I really enjoyed this past year’s worth of gaming. It had a lot of things going for it. Some of my favorites things came about this year.
First, I got an Ouya. I backed it in 2012 when it was launched on Kickstarter and I got it this year. I have bought a number of games for it and have reviewed quite a few. Some of my favorite games are on it.
I really hope that in 2014 that the Ouya can find that foothold it needs to gain major traction in the gaming mindset. It had a lot of trips and falls along the way, but they have a lot of game developers interested in it. Now it just needs to find a way to attract the game consumer a little better. It has a lot of competition, but I still think it is the best of the bunch.
Another interesting group of things to come this year, is Steam OS, the Steam Controller and the Steam Machine. Valve has really taken gaming by storm. They released the first few hundred beta machines and controllers earlier this month and this next year will start to see a full rollout of the Steam Machine. I still have to try out the Steam OS as it is freely available to download and test and I plan to do it this year.
As for other things I look forward too, I mainly look forward to new games to come out. There is now a full generation of new consoles available. Each one offers a unique approach to gaming. The one I am perhaps most excited about is the Wii U. I really hope that 2014 is the year that Nintendo really makes a compelling case for owning one. They have struggled this last year to make that case. Of course they have been hampered in this as many third party publishers have abandoned it or don’t release their best work on it.
The PS4 and the XBone are pretty low on my list of gaming priorities right now. I may get a PS4 a few years down the line, but I probably will never get a Xbone. I have never owned a Microsoft console as there was never a compelling library of games on them, at least for me. I did once consider getting a 360 to try out the XBox Live Indie Games development, but with the Ouya, that itch has been scratched. With such easy development gone from the XBox brand, there is little hope for me to take it up.
Other than that, I simply want to play more games this year. I have a huge backlog of games to play and that grows on a regular basis. I probably could play a new game every week and not have to buy any at all this year. But we all know that I will probably end up buying more any way. The Humble Bundle, GOG and the Ouya keep making me. They are so mean.
So with that, I wish you all a happy and game filled new year.
