Shopping has never been this easy. All you need to do when you want to avail a new console is go to a local Radio Shack and go straight to checkout upon having asked the assistant to get you your item. Or, if you are one of those really lazy types, then you can just log on to your PC and shop online, unlike the previous gaming years where the items of gaming specialty stores needed to be pored over (and back) just so you will be able to decide which one you will get, of course the lack of trustworthy reviews and recommendations from respected gamers were also not very many back then… Well nowadays more often than not, your face gets covered by ads from “The Best Gaming Magazine/s” out there.

But did better gaming really come along with the endless selection of games, consoles, platforms and magazines?

We’re not talking about the degree of effects here, or how fast or better your customized console is. This is about whether gaming fulfillment has really progressed over the years of extreme technological advance in gaming. Back then, sensor consoles were just a figment of one’s imagination, despite the fact that the drive in gaming itself comes from the world of fiction and escapism. But now, even the consoles themselves are getting cloned, thus more types of consoles to choose from (Vii Wii anyone?).

But as a gamer, can you honestly say that you recently found playing games more fun, as compared to the Super Mario Brothers, or even the Street Fighter days?

Sure the extremely pixilated, orange skinned features of the characters were quite an eyesore, especially if you compare the graphics to the ultra high-detailed personas in games today. Some characters are even so life-like or illusion inducing that a whole slew of dreamy fan boys swoon over posters and cosplayers on conventions.

But really, back then gaming was purely gaming, and no matter how cheesy it is, but for someone who’s seen the evolution of gaming through a developer’s eye, most of the development in this industry is somehow surprising, if not appalling.

As a child, I remember perplexed at the new devices that were released, which needed some “advance” and “unknown” (now very much primitive) accessories in order for it to get hooked up and running in the television. Of course, the Mario Brothers epic is still very much alive and at the top, but with the majority of the events in the evolution of gaming culture, one does feel quite sad that a once clean, favorite past time of children back then has now evolved into a culture smeared with violence and unwanted media attention.

Nowadays, the word “Gamer” receives sneakers or high eyebrows, as the reputation of such people are mostly good for nothing, grown men who stay with their folks till they’re 40 because they rather play games than work for a living.

But to be fair, the industry and its supporters are somehow repenting, if not busting myths, in order to prove that such social perception is clearly outdated, and thanks to some people who are doing a great job with the dissemination of information and making sure that those who need to follow the rules (and/or) law stick to doing so, the future of the gaming industry is not bleak, nope, not at all.

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