It occasionally falls to me to play Gaming Historian, and as Gabriel is in another of his Retro Moods it was easy to recall the incredibly dark times associated with the Xbox, PS2, and GameCube. Living room garottings were commonplace - but our lust for buttons and various bars and XP was so raw, so stokéd, that we just piled them to the side. Oh, eventually MadCatz would offer succor to The Ruined - but that trailing z always made them suspect. It wasn't until the majestic WaveBird lit upon the scene that the future truly began.