The Future of Video Games?

With next-gen gaming ignorance would have us believe that the gaming would obviously get better, and it has. Except for one thing.

Patches.

Patches are basically 'add ons' to games or a gaming system, it is a small piece of software that is designed to either update a game or fix problems. This includes fixings bugs, frame rate and graphic problems etc etc

Those without a next-gen console may be thinking, 'what the hell? I've never had to get one of those before!'. Thats because you haven't ever needed them, games were released FINISHED, glitch free! What you expect really. Thus comes the down side to patches. I fear that game developers will get lazy, release games 90% finished and then just 'patch' them up a few weeks later. Who the hell wants to shell out 40-50 quid on an unfinished game, and wait for it to be polished off. I for one, do not. It seems that the gaming industry are just taking us for fools. I just hope this does not become a regular occurrence.

This is certainly the case for many games on sale at the moment, Ubisofts much anticipated 'Assassin's Creed' (hailed as one of the iconic next-gen games to come) was released a few weeks back to much joy. How ever when gamers got their copy of it home and fired it up many told of how the game froze, the screen whited out, the frame rate was slow. This has considerably effected the games reputation in the media and amongst gamers and is quickly becoming one of the biggest disappointments in games of the year regardless of achieving global success in game charts. Ubisoft have reacted to these problems and are expectedly, 'releasing a patch'.
Why not just finish the game off properly...?

“We can confirm that we are actively working on a game update,” a Ubisoft spokesperson stated. “This update will help improve the stability of the game and will be released as soon as possible. In the meantime thank you for your ongoing feedback and patience.”

Hmmmm...

The same goes for many other games, such as Pro Evolution Soccer: 2008. Hailed for its remarkable game play. Unfortunately the "geniuses" at Konami seemed to forget the online mode. Sadly it is plagued with lag issues. You could be playing some one from America, running down the wing with ermm [insert football players name] determined to score cos your sick to death of them calling it soccer then BOOM! The game freezes for a second and the ball is in the back of your net. Fail. Again this is a severe thorn in the side as it makes online play almost unplayable with out wanting to smash your controller. Unless of course, your winning :)

"Konami Digital Entertainment has uncovered issues which can affect the online gameplay? quality of PES 2008 on PLAYSTATION 3. We are working at full strength to find a solution as quickly as possible. We sincerely apologise for this inconvenience. Further announcements will be made as soon as we have additional details."

That doesn't excuse the poor front cover.



What were they thinking :|

In other news

The 'wii' is selling on eBay for up to 400-600 £/$ , :O

The PS3 sales have apparently increased by 300%.

Blue Ray is outselling HD DVDs.

Dualshock 3 controllers have been released abroad. Rumble and sixAxis \o/

Until next time.