I started out this generation enthusiastically buying a 360 and Wii at launch, and shunning Sony for all their arrogance, instead waiting for the price to drop.  My allegiance to Microsoft, carried over from the prior generation, faltered early due to their suicidal hardware.  Amazingly, four 360's later, I have found peace with them due to the latest 360 being almost silent and trouble-free.  Compared to my launch PlayStation 3 the 360 is a much preferable system to use, no loud fans, automatic connection to the web and all the conveniences that come from Microsoft applying their decades of software engineering.  I have been disappointed over the last few years about Microsoft's seeming ambivalence to gaming and particularly game developers.  With their dominance in North America (at least amongst the gamerazzi) one would think they would be leaning into their role as a gaming company, instead they are following the breadcrumbs they dropped in the last generation, toward the sacred and almighty dominance that comes with being the set-top box.

While Microsoft lead strong with software then trailed off as their hardware solidified, Sony has done the opposite.   Their Ferrari-like launch hardware has now been stripped of it's many ports, backward compatibility and Linux -- yes LINUX!  Sony cooling fans however are amazing, if this whole gaming thing doesn't work out for Sony I suggest they going into jet engine manufacturing. With software however, they have become a genuine patron of the gaming arts releasing critical darlings at an astonishing rate while also seeding AAA titles from a variety of developers around the globe.  Again, if this whole game thing doesn't work out for them, they could easily step into being the lead software developer and publisher effortlessly. When it comes to playing games these days though, if it is on a console I much prefer the 360, mostly because of my unstable PS3.

Nintendo.  We've officially broken up.  I don't care about them, they don't care about me.  On the Wii, I loved the large stable of unique titles, but the controller and SD did not age well. With the Wii U and 3DS they seem like a spiteful partner who just doesn't know when to stop.  They take things I liked and contort them into abominations.  But it doesn't matter to me, I don't care.  Thanks for the DS Nintendo, the times we had together were spectacular and meaningful.

Which leaves the PC, and the stimulus for this blog.  In the BBS and Shareware era I was a PC gamer, so as a dog returns to its vomit so a fool repeats his folly.  Except... well... it is working out really well.  It's really comfortable to game with a 360 controller at my desk, it's easier to get into a gaming session, pause it, go to the internet, chat while playing or manage a library.  My PC boots in about 5 seconds, I am gaming shortly thereafter.  It's silent, the solid state drives are fast and the graphics are amazing.  It is easy to hook it up to my 50 inch TV without any hassle using HDMI and there is a broad variety of games at all level of pricing.  Yes, I've become that guy.  So much so that when I play console games now on the 360 or PS3 even I notice the lower frame rates, lower textures, even flickering.  I find the boot times on the consoles (including all the non-game menus you need to jump through to get to the game chafing).

I did not realize this switch in my mind until today, when I was considering getting Bioshock Infinite.  To play it on a console, at this late stage of the generation just seems dumb (given the difference in hardware between a current PC and the old, old consoles).  So I guess I'm where I predicted I would be, buying 360 and PS3 exclusives for consoles and everything else for PC.  What a longish, somewhat odd trip it's been.