5 Gripes About the Xbox 360, PS3, and Wii

Between the 2 of us, we play A LOT of video games.  We spend a decent amount of money on video games for our entertainment, and although our experiences are mostly positive, here are a few negatives we’d like to see corrected.

More free downloadable content -   Being a gamer is more expensive than it was 10 years ago.  Is it because the technology has made huge leaps and bounds over those years, or is it because gaming has become more popular and more accepted as a hobbie?  Whatever the reason, I am beginning to feel like I’m being jipped out of a full gaming experience from some of these companies.  In some cases, I have to buy a $60 game and $10-$20 worth of downloadable content to get what I used to get in a $39.95 video game.  Why do I have to spend $50/year to get online, $60 per game, and up to $5 a pop to customize my avatar?  And that doesn’t even include the money spent on the consoles themselves or special controllers, guitars, wands, and battery chargers, etc. needed just to play.  Sure, it’s my choice to buy all this stuff, but if I’m a loyal customer and buy all this crap just to play ONE game, surely some of these companies like Microsoft can throw a freebie my way once in awhile.  I’ve heard the company Valve would LOVE to release more free content, but are stopped from doing so from Microsoft.  Why?  I’m not asking for much here.  Can’t you throw out a free outfit, themes, or gamer pictures once in awhile?  And I’m NOT talking promotional crap like a free Kotex gamer picture.  Who wants an advertisement as their background or gamer picture?

Gamer points on 360 – Keeping with the theme of the above gripe, I think our Xbox 360 gamer points should count for more than just bragging rights among our peers.  Sure, i love showing others what i’ve played and accomplished, but it should stand for more because, let’s face it, the more gamer points I have, the more money I’ve technically spent. I think it would be a win-win situation for both Microsoft and the consumer.  If I have more of a reason to achieve say 60,000 gamer points, the more money I have to spend getting there.  And if I reach a certain number of gamer points, Microsoft could have certain monthly/bi-monthly items that are discounted for gamers that have the minimum number of gamer points.  So, they could give a discount on a certain avatar item where anyone with 70,000 gamer points gets 10% off that item.  Give and take people, give and take!

More gamer points in arcade games – This one pretty much explains itself.  Arcade games are getting larger and more intense by the day.  Why does Microsoft limit them to 200 gamer points?  The max points should be bumped up because I can spend almost as much time on an arcade game than a “real” game and only get a few points.  It’s hard to get every single gamer point, and when you have a such a small number available, it’s even more difficult.  Up the limit and let the game developers decide how many are appropriate for their game.

Quicker downloads for the PS3 – You know it’s bad when you rush out to buy God of War III and end up playing Worms on your Xbox 360 for an hour while your PS3 updates.  This is one of the main reasons why I prefer the 360.  I’ve NEVER had an update take longer than 5 minutes on the Xbox, whether it’s a system or game update.  Why does it take an hour or more to to get a system update on the PS3?  And it takes around 30 minutes or more for game updates.  Why, why, why?  Is it because the PS3 servers are NOT managed by Sony?  It can’t be my internet connection when everything else updates within minutes.  Even the Wii updates faster than my PS3.  Now that’s just sad!  UPDATE: Rumor has it that Sony is fully aware of how annoying their update process is, so they have come up with a REALLY crappy solution.  If users want to pay $50/year for PlayStation Plus, then the downloads will be uploaded to you automatically instead of having to download them. 

Wii graphics – Yeaaaaa.  I was expecting the graphics of the Wii to be less grand than the PS3 and the 360, but it’s pretty bad.  And if you know you aren’t going to win the console wars in the graphics department, then why release games that BEG for sharp details?  And if you have a somewhat large TV, it just looks so bad.  I usually play my fill of bowling, frisbee, or tennis and quickly jump back on one of the other consoles to play something fast, intense, colorful, and exciting.  Why would you want to limit yourself with something so minor?

So, there is the list of our console pet peeves.  What are some things you would change about gaming?  Do you think it’s becoming too expensive?  What would you like to see these companies do in the future?  Please share your thoughts with us below!