Quick, what are the FIRST FIVE PROBLEMS you think of when you think about the state of gaming today? They don't have to be the biggest problems or even the most important problems. They just need to be the five at the top of your mind. Don't think too much. Just type your list into the comments below. Unleash!
Here are mine:
- The portable device trade-off. I want a GameBoy Micro-sized device with a PSP-sized screen that runs on standard memory and gets 48 hours of battery life. So far, we're still trading off performance for battery life for portability. This one's not going away anytime soon, but that doesn't mean it can't bother me.
- Just-for-kids perceptions. It annoys the hell out of me that games are perceived as children's media. Games are for all ages. How long is it going to take before everyone knows this basic fact? Until this is known, we'll be dealing with opportunistic and ill-informed politicians and the sensationalist media that egg them on.
- My wife won't play 'em. I'm working on her... but it's a long, drawn-out campaign. Extrapolate my plight across millions of families. Out of all the forms of media, only comic books demonstrate such skewed male-female consumption demographics.
- Exergaming is too lame. Where's the friggin' holodeck, already? I'd happily run miles every day if I were able to run through the corridors of a Strog-infested spaceship. I'd be a black-belt in several martial arts if I could really step into Dead-or-Alive 4. I'd have abs and buns of steel if it were possible to actually play soccer, baseball, tennis or hockey in my living room.
- Games aren't educational enough. I like media that expand my mind and that take me into mental territory that I would not have traversed on my own. Books, radio, movies, music: they do this. The percentage of games that do this is woefully small. Games should make us smarter, better humans. They should lubricate neural pathways that are crucial to everyday success. Sure, they should entertain, too, but I don't think that entertainment and uplift are mutually exclusive.
