[scrapser]

My at home gaming began with a Commodore 64 computer. My very first game title was Silent Service from MicroProse (RIP). So you can see I've been around the pond a few times.

My take on this latest development is that online play has become the inevitable fate of computer based games and simulations. Sadly it will take away much of what those of us who have been there virtually since the beginning of computer entertainment enjoy. But this sort of change cannot be stopped...good or bad.

The Internet has changed everything and continues to do so. Just like music video has pretty much redefined what "music" is and removed many of the ingredients that made what we think of today as classic rock possible. The people coming of age today want instant gratification and everything at their fingerstips and on their smartphone. The "artists" of today (I use the term loosely) are more interested in making a big profitable splash than they are communicating something important inside themselves. There are the exceptions of course but by and large most of them just want to get rich as quickly as possible.

The younger folks of today did not experience what came before first-hand so their comprehension of it is only a shadow of what it actually was for those of us who did. They will cite the same old mantra that we older folks are stuck in time (which we also did to our older generation). But I dare say it's more than that.

There really is a difference in quality but only those of us who have lived through both eras can see this without having to be convinced of it. Just look at how music media has changed. There was a time when we all wanted a better media for listening to clean and rich sounding music that would be durable. That came finally with the advent of the CD. Vinyl is still considered the ultimate in delivering quality sound but vinyl is fragile.

But now we are going backwards to MP3 because everyone wants their music on their mobile devices and fully sampled music makes for huge files that would quickly fill the storage space on a smartphone. The CD is fast becoming a faded memory unfortunately and all the older music is being left behind because there simply are not enough buying customers to keep the titles profitably in production. I think this is a sad but unfortunately inevitable tragedy.

My analogy above may not be perfect but I think most who read it know what my point is. Computer gaming has become formulated towards profit and the technology is dictating what is or will be the experience we can all have. When desktop PC's were THE platform and everyone was just starting out developing games, we all were treated to some very diverse and rich types of games. But over time as the companies learned what worked best (for their pocketbooks) the diversity and richness has slowly dried up. Now we are seeing the end of it all.

There are some exceptions to all this (see the new Carrier Command and Far Cry 3 games as examples) but I'm glad there are emulators out there that allow us older folks to continue to enjoy the past. Personally I weep for the future of gamng.