Archive note: This post was originally published on GameSpot by ThumbsUpMaster on April 6, 2007. It is preserved as part of the ThumbsUpMaster GameSpot Blog Archive.

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Readable Archive Version

Who remember's the excitement of E3 2006? The hype for the Wii's revolutionary controller GREW larger. The hype for Playstation 3's incredible graphics and visuals got larger. They hype for 360's Gears of War and Halo 3 got larger. This was the time gamers all over the world were hoping for something different.

I wanted to enhance my gaming experience by buying a LCD Widescreen TV or a small 20 inch HD TV. But… when I turned on my Wii last night, black lines went across my tv screen. Not really really noticeable black lines. Like the ones that you can barely see but they flicker every 2 seconds. I plugged my Wii into another TV and it did the same thing. This had me thinking… next-gen consoles are faulty as hell. My Xbox 360 disc tray sometimes doesn;t even read the disc properly and I get a disc read error that sends me to the dashboard. This happened the first day I bought Gears of War and Viva Pinata. Dead Rising also lags on the second chapter, when, get this… NO Zombies are on the screen. Saints Row is the glitchiest game I own on the 360. SmackDown vs Raw 2007 wasn't a huge leap and I don't expect this years installment of the WWE video-game franchise to be any different. The console is as loud as my air conditioner. Don't get me wrong, the games are fun; it's just the consoles that are ruining my fun.

Right… the games… there are only a few good ones out. Take the Wii for example. All I own is Wii Sports, Twilight Princess, and WarioWare: Smooth Moves. Why? Because the rest of the games aren't interesting me. I was thinking of buying Super Paper Mario but I don't see the point of having to play it through a TV with annoying lines going through it.

In the future, I see myself playing more portable games then console games. "Next gen" games are getting more and more uninteresting. I'll probably use the money I was going to buy a TV with for some PC enhancements. I've been wanting to play Battlefield 2, The Sims 2, Final Fantasy 11, World of Warcraft, and, of course, Spore coming later this year. In the portable market there is Phoenix Wright, Ouendan, Pokemon Diamond, DJ Max, WarioWare Touched… just to name a few games I haven't got my hands on yet.

So now, the only console games I am definitely going to buy are Grand Theft Auto IV, Banjo-Kazooie 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and possibly Super Mario Galaxy and Blue Dragon… the PS3 may have to wait after my parents buy me a car.

Also, I forgot to mention, PC enhancements may be a better idea because I need more RAM to have open Vegas, Skype, MSN Messenger, and Winamp. Then again.. I don't know anything about computers. Any recommendations on what I should get. I need a PC that can handle Battlefield 2, GTA, and FF11. Also, I need more memory to run multiple programs at once.

Original GameSpot Version

Who remember's the excitement of E3 2006? The hype for the Wii's revolutionary controller GREW larger. The hype for Playstation 3's incredible graphics and visuals got larger. They hype for 360's Gears of War and Halo 3 got larger. This was the time gamers all over the world were hoping for something different.

I wanted to enhance my gaming experience by buying a LCD Widescreen TV or a small 20 inch HD TV. But... when I turned on my Wii last night, black lines went across my tv screen. Not really really noticeable black lines. Like the ones that you can barely see but they flicker every 2 seconds. I plugged my Wii into another TV and it did the same thing. This had me thinking... next-gen consoles are faulty as hell. My Xbox 360 disc tray sometimes doesn;t even read the disc properly and I get a disc read error that sends me to the dashboard. This happened the first day I bought Gears of War and Viva Pinata. Dead Rising also lags on the second chapter, when, get this... NO Zombies are on the screen. Saints Row is the glitchiest game I own on the 360. SmackDown vs Raw 2007 wasn't a huge leap and I don't expect this years installment of the WWE video-game franchise to be any different. The console is as loud as my air conditioner. Don't get me wrong, the games are fun; it's just the consoles that are ruining my fun.

Right... the games... there are only a few good ones out. Take the Wii for example. All I own is Wii Sports, Twilight Princess, and WarioWare: Smooth Moves. Why? Because the rest of the games aren't interesting me. I was thinking of buying Super Paper Mario but I don't see the point of having to play it through a TV with annoying lines going through it.

In the future, I see myself playing more portable games then console games. "Next gen" games are getting more and more uninteresting. I'll probably use the money I was going to buy a TV with for some PC enhancements. I've been wanting to play Battlefield 2, The Sims 2, Final Fantasy 11, World of Warcraft, and, of course, Spore coming later this year. In the portable market there is Phoenix Wright, Ouendan, Pokemon Diamond, DJ Max, WarioWare Touched... just to name a few games I haven't got my hands on yet.

So now, the only console games I am definitely going to buy are Grand Theft Auto IV, Banjo-Kazooie 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and possibly Super Mario Galaxy and Blue Dragon... the PS3 may have to wait after my parents buy me a car.

Also, I forgot to mention, PC enhancements may be a better idea because I need more RAM to have open Vegas, Skype, MSN Messenger, and Winamp. Then again.. I don't know anything about computers. Any recommendations on what I should get. I need a PC that can handle Battlefield 2, GTA, and FF11. Also, I need more memory to run multiple programs at once.