Fans: No Matter What You Choose, You've Won

I love video games; love 'em to death honestly. I've been gaming ever since I was a little baby, playing Mario when I was barely speaking sentences, then Sonic when I was into Saturday morning cartoons, Jak & Daxter in junior high, Halo when I was entering high school and now a little mix of everything in between. Video games are most certainly my passion and certainly hold a very dear place in my heart (as I'm sure they hold in yours too)! But alas, there is always a yin to every yang, a shadow in the light as it were. Corporations, triple A publishers and generally greedy and ignorant people are trying rather hard to generate profit from those of us who are passionate about this medium in some of the worst ways possible. Scumbag CEOs who would release broken, unfinished games to the market (such as SimCity and Battlefield 4) or horrible anti-cosumer DLC practices from the likes of Capcom. These issues are still very prevalent today, but because we as fans can come together and speak out against these issues, many of them can get turned around in an instant. Which goes to the point of this blog post; we as gamers, no matter what we want or decide, truly are the victorious ones in every video game hardware/software race.

There is all this talk of "Who's going to win?" or "Who sells the most?" or "Who has the best Metacritic score?" And I feel that that shouldn't really matter. Now of course, being savvy in the sales number of a game or console is definitely not a bad thing. Having an understanding of the performance of these games and devices can indeed strengthen a person's argument in favor of a preferred product. But at the end of the day, sales do not determine quality and ultimately these numbers are used more often to blast competition rather than praise favorites. There's too much negativity here on this site sometimes and I would like to offer something a little more positive.

I started as a Nintendo gamer then transitioned into a Sega gamer. I then slowly shifted into a Sony gamer and then I decided to enjoy everything. Am I telling you to do the same? Of course not! You're certainly not me and you have your own preferences and for that YOU have won the console race. Think about it...

For the past few generations, Sony has had one of the strongest and most passionate fanbases in all of the industry. The amount that they receive is nothing short of unprecedented, even during their struggling days of the PS3 era. Now Sony's new console is reigning supreme in sales, is destined to be the strongest console on the market and will have some of the best next generation content available to anyone in the console biz. It might not have started with a brilliant launch lineup, but it's got a boatload of content coming. Indies, exclusives, the best multiplats we'll see on consoles, you name it. The PS4 has a lot going for it no matter what angle you approach it from. Riding alongside its sidekick the Vita, the PS4 offers a lot of unique functionality for a console and will be getting some great looking games to boot. A new Uncharted, The Order, Deep, the best versions of Destiny (and apparently everything else), and a number of other promising aspects. How can anyone go wrong with that? Whether or not Sony sells the most and winds up in first place in sales (which is pretty likely to happen at this point), Sony fans have most certainly won the generation. Need I say more?

But hold on there; you think I'm here to only stroke my favorite company here? HECK NO! I may not have agreed with everything Microsoft has done, but the Xbox One is certainly not a bad choice on the market either. The game industry buckled down and shouted NO! at Microsoft's awkward plans for an always online system, and because gamers came together, the system is all the better for it. It's pricey and it definitely has a lot of bad PR riding against it, but the Xbox One does indeed have some good quality exclusives and features on board. Dead Rising 3 was a solid followup to its predecessor and if you read my review of the game, I absolutely loved Titanfall. Before I played it, I wasn't too excited, but it certainly is a great purchase jusifier even if it won't sell a lot of consoles in the long run. But the great thing about all of that is Xbox One has some very good IPs in the bank that will assuredly get their sequels in due time. Halo is still well on the way with an HD remake of arguably the best game in the series (Halo 2) is on the way. Along with some nifty console features like real time usage of Skype, television and an HDMI in port, there's very little reason not to consider this console, especially if you're a fan of the 360 and original Xbox. I myself have no plans to get an Xbox One due to its price tag (I'm sorry, I'm just that poor!), but to my friends and to all the Microsoft fans out there who successfully got their One, I'm glad you're happy with your choice; you my friends have won.

Now who could forget good old Nintendo? The nostalgic nutcases of over 100 years have been giving us games for decades. Some would say their ideas are old fashioned. Others will tell you that what ain't broke shouldn't be fixed. I'm with the latter crowd. Even given their sales woes for Wii U, I like what they've done with the console. It's not very powerful no, nor does it have strong 3rd party support. But that's really okay to me because now it can serve as the perfect side console. What's the one thing you've purchased any Nintendo device for? Exclusive Nintendo games, some of which are even third party! Resident Evil 4 on the GCN (at least for a year), No More Heroes on Wii, Monster Hunter on 3DS/Wii U, those games most certainly exist and they are often fantastic. But of course, who could forget the amazingly high quality first party games? Well designed with great gameplay and often gorgeous graphics, Nintendo games (whether you like them or not) are a testament to amazing game design. Not to mention consumer friendliness. Seriously, you ever see Nintendo releasing BS DLC in an attempt to nickel and dime their fans? No way, their DLC has been map packs which are half the price of the ones in Halo and Call of Duty games, and a full New Super Mario Bros. expansion that DOUBLED the content in the game for HALF the price or less. Getting back to Nintendo's current performance, the Wii U itself might be in a tight spot and probably will wind up in third place in sales, but that's okay. Nintendo knows how to make money and they will definitely make money on Wii U as they did on the Gamecube. It's the cheapest hardware on the market with games like Mario Kart, Smash Bros., X and Bayonetta 2 on the horizon among other big names. Nintendo fans, you crazy heads are some of the best fans Nintendo is blessed to have... and you all have won.

And hey, I most certainly don't mean to leave out PC gamers (I like to game a lot on my laptop from time to time. Just recently clocked 60 hours into The Binding of Isaac) but what the heck could I say about you guys? You guys are getting EVERY indie game, EVERY big multiplat, EVERY new engine... it's kind of hard NOT to say you guys are winners. It's worth talking about how the new consoles actually run hardware that's close to PC's x86 architecture, which can mean a plethora of things which mostly boil down to PCs AND consoles getting more games. The best versions of Titanfall and Battlefield 4 are on PC, and the PC is getting a plethora of indie games, many of which are tailored for the platform. The much anticipated A Hat in Time was at one point destined to be a guaranteed PC release only. Through luck there is supposedly a Wii U version coming, but the computer version was never at any point at risk of not being done once the funding was received. The bottom line here is that no matter what you say, PC gamers have won.

As I said before, I think I see a lot more negativity on this site than anyone really needs to see. People may not really agree with my views (and to be honest, I'd be surprised if at least some of you didn't) and this is my way of offering something a little more positive to the console race. I feel like every major source of gaming goodness has something amazing to offer in its own cool way and that all of those positives need to be pointed out and acknowledged. Every Sony fan is getting a good console, as is every Microsoft and Nintendo fan. Sure each of those consoles have their share of flaws but all of them are making improvements little by little and getting more and more games in the process. Fans of those game consoles (and PCs!) have won the console race, no matter which company comes in first or last.

As for me? Well, I'm just fine with my PS3, 3DS and computer for now. I just don't have the money for newer consoles right now (plus there are still some great PS3 and 3DS games comingout), but I would absolutely love to get a PS4/Vita and Wii U. Smash Bros. is mah jam, Vita will be a great place to stash my PSOne Classics (not to mention remote play) and all my friends are going to get Destiny on PS4. And hey, maybe somewhere down the line if it gets cheaper, I could pick up the Xbone in time for Halo 5. In other words, because I'm enjoying myself and having fun, I've won this console race as have all of you, no matter what single console or combination you choose.

This may read like a broken record, but I don't even care: No matter what way you clench it, us gamers are the winners of the generation. Congrats on the victory guys, we all deserve it! Now get back to gaming!