My first introduction to CoD4 was on the xBox 360 at a mate’s house. “Here, play this - it’s great” he’d say, showing me a flashback where you stealth around the ruins of Pripyat in the Ukraine, the city that was evacuated because of the Chernobyl disaster. Stealthing around in a ghillie suit was fun in a way, but something lurked in my mind: I don’t like consoles. I don’t like how they age. I don’t like the idea of having zero control over the media, over of the lack of modding, over the price of games. Most of all, I hate the controls. A keyboard and mouse are such a better combination for accuracy than a malformed controller. Consoles make me feel distanced from the game, too. There you are, twelve feet away from the screen trying to take it all in. On a Mac or PC, you’re about a foot away, marvelling at the details or the little touches. In theory I could take a few steps forward to the TV and get a similar experience, but it’s not the same! Consoles are designed to be pickup and put down - quick and easy gaming. The Wii has got it right. It’s a simple experience in bundles of fun, but the Playstation and xBox series try and bring depth and persistence to something that for me, just isn’t the medium for depth or persistence. I say again: I hate consoles!
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