Fanboyism in Modern Video Gaming

I love video games. I'd play them constantly if I could. And of course, like any other hardcore gamer, I buy the newest generation systems when I can afford them. I am the proud owner of a Playstation 3, as well as my older systems. I have owned an X-Box 360, but this was before the inherent bugs, like the infamous "Red Ring of Death", were fixed. Mine died four times before I said "Fuck it." to Microsoft. Apparently, these bugs have been fixed, so maybe the time has come for me to get another new 360. But a huge problem I have with modern gaming is the elitism that comes with owning these gaming systems. I was lurking various net forums for Fallout 3, a game that I had planned on buying the millisecond I could afford it. Within minutes, I see X360 fanboys ranting about how the 360 has better graphics than the PS3 version and because of that its so much better. Now by the time I had the chance to play those versions, as I do not have a gaming caliber PC, I could not tell the difference whatsoever. And really, even if there were a difference, why should it matter? I can remeber a day when these things did't matter, before the collective mind of America's youth could be corrpted by the Internet and opinions of other jack-holes from far away.

The first time I ever had to deal with video game fanboyism was when I was eight years old and on the school bus arguing with some older kid over which system was better: Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo? Keep in mind that back then, people were under the impression that video games weren't going to get much better than they currently were. His argument was that certain games only appeared on the Genesis, while mine was very much the same for my SNES. What was the difference? Well now that I have both systems I can honestly say that they're about the same, but more often than not, games were multi-platform, even back then. Of course whether or not someone wanted to play Sonic the Hedgehog back then was the deciding factor of the question "Sega or Nintendo?". Nowadays, people have to be even more informed. There are three major platforms now: Sony's PlayStation 3, Microsoft's X-Box 360, and Nintendo's Wii. Just like back then, many titles are multi-platform, however there are now more things to consider. Do I want the almighty Blu-Ray compatibility, or more games? A fun experience for everyone or just the hardcore gamer in me? Super Mario Galaxy, Mass Efect, or Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots? Honestly, it wouldn't hurt anything but your wallet to get them all now. Personally, I have a PS3 and want to buy a new 360, and I don't care at all about the Wii. I have a friend who has a Wii and wants a 360 and thinks the PS3 should burn in Hell. Everyone has varying opinions, and they are all valid.

Looking at things from a business perspective, Microsoft has it right. they've got a good balance going. Of course, more 360 owners are hardcore gamers, and that's fine. The PlayStation 3 has one major flaw: Sony is trying to sell "non-games" to gamers. The PS3 is great as a multimedia hub. I use it to browse the Internet quite a bit, as well as watch DVD's and Blu-Rays, listen to my music stored in the hard drive, and play the small selection of games that I have. This is the same philosophy that Sony followed with the PSP, and look what happened. The PSP is a very distant second to the Nintendo DS. This is not to say that the PSP is a bad hand held, its just not as popular as the DS because Sony overestimated the popularity of the UMD format. (Incidentally, there are still UMDs being released as of the publish date of this article.) Nintendo had another good idea with their philosophy, opposite that of Sony's: sell games to non-gamers. Makes a lot of sense, except when they are trying to make everyone happy, they miss out on the hardcore gamer market. The Wii is a gaming system one should get if they have a lot of parties, have room mates or children, or just really like kids' games. The Wii was designed specifically for having fun with your friends. Microsoft has no qualms about what the X-Box 360 is supposed to represent: simply, selling games to gamers. Maybe Sony and Nintendo need to take a gander at what they're doing and change accordingly.

All that being said, I think Fanboyism needs to end. Fanboyism is only the jealousy that people get when they can't afford all three systems. When this happens, these people seem to only care about the one system they do own and only do their research based on what they want to hear. After their limited research these people go on assorted gaming forums and sound like asshats because they didn't do proper research before making ridiculous claims such as "Metal Gear Solid 4 could never work on the X-Box 360!" or "OMG Fallout 3 has shitty graphics on the PS3 compared to the X-Box 360!". But really what are video games in the end? We all know that it is a major industry in today's America, as well as the world as a whole. But when we get down to the core of the issue, games are supposed to be fun. Not points for argument, not pawns for Capitalistic gain, and certainly not a chore.