Gamers Rebellion: How to not get sucked in

Gaming Consoles: Will we ever agree?

With the PS4 and the Xbox One on their way, I'm starting to think about giving up the gamer lifestyle. I'm a 90's girl, I was around when video games were just about starting out. I remember my first console was a Super Nintendo (SNES), which I still own to this day.

I understand that technology is rapidly evolving, but do we have to have new consoles almost every year? I mean, first I buy a console, then a few games come out, then there's another new console coming out! Since the older games now can't be played by the new console and are becoming outdated, now you have to buy the new console if you want those newer games anyway.

So you either have to collect and hoard the old games or make yourself poor with the newer ones. We can never win can we? An article from Screw Attack says it very well here:

"[...]It's all to force people to re-buy games they already had. These corporate overlords don't want people being able to use the same copy of a game generation after generation. They want to repackage the same thing instead of innovating. This is a major issue.
All it would take is one operating system dedicated to keeping formats playable and simply adding new formats alongside the old ones. This is something PC developers haven't quite figured out yet, either that or they pull the same bull[*Bleep!*] the game corporations do." 

Screw attack - Why do we even have consoles? 

Gamer Rebellion! How to not get sucked into buying:

Computer games:
For your computer, there are tons of options, some of them even free, provided you have a computer.

Steam:
I particularly haven't used this one yet. But perhaps when I have time to game, and a good gaming computer, I can give this a shot. Steam basically is the iTunes equivalent to gaming. You buy games online (get your credit cards handy!) and download the games, whenever, to your computer. The advantage of downloading is that you always have a backup, you can always re-download and re-install off of Steam without a need to carry around a disc. It ties games permanently to your account, which sounds a lot like how iTunes works.

Google Chrome:
I recently found Google Chrome and am able to download games, free. There are not as many options as I had hoped, and there are even some knock-offs of popular ones, but they're still free games to play. Currently, I am addicted to playing Kingdom Rush.

Ouya:
It's pronounced (Oh-yeah). I found this about a year ago, and almost completely forgotten about it. Based off of Android, this is great. It's a console, costing $99, where you get to play free games! Currently there are 210 games free to try. Games like Minecraft, Vector, and other awesome games.

How to be a gaming rebel:

'[...] we, as the consumers, shouldn't have to put up with these "dedicated" machines when we could have easy and unlimited customization at our fingertips. We should no longer have to put up with having three billion devices plugged into our TVs [...]. Technology is at a point where we can literally do with one device per television which is capable of handling all of the media. Hell, that device could even be the television.'
Screw attack - Why do we even have consoles?

Stick with older games:
Maybe, like me, you find a console you like and you can supply yourself with a whole bunch of favorite games to stick with. Sure, there may not be any new ones, but guess who's got a new game for $20 or less?

Friendly swap:
Perhaps you have an Xbox, your other friend has a PS3. Well, how about after you are done with a few games, you and your friend swap consoles and games. Usually, you should only do this with a friend that you trust that won't sell your games or console while you're busy trying to beat the final boss.

Read a book:
It's not a game, but you still can experience a good story. All games are essentially some sort of story with objectives, right? Plus you won't get bogged down with things like achievements.
Oh, look you got one just now by reading this blog!