For my first post I talked about how all of the fans of gaming, no matter what their platform of choice was, were going to be able to get really awesome experiences from their respective favorites and a few people seemed to appreciate the sentiment. I'd like to expand a bit on that blog by talking more about how we as gamers treat each other.
edit: Was inspired to try tackling this topic when I read this headline - http://kotaku.com/why-fanbo...
Back in the day of the rivalry between Nintendo and Sega (I was a Nintendo kid) it was a fun thing to have companies and fans arguing why their side was better. It drove egos and therefor sales and there was a ton of smack-talk. But I think a big difference between then and now is that back in those days it was all in good fun. The rivalry didn't stop people from loving the games they loved and being good friends with each other. A lot of my friends loved their Sega games and we argued all the time about it, but it was all in good fun and we always played each other's games anyway. There really isn't a lot of that today and it's especially absent on the internet.
I think with the rise of the internet and people talking about video games, a lot of angry people started raising their voices about opposing companies and gained a lot of attention. Suddenly it wasn't cool to like this or that and it was quite disorienting. It was hard to find a site that wasn't riddled with some sort of pro or anti so-and-so bias that really alienated me in some way. The thing is while Sony became my favorite very quickly, I never forgot about my Nintendo roots and I still maintained a strong appreciation for the latter company and their games. I missed out on the N64 (only got to a lot of those classics in the past few years) but made up for it by sticking with the GCN. That all said, I never stopped supporting Sony. I owned a PSP before a 3DS, I have a PSOne (even have the nifty portable screen), I still have my PS2 slim and of course I regularly game on my PS3 in the present. That all said, there are games on 360 and Wii that I really like and I would never fault anyone for owning those platforms over mine. "Do unto others as they've done to you," as they say. I don't really believe in dealing with rudeness and with the internet you can receive a lot of insignificant flack for the simple act of liking or disliking something.
That all being said, unless you want to invoke a lot of debate and outlandish frustration, there is an element of tact that a person should have when expressing themselves. If I signed on and just constantly how crappy the Xbox One brand was, I would deserve to lose all of my bubbles. Which is why it makes me kind of sad to see people attack others for doing the exact opposite. It thankfully doesn't happen as often as it used to here on N4G, but there are occasions where Xbox fans will attack the PS4 rather than praise the One and vice versa. Is it a big deal? Not really, but I think it's something worth observing and at least pointing out.
Why hate someone for liking a different console? I think that buying the PS4 is the biggest no brainer ever. It's clearly the strongest console with the greatest library of games. But I still loved Titanfall on Xbox One and I totally see why someone would stick to that brand. Wii U is getting a lot of games this year that are really cool. PC of course is getting any and all of the upcoming indie games and they are all playing at higher resolutions. Why even begin to attack each other for those differences? You might as well stab someone for liking the color orange. I probably won't be getting an Xbox One for quite a few years, but if you have one or want to get one before the other two then you get a big thumbs up from me.
It's easy for me since I'm not the most difficult person to please. It's very rare when a video game doesn't make me have fun and I like to encourage optimism for upcoming promising content. However even if you relegate yourself to just one platform, I think it's important to remember that there are hundreds, thousands, even millions of people who are probably just like you but they replaced your favorite brand with another. And at the end of the day, is that really so bad? And how do we deal with the bad eggs? How do you identify them? I think it just boils down to how tactful you are. If you just needlessly bash something and complain without providing some solid criticisms then it's easy to construe your points as trolling. But responding to such comments with the same sort of malice and generalizing attitude doesn't really help anything either, it honestly just makes you look like just as much of a jerk. Being there for each other as gamers is a great way to show that we are more passionate than hateful. Looking down upon bad behavior is never a bad thing (unless it's meaningless trolling, in which case what can you do except ignore it?).
One plus side is that it's really cool to see all of the passion that comes from gamers. People feel really strongly about the industry, the developers, the publishers, the consoles, etc. It's great to have passion and debate, even healthy to do so. But the moment we start mistreating each other and tearing each other down for all the wrong reasons, we make it harder for our industry and our community to be taken seriously by the rest of the internet. It's something that can't be fixed over night, but it can be worked on.
If you're going to take away anything from this blog, just think about how you approach your next debate with an Xbox fan who's excited about the next One exclusive, or the next PS4 update, or the next Wii U port. Those people are not unlike you... they just have another name in place of the plastic box sitting next your TV. So anyway, enough babbling out of me.
Happy gaming, everyone. :)
Today, Square Enix revealed the next expansion coming for its popular MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, titled "Evercold."
Solo indie developer BeamBrain has announced the release of Guardian Cry, a new free-to-play action adventure game inspired by the SNES classics.
Claims suggest new PS4 and PS5 digital purchases may require a 30-day online check, though Sony has not confirmed any changes.
I did see this this come up as a rumor, but until stated otherwise I guess take it with a grain of salt.
If true I think it is clearly a bug. The whole point of having a primary account is that it automatically resyncs lice ses when connected to the Internet on that device. Having to make Sally log in every 30 days makes no sense.
Exactly!!! This is all spot on! Nice Read man!!!
TBH..I said something somewhat similar in a post about gaming having a Renaissance time in the history of gaming..
I had a jerk tell me that all I was just saying "I hate sony" when he missed the whole point of what I was saying.
I was saying even though we all knew graphically speaking, that: Snes>Sega, N64>PS1 GCN,XBOX>PS2, and most typically, XB360>PS3 and Now, PC>PS4>XB1 that the difference was how back in the day, we could know/talk about the not really important facts without being douchebags about it..
Today, it's almost like people think having something to hate or critique harshly is a display of eloquence/knowledge/power/swag etc...
But I remember playing the Gamecube cuz I wanted super smash bros. melee, and the PS2 cuz I wanted Kingdom Hearts...It wasn't a battle royale like today..
Especially when the resolutions are still HD, and they play practically identical. Probably Cuz they ARE the same game???
And another thing that is running rampant is the hypocrisy.
When a design decision for Forza Motorsport 5 is made that means that it has has no weather systems, and things that help it hit 1080p/60fps are just part of the game..
THEN- the hypocrisy starts LMFAO
LIke the Order:1886 using a totally odd rez to be able to look LIKE it looks so good, but if you stretched it out to fillthe screen to be true full screen, not only would it need a more advance system to render, but it would struggle more to even hit true 1080p/60fps
People have been acting this way for decades. The Nintendo Sega days had sort of the same rivalry. Difference is back then most people we young teenagers whose parents often could only afford one system. Games back then were about $50 too so you also got very few games and cherished those games much more than you see today. Simply put, many of us act like spoiled brats now in comparison.
We've also become a lot less respectful over the years and the internet has brought on other issues and that is namely anonymity. Now we simply don't see our fellow gamers as actual people because we can comment in such a non-social way. We all share the same hobby but the respect just isn't there any longer.
One thing I notice is there sure is a lot of negativity within forums. It's one of the many reflections on online services and feedback. People are more willing to leave negative feedback than positive which hinders the reputation system. Look no further than N4G and how easy it is to put a disagree down for comments, often for no reason at all. Like Rodney Dangerfield used to say, no respect.
Great blog. You pretty much got it with this one. The internet allows people to say what they want pretty freely. I know, though, that most people could seem to be the worst kind of fanboy in the comment section of any site but when you talk to them one on one it's a different situation. Some people tailor their behavior to how they are approached, some people love to piss people off, some people just like the feeling of being anonymous and being able to say whatever they want.
Back in the old days that you mentioned, you could talk smack about this or that console, but you had to do it face to face and the most likely end scenario would be that you'd eventually talk about games and both of you would then find a common ground and the argument would end there.
Today, in addition to the internet, I personally feel that the corporations foster these kinds of heated, competitive discussions way more than they would be willing to admit. It's then ironic to see them say that it needs to stop whenever the topic turns to them.
Either it's the less personal interactions that have developed over time, or it's the companies trying to incite these kinds of interactions, or it's people being genuine jerks. I still think that we're all basically good people who can have great discusssions about gaming, but there's just so many of us all making our voices heard at the same time that a lot is lost in the transition. You still get to see the respect though every time someone you thought was the worst kind of fanboy shows they are a gamer just like you and that they have a limit to the B.S. they'll take from their favored brand.
Also, any system that allows others to judge others the way the bubble system and the agree/disagree system does merely contributes to the problem because it gives others unnecessary power to control the discussion, and that shouldn't happen.
Honestly I quite like the adversity that I see around me and I see no need to hand out love and respect by default to other people simply because we have a hobby in common.
There are a lot of bell-ends in the world and a lot of them happen to be gamers. I don't hate them but I should not have to suffer their nonsense in silence, and so I will happily engage with them and label them a bell-end.
And it is done happily - call me an arsehole but I really enjoy some of the arguments I see around here, its part of why I come here. Its challenging and stimulating and as long as the people involved are intelligent then it can be a lot more interesting than everyone being in the huggy loved up gaming club.
Finally I really disagree with all this crap that "it was never like this in the good old nintendo vs sega days" - OF COURSE IT WAS! You just didn't know about it due to being either too young or not as connected as you are now. Its human nature than when people disagree over something and there are opposing factions then it gets ugly, childish, bitter etc and you are nuts if you think that didnt exist in the 8 bit age. I even remember kids in the playground physically fighting over which was the better 8 bit console!
Great blog, unfortnately it will fall on a lot of deaf ears here. I get why people draw "lines in the sand" with their console decisions, especially if they can truly only afford one console. Everyone wants their purchase to be justified with their hard earned cash. When I was growing up and having only a Nintendo system(s), I secretly wanted a Sega Genesis but would never admit to such. It wasn't until I was in High School and I got a job that I was able to own two systems (PS1 & N64). Then in college, my roommates and I got a PS2 (mostly because it played DVDs) then nothing else until again I got another job. Now I'm fortunate enough to have enough money to own a Wii U, PS4, Vita, 3DS, 360, PS3, PS2, Dreamcast, PS1, Genesis, Gameboy, SNES, and the original NES. I get the fanboyism for the most part, but when it becomes false fact throwing, blindness to follow another company, then it just becomes ridiculous. I'm a fan of the games, not the machines.