"The NextGen Depression" - does it only happen to me?

Posted by LucasReis on September 4, 2012 06:33 pm 31

Hey guys, I was thinking about the next generation of consoles, and I thought I should write a little post about it.

I've been following videogames since the Atari, and as I became a collector in recent years, I started buying every single console of every single generation. I currently own all the big 3, and the most mainstream consoles of the previous generations (I still need to grab a GameCube, even though I get my fix on the Wii).

We're in 2012, almost 2013, and I can't help but to be interested in the next generation of consoles. I'll certainly buy the Wii U whenever Nintendo releases it and the next offerings of Sony and Microsoft as well. I also work in the industry, as a retailer and as a game translator, doing localization in Portuguese and Spanish for the Latin American market, so that means I'll always be in touch with games.

This generation has been longer than the previous ones, which is not typical, but I must say I really liked it, because it's always hard for me to let go (I never really let go of the previous platforms). What I'm trying to say is that I always feel this sort of depression period whenever I'm waiting for a new console to be released.

How should I explain this... I'm looking forward to several games this year, and in the next year. The game I'm looking for the most is Halo 4 (I have been playing Reach for a long time now, and although I still suck at it, I love it), I also want Tekken Tag Tournament, The Last of Us, Sega Racing Transformed, and some games (including PSN and Live stuff).

I'm excited for these games, but I don't feel as excited as I would feel if we were in, say, 2008, which was close to the middle of the genaration. I'm going to put several hours into Halo, but I'll feel bad, because I know I'm playing a console that will no longer be supported soon. The same goes for the PS3, the Wii (which is basically dead already), etc.

I know this is ridiculous, and it doesn't really make sense, but I just don't feel as excited. Whenever this generation gap happens I feel like I'm missing something. I didn't play God of War 2 with the same excitement I had when I played the first one, because the PS3 was already out, and I felt like I was missing a new experience...

The same happened with Bully. I enjoyed the hell out of it, but I can't help but feel it was kind of forgotten, being one of the last games of that generation (I know PS2 had several games in the next years, but they were crappy ports of big brother HD console games, so they don't really count to me).

Does anyone else feel like I do? I know I'll probably grab those consoles at launch, but I kinda wish this generation lasted a little more. I know the ups and downs, and there are probably more downs right now, if we were to extend the generation, but I'm fine with the graphics and stuff.