Thursday, February 26, 2009

Control(ler) Issues

You know, there comes a time in a man's life when he must make a decision. It's never an easy choice, but it is one that you must stick with once you've made the commitment. It can divide families, destroy bonds built up over time but, ultimately, you find out who your friends really are. I'm talking, of course, about PlayStation versus X-Box.

Oh sure, you may own both, but you know damn well you have a favorite. And if the day should ever come when you have to make a choice between them, in your heart of hearts you know the decision has already been made (all males ages 14 - 35 are nodding right now). Look, they're just very different systems. It's not easy to bounce between the two. We've come a long way from the days of Nintendo and 2 buttons controllers. Asking someone who is a PlayStation user to play a game using an X-Box is like asking a monkey to land a plane - it's not going to end well and no one is going to have fun in the process.

I mention this only because I'm losing controllers at an alarming rate with my PlayStation 2 and contemplating an upgrade to PlayStation 3, while a friend of mine is trying to get me to make the switch. Apparently, the controllers for X-Box are made of sturdier stuff.

I should backtrack for a moment and explain how I play video games and why this is an issue. It's a full body workout, featuring a lot of standing and hopping off the couch. There is also a lot of twisting of controllers, slamming of buttons, and looks skyward while swearing. This is especially prevalent during the "Back to Earth" game that is so common in Madden (for those of you who don't play, that's when the computer decides you've won enough for one season and suddenly you're playing the re-incarnated '86 Bears. Your defense can't tackle, your quarterback is giving interceptions out like Halloween candy and your running back has inherited Edward Scissorhands' digits. No, not bitter about that loss, though). You see, despite the PlayStation not having the powers like the Wii, I still lean and twist as if that effects the buttons. Crazy? Sure, but I'm not going to risk not doing it when I've only got a two shot lead going into the final round of the Masters in Tiger Woods: 09.

In the last week I've had two controllers start acting up on me. Buttons won't push fast enough, some just push on their own and others seem to be sticking. While playing video golf I can usually get the drive power up to around 115. Today my controller spazzed and I got an 8. If I wanted to hit a drive that shitty I'd be playing golf for real. Not to mention from repeated use the controller sticks are now permanently off-center. It's added a degree of difficulty to my game playing. My quarterback only wants to roll to the left now.

The easiest solution, of course, is just to go buy a new controller. However, I'm not sure how much money I want to invest in PlayStation 2 anymore. They've clearly stopped investing in the system's games, because there were almost no upgrades from last season's model. It's a pretty blatant attempt to make you go buy PlayStation 3. However, PlayStation 3 is much more expensive than X-Box. But, it's not that easy to make a switch - I'm 29, for God's sake; I'm not a kid anymore (those of you thinking "Well, maybe you should stop playing video games all together," should leave my blog and never return). But, in the end, I guess these are the decisions that separate the men from the.... well, less socially-inclined men.

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