Sunday Sitdown is a bi-weekly column that dives into the issues and politics that the gaming, music and other parts of the entertainment sometimes drown in.
I don’t get to do it as often as I would like, but sometimes I spend a few minutes browsing the internet. I don’t go anywhere special. I mostly browse my favorite non-tech related websites to get away from the constant stream of internet natives telling tales about how the internet will change the world and industry stalwarts proclaiming that by only reading the details of their latest book can we grasp what’s coming next.
Really, that’s a round-about why of saying I stay away from tech websites outside of normal business hours, and I do this because I’ve finally been able to put my finger on why this industry frustrates me so much.
It’s because of what I’m going to term the Twenty-Four tech pundit. We all know these guys. They lurk in the shadows of Apple, Microsoft and Google coverage just waiting for that next important story to comment on. Microsoft is going to change the way it does business and these guys give us four-hundred words on how we can expect the company to implode or increase its revenue. They live in a world that is always focused on the future, a kingdom in where everyone slaps themselves on the back and have “what have you done for me lately” tattooed on their hand.
I’m one of these guys.
To be clear, I’m one of these guys, but I’ve begun to feel that we’re too focused on the technology that’s going to enable tomorrow’s entertainment ecosystem when we should be getting our asses kicked in Madden 25 and enjoying the features we have already. Sure, that 4k television I’m about to purchase is amazing, but it’d be great if I actually took the time to finish Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag instead of spending my afternoon engulfed in more rumors and more speculation that won’t change how good the game is that’s sitting in my Xbox One’s disk drive now.
We get so wrapped up in this stuff that we forget to enjoy what we have. So engaging are the politics concerning whether the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 is a better buy because some games don’t run in high-definition at 60 frames per second that we forget to just live. Lately, I’ve found it maddening. Occasionally, there are real issues that crop up. I get that. I respect that. More often though, we spend our time panning through endless piles of dirty half-truths and nonsense stories just for that nugget of entertainment news gold.
Yes, I’m a self-loather. I’m completely aware as I write this that I’m part of the problem, but I’d also like to be a part of the solution.
This Sunday, let’s play games like Monday isn’t coming. Let’s watch that latest episode of Cosmos like we’ve never seen pictures of our neighboring galaxies before.
In short, screw the politics and the fanboys and whether there is a mathematical formula for calculating how disappointing past season finales of popular shows have been when compared to How I Met Your Mother.
Let’s just hit play.
