Dear Double Agent,

I have been silent for long, longer than normal. Sometimes, I even worrymyself. However, Clyde Hudman makes his faithful return... with a semi-longletter! However, I won't go into some long letter about how "Nintendo isbetter than Sega", or "Sega can kiss my butt, cuz Sony rocks!", because thatdiscussion is not only totally pointless, but also has people develop astronger hatred towards various consoles for no apparent reason. If bothSony produces an excellent system, Sega lovers won't cry. They'll simply go,"Yay, even MORE great games!" At least, that's what they should say. Butpeople have been so engrossed in the whole system wars chaos and beendevoted to one company that they forget why they're so concerned with thesystem wars in the first place: To play great videogames. What does itmatter that Sony copied Nintendo's controller rumble pak any more than thefact that Sony stole the idea of the Pocketstation from Sega's VMS? Whocares, it all comes down to the software, and which software isbetter, regardless of system. Spawn is supposedly on the "better system"(Playstation), but either way Spawn sucks. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina ofTime is on the "inferior system" (Nintendo 64), but that doesn't stop itfrom being the best interactive electronic entertainment art form of alltime (guess what my favorite game is?). My point is, which system is the"better system" is not important. What is important is if you are enjoyingthe videogames you own.

Which fits in perfectly with the topic I am about to discuss(sort of). Oneday, videogames will become as mainstream as TV and movies. I have thoughtof some ways videogames can eventually become mainstream.

The videogame industry should eventually settle in with one format ofconsoles, just like there is only one format of a VCR, or music CDs, etc. Atthe very least, videogames should go the way of the computers, where thereare only two formats (much like Sega/Nintendo in the 16-bit era). While notnecessarily this generation of consoles, next generation of consoles shouldbe all of the same format. What do I mean by same format, do I ask? When youbuy a VCR, you might see various companies creating VCRs, but no matterwhich VCR you buy, they all can play the same video tapes. When you go outand buy a TV, you look at the features it offers, like screen size, etc.,but they all, when it comes down to it, show the same shows. However, eachconsole plays specific videogames approved by the first-party company, andthen that company actually gets a chunk of the third-party's profits! Thefirst party company seems more like an emperor than a hardware manufacturer.

There are a couple of reasons why one format of videogame consoles would bea good decision in the next ten years or so, and these reasons I will pointout at this time. Firstly, one format of videogame consoles would finallyend the pointless system wars that newsgroups are filled with everyday. Withonly one format, gamers will still debate, but on what they should bedebating on, the actual software. I can go on for a month why Star Wars:Empire Strikes Back was the best of the trilogy, but that's what people aresuppose to do; review the games, not the systems they're on! Another reasongames should go one format is so games can go more mainstream. With threesystems to choose from, people don't know which to choose from, and as aresult they don't choose anything. However, with one format, people willview games less as a toy and more of a true entertainment product.

That is what I have to say for now. In a later letter, I will discuss othertopics that may bring games mainstream, including price, advertising, andother things. This is only part one, part two will come after I seefeedback..

-Clyde Hudman