This Whole System Concept
This is something that has been bothering me for quite some time now, so I thought I would like to get it off my chest. It has to do with the three competing consoles, the fanboys for each system, and how consoles divide us and unite us, when they really shouldn’t.
I’m disturbed when I go to sites and I see things like “PS2 sucks” and “Xbox can go to hell.” It’s also boring visiting sites that are extremely biased towards their system of choice. This is a problem in the gaming industry, and read on to find out why…
So why is it that people prefer one system to another? It must be genre. If you like sports, then PS2 is the answer. If you like action, then Xbox is the answer. And if you like adventure, then Gamecube is the answer. I’ve really oversimplified this concept, but this is what it basically comes down to. So then people choose the system that will deliver the most of their genre, and they stick by it. This also proves the moral fibers of us gamers that people are willing to stick up for the system they believe in. Nintendo stood by the Gamecube for 5 years, not so much as a financial front rather than a moral front. There are also whole other reasons that people might want to buy a system (appealing, cost), but I won’t get into that.
Take Sega for instance. I applaud gamers who are standing by the Dreamcast until the bitter end, because these are the kinds of people who care and are not affected by pressures of society. It comes down to the fact that these moralities are so strong, that they collide with different, not wrong, opinions about what is offered on each system, and that’s when we get the console wars happening.
Essentially, we are all gamers, and it comes down to the simple fact that we all like to play games. I bet that deep down some Nintendo fanboys, such as me, are itching to play that one Xbox title or that one PS2 title, but are afraid to mention this because of peer pressure. I can recall when I tried mentioning this to a fellow webmaster who then turned controversial on me, saying that I wasn’t loyal to Nintendo or something of that sort. Just because I like Nintendo doesn’t mean that I repent every other system, I just prefer Nintendo because it suites my personal taste more. I like Nintendo’s franchise characters and their attitude towards games, so I will keep on supporting Nintendo. Supporting Nintendo also doesn’t leave much room for me to support PS2 and Xbox as well, so I had to make a choice.
So I conclude by saying follow your heart and if you like that certain game, no matter what system it’s on, then buy it. No one is going to laugh at you or tell you it’s a bad choice, because it’s a game you want to play. And for the love of God, don’t be pressured into buying only one kind of genre because that’s what you feel attached to. Try everything to expand your horizons, because after all, you are a gamer, and playing games is what we do best.