo Entertainment System. I purchased this machine a little late in its lifespan, in 1990, but it was a fun simple machine. It had no moving parts, except for a lid and a tray that you pushed up and down in order to remove a cartridge. The biggest problemyou had to deal with was blowing dust out of it and the cartridges. My old NES still gets played, even after being almost 20 years old, and it works just like it used to.

I wish I could say the same regarding the Xbox 360. If you've followed my blogs, you know I'm on my fifth box. I've gone through FOUR Xbox 360s, and the damn thing hasn't even been outfor afull four years. I wish I could say that MS is the only offender here, but Sony actually garnered a reputuation of making unreliableconsoles before MS even entered the console market. Their very first PlayStation had issues. Overheating, not reading discs. My friend end up having to put his PlayStation upside down in order for it to work because the mechanism that held the laser in place kept giving way. It took Sony several times releasing different models until they finally made one that was trustworthy.

Then there's the PS2. DRE isn't just a rapper who came from Compton and discovered Eminem. Disc read errors happened to many PS2 owners, and they usually got ripped off by Sony who wanted to charge them to fix their machines that broke too easily. Fortunately for me, all of my PlayStations work, but my PS2 struggles sometimes. And you know, it's not just Sony.

When I bought my Sega Dreamcast a year before the PS2 launched, my first DC turned out to be a lemon. It gave me problems from day one, and apparently, I wasn't the only one. When I went to my EB Games to exchange it, I found out that they already took in a few consoles that didn't work, and this was only after a day I bought it. It wasn't just the hardware I had a problem with, because I also got a bad press of a Sonic Adventure game, so I had that exchanged as well.

Then there's pre-360 Microsoft. MS released their first console, the Xbox, in 2001. It wasn't soon after that mechanical problems were being reported. The disc drives would stop working, and it was also the first console to have its own built in harddrive, and sometimes those would quit and wipe out gamers' data. Again, my Xbox still works, but it's not as healthy as when it used to be. Every so often, it will give me a disc read error when playing a game, and even more often when playing a movie.

Nintendo, who is known as being the most reliable hardware manufacturer is still not totally immune in this area. Althoughmy GameCube has served me well, I have heard the rare stories of some Cubes getting so hot, they actually melted something inside ofit. Now today, we have the Wii, and although my Wii has been working perfectly, we actually have one at the library, and it's been sent in for repairs twice. Both times, it was an eject problem. Nintendo's customer service was excellent regarding these issues, but that doesn't prevent the Wii from breaking.

PlayStation 3s have been going belly up as well. The 360 has its Red Ring of Death, and the PS3 has its Yellow Light of Death, but it hasn't been reported nearly as frequently as the 360. My PS3's been working just fine, but sometimes I begin to worry every time a game freezes or has a stuttering frame rate issue. I keep hearing that the latest firmware update has been causing problems, and I'm wondering if mine might be effected.

It's not just consoles that have become less reliable. The portables have had problems too. You ever busted your Game Boy? Mine fell down the stairs and it works perfectly. Of course, there's some scratches and chips on the plastic, but for all functional purposes, it works just fine. I've heard a story of a Game Boy surviving a flush in the toilet. Try throwing your PSP. I dare you. Yeah, you know it's not built to take a pounding. I've thrown my handheld systems before, but never my PSP. I just know for sure it will break from even the slightest drop.

And speaking of PSPs, no one really paid too much attention to the term "dead pixel" until Sony started putting these handhelds out My original PSP has aboutfour dead pixels, and I was told that was lucky. Some had upwards of 30 to 40 dead pixels. Some even as many as a hundred or more. Even DS owners reported that their machines had dead pixels. Of course, it wasn't as frequent as Sony's cases.

But of course, this is all to be expected. You make more complicated chip sets and circuit boards, you're bound to increase the risk of overheating. You use disc drives and harddrives, whichhave moving parts that wear out, it's only a matter of time before they break. You have more high-tech display screens, you're gonna have dead pixels. It can't be helped really, and early adopters usually pay the price. Just take a look at MS's 360. How many times did it finally take for MS to get it right?

I've gone on about reliability enough. Let's talk about support. Do you realize that every current-gen machine out there now REQUIRES updates? Yes, if you want your machine to perform optimally, you must have an Internet connection and periodically download and install updates. Now, the 360 and the Wii do the downloading and installing in one shot, but the PS3 has to install their upgrades, and even their demos, before its ready. For really impatient people, it's a nightmare.

There are also software upgrades. Our console machines are now following a trend that PC gamers have had to deal with for years, and that's patches. Developers can now put out incomplete games and release the fixes later to meet their deadlines, sometimes requiring you to update the game when you just bought it at release. Ever said, "I can't wait to play this game! Update required!? ****!" For people with blazing fast connection speeds, it's no big deal, but for people like myself who have less than stellar DSL connections, it can be annoying.

Then you have services. Sony has their PlayStation Network.. Microsoft has their Xbox Live. Nintendo has their Virtual Console. Again, these are for people who have decent broadband Internet. For gamers who are still on dial-up, or even for those who don't have Internet, they're missing out on a good chunk of features their consoles offer. And with these features come microtransactions.

Microtransactions are a double-edged sword, because while they offer new content for games, they also present publishers with opportunties to nickel and dime you, and in some cases rather unethically. Take Soul Calibur 4 for instance. The PS3 version has Darth Vader, and the 360 version has Yoda. The thing is, both versions have both characters, but Namco locked out one character on each version to charge youfive dollars for it. Look at EA. They charge you to unlock things in your game that you could do byyourself with just a little bit of time.

Then we have Home and Xbox Live Avatar Marketplace. They charge you real money to deck out your virtual characters, and this isn't beneficial to your gamesin the least. What good does it do to pay four dollars for a freaking radio controlled vehicle? Where do these game companies get off charging you for this crap? Hats and shirts, content that's already on the disc, content that was supposed to be in the game but was removed to be DLC a month or two later, in-game currency and cheats... It's sickening! YOU SHOULD BE OFFENDED!

There's also high-definition to take into consideration. If you're a Wii gamer, this doesn't apply to you and in fact if you game on an HDTV is actually detrimental to you, as the games look worse. If you own a 360 and/or a PS3, however, you pretty much need to pony up the dough for new TV. The consoles are a lot more powerful, capable of producing some really incredible graphics, but you're never going to appreciate what they really can do until you grab a television that can display at least 720p. For the gamers who really love graphics, it's almost a required upgrade, but everyone will eventually have, just like people upgraded from black and white sets to color televisions. Still, it's making it harder for the gamer on a budget to really enjoy today's games, especially considering you have to pay extra for the proper cables for your consoles to display corrently in hi-def.

Gaming nowadays is getting much more complex, and when I say that, I don't even mean the games itself. It's in regards to everything that runs the games. You no longer have that peace of mind that your console will continue to work in the near future. You'll continuously be inconvenienced by upgrades, and even some upgrades will kill your entire machine, where the company will charge you to have it fixed (lookin' at you, Sony). You'll be nickle and dimed for things you don't need, or for things you should have had in the first place.

Gone are the days were you just plug something to the TV, stick something in it, and play, and that's ALL you had to worry about. Yes,our games are bigger and flashier, but I still miss those days. If I had the choice of an olderconsole that I knew I could trust, playing games that had all of its content from day one with no worrying about having problems to fix, or a newer console that could break at any moment that playsincomplete games, you can bet I'd take the older console any day of the week. Times are definitely changing, but that's not to say it isn't without its fair share of headaches.