I’m finding it difficult to muster any excitement over the future offerings from the big three home console contenders. What little details there are about the next Xbox and the Playstation 4 don’t do anything for me. When Nintendo announced the Wii U, I honestly tried to find something to get excited about, but the company had already burned me with the Wii. It wasn’t until Valve’s announcement of the Steam Box that the future of video games started showing potential. If Valve can deliver on their promises, this machine will change the industry by creating a unified, standard platform that supports freedom of choice and independent developers.

I was raised a PC gamer but fell out of favor with the platform when consoles proved to be the simpler platform. Consoles are great, because they keep my work and play lives separate. I also know that a game marked as compatible with any given console will boot in seconds and work without a hitch. No lengthy installation, no driver issues, just instant gratification. The Steam Box will potentially bring PC gaming to this same level of convenience. Already, Steam has greatly simplified PC gaming, so much so that I find it too much of a bother to install and play games that aren’t on Steam. The Steam Box will bring this same convenience with the added benefit of being a dedicated gaming machine. System startup will be quick, and you’ll have instant access to your collection.

This differs from traditional consoles, because you won’t be locked into one device. If you don’t like the Steam Box hardware, you can always build your own. When you buy a Steam game, you’ll be buying it for your home office, your living room, and anywhere else you can install Steam. This could end console wars outright. Why fight over specs of closed platforms when a Steam Box could have whatever configuration you can afford? The official Steam Box would simply offer a benchmark. Your console could be more or less powerful depending on your budget.

As a Linux convert, I’m especially excited about Valve’s decision to use an open source kernel. This will impact the Linux community greatly. Once the Steam Box is available, companies will make games for the platform for the same reason they make games for Xbox and PS3. A game built for the Steam Box is a game built for Linux. This will lead to ATI and Nvidia finally taking the operating system seriously and improving their graphics card drivers. As the game library grows on Linux, how many users will abandon Windows completely? I currently dual boot Windows and Linux Mint, and I only use Windows for games. When I no longer have to do that, it’s bye bye Microsoft.

Perhaps the number one reason I am excited for the Steam Box is that Valve is good to independent developers. Blockbuster games started looking, sounding, and playing the same years ago. The indie scene is where all of the really interesting things are happening. I can’t wait to have a console that celebrates independent games rather than hides them.

I’m trying to keep my expectations in check as I eagerly await more news on the Steam Box, but I can’t help but feel like we’re on the cusp of a complete paradigm shift in gaming. The future of gaming looks mighty fine.

I don’t remember much about the lineup of the original PlayStation console, mainly because I was wrapped up in the Nintendo 64 at the time. What I do remember is that one single game made me want it: Tomb Raider. When Tomb Raider launched towards the end of 1996, a light went off in my head, illuminating the boundless possibilities offered by this new world of 3D gaming. While other games did more to further the adventure genre, Tomb Raider was one of the earliest that quenched the thirst I had always felt for a real Indiana Jones-esque experience.

I kept up my new, rabid fanboyism through numerous sequels, but somewhere around the third or fourth entry in the series, I lost the urge to play every single Tomb Raider game that was released. This isn’t to say I stopped, though. I continued to play each one to completion out of respect for Tomb Raider making me want to take a gamble on a new console (something which was inconceivable to my friends back then). The series did begin to go downhill towards the end of the Playstation 1 era on into the Playstation 2, the epitome of crappiness being Angel of Darkness. That was the WORST Tomb Raider game of all time.

Angel of Darkness probably ranks in the top ten worst video games I’ve ever played for several reasons. The glitches and story were awful, to say the absolute least. So my interest in the series was pretty much dead and buried until Tomb Raider: Legend was released. To say that Legend reignited my love for the series would be a huge understatement. To this day, it remains my favorite in the main Tomb Raider series. After the first game in the Uncharted series came out, however, I figured Tomb Raider was done for. I mean, Uncharted pretty much out Tomb Raider’d Tomb Raider in every way possible. It delivered what I considered at the time to be the best adventure experience.

With Tomb Raider: Underworld, I realized that I was quite right in that assumption. While it was a good game and offered new features to the series, Underworld just didn’t match up to the adventure, hype, or even the fun offered by the Uncharted franchise. Because of that, Tomb Raider didn’t see any more releases outside of a spin-off, puzzle-focused platformer called Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. But it still managed to be one of the best co-op games I’ve had the pleasure of playing. Guardian of Light did so many things right, like allowing you to play through the game as the stars of the Legacy of Kain and Soul Reaver games. It transcended the franchise and became one of the best downloadable titles you can play (no joke, buy it).

Guardian of Light came out a couple of years ago, though, and it’s been a fair bit of time since we’ve seen hide or hair of a traditional Tomb Raider game. Well, all that will be changing in 2013, which marks the release of a reboot of the franchise and even a mobile casino app. The upcoming console/PC blockbuster aims to immerse Lara Croft in a dangerous world and promises to expand on the adventure/exploration aspects of the original games by offering a deadly and beautiful island teeming with animal life and numerous temples to explore. With every new trailer and screenshot released, the game is looking great, and I have no doubt we’ll be seeing a lot more of Lara in the coming years.

Nobody wants to be a casual gamer. They’re the people who have no idea what the difference between an Xbox or Playstation is and are dragging the industry into the belly of the beast known as mediocrity. Maybe we have Nintendo to blame for this casual gaming phenomenon. In between every good Wii release was a truckload of shovelware that only the most oblivious kids and grandparents would enjoy. And because of the popularity of mobile games and apps, casual gaming has proven to be a major thorn in everyone’s side.

At one point, I was one of these “hardcore” gamers lamenting Nintendo’s shift from king to jester, stomping my feet in anger at every new Wii This or Wii That. Somewhere along the way, though, my gaming habits changed. In the black and white, casual vs. hardcore debate, I had fallen to the other side, no longer entranced by the usual AAA blockbuster games. I actually think I’m somewhat of a casual gamer now, but before you gasp too loudly, we should at least accept that there are varying degrees of casual. The industry is not divided so simply between dance mats and first-person shooters.

To clarify, my casual “self discovery” doesn’t mean I’m ready to sell my Xbox 360 in exchange for an account at Party Casino, or even that my Android-based media player gets used more than my Xbox. It’s entirely possible for these things to coexist, because people have multiple needs. When I need an adventure (and have the time, which isn’t often), I’ll play something like Dust: An Elysian Tail. When I only have a few minutes to kill, then maybe I’ll take another stab at speed-running through Spelunky.

If you noticed, both of these examples are XBLA games. XBLA is where my shift to casual gaming has really become apparent. When given the choice between a disc-based epic that spans 40+ hours of gameplay or an arcade title that’s significantly smaller and easier to play in chunks, I’m more likely to take the latter. I love bite-sized games. They fit well into my busy adult schedule. It’s not that I don’t appreciate epics. Hell, if co-op is involved, count me in! The problem is that they’re too much of a commitment, physically and emotionally. Once you start an epic, you have to stay on top of it, usually for hours at a time.

The thing is, I still like the challenge of “hardcore” games, which is why I could never get my gaming fix solely from mobile games like Cut the Rope and Where’s my Water? (as much as I liked both of them). Casual doesn’t have to mean easy and pandering. It means I can pick up and play something without the need to invest in a complicated story or control scheme, then put the game down again whenever I want. That could mean hours or minutes. Regardless, I’m in control of the experience. If wanting that kind of control makes me a casual gamer, then so be it.

Here’s the thing about video game booklets: I never read them, but if a game I buy doesn’t come with a nice, thick, colorful booklet, I feel cheated. I guess I like the comfort of it being there in the off chance the game itself failed to introduce everything I need to know. We’ve all been there, right? You’re stuck in the beginning of a game with no clue what to do, and you think to yourself, “Does this mean I actually have to read the damn booklet now?”

Of course, with the surge of downloadable games, tangible booklets are becoming a thing of the past. Going hand-in-hand with that, the need for solid tutorial modes and/or in-game help menus has multiplied. Just recently, I played an XBLIG game called Puzzle Cubicle that did without any kind of tutorial and instead had one very obtuse instruction screen. It honestly made no sense. Had I not been asked to review the game, I would have given up right then and there and never bothered to figure it out.

I know some of the fun in gaming is jumping into a fresh, new experience and discovering all of its goodies on your own. When we were younger, didn’t we do that with just about every NES and SNES game we played? But video games aren’t so simple anymore, and as I’ve gotten older, my tolerance for confusion has waned. If I wasn’t already familiar with certain game mechanics, I wonder how easily I could pick up a current generation game. Even something as straightforward as Poker Drop could theoretically be off-putting if you don’t know how Tetris and Poker work (to be fair, though, who doesn’t?).

Clearly, there has to be something in the game to tell you how to play, keeping in mind that nobody wants to read a wall of text. That’s when a good tutorial comes into play. Emphasis on the “good.” I’ve played too many games with mandatory tutorials that were an absolute chore. They had to walk you through every step, spelling out even the most obvious and mundane abilities (you can jump!) and preventing you from continuing until you’ve satisfied every demand in the proper order. The worst part about these kind of tutorials, though, is having to go through them again should you decide to give the game a second playthrough.

It’s at times like this when I appreciate being able to skip the tutorial mode. Alas, my inborn impatience means I tend to skip almost every tutorial that lets me do so. I can’t help myself! Tutorials are often babying in their approach, and I don’t feel like I’m making any progress until the game has actually started. But mere seconds later, I’m lost and confused, because I ignored all of the useful tidbits in the beginning. I should have known…

The “help” I find most valuable, then, is the contextual hint. The game doesn’t hold your hand through a pointless prologue but instead offers tips on how to proceed (and if you’ve already figured out a move, it won’t even bother bringing it up). The most recent example I can think of is Minecraft for Xbox. Yes, it has a tutorial, too, but if you go straight into the survival mode, the game still provides pop-ups as you discover new items. These don’t get in the way, though, and I still receive the information I need when I need it.

I have a hard time saying goodbye to old video games. It always takes me a long time to finally get rid of an outdated game or system. I kept my Nintendo 64 until just a few weeks before the Wii released, and yet I probably only used the N64 once a year. Even then, I’d play one game, say, “Wow, this really hasn’t stood the test of time,” and switch over to the Gamecube.

There’s always that chance you’ll get the hankering to play GoldenEye 007 or the original Super Smash Bros. again, and it’s that voice that causes me to hang onto these games for so long, completely ignoring the fact that they’ve been done better since then. Honestly, though, I can’t kid myself into believing Super Smash Bros. Brawl is somehow inferior. The limitations of the N64 make that a pretty hard case to defend.

I know many gamers pride themselves on still owning every Nintendo console ever made, but my reasonable side keeps telling me there’s no need to hold onto things I’m not going to use. I might as well sell them now while they’re worth something, while some other sucker hasn’t yet taken off his/her rose-colored, 64-bit glasses. Eventually, my reasonable side wins.

Granted, I do like going back and playing an NES or SNES game from time to time, particularly if it’s a multiplayer game that I can enjoy with someone else who’s also familiar with how great these games used to be. Nostalgia is worth a lot… but not enough for me to clutter my little gaming corner with systems that will only get turned on once or twice a year.

The real issue, though, isn’t the space and money these old games take up but the time. For better or worse, I just don’t have enough free time to spend on reliving all of my favorite memories of past generations. Hell, I hardly have time to relive my favorite memories of this generation! I’m a busy guy, but new (and cool) games are constantly coming out, and nobody wants their gamer cred to fall behind.

Because I feel so pressed for time (in my normal life as well as my gaming life), I will sell a game as soon as I beat it. Unless I absolutely loved it or it has some kind of multiplayer mode that could potentially extend its replay value, it’s gone. With the games I like, though, I still run into the same problem of never actually playing them again. They just sit on my shelf for years.

As for the games that weren’t so lucky, I even have my regrets there. Should I have really sold that game? What if I have a bad day and suddenly want to play it again? What if I forget I played it at all? Then my time with it would have been wasted! Er… as if it wasn’t wasted already, right?

That’s one nice thing about achievements on the Xbox. They keep a record of all the games I’ve played. Sometimes (and I’m pretty sure this is perfectly normal behavior), I’ll scroll through my list of achievements, noting the different games in there, and mentally check them off, “Yep, that was a good game. Nope, terrible game. Yep, good game.”

All I really want is the memory of the game. Everyone knows that if you try to play an old game again, it’s not going to be the same. The graphics are going to suck. The controls are going to suck. It’s going to be a lot harder and more frustrating than you remember. In many cases, it’s probably better if you just don’t touch it. But every game I’ve played reminds me of what my life was like at the time, who my friends were, what I was going through, what the game made me feel, and that’s something that is worth keeping.

If you’re not familiar with Club Nintendo, it’s Nintendo’s rewards system where registering games and consoles and taking surveys grants you coins you can later spend on tangible prizes. This system was slow to come to North America, though, and when it did, it pretty much sucked. For years, we’ve been whining about how Club Nintendo in Japan got all the good stuff. SNES-style Classic Controllers. Soundtracks. DS games that were actually fun (like Tingle’s Balloon Fight). The coolest thing in our “store” was a deck of Animal Crossing playing cards. Don’t get me wrong, I like my cards, but the catalog’s emphasis on posters, notebooks, and folders was disappointing.

What I really wanted from this was to be able to trade my coins for actual games, and not the lame Game & Watch Collections that I could never save up for, anyway, because they cost a whopping 800 coins. Then in 2010, Nintendo released a downloadable WiiWare game for Club Nintendo members called Grill-Off with Ultra Hand, and I “bought” it without hesitation. It was kind of a silly game, but it also only cost 80 coins, so you definitely got your “money’s worth.” Again with the quote marks… But what a concept! How brilliant to reward dedicated gamers with even more games! So why has it taken so long for Nintendo to implement this in a greater capacity?

I’m talking about the fact that, on a monthly basis now, different WiiWare, DSiWare, and eShop games will be available in Club Nintendo ranging from 100 to 150 coins each. This is the smartest thing Nintendo has done in a very, very long time. No longer do I have to redeem expiring coins for Mario memorabilia I don’t really want. Now I can buy games I’ve always been interested in but never pursued before, because I hated dealing with Wii point cards. I just got Dr. Mario Online with the coins I earned from registering Metroid and Kirby, and I’m tickled pink. Like Kirby.

This is what I was hoping achievements on the Xbox would become. In an ideal world, you could cash in your gamerscore for Microsoft points. Even if the exchange rate was a pathetic 1,000 gamer points for 10 Microsoft points, it would be a good enough incentive for me to take it seriously. Hell, I have a new found interest in actively registering Nintendo products now (and I never thought I’d say that), because I have something to look forward to: free games! At the end of the day, what gets gamers most excited is the prospect of more games, and I’m glad Nintendo is finally getting on board with this idea.