The next generation looms

One of the unusual aspects of the incoming barrage of 'next gen' systems such as the PS3, the Nintendo Wii, or the Xbox 360 is the way the pricing of the hardware has dominated the media representation of the systems. This domination has appeared in two ways. Firstly, when the systems were announced we found ourselves confronted with the probable enormous expense. This first movement may have served the role of policing gamers' social conscious, as it highlighted the ridiculous quantification of exchange value for passing pleasure. The second movement is the one we now experience, where the cost of the next gen systems has sunken into the Entertainment edifice. Since developers have started announcing and showcasing their games for the next gen systems, the mention of how much the systems themselves cost is woven into the media banter in a very innocuous fashion. Rather than making it THE sticking point in the absence of sufficient alternatve material to report on (i.e. games, peripheral hardware), the arrival of the software parade has meant 'price' quilts together any gaps in the entertainment saturnalia. Usually we'll see this come through as, "With such lack-lustre gameplay, why bother purchasing this game for the system that cost such a pretty penny as it hardly boasts the features the system offers." Accompanying these two shifts is the excess of frivolity accompanying the inroduction of next gen hardware.

Now I'm not one to wish free expression curtailed, but the gaming industry may need to recognise that it's current 'market dump' in the information arena is not going to do its debate with addiction critics any favours. As Tycho over at PennyArcade puts it,

"After Nintendo's event, followed swiftly by the Tokyo Game Show (which I think may be rightly called Sony's event), followed by Microsoft's own dense barrage at X06, I must say that I have pushed through maniac enthusiasm and have now settled into anticipation fatigue. I've had endorphins coursing through my system for so long now that my body can't distinguish them from inert compounds."

Tycho is describing the experience of 'sublation' where something is taken away only to have something else come in and flood the gap created by the removal of said thing. In this case, when the major events for next gen systems have taken place attendees have stepped up to the challenge of facing the promotional megalith of the gaming industry. Among all the bling and chatter what a promoter wants from you, the consumer, is your jouissance, they want you to reach that tipping point where pleasure becomes too pleasurable, pain too painful. And make no mistake, promoters are very adept at sucking jouissance from consumers. With the multiple events in such tight succession when things are over, getting back to the disappointment of reality hurts. It hurts because, in this case, the objects enlisting Tycho's jouissance were removed but the psyche of Tycho still runs the gauntlet of painful glee.

Tycho later says, "I suppose you could say that I have retreated, in a way." This is the flow of something coming in taking the place of the object-of-excess, in Tycho's case the promise of future intense experiences keeps him in the now.