With the holiday season upon us, many shoppers are contemplating the annual quandary of purchasing a gaming system either for their family, the kids, a college student, or even themselves.  With the sales, special offers and bonus pack-ins – how does one decide what o buy?

At Platform Nation we have a large community of gamers that write for this site – many of which have vast experience with multiple gaming systems.  I decided to tap this wealth of knowledge for our readers and find out which gaming systems our writers prefer and why.  My hope is that readers who are in the market for a gaming console might gain some insight into the appeal of each system based on the interests and preferences of our writers.

SEE WHAT THE PLATFORM NATION WRITERS HAD TO SAY

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This past Thursday was Thanksgiving in the U.S. when we gather with family and friends in celebration of all the things we are thankful for.  For Americans this is a tradition that began in the 1600s when native Indians helped settlers learn to fish and live off the land thus saving them from starvation during the coming winter.  It was during my household’s preparation to have our family gather here to consume the sacrificial turkey that it came to me – this week’s Stir will be different.  Instead of asking the other writers to take time to contribute, I will showcase some of their past work that I found to be “good reads” and excellent examples of the talent on staff here at Platform Nation.

Without the staff of writers, editors and leadership at Platform Nation, Stir would have never existed.  It is their weekly contributions that make Stir what it is – and for that I am thankful.  Our writers span the globe with a diversity in sex, culture, race, religion, language and age – yet we function as a family.  We are all part of Platform Nation for many of the same reasons you are reading this article right now.  We are passionate about gaming and enjoy the community of gaming.  We take it one step further by writing about it to keep others informed.  None of the staff is paid – it is entirely volunteer driven which makes it very special.  No one is at the Nation who does not want to be here and it is this common commitment to each other that makes all the other differences between us melt away – and for this I am also thankful.

Each of the following is an excerpt from an article found elsewhere on Platform Nation.  I encourage you to click through to any that interest you – or that you remember reading – and leave a comment for the writer – even if it’s just a simple thanks for writing for you – because at the end of the day, that’s really what we do – we write for you.  These are just a few examples of what you can find looking back through the archives here at Platform Nation.

SEE WHAT THE PLATFORM NATION WRITERS HAD TO SAY

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Why is it that some DLC makes you wonder just what the developers were thinking?  Should I really need to buy more armor or weapons to enjoy a game ?  While some DLC hits their target dead on, others leave me wondering WTF.

I’ll start with some obvious examples of what I consider top-drawer spot-on DLC.

• Guitar Hero / Rock Band Music Tracks
• First Person Shooter Map Packs
• Racing Game Car Packs and Track Packs

These are perfect examples because they follow the rules.  Not my rules, and there are no universal rules for DLC, but they follow the rules of the game they are made for.  Music tracks expand Guitar Hero and RockBand without changing the rules of the game.  Map Packs for Halo are just new environments to play the same game with the same rules.  Car and Track Packs… you see where this is going.  DLC should stick to the rules of the original game while expanding the experience in some way.

Here are a few that I feel just didn’t hit the mark.

Find my complete article on DLC that breaks the rules at Platform Nation.  Covered is DLC for the following games:

• Fallout 3
• Dead Space
• Burnout Paradise
• Borderlands
• Metro 2033