Gaming Preference

[rama]

a friend brought up to me that it seems a lot of artists prefer handhelds since they do most of their work at home when they're not at their day job, and most people that have a day job prefer all the home console stuff since you're basically winding down with a game after a hard days work. i find it true for myself since i do most of my gaming on my commute to work and between drawing sessions, but how true is this for everyone else? maybe i'm completely wrong and it doesn't matter what your occupation is...but i'd like to hear what you guys have experienced.

[Nash]

At home. I can usually only get into gaming nowadays when I'm comfortably at home and have at least an hour set aside. If that's not the setting, I usually don't even think about gaming.

[YellerDog]

re: artsts and handhelds

Interesting observation! I think that might be part of it. I also seem to prefer the types of games on the DS lately over console stuff (Space Invaders X, Contra 4, Professor Layton > MGS4), preferring quick pick-up-and-play games to "gaming experiences". When I do play a game on a console, it's usually some NES thing. Or MAME.

[rama]

yellerdog - now that you've said that, it may also be due to a preference for older style games? i also like the style of most ds/handheld games over consoles lately. last week i had an urge for a beat-em-up and popped in advance guardian heroes. then i felt like some run and gun action and played a quick game of gunstar heroes. you can play a stage or two and just put the thing down. i'm still playing through etrian odyssey which is super old school, but i mostly play on the train. but again, there's no story in that game and it's easy to put down after grinding a bit.

[YellerDog]

Yeah, definately. I get my story fix from books and movies, so I'm not really looking for games to fill that gap, y'know? Old style games are all over the portable systems these days. Bust it out on the train, shoot some aliens, put it to sleep when you get to your stop. Solid.

I'd pretty much just play Live Arcade "Pac Man CE" type stuff on a "HD Gen" console, so what's the point?

Bad graphics, you say? Whatever. Imagination filling in the blanks brings me more into a game than "normal mapping"

[cka]

I like them both

[Rem]

At home, It's not even close for me. Despite the fact I've always had this fixation on hand held systems I rarely enjoy them. I haven't turned my Ds on in about a year now, and can see no reason to in the future. I love pick up and play games, but not the type the Ds and other hand helds provide. Gears or CoD4 are my idea of pick up and play games. I can always return to them any time I feel like it, and don't have to worry about not remembering what it was I was trying to do.

Another large factor is the screen size and audio quality. My forty inch HD tv beats the shit out of any dinky hand held, and I feel it really draws me into the game. More than once I find myself standing eye level with the TV without even realising I ever got up, I'm than engrained in what I'm doing.

The closest any company has come to a hand held for me is the psp. Which I like a lot, with more console style games and less puzzle, wash your cat sims. Metal gear, ratchet and clank, and GTA are more or less what I want to play on the go. However the psp has your typical bad sony design, which really hinders it imo. And even then I usually play that in my house while watching TV. Since outside the house I have no place I would really play it.

[Bacon McShig]

Artists' preference for handhelds also might have something to do with the general truth that artist-types are not usually rolling in the benjamins.

I probably play slightly more on consoles, but it's a pretty close split.

[YellerDog]

I've had steady access to a 360 and didn't use it, so there's that. Found Crackdown fun for about 20 minutes then went back to Pac-Man CE for six months.

[Grave]

I like playing games while I poop. Since most places I poop don't have TVs, handhelds it is!