With the announcement of Project Café by Nintendo at the impending E3 event and the rumors now surfacing of Sony and Microsoft competition in the not-so-distant future, it would appear the time table on this Console Generation is waning.  While new hardware and technology is an immensely exciting prospect, the budget constraints placed on a family, and the recession stricken worker in general, don’t always allow certain consumers to stay on the cutting edge.

  As an avid gamer, with little spare coin and an even shorter supply of time in which to apply my leisure activity of choice, I find myself well behind the flurry of worthwhile titles being released. This leaves a gamer in my position with an interesting task; Sorting through the missed opportunities of blockbuster and indie titles alike.  So while the average game player will be upgrading their hardware and wading through the release titles of the next generation, I will happily be experiencing the likes of Super Mario Galaxy 2, Red Dead Redemption and Shank for the first time. 

Now don’t get me wrong, there are a few titles I will gladly shell out top dollar for on release day and plod through at a respectable pace, but for the most part, games get released, reviews are read and are filed under the “Want to Play” section of my brain.  This file seems to be growing at a break-neck pace.  And once The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is released in November, it will bulge with everything released after for awhile.

  Like most electronic markets, things in the video game industry change rapidly, and adapting to that ever changing landscape and assessing where to spend your hard earned dollars is a task in itself.  I would advocate that both value and enjoyment can be found in the grey area between the end of one console generation and the onset of a new one.  So enjoy those touch screen controllers and yet-to-be-seen innovative features when they arrive… I’ll meet you there a year or so later.