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The way I see it, there were a few reasons one would opt to buy a game console:

• Convenience. Computers take more effort to configure and aren’t optimised exclusively for gaming, so there is more to go awry.
• Physical media. Owning games in a tangible format is pleasant, especially with included extras like posters and manuals. Discs can contain the game, removing the need for the internet for licence checks or lengthy download periods. A disc also cannot be entirely revoked in the same way a digital licence can. In 50 years, assuming I can find a working Xbox 360, a physical copy of Halo 3 will be playable without strife. Also allows games to be shared or sold, allowing for the existence of a second-hand market.
• First-class controller support. Consoles are set up for use with controllers, and everything on them can be done via controllers. You never get into a state where you must reach for a mouse or keyboard during a console session.
• Standardised hardware for optimisation. As the details of a console are known and fixed, developers can target this hardware in particular and achieve performance that isn’t possible when targeting a wider assortment of target platforms. Consider the quality of games on seventh-generation consoles despite their low specs.
• Hacking and custom firmware. I’ve loved exploiting consoles and customising them or installing homebrew.
• Console personality. Console interfaces used to have such character that made using them an event.
• Social features. Consoles make coordinating gameplay easy. Being able to see friends online, create parties, easily voice chat, send messages, and invite people to games was a big deal. Almost every game with social features supports the console’s global social features, including things such as showing achievements.
• Price. Due to being closed ecosystems with all games being produced via the console manufacturer, consoles can be sold at a loss.
• Game exclusivity.

However, the ninth-generation of game consoles seem to have done away with most of these reasons, and the tenth-generation looks positioned to take it further. I’m struggling to see the benefit of consoles going forward. No physical media, no personality, very few exclusives (beyond Nintendo), lessened convenience (so many updates, system instability, advertisements and pop-ups everywhere), and increasing console prices.

I struggle to justify the price of a console when my computer will respect me more as a user, now has first-class controller support, allows me to play a wider variety of games (including emulating my existing collection), and the (very slightly) increased cost is offset by my computer being a general purpose machine. The only console I can see value in is a handheld console for the form factor, but even most of those are just general-purpose computers in a handheld form, rather than true console software experiences. Nintendo are perhaps the only member of the big three (Xbox, Sony, Nintendo) who have a device worth purchasing in the Switch. It isn’t perfect, but at least offers experiences that aren’t better done by a computer.

With Xbox struggling and the PlayStation physical media fiasco, Sega has the chance to do the funniest thing.

I feel sometimes we collectively fail to appreciate how underpowered computers of the past were. Especially when it comes to game consoles.

This level of performance was in pursuit of a lower price point, and games only managed to be as impressive as they were because they could target fixed hardware. Optimisations could be made for specific resolutions, processors, GPUs, and provided system-specific APIs, which isn’t possible with the wide array of configurations seen in general-purpose computers, even if many personal computers had rivalling hardware.

Great reference: https://topper64.co.uk/nk/btd6/rounds/regular

1.14+ can do crawl mining. Otherwise, standard strip mining.

Pre-1.17 Ore Distribution:

Pre beta 1.6, ores generate less in north/east quadrants compared to south/west. In beta 1.8, the Y-level range of each ore was lowered by 4.

Post-1.18 Ore Distribution:

If a diamond vein is exposed to air there is a 50% chance it won’t generate.

Nether Ore Distribution:

I still consider the elytra a recent addition to Minecraft, but the update that introduced them is now a decade old.

Oof.

I was watching a video with almost 2 million views of a man playing a video game I enjoy. To my surprise and horror, I appeared on screen.

He laughs about my kill to death ratio and kills me several times. At one point after killing me, he just laughs for a solid thirty seconds.

Brutal.

Saw a guy sprinting through the city with a Sonic the Hedgehog shirt on.

It took a hideous amount of restraint not to yell ‘GOTTA GO FAST!’

Goodbye Xbox 360 Marketplace.

I’ve made so many formative memories on the 360. It’s sad to see its infrastructure slowly shut down, bit by bit.

With the increasing popularity of folding phones I hope we’ll see a mod that plays Mario’s ‘Goodbye’ sound byte from Super Mario 64 DS when closing the lid.

It’s time. Time for me to get Omikron.

I’ve been playing Mario Kart Wii half the day. I got rather violently Mario Karted by the bots on Koopa Cape a minute ago. From 1^st to 12^th in the blink of an eye. Oh well.

I’m playing with no bloom or background blurring in HD on my rather large TV with an Xbox controller. Of course, this wouldn’t be possible without the excellent Dolphin emulator. A huge thanks to all who have contributed to emulation.

I just remembered the time I had to wipe a PlayStation 2 with tens of game saves dating back to 2000 and one of the save icons was on it’s knees begging me not to delete them.

I still feel like a monster.