Real Talk on the Sony Controversy
Look, I know you guys are concerned about what Sony's been doing with the Playstation lately, and quite frankly, I am, too. I think it's a bad move that Sony's getting rid of physical media in favor of digital media, but that doesn't mean we should give into the fear because it'll only enable Sony more than it solves your problems. As a matter of fact, the Playstation isn't the only game console to do what it does best, and just because it's new doesn't necessarily mean it's the best option. FYI, I've done a lot of research in game console history when I was in grade school, and I even wanted to make one myself at one point.
If you're tired of what's Sony's been doing with the Playstation, then I've got some good news! History has shown that there are many other consoles that can do the same thing the Playstation's known for. The Pioneer Laseractive can play movies and albums like a Playstation can, but it's got something even better. Instead of DVDs, CDs, & Blu-rays, it runs on Laserdiscs, and it even has accessories that allows you to play Sega Genesis games, Turbo Graphix 16 games, and it can even double as a karaoke machine. Plus, you get to learn about whales & dolphins through Melon Brains, see hypnotic animations & videos in 3D at the 3D Museum, you could play Dragons Lair, Roadblasters, Gallagher's Gallery, and especially, Time Gal, just like you would in the arcade, you could take a quiz on Dinosaurs through Quiz Econosaurus, and a quiz on the Edo Period through Back to the Edo.
There's also the Amiga CDTV, which also stands out for being a multimedia player instead of just competing with the mainstream consoles. It's built from an Amiga 500 computer, and it runs the same operating system. It has a wireless controller before it was cool (via infrared instead of Bluetooth), a mouse, trackball, SCSI controller, hard drives & floppy drives, custom memory cards, and GenLocks You could play Sim City, practice French with Asterix, practice music with Musicolor, and remember the "Gimme a Drink, Bartender" meme? It actually comes from a CDTV game called the "Town with No Name."
Then there's the CD-i... I know, I know, it's a poorly received console, but hear me out on this! CDi players come with multiple manufacturers: Phillips, Magnavox, Bang & Olfson, Goldstar/LG, DVS, Grundig, I2M, Kyocera, Manna Space, Maspro Denkoh, Memorex, NBS, Saab, Sony, and Vobis. There's also unreleased models from Panasonic, Pioneer, Victor/JVC, Toshiba, Epson, Ricoh, Fujitsu, Samsung, and Yamaha.
They can play a full spectrum of CDs! CDs, CD-ROMs, photo CDs, CD graphics, video CDs, audio CDs, CD-i discs, and CDs with different spec books respectively in all the colors of the rainbow. It's not just the usual Hotel Mario and Legend of Zelda, but we're talking about a habitat of physical media that's widely ignored. Do you know wat this means?
It means the CD-i isn't simply designed for games. It's actually an extensive range of tools designed for interactive media and Phillips, especially putting emphasis on FMV and multimedia. In fact, some of these consoles were BEFORE the Playstation was born. The CDi & CDTV were released in 1991, and the Laseractive was released in 1993. Plus, before Microsoft had the Xbox, its arch competitor, Apple, had the Pippin! The 3DO stands out from the competition because its licensing fees are really low. It also has an ecosystem of Panasonic, Sanyo, and Goldstar. Former Atari members followed a similar approach for the Nuon, except the main difference here is DVDs instead of CDs, and they had Samsung, RCA, Toshiba, and Motorola.
It just goes to show that you don't need a traditional console to tell you, "Hey! I'm a game designer!" or "Hey! I'm a hardcore gamer!" A computer can function like a game console, LaserDisc players can function like a game console, CD players can function like a game console, DVDs can function like a game console, mobile devices can function like a game console. Why waste your time bellyaching about a Playstation boycott that only benefits Sony even more when you could just pop a DVD into a player, pick up the remote, and play a simple little game. It's that easy!
If you know the history, you can tell that what Sony's been doing actually has a silver lining to it. Instead of just spending the rest of your life complaining about something we can't really fix, we can just ignore the fearmongering, face the facts, and have a strategy. If the only thing that makes you happy is power that you don't have, then it only makes it worse on yourself and not just Sony.
Plus, there's a sense of wonder and culture you can get with niche titles that you probably won't find in the traditional mainstream. Take Pioneer LDC's Pulling G's, for example. You get to see Recon jets set to some beautiful ambient music as they fly in the air. You might also find someone you know or somewhere you know involved in these titles, too. It could be someone in your house involved. You might get to see celebrities before they're famous. You even get to see stuff that most mainstream studios wouldn't even greenlight easily.