Game Technology wk9

The first thing I cast my mind on was the basic ergonomics of a Playstation or Xbox, does the actual shape of a games console go to far? I believe the answer to this is no... No matter how curvy the console is or becomes it will only ever be a console, a console changes its shape to fit in with modern trends and shapes, consoles may seem abit bizarre if they were shaped like arcade machines from the 70's!! Although perhaps if they were shaped like that it would a social norm because consoles haven't been made in any other way (we wouldn't know the difference)

For me the easiest console to use was probably the PS2, it did 3 things, play a game play a CD or DVD and change basic settings and to be honest isn't that all you need from a console? Its the gaming experience you should be most concerned about as that is what you pay your hard earned money for, flashy gizmos and online additions are great but are they 100% necessary? What's next a console that will cook you a full English in the morning when you wake up? (Would it be so obscene?!!!)

The best console overview has to be the Xbox 360, the Wii was horrendous although the point and click does probably interest people. Xbox offers a multitude of menus and sub menus to access the information that you want it looks good and is very concise in getting to what you want to use.

Just to emphasise the previous point about the relevance of actual content on consoles e.g. radio, twitter, facebook, movies. Does a console really need it? Its more of a convenience or luxury than it is a necessity to use such services... they don't improve your general gaming experience but some people would say its more a merging of PC and the general home entertainment system, perhaps one day all of these areas will be made into one, the culmination of technology's...
As to the loss of joysticks its noticeable that yes they are becoming less used within the gaming industry BUT you could say that the wii has used the joystick as a base and improved it in their technology (wiimote) to make the gaming experience more concise. So yes we may have lost joysticks in one sense but we have re-gained them in another.