Welcome back to my column, dear readers, and for those of you just joining us, you’re in for a real treat. For those with an attention span of a goldfish, yesterday I talked about Consoles not being just for games. Today, I look at the pros, the cons, and the ask you: is that such a good idea? Buckle up, we’re going on a wild ride.

First of all, let’s talk about the pros. For most people, the consoles are at war; they’re always trying to one up each other. THAT is a great thing! If they’re at war, we get all the benefits. PS3 introduced video streaming, Xbox updated their software to allow their users to do the same. Xbox introduced an online marketplace for us to buy games, PSN came one year later. Xbox has Achievements, PSN brings out trophies. Now, PSN has some TV channels that people can view, and Xbox signed with Syfy and HBO. There’s too many services to mention here, but one thing is certain: the customers, as Charlie Sheen would say, are “WINNING!!”

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Another pro? What, that wasn’t enough for you? Well unfortunately that’s the only pro I can think of, so I’ll leave it to you guys, while we explore the Cons.

Con 1: When was the last time we had any exclusives? I mean seriously? Gears of War, Halo, and Alan Wake… Those three are the only ones coming to mind. Everything else, which is said to be exclusive, is being published for both or all three platforms, and we SOMETIMES, if lucky, get an “exclusive” DLC… until it becomes available on the other platform for about $5 (I’m looking at you Fallout 3 DLC… exclusive my… *ahem*). Anyway, I’m getting off topic. My point is, gaming companies just aren’t trying that hard anymore, and the gamers suffer for it. Why don’t they try harder? Because the consoles are so busy stuffing each other to the gills with extras, and they don’t tell the studios to work specifically on making a game for their console only.

I don’t mean to sound old, but I remember a time when having a PS1 was something to be bragged about… now if you were to try to brag the conversation would go like this: “You’ll never guess what I got for my birthday!? It’s an XBOX 360!” “Eh I got a PS3, so what?” “Yeah but I can stream movies from my console!” “so can I” “But mine’s got 3D support ” “Mine too” “Oh yeah? well I can watch TV channels AND Youtube through mine!” “Yeah? So can I.” Etc… I could go on forever, but the simple matter is this: customers aren’t getting enough to get excited about, and that sort of puts a damper on going out and buying your newest console!

Con 2 relates to the first, but in another completely different way. Confused? Then my work is almost done, so let me clarify for you.

With games no longer being “exclusive” (like the news that a PC “exclusive”, Crysis, was available now for the PSN and Xbox 360), gaming studios have to work twice as fast to get a game out, and that can cause problems with graphics, or bugs (I’m looking at you Bethesda), or worst of all, the story could go from intense and thrilling, to something that you’d think was written by monkeys!

I’m sure many people know the game Heavy Rain. It won, and got nominated for, so many awards you’d think it was a film instead of a game (you’d think that if you played it as well), David Cage did well on the PS3 exclusive. His previous game though, Fahrenheit (or Indigo Prophecy in some countries), made you go from playing a well paced thriller keeping you on the edge of your seat, to a scifi/romance/drama/comedy/WTF WERE THEY THINKING???/etc… Why was that? Well to Paraphrase David Cage, they felt rushed because they had to get the game on the PS2 and the Xbox.

So there we have a pro and some cons boys and girls, but what do you think? Are Gaming consoles spreading themselves too thin, or is it a good thing?