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"Lets not fight, eh?"

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Mon 11/03/02 at 18:18
Regular
Posts: 787
*I POSTED THIS ON FOG PRIME BUT NO ONE READ IT SO I'M POSTING IT HERE*

Sitting at my computer and reading these forums, I took a minute to reflect and absorb what I was reading. Quite frankly, I am absolutely perplexed at the amount of anti–feeling certain devotees (no, I won’t name names) have to certain platforms and companies, and the allegiances, actually no, scrap that, the blind faith some people have towards certain consoles. To be honest it worries me, and I feel compelled to write about it.

With the videogame market entering the next generation, a new wave of consoles comes with it, vying with each other to entice your money and your love. There are many ways they can do that, but for me, there is only one conceivable way. DVD playback? Nice extra, but if I wanted to watch films that badly I’d get a proper one. Hard drive? No thanks, I’ve got one in my PC. Carry handle? I’d rather use my hands. I’m not criticising those extras, its just not No.1 priority. The only thing I am interested in is (and I’m fearful that some of us are losing sight of this), is what I love about consoles most of all – the games.

I’m sidetracking the issue I wanted to talk to you about. How can we alleviate this blind faith, this absolute, unforgiving reluctance to accept a certain console or platform because it adorns a certain logo? How can we prove that all consoles have their own individual merits? Simple – stop trying to tell others what they should like, what they should buy, what they shouldn’t buy, what is good, what is rubbish, and focus on what every positive every console has to offer. No, I’m not talking about how many polygons they can push around the screen every second but the most integral part – the games.

For the purpose of this argument, I will skip back to some of the things I heard a few years ago. I walk up to some kids playing Playstation, and, interpreting them to be game lovers, ask them if anyone could help me with a puzzle in Big Boo’s Haunt in Mario 64. Their reply? ‘I don’t play Nintendo, they’re for babies’ *cue sniggering from the rest of the group* Who wants to control a moustachioed plumber jump down green pipes?, they say. Rather than fly into a spurious rage of why Nintendo are the best and why their games aren’t for babies, I just accept it, and walk away.

Why?

More fool them, I say. For anyone who has played them, they know Mario, Zelda, or any Nintendo games aren’t for babies. They are some of the most challenging, thought provoking games available, backed up by genius of design and the genius of thought. Rather than blast your way through (though don’t get me wrong, I’m not discarding the merits of that sort of game either) the player is required to sense, to think, to calculate. For babies? I don’t think so. Slightly dispirited, but optimistic they were just ignorant idiots, I move onto another group of friends. Unfortunately, they are criticising Sony because all they have, and I quote ‘is crap driving and fighting games’. But are they? Really? No, they aren’t. Games like Tekken and Gran Turismo have revitalised their respective genres and injected some much need innovation. Shaking my head I walk away.

Fast forward to today. Most of my mates don’t really talk about games anymore, so I register on these forums hoping to engage in some intelligent discussion. Unfortunately, since I have come here I have been subjected to the same sort of mindless, ill thought out drivel, which to me is indicative of what is happening amongst the industry at the moment. I understand everyone has heir own opinions, but surely there is a better way of saying them than ‘Gamecube rocks, PS2 rulez (sic). If you can’t find a way to do that, keep them to yourselves. I don’t care if one console is better because they can play DVD’s, or download music. I don’t care about which is best. To me, as long as a console has got high quality games then in my book they’re a high quality console. I’m currently playing MGS2 and loving every second. Yet when other games on other consoles come out, I’m not going to discard them for the sake that I think MGS2 is the best and nothing will be better. That’s just narrow-minded. To me Nintendo have the right approach (and before you write it I’m not showing favouritism). They say that they don’t want to fight anyone I this console ‘war’., they just want to do their own thing. That is the right attitude to think.

I have also been amazed at the incredible foresight some members of these forums have. Please tell me where you get your crystal balls from, because I want to look into the future and deliver a stinging critique of consoles that aren’t even out yet. I know this topic has been touched on before, but I wanted to get my feelings across on what is a very sore subject for me. I’m sorry if it offends any ‘Sony’s Cronies’ or whatever, I’m not going to tiptoe around the subject. I wish people would stop trying to turn this console into a ‘war’, into a competition, because we’ll just end up suffering. Stop trying to criticise one console – they are all going to be excellent. Just shut up and enjoy what should be videogamings greatest time.

Rant over.

Thanks for reading, I hope this prompts some intelligent discussion rather than more mindless arguing.

RM18
Mon 11/03/02 at 21:25
Regular
"relocated"
Posts: 2,833
I kind of like the rivalry consoles generate - and as a committed nintendophile since the SNES I have only just got over my aversion to Sega - because it suggests that people are getting passionate about their gaming. Having said that, the current wave of propaganda for and against unreleased consoles seems a bit silly: give it a year and then we can all lay into each other over the relative merits of PS2, Gamecube and XBox.

I do think that part of the reason the XBox is generating so much hatred/hype is that Microsoft is a newcomer to gaming and is seen as jumping on the bandwagon. And while it's true that, say, Nintendo is hardly run as a charity, the company does have an obvious love of videogames and a long heritage of classic titles. Microsoft, on the other hand, hardly set the PC gaming world on fire: I can't think of one stone-cold classic they have released. This, coupled with the relative lack of interest from Japanese developers, doesn't bode well for the quantity or quality of games the platform will host. The hardware does have some nice features though - especially the hard drive.

So you're right: let's call a ceasefire.

On the other hand you're wrong: so let's reconvene in a year and get back to bickering about who's got the best console. : )
Mon 11/03/02 at 19:57
Regular
"++ Anti Antler ++"
Posts: 567
... Sorry,just like when you posted it in the *other* FOG, I'm not reading it.
Mon 11/03/02 at 19:37
Regular
"sdomehtongng"
Posts: 23,695
Stryke wrote:
> *

----

That nice of you to write that Stryke.
Mon 11/03/02 at 18:57
Regular
"Is'not Dave... sorr"
Posts: 531
There's a simple explanation (at least from my point of view) that explains consolism.

Money.

In my experiance, consolism develops because people hate to be wrong. People hate to admit "yeah I wasted £300 on my PS2, so i'm gonna buy an Xbox". We don't like (at least most of us) admitting we've made a mistake with what is actually a lot of money.

A prime example is a friend of mine who will no doubt invest his money in a GC just because he doesn't want to admit that he wishes he'd bought a PS instead of an N64.

Those who show least bias towards other consoles are often those who have more than one (if not all) of those available.
Mon 11/03/02 at 18:28
Regular
Posts: 5,630
Just the sort of uneducated rubbish I was expecting
Mon 11/03/02 at 18:25
Regular
Posts: 16,548
*
Mon 11/03/02 at 18:25
Regular
"Copyright: FM Inc."
Posts: 10,338
RM18 wrote:
How can we alleviate this blind faith, this absolute, unforgiving reluctance to accept a certain console or platform because it adorns a certain logo?

You can't, because Sony rulez, Nintendo suck and Microsoft are just, well, Microsoft.

It's consolism, pure and simple. Eradicating consolism is about as easy as eradicating sexism, racism, and all the other 'isms. You would require substantial tampering at the genetic level to enable consolism to cease, and even then it would take a generation or two.
Mon 11/03/02 at 18:18
Regular
Posts: 5,630
*I POSTED THIS ON FOG PRIME BUT NO ONE READ IT SO I'M POSTING IT HERE*

Sitting at my computer and reading these forums, I took a minute to reflect and absorb what I was reading. Quite frankly, I am absolutely perplexed at the amount of anti–feeling certain devotees (no, I won’t name names) have to certain platforms and companies, and the allegiances, actually no, scrap that, the blind faith some people have towards certain consoles. To be honest it worries me, and I feel compelled to write about it.

With the videogame market entering the next generation, a new wave of consoles comes with it, vying with each other to entice your money and your love. There are many ways they can do that, but for me, there is only one conceivable way. DVD playback? Nice extra, but if I wanted to watch films that badly I’d get a proper one. Hard drive? No thanks, I’ve got one in my PC. Carry handle? I’d rather use my hands. I’m not criticising those extras, its just not No.1 priority. The only thing I am interested in is (and I’m fearful that some of us are losing sight of this), is what I love about consoles most of all – the games.

I’m sidetracking the issue I wanted to talk to you about. How can we alleviate this blind faith, this absolute, unforgiving reluctance to accept a certain console or platform because it adorns a certain logo? How can we prove that all consoles have their own individual merits? Simple – stop trying to tell others what they should like, what they should buy, what they shouldn’t buy, what is good, what is rubbish, and focus on what every positive every console has to offer. No, I’m not talking about how many polygons they can push around the screen every second but the most integral part – the games.

For the purpose of this argument, I will skip back to some of the things I heard a few years ago. I walk up to some kids playing Playstation, and, interpreting them to be game lovers, ask them if anyone could help me with a puzzle in Big Boo’s Haunt in Mario 64. Their reply? ‘I don’t play Nintendo, they’re for babies’ *cue sniggering from the rest of the group* Who wants to control a moustachioed plumber jump down green pipes?, they say. Rather than fly into a spurious rage of why Nintendo are the best and why their games aren’t for babies, I just accept it, and walk away.

Why?

More fool them, I say. For anyone who has played them, they know Mario, Zelda, or any Nintendo games aren’t for babies. They are some of the most challenging, thought provoking games available, backed up by genius of design and the genius of thought. Rather than blast your way through (though don’t get me wrong, I’m not discarding the merits of that sort of game either) the player is required to sense, to think, to calculate. For babies? I don’t think so. Slightly dispirited, but optimistic they were just ignorant idiots, I move onto another group of friends. Unfortunately, they are criticising Sony because all they have, and I quote ‘is crap driving and fighting games’. But are they? Really? No, they aren’t. Games like Tekken and Gran Turismo have revitalised their respective genres and injected some much need innovation. Shaking my head I walk away.

Fast forward to today. Most of my mates don’t really talk about games anymore, so I register on these forums hoping to engage in some intelligent discussion. Unfortunately, since I have come here I have been subjected to the same sort of mindless, ill thought out drivel, which to me is indicative of what is happening amongst the industry at the moment. I understand everyone has heir own opinions, but surely there is a better way of saying them than ‘Gamecube rocks, PS2 rulez (sic). If you can’t find a way to do that, keep them to yourselves. I don’t care if one console is better because they can play DVD’s, or download music. I don’t care about which is best. To me, as long as a console has got high quality games then in my book they’re a high quality console. I’m currently playing MGS2 and loving every second. Yet when other games on other consoles come out, I’m not going to discard them for the sake that I think MGS2 is the best and nothing will be better. That’s just narrow-minded. To me Nintendo have the right approach (and before you write it I’m not showing favouritism). They say that they don’t want to fight anyone I this console ‘war’., they just want to do their own thing. That is the right attitude to think.

I have also been amazed at the incredible foresight some members of these forums have. Please tell me where you get your crystal balls from, because I want to look into the future and deliver a stinging critique of consoles that aren’t even out yet. I know this topic has been touched on before, but I wanted to get my feelings across on what is a very sore subject for me. I’m sorry if it offends any ‘Sony’s Cronies’ or whatever, I’m not going to tiptoe around the subject. I wish people would stop trying to turn this console into a ‘war’, into a competition, because we’ll just end up suffering. Stop trying to criticise one console – they are all going to be excellent. Just shut up and enjoy what should be videogamings greatest time.

Rant over.

Thanks for reading, I hope this prompts some intelligent discussion rather than more mindless arguing.

RM18

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