Console Wars
Random question, just like that,
Is the fundamentalism and brand loyalty over video game consoles a thing of the past? I remember when I made fun of the Playstation 2 with Miss Dynamite a few years back (for no other reason than the release of the PS2 was a current event) I got hate mail about it... and GameCube/Xbox users were giving me high-5s.
Of all things to get angry about, I was flabbergasted. It's just overpriced pieces of electronics. Does that kind of attitude still exist? It seems to be less prevalent, but my knowledge of gaming is limited to the DS and Animal Crossing... at least you can count on Miss Dynamite not becoming another gaming webcomic.
Is the fundamentalism and brand loyalty over video game consoles a thing of the past? I remember when I made fun of the Playstation 2 with Miss Dynamite a few years back (for no other reason than the release of the PS2 was a current event) I got hate mail about it... and GameCube/Xbox users were giving me high-5s.
Of all things to get angry about, I was flabbergasted. It's just overpriced pieces of electronics. Does that kind of attitude still exist? It seems to be less prevalent, but my knowledge of gaming is limited to the DS and Animal Crossing... at least you can count on Miss Dynamite not becoming another gaming webcomic.
posted by Sirkowski at 5:11 PM
30 Comments:
Yes, it's still exist. There is a silent war between Xbox vs Ps3, like Ps3 vs Xbox or when it was Snes vs MegaDrive... I play on Pc so they all can go *&&/ themself!
Never heard of an Vhs vs Beta tought (I think I still have some tape for the beta in my basement O_o)...
The attitude is still pretty prevalent. Just visit the forums at places like IGN or gamefaqs and see what I mean. Of course, such brand loyalty extends beyond gaming consoles - even PCs are included. For example, PC gamers absolutely snub their nose with disgust at anyone using a console to play games (especially first-person shooters or real-time strategy games). Which is kind of ironic considering the only thing that seems to keep PC gaming alive are MMORPGs. Of course, outside the realm of gaming you have Mac, Windows, and Linux loyalists. It's all pretty stupid, some people just seem predisposed to this kind of fundamentalism - as if there wasn't enough religion already.
Anyway, I do think the attitude is starting to subside a little (at least with game consoles, that is). Now that the casual gaming market is booming again, and game makers are making less console-exclusive titles, I think the number of gaming "fundies" is starting to decline.
TL;DR Yeah, the attitude is still there, but it seems to be going away.
Mostly because of cross-platform releases and price wars being more in the spotlight than the games or what each console can do.
At least, it seems that way.
See, I knew I was clueless about gaming... X-D
Some 10 years ago I had an interview for a job with a gaming company. It was at the time of the first Playstation. They asked me what kind of games I played. I gave them names of NES and SNES games I was still playing on the emulators, lol. It didn't go so well. My DS is my first console since the SNES.
But those console fights are so dumb. Must be something to do with the human brain that makes people go ape shit thinking "my junk makes me cool!" Mix the Internet with this and you've got a load of crap on your hands.
To be honest, some console games have entertainment value to me. But generally I prefer the kind of games (RTS, strategy and some FPS) that only work well on the PC.
(And no, I can't play an FPS unless I can aim with the mouse. Unless it's DOOM or Wolfenstein 3D, of course.)
It's the same as Apple vs. Microsoft.
Or Mac vs. PC.
Or Packers vs. Vikings.
Or football vs. football.
Or hip-hop vs. country.
Or Democrat vs. Republican.
Or Coke vs. Pepsi.
It's the "Us AGAINST Them" mentality.
Many people like competition. Most everyone likes identifying with a group they can agree with. Whether it's nationalism or sports teams or electronic gear, people seem to gravitate towards "my choice is better than your choice" in ways that defy actual objective comparisons.
I prefer PC games. I have a 360 for a few specific games and enjoy those, too. I've never owned a Playstation, but wouldn't throw one away as it would allow me to finally play all those Final Fantasy games as well as other gems I'm missing like God of War. I tend to dislike Apple and Sony, but for specific things those companies have done and not because I own their products or don't. I would still dislike Microsoft, but the worst of Bill Gates crimes are decades old at this point.
Really, it's human nature. Without getting down to the actual objects of obsession, it is no different than hating on a certain political group.
The console rivalry only exists to keep that deep down feeling that games this generation suck at bay... I own a 300 dollar boredom machine :(
Gah, that's one thing that really grates my nerves... Mac vs. PC. Sure the commercials are entertaining, but since when is a Macintosh not a personal computer?
On topic, I have a friend who was really current on gaming news when the Gamecube was still being supported, but now that he owns a Wii, he doesn't see a reason to keep up (there's really not that many games available for it). So yeah, you're not alone Sirk.
I dunno, Pit ...
I have been chafing at the lack of PC games for awhile now, and many of the games made are not for me (casual games, FPS, MMO's and so on)
but we still had some awesome games in the last year or so like Mass Effect, Dead Space, Bioshock and Fallout 3 - and there are still games I've not got to try like Fable 2, Last Remnant and Warhammer Battlemarch. Heck, I even really enjoyed a month of Warhammer Online.
There are great games out there. I think maybe it's the lack of games (for Wii and PS3) compared to what the systems before them (Gamecube, PS2) had OR the large number of games that aren't for you that have you bored.
oh god, don't get me started
i'm a programmer, and this attitude is everywhere. there are fundamentalists who are happy enough to tell you why your version of computer-speak sucks ass. things can change as a person gains more experience, but there will always be a bias, and in particularly bad situations one can convince himself to use one thing for everything, which is as bad as you can imagine.
I've been on both sides...
When I was a wee laddie, I was fanatical for my Atari and actually hated Nintendo for a while. Because my mom who'd really scrimped and saved to buy me a 2600 at last had tried so hard and I'd wanted my own for so long... So when the 8-bit Nintendo came out... A similar story later with the Sega16 versus Snes.
You sacrifice a lot, either in your own money, or in "Mommie buy me" points to get a current gaming system and only a very, few can afford more than one brand new gaming system, esp. with this economy, so you really have to "Psych yourself up" to justify it.
Now, when I realized I literally wouldn't "Die" if I didn't have this or that current game, well I discovered this: "Buy no book under a year old" which means also "Buy no video game system under a year or two old"
If I just wait a year, I could have a game utopia formerly only accessable to major arcade owners, or pre dot-com crash tech company execs on a shoestring... Wait a year or two, get the thing used, cheap but still newish. Get the games cheaply. The $60 good games are in the $5 bins, there are enough reviews to steer you away from the $60 terrible poke in the eye games, and if you buy them accidentally you are only out $5. The "New" games that come out for the "Old" system that last few years of the system's life are incredible, both in story and technical brilliance, versus the new ones that while quite good are little more than slight extensions of previous generation console games. I submit "Super Mario 3" as argument versus "Super Mario World" and that game versus "Yoshi's Island". It's kind of too bad "Conan" and "Golden Axe Beast Rider" are "First Wave" games because they'd be classics to last a lifetime if they were "Last Wave" games, though I've played neither yet...
This is basically it. there are people, who no matter what, have a competitive streak in them that derives from having a very small penis. They like to argue things. Preferably online, where they can photoshop images of their penis. And so that those with much larger penis's don't cock slap them silly. With a very large phallus.
And in case I didn't say it enough. PENIS. I simply say this, because they're all cock faced bitches.
That reminds me, I paid 100$cnd for Final Fantasy II (IV in Japan) because I wanted it as soon as it was released... :-( That's crazy. I'm sure it was like 60$ a few months later.
u think thats bad. i once for a laugh typed in who's cloud on youtube. about final fantas 7 fan made video. i had death threats, people saying im gay, their gonna stab my mother and them telling me he's as big as an icon as super mario and other lectures of the sort. and i only done it for a laugh. cause i loved that game when i had it. but saying that. if we weren't like that we wouldn't have wars.
It's kind of sad because technically Crash Bandicoot is/was Sony's mascot...and who do people recognize more? Emo McSpikyHair from a fucking third-party RPG. Who cares if it was one of the greatest games of all time? Everything afterward has sucked in the attempt to top its grandeur and pretentiousness.
Le sigh.
I mean, I'd want Wii or XBox 360 instead of PS3...but that's just like a recommendation, I don't really care.
To Sirkowski,
On FFII, I remember that:-)
I didn't have an SNES yet, my Sega16 hype, but a friend was going "C'mon, your jealousy is dorky" so we traded and played.
Years later, when the SNES was in the dirty bargain bin at the used shops, I picked it up...for$4
I later re-sold it for US$80 during the last gasps of the 90's boom since it became a collector's item to those begging to buy it on Ebay. Bought my mom some Christmas presents with it.
Usually I bargain hunt, though I've once paid a collector's price for games... US$24 for "Splatterhouse 2" for Sega16
Thank goodness for Emulators.
Yeah. Well, I don't give a shit about greyish FPSes about guns and tough military guys (or "prepare to surrender your life" MMORPGs). So aside from Wii games, not too many of the games that come out pander to me. Which is why I play lots of emulated games, of course.
Yesterday, I went to a friend's house and he introduced me to his housemate (who was playing Resistance 2 online at the time) and the second thing he introduces me as is 'an Xbox360 owner' and his housemate said 'Boo! Hiss!'
I mean, ffs! I tend to own all the consoles in each generation... PROVIDED they have good exclusive games on them. The PS3 doesn't yet, really, and most of my friends who have one hardly use it compared to the 360. More good stuff on PS3, I'd buy one.
I'm too impressed with the next gen systems yet. They still have a way to go for me to fork over 200$ to 400$ for a system that i will barely play. Heck, I use my PS2 for more for playing DVDs than for playing video games. The only video game system that is considered current is my DS. I'm still a Pokemon addict and playing Firered or diamond still gives me more of a jolt than most games that I have recently played.
Besides that most games they seem to be creating are just refurbished versions of older games that were major hits in their time (Kingdom Hearts, Sonic, and the Nintendo classics). The reason they continue to do this is because we keep buying the games with the same characters that we know and love and would more likely buy. Then there are fighting games that have not or barely changed over the years like puzzle and fighting games that still sell well.
I wish they would make something like the Sega Channel that let you pay a certain or reasonable amount a month, have different games download to your system, and changed every 2 weeks then it would be to buy it off the server or get points like i'm at some family fun center buying tokens.
Honestly, I don't really care much for console wars. What I really care about is wether or not the system I'm going to buy has the type of games I want to play.
For instance, I have a computer, DS, PS2,Gamecube, and Dreamcast because they have games I want to play (and keep playing). I'm not going to buy a Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 just for the sake of picking a side. However, if I were to buy another system, it probably be a Wii, as I really want to play Metroid Prime 3, and have access to the virtual console.
I wonder if there would be anything to do with Miss Dynamite for the DS. I think the text for the webcomic might be too small for a DS ebook.
Maybe a contra-style shooter? Or perhaps a beat-em-up...or maybe an h-game.
Okay, forget that last one.
Homebrew games do of course require a fair modicum of programming ability so they're not something you just want to throw together.
Being "White" enough to own all three consoles I find the hole "war" thing highly over stipulated and pointless. Most games being made these days are pointless Squels or horrible designer brain farts.
Seriously I would like to see a game that is new and inovative and doesn't make me want to scoop my eyes out with a melonballer.
Comeing this year 2086
GTA 62: Wheelchair rampage
Final Fantasy 36: Clouds got Cancer
Gears of War3: OMG someone is actually playing our game.
Burn Your Money 2
I find myself looking forward to this country going down the shitter.
No, I'm not making games.
But would you license Miss Dynamite to some indie developper for cheap?
Maybe.
Does the rating system even have something to describe Miss Dynamite's content?
F for FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFuck!
Yes and its possible worse then it
has ever been, where some forums
go as far as making sections for
these fanboys to fight in.
Its very silly and how defensive
people will get.
Sometimes it turns into a fight
for souls.. that is really the
purose of them, to convince others
to turn to one side.
Hardcore users will be less likely
to be affected by negative critism
some just want to insult others
for there own choices.
Right now the war has finally
brought in the PC users..
PS3 vs Xbox 360 vs wii vs PC
Usually console users don't fight
with PC users there not really
considered part of there objective
its more like pc users feeling the
need to inform others of there
choice.
I will admit I don't really care
for microsoft as a company ive
been mocked by windows for many
years now.. and I know ill be
mocked by it for many more..
But whatever makes people happy
right.
Oh and um really sorry to hear
that you received hate mail.. that
was very immature of those users..
I thought it was funny, but I
think nintendo would have a hay
day if there was a pokemon game on
a sony console.. which really made
it even more hurmous.
Ill admit one thing though.. the
greatest moments of gaming I feel
are behind us now..
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