Kurt Collins is a wireless research analyst for GameSpot Mobile. Emails to [email protected] will be automatically forwarded to his soapbox.

　　Barring a gross miscalculation or serious omission of cost, it makes absolutely no fiscal sense to print multiple CDs when the same could be accomplished with a single DVD. For games like The Sims, I can see how it might be financially effective to cater to users who still haven't managed to upgrade to a DVD drive, but I'd be highly skeptical of the tactic's effectiveness--especially for technologically high-profile games like Doom 3. I simply don't get it. Why, God? Why?

　　I ask God that very question every day. So much about this industry that I work in confuses me. Why publishers choose to use CDs above DVDs is beyond me. The broader issue, though, is why are people (consumers and industry professionals alike) in this industry so resistant to change? You can call it fanboy-ism; you can call it bias toward established standards; or you can even call it stupidity. I'm going to call it the latter in the hopes of getting your hackles up.

　　Something about every new hardware generation appeals to the gamer who eagerly anticipates the arrival of great things. We're promised everything from real-time 3D graphics to physics engines that can accurately model a chainsaw slicing through arm tissue. This generation, two of the major hardware manufacturers are offering us something completely different, and gamers around the globe are balking not only at the price, but also at the one thing that may turn out to be the most beneficial part of the next-gen experience: convergence.

　　Whoa. Let me stop right there, because that's a word people don't seem to like to hear too much. Say it with me: con-ver-gence. To me, it only makes sense that device manufacturers are desperately trying to bring about a hardware revolution hell-bent on convergence. A lot of the components used in an Xbox 360 can easily be used as your next TiVo. What's more, the very same PS3 you buy to play video games is going to be hooked up to your sound system anyway; why not turn it into your CD player? Why not turn it into your media server, since it has a hard drive and it's connected to your home network? Why not have an all-in-one entertainment device?

　　Awwww…can I pet him?

　　The PSP was another excellent example of an all-in-one entertainment device that members of our community were very vocal about. Even those who had already determined they were going to buy it were complaining about the extra "unnecessary functionality" in relation to the cost. Why does it need an MP3 player and a movie player when you all already have those anyway, right? I'll tell you why: eventually manufacturers are going to get tired of manufacturing the same components for three different devices when they could just as easily do it in one. In fact, they end up saving money doing it all in one and then end up passing those savings along to the consumer.

　　Convergence isn't the only change that gamers seem to want to resist, though. In fact, one of the main areas we seem to be resistant to change is in the one place that actually matters to me: mobile gaming. I'm not going to get up on my mobile gaming soapbox and preach to you about the virtues of War of the Worlds on your phone (that's Steve Palley's job and I don't envy it). However, I will go on record as saying change is coming. The mobile market is booming, and for the first time in gaming history gamers are going to be almost completely left out of the equation.

　　Awwww….can I pet him, too?

　　Gaming is about fun. It's an entertaining activity we use to pass the time between school, work, or (in the case of a GameSpot editor) more video games. We have gotten to the point in gaming evolution where it's time to embrace the new forms of video games out there and not dismiss them out of turn. A lot of gamers (including me) thought the DS was going to fail, or "flop," hard. Boy, were we wrong. Even more gamers thought the PSP was too expensive and thus was going to suffer the same "floppage" as the DS. Strike two, people. And now practically all gamers have already dismissed the mobile gaming industry as something that's completely and totally beneath them.

　　I'm here to tell you today that you're all wrong. You're wrong about convergence and you're wrong about mobile gaming. Mobile gaming is happening now, and given the rapid growth displayed, it's going to continue happening for some time. Convergence is happening now and I have no reason to believe it will not continue to happen. When we were all young, and the industry was young with us, we were outcasts in our own school for playing games. We didn't care because we knew that change was coming and we were going to be pioneers of this new entertainment medium. We were having a blast and no one was going to stop us from stomping on Goombas. We have now come full circle, and not only are we the ones being judged, but we (who play games) are also the ones judging. Our arrogance and conceit is beginning to show. And in my gaming heart of hearts, I know it is most definitely not a good thing.

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