I Simplified My Gaming Life

Too many platforms? Not anymore!

Published in

SUPERJUMP

6 min readOct 30, 2017

Not that long ago, I wrote about a stupid problem: With a PS4, an Xbox One, and a PC in my house, picking a platform to play on has been a strange nightmare.

I know what you’re thinking.

“Wow, this moron is complaining about owning three different video game systems!”

You’re right. I kind of suck.

But so does the lack of differences between modern platforms.

IN THE OLD DAYS

100 years ago in 1987 when I started playing video games, platforms were as different as the companies that made them.

Computers were miles ahead of video game systems in terms of raw power…but then Nintendo came along with their smooth scrolling technology and changed home video games forever.

In the ‘90s, the 16-bit and 32-bit wars flourished because different console makers put out systems with wildly different capabilities and strengths. I had tremendous fun renting different versions of a game, or seeing a system I didn’t own at a friends house. It was also cool to watch relatively underpowered home hardware tackle the tremendous pile of arcade ports.

I miss arcade ports.

These sorts of vast hardware differences existed right up until the 360/PS3/Wii era. The 360 was the standard bearer with its relatively friendly architecture. The PS3 had a crazy and unwieldy multi-core CPU, but developers that mastered it did incredible things.

And the Wii was basically two GameCubes duct taped together.

Okay I’m kidding. But it was totally an overclocked and doubled-up GameCube. But it had motion controls and the strength of Nintendo’s peerless development teams.

Then, everything changed. I thought it would be better. But in a lot of ways, it’s just not as fun.

THE X86 ONSLAUGHT

When Mark Cerny proudly announced that the PS4 would use an X86-based architecture, I was excited.

I mean, with such a PC-like system, it would be easy for developers to make games. And they could quickly bring them to the PC platform.

Then… Microsoft announced they were doing the same thing.

And then it came out that they were both using basically the same processor from AMD.

Suddenly, two companies that had spent years making systems that were different from each other were making almost the exact same thing.

(Nintendo was off tinkering around with the Wii U, and building up ideas that would lead to the Switch).

I was still optimistic.

Surely, this would allow for games to easily reach a wide audience of players, whether they were on console or PC, without development teams having to do a lot of extra work, or invest in ports/versions that were almost nothing like their source material just to accommodate different hardware.

What could go wrong?

It got boring.

A friend and I have spent a lot of time talking about how funny it is that the upcoming Xbox One X processor has “4K” printed directly onto its cover. That makes the processor better. Somehow.

EVERYTHING IS THE SAME

The end result is that now every game is more or less the same on the two “Big” consoles and the PC. If you have a nice PC, that version will look the best, followed by the PS4 Pro, followed by PS4, followed by Xbox One S, followed by Xbox One.

That’s it. That’s how literally every third party game works out. And in most cases, that base Xbox One version will still run just fine for the average gamer.

This situation is not nearly as exciting as the old days of the Super Nintendo and Genesis getting entirely different games, or the 360 having a better framerate but the PS3 having a higher resolution with more effects.

The Xbox One X is going to shake up this order a little bit…but not as much as Microsoft wants people to believe. It’s going to slot in just above the PS4 Pro.

And sure, there are exclusives. Only, Microsoft abandoned that idea and started putting out everything on PC too. And Sony doesn’t sign as many big deals as they used to, instead preferring limited time exclusives on third party DLC to full-on games.

Oh and then there’s Nintendo.

I sometimes wish I had bought one of these weird red Wii’s, even though it’s basically limited to disc software. It was kind of cute and weird.

DOING THEIR OWN THING SINCE THE WII

Nintendo got out of the power game a long time ago. And I think now we’re once again seeing the fruits of that.

Sure, the Wii was a huge hit. But, it was just as much about introducing new controller paradigms as it was about not competing on power.

Now, the Switch is a system that’s capable of playing all the standard console-style games control-wise…but also different enough that it forces publishers to create unique stuff for it.

Its dramatic and impressive sales success means that the installed base is suddenly immense. And everyone, from big companies to indie studios, is scrambling to get stuff on the hardware.

I got a Switch this week and I love it. I’m actually playing games again. Being able to take stuff on the go means I’ve been making a lot more progress in games than I’ve made in years. And it’s just a really fun experience. I feel more refreshed about and interested in gaming than I have since the mid ‘90s. And that’s so cool.

If the PS5/PS4 Pro Pro adds another sandwich layer, that might be enough to get me to spring for one. I’m weirdly impressed by Sony’s dedication to their weird rhombus design.

SO WHAT DID I DO?

I solved my stupid entitled elitist problem by selling my PS4 and Xbox One, and keeping my Switch and PC.

I can play 99 percent of the video games that exist now and in the future, and I don’t have to sit there and ponder what platform to get them on because the two systems are different enough that the choice is obvious.

Is it something I want to play on the go? Does it have unique Nintendo features? Am I curious about how this bigger game turned out on mobile hardware? Then the choice is Switch.

Is this a big graphics powerhouse game? Then PC is the winner!

The only thing I’m really “missing out” on is PS4 exclusives.

I’ll be a little bummed not to play…uh. Spider-Man? The new God of War? That Horizon DLC I didn’t buy?

But it won’t be that big of a deal.