In the wake of what's is being hailed as the E3 that returned the expo to former glory, many conclusions could be made about what each console maker brought to the table.  But lets step back a bit and re-evaluate what has occurred in today's gaming landscape after almost four years into this current generation.  What we know for sure is that console makers unanimously agree the console life-cycle has been extended.  We are now looking at a yet determined time for this current generation with estimates pointing anywhere between six to ten year life spans.  What we can also witness is the sense of immersion of gaming transcend the simple controller vibration and surround sound to a higher form of third dimension - the motion control.

Not Gamers.

A hot topic during E3 2009 was the idea of pushing the boundary of this third dimension and ever inching closer to the idea of fourth dimension, where the user becomes a part of the game.  With Project Natal from Microsoft, the Wii Vitality Sensor and Sony's optical tracking wand, we are witnessing each company take on the problem of further immersing the player into the gaming experience.  However, the question today isn't whether these companies' solutions are effective but rather are they even necessary?

Definitely NOT Gamers.

What I propose is a bold statement that is perhaps shared by most long time gamers:  Nintendo has ruined gaming for the hardcore with the Wii.  Let me be clear, there are good games on the Wii, there are even great games on the Wii.  But the fact remains, the Wii is more of a toy now than a gaming console for the purpose of playing video games.  Nintendo would have you believe that the definition of "video games" has simply changed and broadened to include such things as EA Active and Wii-Fit. But if you've been playing games for a while, you will know that those aforementioned titles are anything but games.  Nintendo started off with games such as Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt.  Video games that challenged the players with interactive stories, interesting puzzles and memorable characters.  I challenge you to defend Wii-Fit against those criteria.

And a Whole Generation is Born...

So then the chicken and the egg question would be if Nintendo never introduced the Wii or that the Wii never caught on as it did with the middle aged and elderly, would Microsoft and Sony have bothered with Project Natal or the motion wand?  I'm not able to answer that but I believe the answer would have still been yes, but not within this generation.  The primary reason for why Microsoft and Sony not rushing to market another iteration of their consoles is because the Wii is currently the market leader in sales and attached rates but has a fraction of the powers of its competitors.  An analogy could be that the highest selling car is the Toyota Yaris at a price point of $35,000 while a BMW 328i is selling at $34,500 yet the Yaris is beating the BMW at a ratio of two to one.

This is Also a Toy.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that we are left with the Xbox 360 and the PS3 for another few years.  There could be many hardware improvements and changes such as the New Xbox Experience and the rumored PS3 Slim while developers are getting better at harnessing the powers of these machines; thereby creating games that looks substantially better than launch titles.  But what really depresses me, being a gamer at heart, is that there are all these so called "gamers" that seems to believe that the Wii is all there is to gaming.  That without such things a waggle and motion, a game isn't a game.  There are so many titles, even on the Virtual Console, that these "gamers" are missing out on and it's all very sad.  Compounded with the fact that technology on the home console has effectively stopped advancing for the next few years, there really isn't much to look forward to for a hardcore gamer.

Be Still my Beating Heart...

Nintendo alone isn't to blame for this, all you have to do is look at the so called "games" available on the Apple Apps Store to know that gaming is now becoming as mainstream as Twitter is to blogging.  It's just not the same.  That's why I'm still hoping that the last bastion of true hardcore gaming will continue to survive as an underground resistance.  Where is that resistance?  It's PC gaming of course.  This is the last place where a gamer can truly appreciate the power and wonder of bleeding edge technology.  Do you need an eight core system or  a triple SLI video solution?  Of course not but it doesn't mean you shouldn't have it!  Can your eyes tell the difference between 80 frames per second and 120?  No but your message board friends can!  Until we seen the likes of a PS4 or a Xbox 720, this is the bell that tolls for gaming as we have known it.  Gaming is dead, long live gaming.