Editorial: Our World at War?
By Shawn on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 at 8:42 AM PST In Editorials, Features, Game Consoles, Games Industry, Microsoft, Nintendo, Sony
There is a “war” going on. One that media experts and gamer fanatics fight every day. The hyperbole of statistics, the glancing blows of public insults – the battlefield is littered by the bodies of lesser developers and the lines are drawn as the big three game console makers continue to encourage their fanatical followers to sling insults and typical Internet-level “intelligence” into the fray. The saddest fact though is that if we declare a “winner” or “losers” in the war will anyone really care? Does this made up conflict even mean anything?
Go to the average soccer mom and ask her which console is winning the current “next-generation” console battle and she’ll probably look at you strangely and call security to have you carried away. Ask the typical retailer who is winning and they’ll tell you they don’t know but it isn’t them… and by the way, wouldn’t you like the extended warranty on that pen light you just purchased, only $19.99 for three years.
Ask the seers of the industry like a media analyst and he’ll gut a chicken to read the retail numbers and tell you firmly that Nintendo is winning with X demographic, Sony has a strong chance of winning in the next 2000 years and Microsoft has won and moved on. He will however tell you that amazingly the industry as a whole is winning but at some time it will lose. I often wonder if these analysts are blessed with supernatural insight or if they merely play the same con-artist game of telling gamers what they want to hear in order to make their marks.
Nintendo is a populist nation, who is more interested in the subtle conversion of its foes. With its universal approach to games, its amenable personality and soft handed tactics it publicly claims to not even be at war. It is sly and smart and plays a long game and seeks to win the war by recruiting foreigners into the ranks and moving the untapped masses to its battle lines. Nintendo allows even the loyalists of its enemies to belong for it wages a generational war. Convert them early or late; it doesn’t matter so long as the masses get converted to the Nintendo way.
Microsoft is the small, technologically competitive nation. It has a little land but it also has trade alliances, patents and an aggressive nature. It assaults its foes directly and uses its position to pressure neutral nations (developers and publishers) while promoting Microsoft’s own national product above all else. Microsoft is also the most mobile entity in this conflict. It views the war as important but losing won’t bring the country itself down. It attracts followers from the prime gamer demographics – teens and adults. It seeks to convert those who are outside the young or old. It wants virile, extreme troops willing to try cutting edge things without really pushing what cutting edge means.
Sony is a federated nation, it adopts and adapts trends to become ubiquitous. It has the largest population going into the conflict but no power to force them to fight. Sony also has powers aside from games to help it convert its foes. Movies, music and a huge electronics empire give it the power to leverage untapped resources in the battles ahead, just don’t expect it to do it quickly or with regard for the impact on its own constituents.
We are the soldiers, the raw stuff of the world that can be swayed to support one company or another. We enter into the war with our own bias. We have a history with all the nations involved and frankly we are easily bought and sold among the three. Regardless of the sides we choose though the mere act of choosing empowers the nations to continue their conflict. Ultimately none of the nations care which side you choose, they know that the most vociferous of the masses will fight the war for them unbidden.
Fanboys and fanatics are wild cards, the insurgents of the war. Empowered with the belief in their console they pointlessly attack, lambaste and degrade those they sense are not with them. The conflicts of the war take place not with the powers but with these fringe elements. On Internet message boards, on national television among “game criticsâ€, these are the devout, the worst element of the war. The big three don’t encourage them but they secretly relish the chaos these elements cause. Ultimately they have little to no power in swaying the masses. Ultimately they are impotent and unable to affect the outcome. Ultimately they scare away the potential consumers who would reinforce the battle lines.
This war has many sides and players, many pundits and supporters but to the powers waging it and their agents the only thing that matters is that people care enough to fight. Each consumer converted pads the coffers, each developer pays for the right to publish on their systems. Each developer wooed or purchased means more ammunition to fuel the war. Each exclusive obtained means more consumers forced to choose a side.
My personal view is agnostic. I stand here in the middle of the road awaiting the inevitable truck that will flatten me. I support no faction in this war and I broke no ill will to its soldiers and victims. I see the whole concept of a competitive market as a good thing. It encourages the companies to compete over content. The nature of the platforms, the methods of delivery for the games we play are frankly unimportant to the world at large.
The concept of a console war is an illusion. Sure there is competition. There is only so much money in the world and only a small part is spent on entertainment, but is it worth arguing over, attacking others about? I’ll let you draw your own conclusions. Me, I’m happy just standing right here in the middle of this road, enjoying my view of the fight and lending all three countries a hand to see how it ends.
All true lol
I have to say there are 2 main reasons why I believe the PS3 will eventually outsell the other consoles.
Firstly because designed for the future with so much more to come whereas there are already questions being asked about the other 2 consoles limitations.
Secondly because of the ’soccer mums’ you mention and the everyday Joe Bloggs. These people make up the majority of the last 2 PlayStation’s 200m+ sales and if/when they decide to upgrade from their last PlayStation they will do what they did last time when they went from PS1 to PS2. They will simply buy a console that allows them to play the games they like at better graphics than their current console.
This editorial just reinforces what I have already said countless times. The only winners of the so-called console war are the gamers. We benefit from better games due to the competition. We benefit from console price cuts due to competition.
If someone were to actually win the ‘war’ the losers would be us.
Wow. That is an amazing editorial. Very well written. I particularly liked this paragraph:
Fanboys and fanatics are wild cards … Ultimately they scare away the potential consumers who would reinforce the battle lines.
Too bad those fanboys and fanatics either won’t read the article, or they’ll read it and this paragraph will go in one ear and out the other and they just won’t get it.
I should point out that I don’t want anyone to lose this war in the way Sega did. It’s great to have competition but I wish Sega were still in the race instead of Microsoft because Microsoft seem to be devoid of any innovation at all. It’s a PC ‘lite’ and as a PC gamer I see nothing in it to make me buy one unlike the PS3 and Wii which offer a different experience to PC gaming. I’m just giving my support to Sony because they have gone the extra mile with their console yet for some inane reason they have been attacked left right and centre for doing so. The only reason I became so vocal in my support is because of the amount of 360 owners who have spent the last year and a half attacking the PS3. They don’t annoy me because I have an affinity with Sony or because I work for them. They annoy me because most of what they say is idiotic and stupidity annoys me.
To me there is nothing wrong with being a fanboy if you put forward good argument or criticism. The ones who should be shot are the ones who think ‘360 SUX!!!!’ or ‘PS3 IS SHIT’ are the height of wit.
Excellent article, truer words never spoken.
I feel that in the end PS3 will eventually take the lead because
of it’s enormous fan base from PS1 & PS2.
Idiocy is a subjective term. And if someone is a die-hard 360 supporter, you have no more chance of changing their minds than they have of changing yours. So you being “so vocal in [your] support” does exactly the disservice that the article talks about. Ultimately, why do you care if someone chooses to voice their criticism over the PS3? You made an educated decision to buy it, you enjoy it, who cares what some nameless, faceless person (who might not even own a 360 for all you know) thinks?
But seeing as how you brought it up…
First a disclaimer. I had a PS2 and an Xbox. I currently have a 360 that I bought prior to the PS3’s release. I will have a PS3 at some point, but there needs to be some games I want to play (Ratchet & Clank will help) and the price needs to come down to at least the $400 mark.
I only see two real innovations in the PS3, the inclusion of the Blu-ray drive and the motion sensing controller. Of those two, the only one that offers “a different experience to PC gaming” is the motion sensing controller.
What am I missing?
And please, I’m not talking about trivia that the average buyer couldn’t care less about (e.g. what CPU/GPU architecture they are using), because from a graphics and processing power perspective, they are both extremely capable machines.
And I feel the need to state this explicitly, this is in no way an attack or criticism of the PS3. It is a request for clarification to your statement that the Sony/PS3 is innovative and the Microsoft/360 is not, because honestly, saying what you said is just a more longer and more literate version of ‘360 SUX!!!’
Two thumbs up for Shawn.
Two thumbs down for Roger Ebert.
While everyone keeps arguing on which console is better, the PC gamer will take over the world.
Burn all new consoles
GO PC GO!!!!
“And if someone is a die-hard 360 supporter, you have no more chance of changing their minds than they have of changing yours.”
Spiral Gray you were obviously never into debating at school I assume? Who said I was trying to change anyones mind?
You say I’m wrong to say the PS3 is more innovative than the 360 but then you listed some PS3 innovations yourself yet none for the 360.
Here are some PS3 ones:
Blu Ray drive
Internal Wi Fi
SACD playback
Remote access (and many other things) for PSP
Tilt sensing controller
Cell Processor
Home
Ability to connect and print to Epson printers
Built in card readers
Internal hard drive as standard
HDMI 1.3 as standard
Then there are upcoming ones like the Sony eye and apparently the ability to use the system as a DVR with a digital TV tuner.
I appreciate that you might not care about these things but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
As I said before, Sony have gone the extra mile with this console and should be applauded for doing so.
“Who said I was trying to change anyones mind?”
Then please help me to understand the point of posts like yours that continue to proclaim that one side or the other is going to win. They are the electronic equivalent of “my dad can beat your dad.” If what you say above is true, your posts would be limited to correcting misinformation. For example, if someone posted that the biggest hard drive you could get was 60GB, you would respond with, “No, Sony recently released an 80GB version.”
Nor are you providing a “good argument or criticism.” You write in vague terms, alluding to things without providing any basis. For example you state, “… there are already questions being asked about the other 2 consoles limitations.” What questions are being asked about the other two console’s limitations? I haven’t heard any. You claim an internal hard drive is an innovation by Sony, yet the original Xbox had one. How is that a “good argument” when it is patently false?
“You say I’m wrong to say the PS3 is more innovative than the 360 but then you listed some PS3 innovations yourself yet none for the 360.”
Ah, there are so many things wrong with that statement, where to begin…
The dictionary defines “innovation” as “something new or different introduced.”
I have re-read my original post three times, and I can’t find “you are wrong”, or any variation of that statement, in there. Saying, “Here’s my take on it. Tell me where I’ve gone wrong” isn’t even remotely the same thing as saying “you are wrong.”
I also did not list any 360 features because that wasn’t the point. For every innovation you can list I can probably counter with one for the 360. So what does that prove? Nothing.
I asked a question as to what you considered the innovations to be that cause it to offer “a different experience to PC gaming.” Please note, these were your words, not mine. Of the list of features you provided, only two of them (IMO) provide “a different experience to PC gaming.” Those would be the tilt sensing controller and the remote access for PSP. I missed the latter in my post, and I don’t really know what it means, but I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that because it has something to do with the PSP that it is gameplay-related. If you can tell me how SACD playback or having a card reader built in (which, BTW, so does my Mitsubishi DLP TV) changes your gaming experience I’m happy to listen.
Again, none of the above says that the PS3 is a bad system. I would own one today if they were less expensive. And before you have an aneurysm, that isn’t the same thing as saying they are overpriced. For the price of a standalone, low-end Blu-ray player you also get a game console. That seems like a pretty good deal. But it is more than I want to pay to play games. A Ferrari is priced fairly too for what you get, but it’s more than I’m willing to pay to commute back and forth to work. I’d have been happier if Sony had made the Blu-ray drive and Wi-Fi add-on components and released the console for $400. I already have couple of Wi-Fi adapters, and I don’t want to make an investment in high-def DVDs just yet. So while there is definitely a convenience factor in having that stuff built in, I would prefer to have had the choice.
In closing, your responses and the post by drknite just prove the point of the article. You agree with the article, and then say, “But I still expect this console to win.” You really didn’t get it, did you? You guys are exactly the people who “Ultimately [...] scare away the potential consumers who would reinforce the battle lines.” You may think you’re better because you’re using bigger words, but the end result is the same. I dare you to say something favorable about the 360 in a public setting. That’s the difference between us. I’m own a 360 but I’m more than willing to admit that the PS3 is also a great system.
You still don’t seem to understand the point of debate so I’ll just give up on you.
Then explain it to me? Because from what I can you’re marketing, not debating.
From http://www.paulnoll.com/Books/Clear-English/debate-advice.html:
1. Avoid the use of Never.
2. Avoid the use of Always.
3. Refrain from saying you are wrong.
4. You can say your idea is mistaken.
5. Don’t disagree with obvious truths.
6. Attack the idea not the person.
7. Use many rather than most.
8. Avoid exaggeration.
9. Use some rather than many.
10. The use of often allows for exceptions.
11. The use of generally allows for exceptions.
12. Quote sources and numbers.
13. If it is just an opinion, admit it.
14. Do not present opinion as facts.
15. Smile when disagreeing.
16. Stress the positive.
17. You do not need to win every battle to win the war.
18. Concede minor or trivial points.
19. Avoid bickering, quarreling, and wrangling.
20. Watch your tone of voice.
21. Don’t win a debate and lose a friend.
22. Keep your perspective – You’re just debating.
You’ve got #3 down pat, I’ll give you that.
You made several unsubstantiated statements (which, by the way, violates #12, #13, and #14). I asked you a series of questions asking for clarification or sources. You responded by taking your ball and going home. You’ll go far in this world with that attitude.
Sorry about that, but I’ve been around for a lot of years (45 and counting) and one thing I’ve learned is not to just take everything that other people tell me as gospel.
People, i think that the xbox 360 is better and might win the war is because it had great thinks you could do on xbox LIVE and offline and theres also cheaper things u can buy for the xbox 360 unlike the ps3 where like everything for cost like $40 and over i mean common most of us ain’t rich. I also think that the internet on a ps3 is STUPID because SONY is like selling the little kids porn and some parent might not even know that their kids can get that kind of stuff. So like i support Microsoft.