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Ok. Maybe that should be 'why do SOME of us love our consoles so much?'
And not 'love' as in er...well. Yes. But more sort of brand loyalty. This site is a perfect example of conflicitng brand loyalties - 'Nintys' and 'Sonyphiles' battle it out over what console is better. Its seemingly an odd thing, how some of us seem so dedicated to one console and 'hate' another. I myself own a PC and a GC, and prefer the GC over the PC as my gaming machine of choice. I dislike the PS2 and XBox more. I am not sure why, but I do - not for any of those silly 'controller to big' reasons, but I think its the loyalty that are really inexplicably built by companies. Others of you own all three of the 'main' consoles, but even then (WookieMonster for example) you sometimes prefer one (i.e. PS2).
I think it all starts way back. Unless you are totaly new to the world of console gaming, then you have pre-conceptions about the consoles available. I have, for exmaple, grown up with frequent NES, SNES, GB, N64 and now GC playing. I am loyal to Nintendo, as they are the ones who I have 'grown with'. People were the same with SEGA, and found it hard when they went from hardware to software-only production. That is my idea as to why people have a loyalty, and perhaps a suspicious but almost ignorant mis-trust of the 'new' - eg other companies consoles. Its like music. You listen to one genre, then a sub-shoot comes out and you are rather ignorant and indifferent to it. YOU have to actively go for it to enjoy it.
If you are totaly new, you normaly go for a 'relaible' brand. Nowadays, this is the Playstation brand (or maybe not, if Nintendo have their way!) This is a well known, well established (very well!) brand. The fact thats its less powerful and more expensive than the other two is an irelevance, such is the strength of its brand.
Newer console brands (e.g Microsoft, and all the failures, such as the NeoGeo and Wonderswan) therefore have a problem. They have to catch us in a certain way, to stop us from playing our current consoles and moving on to their new one. This is assuming of course, that we have one console, and thats it. Many of us do not, but I'm looking at the really 'loyal' people. When the XBOX came along, it didn't do as well as the GC and PS2, simply because it had no history to it - no famous established brands (except for 3rd party titles - Jet Set Radio etc) and this meant it had to try harder to get a large market. PLaystation 2 on the other hand, hardly had to try. It just existed, and got sales. This I think, has a weakening effect on the whole games market - its lazy, but gets sales, simply because it has such a well contructed brand, meaning less effort (concievebly) needs to be put in. Now that the XBox has some loyalty, its doing very well, and thats through a lot of financial loss.
So, we are loyal to our consoles because of our gaming history. But people often have more than one. Either beacuse thay have to much cash and too little sense (:P), or that they have little concern about brand - a sensible idea. If you want to play excellent games, then all three of the main current consoles are good choices. Brand really means very little, but I think its the reason as to why some 'love' their chosen console so much - because the brand created is so strong.
This has serious connotations upon the market, and the way companies do things. Rare was part of the Nintendo brand, and now its gone to the Microsoft one. Therefore some 'loyalty' has shifted. Its an important factor, this brand thing. We take it so seriously we even argue with others about it - like a lot of other things around today. Its damn clever, and very very easy for the companies to do.
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And not 'love' as in er...well. Yes. But more sort of brand loyalty. This site is a perfect example of conflicitng brand loyalties - 'Nintys' and 'Sonyphiles' battle it out over what console is better. Its seemingly an odd thing, how some of us seem so dedicated to one console and 'hate' another. I myself own a PC and a GC, and prefer the GC over the PC as my gaming machine of choice. I dislike the PS2 and XBox more. I am not sure why, but I do - not for any of those silly 'controller to big' reasons, but I think its the loyalty that are really inexplicably built by companies. Others of you own all three of the 'main' consoles, but even then (WookieMonster for example) you sometimes prefer one (i.e. PS2).
I think it all starts way back. Unless you are totaly new to the world of console gaming, then you have pre-conceptions about the consoles available. I have, for exmaple, grown up with frequent NES, SNES, GB, N64 and now GC playing. I am loyal to Nintendo, as they are the ones who I have 'grown with'. People were the same with SEGA, and found it hard when they went from hardware to software-only production. That is my idea as to why people have a loyalty, and perhaps a suspicious but almost ignorant mis-trust of the 'new' - eg other companies consoles. Its like music. You listen to one genre, then a sub-shoot comes out and you are rather ignorant and indifferent to it. YOU have to actively go for it to enjoy it.
If you are totaly new, you normaly go for a 'relaible' brand. Nowadays, this is the Playstation brand (or maybe not, if Nintendo have their way!) This is a well known, well established (very well!) brand. The fact thats its less powerful and more expensive than the other two is an irelevance, such is the strength of its brand.
Newer console brands (e.g Microsoft, and all the failures, such as the NeoGeo and Wonderswan) therefore have a problem. They have to catch us in a certain way, to stop us from playing our current consoles and moving on to their new one. This is assuming of course, that we have one console, and thats it. Many of us do not, but I'm looking at the really 'loyal' people. When the XBOX came along, it didn't do as well as the GC and PS2, simply because it had no history to it - no famous established brands (except for 3rd party titles - Jet Set Radio etc) and this meant it had to try harder to get a large market. PLaystation 2 on the other hand, hardly had to try. It just existed, and got sales. This I think, has a weakening effect on the whole games market - its lazy, but gets sales, simply because it has such a well contructed brand, meaning less effort (concievebly) needs to be put in. Now that the XBox has some loyalty, its doing very well, and thats through a lot of financial loss.
So, we are loyal to our consoles because of our gaming history. But people often have more than one. Either beacuse thay have to much cash and too little sense (:P), or that they have little concern about brand - a sensible idea. If you want to play excellent games, then all three of the main current consoles are good choices. Brand really means very little, but I think its the reason as to why some 'love' their chosen console so much - because the brand created is so strong.
This has serious connotations upon the market, and the way companies do things. Rare was part of the Nintendo brand, and now its gone to the Microsoft one. Therefore some 'loyalty' has shifted. Its an important factor, this brand thing. We take it so seriously we even argue with others about it - like a lot of other things around today. Its damn clever, and very very easy for the companies to do.
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Ok. Maybe that should be 'why do SOME of us love our consoles so much?'
And not 'love' as in er...well. Yes. But more sort of brand loyalty. This site is a perfect example of conflicitng brand loyalties - 'Nintys' and 'Sonyphiles' battle it out over what console is better. Its seemingly an odd thing, how some of us seem so dedicated to one console and 'hate' another. I myself own a PC and a GC, and prefer the GC over the PC as my gaming machine of choice. I dislike the PS2 and XBox more. I am not sure why, but I do - not for any of those silly 'controller to big' reasons, but I think its the loyalty that are really inexplicably built by companies. Others of you own all three of the 'main' consoles, but even then (WookieMonster for example) you sometimes prefer one (i.e. PS2).
I think it all starts way back. Unless you are totaly new to the world of console gaming, then you have pre-conceptions about the consoles available. I have, for exmaple, grown up with frequent NES, SNES, GB, N64 and now GC playing. I am loyal to Nintendo, as they are the ones who I have 'grown with'. People were the same with SEGA, and found it hard when they went from hardware to software-only production. That is my idea as to why people have a loyalty, and perhaps a suspicious but almost ignorant mis-trust of the 'new' - eg other companies consoles. Its like music. You listen to one genre, then a sub-shoot comes out and you are rather ignorant and indifferent to it. YOU have to actively go for it to enjoy it.
If you are totaly new, you normaly go for a 'relaible' brand. Nowadays, this is the Playstation brand (or maybe not, if Nintendo have their way!) This is a well known, well established (very well!) brand. The fact thats its less powerful and more expensive than the other two is an irelevance, such is the strength of its brand.
Newer console brands (e.g Microsoft, and all the failures, such as the NeoGeo and Wonderswan) therefore have a problem. They have to catch us in a certain way, to stop us from playing our current consoles and moving on to their new one. This is assuming of course, that we have one console, and thats it. Many of us do not, but I'm looking at the really 'loyal' people. When the XBOX came along, it didn't do as well as the GC and PS2, simply because it had no history to it - no famous established brands (except for 3rd party titles - Jet Set Radio etc) and this meant it had to try harder to get a large market. PLaystation 2 on the other hand, hardly had to try. It just existed, and got sales. This I think, has a weakening effect on the whole games market - its lazy, but gets sales, simply because it has such a well contructed brand, meaning less effort (concievebly) needs to be put in. Now that the XBox has some loyalty, its doing very well, and thats through a lot of financial loss.
So, we are loyal to our consoles because of our gaming history. But people often have more than one. Either beacuse thay have to much cash and too little sense (:P), or that they have little concern about brand - a sensible idea. If you want to play excellent games, then all three of the main current consoles are good choices. Brand really means very little, but I think its the reason as to why some 'love' their chosen console so much - because the brand created is so strong.
This has serious connotations upon the market, and the way companies do things. Rare was part of the Nintendo brand, and now its gone to the Microsoft one. Therefore some 'loyalty' has shifted. Its an important factor, this brand thing. We take it so seriously we even argue with others about it - like a lot of other things around today. Its damn clever, and very very easy for the companies to do.
------
And not 'love' as in er...well. Yes. But more sort of brand loyalty. This site is a perfect example of conflicitng brand loyalties - 'Nintys' and 'Sonyphiles' battle it out over what console is better. Its seemingly an odd thing, how some of us seem so dedicated to one console and 'hate' another. I myself own a PC and a GC, and prefer the GC over the PC as my gaming machine of choice. I dislike the PS2 and XBox more. I am not sure why, but I do - not for any of those silly 'controller to big' reasons, but I think its the loyalty that are really inexplicably built by companies. Others of you own all three of the 'main' consoles, but even then (WookieMonster for example) you sometimes prefer one (i.e. PS2).
I think it all starts way back. Unless you are totaly new to the world of console gaming, then you have pre-conceptions about the consoles available. I have, for exmaple, grown up with frequent NES, SNES, GB, N64 and now GC playing. I am loyal to Nintendo, as they are the ones who I have 'grown with'. People were the same with SEGA, and found it hard when they went from hardware to software-only production. That is my idea as to why people have a loyalty, and perhaps a suspicious but almost ignorant mis-trust of the 'new' - eg other companies consoles. Its like music. You listen to one genre, then a sub-shoot comes out and you are rather ignorant and indifferent to it. YOU have to actively go for it to enjoy it.
If you are totaly new, you normaly go for a 'relaible' brand. Nowadays, this is the Playstation brand (or maybe not, if Nintendo have their way!) This is a well known, well established (very well!) brand. The fact thats its less powerful and more expensive than the other two is an irelevance, such is the strength of its brand.
Newer console brands (e.g Microsoft, and all the failures, such as the NeoGeo and Wonderswan) therefore have a problem. They have to catch us in a certain way, to stop us from playing our current consoles and moving on to their new one. This is assuming of course, that we have one console, and thats it. Many of us do not, but I'm looking at the really 'loyal' people. When the XBOX came along, it didn't do as well as the GC and PS2, simply because it had no history to it - no famous established brands (except for 3rd party titles - Jet Set Radio etc) and this meant it had to try harder to get a large market. PLaystation 2 on the other hand, hardly had to try. It just existed, and got sales. This I think, has a weakening effect on the whole games market - its lazy, but gets sales, simply because it has such a well contructed brand, meaning less effort (concievebly) needs to be put in. Now that the XBox has some loyalty, its doing very well, and thats through a lot of financial loss.
So, we are loyal to our consoles because of our gaming history. But people often have more than one. Either beacuse thay have to much cash and too little sense (:P), or that they have little concern about brand - a sensible idea. If you want to play excellent games, then all three of the main current consoles are good choices. Brand really means very little, but I think its the reason as to why some 'love' their chosen console so much - because the brand created is so strong.
This has serious connotations upon the market, and the way companies do things. Rare was part of the Nintendo brand, and now its gone to the Microsoft one. Therefore some 'loyalty' has shifted. Its an important factor, this brand thing. We take it so seriously we even argue with others about it - like a lot of other things around today. Its damn clever, and very very easy for the companies to do.
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