So it goes…
Around the last quarter of 2007 I eventually decided to buy a next-gen console. A tough decision might I add. Games like Bioshock, skate. and Mass Effect caught my attention, thus being the first games I own on the 360. However, it is the least likable solution of the 3 consoles on the market, highly because of Microsoft whose “ultimate” operation system just happened to crash some time ago rendering my computer useless. Linux saved me and my computer’s life, thank you Torvalds for a brilliant FREE operating system!
Anyways, off to console wars. I bought the 360 for a couple of reasons: 1. It has a good selection of good games, 2. The price had just dropped to 300€, 3. It has good graphics. These are fairly simple reasons, and to me important.
I’ve never had a decent PC for playing games so I have never really got to enjoy good graphics, but finally I can. Microsoft’s whitey-console also has a selection of quality-infested games that you can buy region-free for half the price what they cost here. Unfortunately you can’t import games for the PS3 (thank you Sony!) whose every game is region-free. Lastly it was within my price range. It was an easy choice to make from all the 3 consoles, but it also makes me an M$ fan-boy, right? At least owning a certain console seems to be reason enough for someone to spite somebody. Or actually, oh so many people.
Originally I bought the PS1 because everybody had it, then I bought PS2 because everybody pressured me to get it, regardless of me rooting for the Xbox and the Dreamcast. However PS2 was a great choice and it had a massive selection of brilliant games that were to my taste. Nevertheless the people who pressured me about the PS2 in time moved on to the Xbox then resulting in massive “fanboyist” efforts to transfer me from the comfort of my PS2 to the Xbox. There’s a problem here and I think you can sense it. This is how children act but this is also how adults act these days, whether it’s the consoles and well…other things (Politicians act like children, hilarious and scary at the same time).
Personally I would buy all the consoles if I had the money and the time, and the blessing of my wife for that. A man’s time is limited and to me 1 or 2 consoles is the absolute maximum. So, I have a theory about the infamously labelled “fanboys”. If these grown men and kids fight over electronics with such intense prejudice just because something is not their brand or for their liking, how can the same people live in a world populated by multiple cultures and races? I mean if you can’t tolerate a freaking console, how am I supposed to believe you could stand another human being? Are these the same people who are racists or what’s the case here? It might sound ridiculous and insulting to those “fanboys” out there, but it can’t be very far fetched. In my opinion these kinds of things are related and it’s likely that I’m correct – there’s millions of gamers in the world so my theory is bound to apply.
The current console war is actually quite funny when you think about how the colours apply. PS3 is black, 360 is white and Wii is white. So far the best result is Wii, which was made by Nintendo and is from Japan. It’s apparent that the Wii would attract the most audience with its choice of colour, it’s going for a non-gamer audience with a colour and a background (the country I mean) that can cover multiple races. It’s quite simply an attractive choice (lowest price, too!). PS3′s snail-sales aren’t doing it any good and it seems that most people are against it – it is also mostly fighting with Microsoft’s white-coloured 360 whose supporters seem to be especially much against PS3. That is a rather fun coincidence, isn’t it?
To quote Wikipedia about colour: “Color categories and physical specifications of color are also associated with objects, materials, light sources, etc., based on their physical properties such as light absorption, reflection, or emission spectra.” “Individual colors have a variety of cultural associations such as national colors (in general described in individual color articles and color symbolism).”
It is obvious that the human brain would associate concepts with various colours and it very likely reflects on which console to buy (or which one to spite). However the PS3 is expensive, it is a fact no one can deny, not to mention that despite of the black colour, PS2 is still going on strong after many years of dominance in the last-gen systems. This only speaks of gamers, since we choose which one offers us our money’s worth and which one doesn’t. While the other black and white fight together, the white Wii takes the top position in the war between all 3 consoles. Every console has a fan base, but I don’t give a flaming crap about which one you like and which one you do not. “Console fanboyism” causes people to degenerate, it is simply stupid and useless. Why can’t we just enjoy the system we end up buying and stop this ridiculous nonsense?
…And ends.
I never wanted a part in console wars and when it was offered, I refused. It is a fairly simple choice not to give a damn, only makes one’s quality of life better if you ask me. I strongly believe in equality whether it is about races, cultures or people, that also translates to video games and the consoles they are made for.
