Give It To Me Raw

Recently, I purchased a cheap vinyl player and began listening to a few vinyls. Call me a hipster, but I honestly think it provides a better listening experience.

No, I’m not trying to argue if the medium sounds better on a CD; in fact, vinyl LPs can sound poor if you don’t take proper care of it, or if it was improperly pressed by the record company. I will stress that whenever I listen to a vinyl, I just sit in front of my speakers and listen—no distractions whatsoever.

Most people enjoy passively listening to music in places that don’t allow you to concentrate on the music—in their car, at the gym, at parties, etc. For me, concentrating on listening allows me to appreciate music at a much more active level than ever before.

So how does all of this play into gaming? Easy: every game demands your attention. Think about it—you’re actively taking part in playing a game with a controller in hand. Even if you’re playing a portable game, you’re still required to pay attention.

This active role that I enjoy about gaming is a very fulfilling experience. You immerse yourself in every sense minus smell. You get to enjoy visuals, music, story and most importantly, you take control of the game. It’s easily the most active you can be in front of a screen.

The Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus (Sony’s virtual reality hardware) could easily take gamers even further, but I don’t think VR will be a big financial success. Just like how I listen to vinyl, gaming already seems to be active enough of an experience. Of course, I can only speak for myself but a peripheral on my head would lose its novelty quickly. It’s still interesting as a concept, but who knows how virtual reality will really perform.

Things like VR have already been done in the past, but not in such a big way. This is similar to the craze over 3D movies and games we had a few years back. People now have 3D TVs and are able to play 3D games, but the novelty wore off, and I don’t know anyone that plays their games in 3D.  Most people even turn 3D off on their 3DS nowadays.

3D movies are pretty neat, and the technology has caught up enough to provide a proper experience for the consumer, but in the end, do all these extra features matter? I fear VR will become something tacked-on that developers will be wasting their time on, just to include it. Sort of like multiplayer in some games.

Things like 3D and VR aren’t huge steps at improving an active experience. Rather, they provide immersion in ways that won’t stand the test of time. Give me a controller and let me enjoy the game, and don’t waste money developing tacked-on things like 3D and VR. Like vinyl, let’s just focus on what’s important: what the artist(s) truly intended.