Why Do People Think They Can Only Use One Company's Systems?

[Shulk 8,623]

(Before I begin, I'd like to say that this isn't specifically direct towards any person on this site. I'm referring to a huge population of the video game fanbase. Please don't take this personally.)

 

Well, being a gamer, I'm used to seeing the dark side of the gaming community as a whole. That's just something we've come to expect as people who play games. And, of course, we all know that one of these major issues plaguing the gaming community... Is this whole fanboy/girl ideal. By this, I mean when people act as though there can only be one game system that they can follow. I know this has been around since the old days of Nintendo and Sega, but I feel like it's become worse and worse as time has gone on. But I've never understood... Why do people think that this crap is necessary, or even good?

 

Now, before I go any further, I should probably say where my alliance lies with the gaming community: I follow all three companies. Yes, believe it or not, that is possible. I love Nintendo's systems, I love Sony's consoles, and while I don't own an Xbox since they don't really have games that I find interesting, I'm also a PC gamer, and Microsoft's made what I personally find to be the best OS for that. So, yes, I do not just follow one company. Do I have a favorite? Of course, all of us have one we favor more than others. But that doesn't mean that we can only give that company our money, and only praise their games while bashing the other companies as much as possible.

 

When I talk about the issue with fanboys and fangirls, I'm not saying that people have to go and buy every console ever. It's fine if the others don't interest you. However, there's absolutely no need to run the others in the ground and act as though you're superior to fans of other companies because you specifically only buy games and systems from Nintendo, Sony, or Microsoft. I'm talking about the people who act as though they've signed a contract saying that they're only allowed to get X system, and couldn't be called a gamer if they so much as touched another one. The people who try to start dumb arguments about why their console is the best, and why everyone in the freaking world needs to throw their money at Y company. The people who force their console and beliefs down someone else's throat and won't take "no" for an answer. I'm sure we've all had to deal with those kinds of people, and we all absolutely hate it.

 

As an example of this, like I said before, I'm personally not interested in Xbox. I don't go around saying it sucks or anything, and I'm happy that Xbox fans are able to enjoy the games they like to play. However, a lot of my friends at school are Xbox fans, and they used to constantly try to convert me to being an Xbox fan. I'd tell them I wasn't interested, and none of the exclusives made me feel as though I could justify throwing down $200+ on a new system, but they wouldn't stop. I remained civil during these discussions, and never said anything negative about the system, just that it didn't interest me. This is what I'm talking about here. People who feel an intense need to force everyone they meet to go and buy their system. I fail to see any sort of practical use in this.

 

So... Yeah. This isn't really the most well organized rant, but here's my question: Why do people feel the need to support this fanboyism crap? It's been, what, 20-30 years since this has been a thing in culture? Is it just that deeply ingrained in gaming society that people feel as though they're not a gamer unless they participate in pointless debates that never end with a winner? If both sides are so adamant about their opinion, the argument will just keep going until one side gets tired. There's no way one person will be able to convert another person. It's an entirely pointless argument, so why even try? People can enjoy games without having to stick by the side of just one company. If the others don't interest you, I get it, but don't go and shove your love for a company down other peoples' throats over it. Here's the interesting thing: Nobody cares that you have an undying love for that company. We're all here to play games and have fun, not to bicker about what's the best. Those of us who are past this nonsense and just enjoy games for being games are perfectly fine; why can't other people see that?

 

(Yeah... Sorry, this is something I've wanted to rant about for a long time now. I wouldn't be surprised if most people just read the title and act like they read the entire thing, or if we somehow get some massive console argument in the replies I hope it'd be a joke one if that happens. Thanks for everyone who took the time to read it, though. I just wanted to get this off my chest)

[Arya Stark 1,337]

Hear Hear!

[Headphone Jack 1,147]

I figured it had something to do with the fact that most people usually buy only one console and so they develop a mentality where they have to be loyal to their brand and defend their decision to the death. Maybe it's a mentality people have where they can't possibly imagine themselves making a bad purchase and so they bad mouth the other choices to other people and secretly hope they can convince themselves their choice wasn't wrong. Personally I'm past all that console war nonsense. It's really all about what you prefer personally anyways. 

[Shulk 8,623]

  On 11/9/2014 at 7:59 PM, Headphone Jack said:

I figured it had something to do with the fact that most people usually buy only one console and so they develop a mentality where they have to be loyal to their brand and defend their decision to the death. Maybe it's a mentality people have where they can't possibly imagine themselves making a bad purchase and so they bad mouth the other choices to other people and secretly hope they can convince themselves their choice wasn't wrong. Personally I'm past all that console war nonsense. It's really all about what you prefer personally anyways. 

That's my thoughts exactly. As long as people have fun, it shouldn't matter what console other people have. Everyone has their own interests, and just because they don't match with someone else's doesn't mean a "war" should be started over it.

[Xiro 3,468]

That's the magic of brand loyalty. Unfortunately, in this case people take it way too far.

[lostmemory123 1,056]

Well,it can be because,well,they CAN ONLY GET ONE.I mean odds are the WiiU will be the only console I get throughout this gen,and I go for nintendo because their products havent dissapointed me yet,so I just keep going on that,I mean I would get more if I could but life happens,so yeah.I guess though people take it to the point where they just find it odd how someone else can buy something else rather than something that they themselves know has been good to them for years now.

[Sorual 607]

i completly agree. literally 2 days ago i met an xbox one fanboy who laughed at me for liking the wii u. i think it was more of a joke but he was still showing a clear bias and saying that nintendo was for kids and i should only playxbox because it has all the "Good" games like call of duty and assasins creed. im totally down with people liking those games but im just not a CoD guy. and he was talking about it as if it was the superior game and that everyone should play it. i think the reason people only play 1 company's console and try to get others to do so is because they cant afford more. i think many people think that. and they do want the other system but they still cant afford it so to deal with that they force themselfs to hate the other consoles telling themselfs "its stupid anyway". thats just what fanboyism just is. im sure there are others who just only play 1 console and like it but arent comfortable with the others, but as long as they dont bash others for liking them or annoy them then i have nothing against them. i agree shulk.

Edited November 9, 2014 by Sorual

[OmegaForte 1,674]

Bravo, couldn't have said it better myself.

 

Unfortunately such people will exist and the worst par is when they deny it. I've already encountered such here and there.

[Skhyatze 165]

People can only afford one so they chose what they think is best and some fanboys will tell them they are dumb for making that decision and people get mad because they kinda feel like they wasted all that money and they become fanboys of the console because they feel like it is the best because they think they are never wrong. It is hard to explain and trust me I used to be one of these kids until I grew.

[griann 59]

I just follow the games that I like and I couldn't care less if someone else prefers a different company. The only reason why I'm not a xbox player is because I mostly play rpgs, and as far as I know there are few rpgs for the xbox, or if there are, they are also available for the Playstation, so I'm usually taking the ps version since I already have one, only a ps2 though. I don't really have that much money to spend mindlessly on consoles, so I haven't bought a console game in a long time, I'm more focused on handheld.

But, yeah. As long as you don't try to shove your opinion down my throat, I'll be nice. I enjoy discussing, but that can only work if you can acknowledge both the up and the downs. If you annoy me too much, I might lash out at you, but other than that I wouldn't bash someone's favourite console, unless I'm really, really provoked. 

[VisitJoan 2,713]

Money.  It might not be the reason for the whole fanboy/fangirl thing, but there is a finical reason as to why some of us only use one type of console.  I don't know about you, but I don't have the money to buy multiple $400 systems.  That still doesn't excuse why people need to get other people "on their side".

[BlankShell 638]

As people have said, money is a huge factor. And then when certain companies start favoring a particular console for exclusivity, when it SHOULD be multiplat, it creates a sour taste.

 

And I'm not decrying the need for exclusives at all, just that when the squabbling over games starts affecting the gamers, that's when we have a problem.

 

In short: people aren't wrong to expect certain things from these companies, even if they can be twats about expressing it.

[Sora96 17,256]

People think that? Lol.

[VexenReplica 154]

"Please respect my right to choose whatever system I would like to play, and I'll respect your right to play on whatever system you guys play," is what I tell those who insist on the idea of a certain company is waaay better than another.

Also I'll probably tell them I don't have that kind of money to go out and buy a new console, so if they'd like me to play this fantastic system, they could expend the god-knows-how-much for me to experience the system. That seems to get them to get silent pretty quickly.

[Hero of Light XIV 2,381]

Console wars can be fun, as long as you stay civil about it though, lol.

 

Personally, I understand this problem. However, it's kind of unavoidable, people are going to have these kinds of opinions. I technically have a system from all three Gaming SuperPowers, but I still prefer two companies over the other much more. I prefer Sony and Nintendo over Microsoft mostly due to preference. The games they host tend to cater to my interests more, since not everything with them has to be gun and warfare heavy all of the time, something that Microsoft seems a little to comfortable with for my taste. Also, they always seemed to be the most revolutionary for me, plus I kind of do believe in the whole "Japanese superiority" thing in terms of hardware, creativity, and craftsmanship.

 

But historically in general, Microsoft never really interested me that much in the first place. The PS2 was my first system and I will admit I felt a good sense of loyalty towards Sony products (the XBox controller always looked..."off" to me). But when it came around time for the Wii, after a friend of mine brought his to our house, I knew I just had to get one, so that's where my second relationship with Nintendo kicked off. Eventually as the 7th Generation of Gaming came to a close I felt I was sort of obligated to have one of each system, so I me and my brother managed to get an XBox 360 (who knows, it might have even been fun). Unfortunately we made the mistake of getting the Kinect as well, and as I feared a lot of the games that were exclusive to the console didn't really interest me that much. So naturally, I don't touch it as much, especially since XBox Gold is way too expensive to have to deal with.

 

Other than that, the main thing that turns me off from Microsoft is it's policies. I don't agree with them all that much, and 2013 was a joke year for Microsoft. I almost got some kind of sick pleasure from seeing them do so poorly, but then I realized that a lot of the Microsoft fans were getting really jipped by the company. They managed to repeal a lot of those policies, save for a few, but I'm still kind of annoyed by how they work and present themselves as a gaming company. But that's just how I feel about it. Doesn't mean that Microsoft fans are bad for liking a system (although there can be some really bad fans, just like with any fanbase), it just doesn't suit my interests that much I guess. The XBox One would have to radically change in order for me to even consider getting one (unless KH3 somehow plays better on there, which I have to admit I sincerely doubt it will), but maybe for other people it is the perfect choice.

 

And yeah, I'm not going to go around boasting "Sony and Nintendo superiority" or anything, despite all of the issues I see with Microsoft, there's probably lots of perks and good reasons to be a Microsoft user (I swore I heard that they were either changing or getting rid of Gold in favor of something a little more like PSN dollars, but I could be mistaken). It's all about what your choices are as a gamer, and I showed that I was willing to give Microsoft a chance, so maybe there's something out there for me that I just have to wait for. But yeah, I don't see any point in trying to make other people feel terrible about their choices. When you get down to it the real soul of the Console Wars is in the games and the heart and opinions of the players, not whichever system it's on.

[Isamu Kuno 2,512]

Because that's what the companies want. Lot's of war and death and blood and violence to lees their consoles. Jeez didn't you see the South Park Black Friday trilogy?Also because social gaming via internet is becoming more and more common abut a Person connected to the PlayStation Network can't team up with a person playing the same game on XBOX Live and vice versa so if people want to play together they basically have to get the same console as their friend and most people don't have the money for multiple systems.

[Nathan Hatton 274]

I pick the consoles with the games I want to play. For me it has always been Nintendo and Sony. I love almost all of the first party nintendo series and will always want to play them. I fell in love with playstation back during the days of crash bandicoot (though I never had a ps1). And then exclusives like Sly Cooper, Ratchet and Clank and Kingdom Hearts got me to buy a ps2. I only got a ps3 almost 2 years ago because I just couldn't afford it until then, but games like Uncharted, Infamous, MLB the Show, Kingdom Hearts, etc. were ones I had wanted for years. 

 

If the Xbox had exclusive games I wanted to play, then I would get one, but I personally don't like shooters so Halo has no appeal to me. Their other exclusives like Gears of War and stuff don't interest me either. 

 

All the other good games are multiplatform, so by getting a playstation, I can play the exclusives I want as well as everything else. And then I get a nintendo system to play mario, zelda, metroid, pokemon, etc. 

 

Final point, I have played xbox many times because of various friends who had them. I never liked the feel of the controller. I always thought it was the alternating buttons and joysticks as opposed to the aligned ones on playstation controllers, but the gamecube controller was always comfortable. So i'm not really sure, but I never felt comfortable with xbox controllers. 

 

So yeah, it has nothing to do with me having to be loyal to one brand over another. I spend my money on things I'm gonna use. I wouldn't use an xbox.