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Over the past three years, we've seen what used to be a rather amicable ritual known as the "Console War", degenerate into a series of arguments fueled by review scores, sales data, back-biting, spite, sour grapes, and pretty much everything but a little thing called common sense and reasoning. You expect the fanboys to behave this way; it's in their nature, they're fanboys. Thing is, even the gaming media themselves have gotten swept up in this vitriol spewing debacle that is the current state of the "Console War."
One console over all others has been on the recieving end of so much of that media and gamer hate and bias, that it's no wonder when its sales numbers fail to match up to its nearest competition, let alone its predecessor! That console is, of course, the Playstation 3.
Don't get me wrong, there were reasons to give Sony a hard time…3 years ago!
Since then, however, Sony has changed, and that hate should have dissipated, and yet it hasn't. In truth, it almost seems like it's gotten worse, as the gaming media, and gamers at large really seemed to be furious that they were proven wrong on so many counts.
Yes, Sony was arrogant.
Yes, they made asinine, ludicrous statements.
Yes, the PS3 was expensive (if people had no problem paying $450 for an Xbox 360 Elite, paying $400 for a PS3 shouldn't be suddenly breaking the bank. people paid more than THAT for a WII).
Yes, they showed off a lot of pre-rendered footage instead of actual gameplay.
Yes, the PSN was a literal Ghost Town of content, with weak online features.
And yes, the PS3 had a weak launch line up (although year one games were genuinely very good; Resistance, Motorstorm, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, Warhawk, Heavenly Sword, Ratchet and Clank Future, Folklore, Uncharted, and Unreal Tourament 3. people act as if Lair was the ONLY PS3 title released during 2007, and that Haze was the only PS3 title released during 2008 ).
The point is that as the PSN improved, as the price of the console dropped from $600 to $400, as the game library increased, as useful features began to see implementation (ie, in game XMB access), as more than just one game began to showcase the console's capabilities (GT5 Prologue, MGS4, LBP, Resistance 2, Uncharted, Ratchet, and of course, Killzone 2), the gaming media, and gamers at large should have BACKED OFF of the PS3.
It should be beyond it's growing pains, and "prove yourself stage," and yet it isn't.
Instead of celebrating a $200 DROP in the console's price, meaning it's getting closer to a mainstream price (and $400 isn't too bad when you consider all the features it offers; people pay that much for an iPhone, for Pete's sake), the gaming media instead decided to paint it as a "DOOM AND GLOOM!" Desperation tactic on Sony's part.
Microsoft cuts the price of the 360 TWICE in one year, even when it's clearly ahead of its nearest competition by a few MILLION units, and people pat them on the back, instead of calling it for what it was: a nervous twitch on MS' part, as the PS3, even at nearly TWICE the price of the 360, has managed to half the gap between the competition, and is selling steadily. It even OUTSOLD the 360 for 2007, and kept pace with it for 2008, and who knows, maybe it outsold it in 2008 also.
You have outlets like the Wall Street Journal and the Times predicting the end of Sony and the Playstation because it didn't sell as many software units in November of 2008 than it did in November of 2007, even though, for nearly 7 months out of 2008, it outsold the Xbox 360! But hey, one bad month, and apparently it's all over.
Instead of praising Sony's constant pushing of new IPs and technology (Heavenly Sword, Resistance, Folklore, Motorstorm, Warhawk - it's an old game, but come on, the last Warhawk game came out in 1995 or something, not many but us old timers remembered that game - Heavy Rain, Little Big Planet, a slew of unique PSN titles like Pixel Junk Eden and flOw, etc), the gaming media and gamers at large point fingers and nitpick the games into obscurity (RIP Folklore and Heavenly Sword sequels; i was really looking forward to seeing how you improved upon the fun gameplay of the originals… ).
Instead of acknowledging that outside of a handful of features like cross game chat/invites, the PSN has grown into a viable, bustling gamer community, and has managed to stay FREE for two years and counting, and is gaining on the 360 in terms of subscribers (i believe the last count was at 14 million subscribers for PSN, and 18 million or so for the 360?), the gaming media and gamers at large STILL call the PSN "WOEFULLY INFERIOR" to Xbox LIVE, when, in truth, it's only missing a few small bells and whistles, but makes up for them in a way with social applications like HOME.
No matter WHAT Sony does to improve the Playstation 3, they will NOT get any credit for it. They will be called copycats. They will be called liars, even when shoving truth in your face -the gaming media and gamers at large will slither like a snake and find a way to turn it into a negative ("well, yeah, Killzone 2 LOOKS good, but how does it PLAY?" *thousands of beta players answer: "It's really GOOD!", haters respond: "…well, the original SUCKED anyway! even though i've never played it, but 1up said it, so it must be true!"); there's always a new angle to attack Sony.
Even when they drop the price of the PS3 to $300 this year (believe me, it's coming this year), they will still say, "well, it should have happened SOONER!". Even when games like Killzone 2, inFamous, MAG, Heavy Rain, GT5, White Knight Chronicles, etc turn out to be genuinely FUN games, they will cry, "it doesn't re-invent the genre/gaming as we know it and it doesn't pack enough of teh innovashunz! 6/10!"
Which is a damn shame.
Talk **** about Sony all you want. they ARE a big, evil corporation that wants nothing more than your money, but the Playstation 3 as a multi-media CONSOLE, is a rather remarkable, excellent device, and doesn't deserve the hate being spewed its way on a regular basis.
My question to you all is, when is enough enough? Microsoft gets passes on charging for online, and for having a weak 2008 and 2009 lineup (Fable 2 and Gears of War 2, great as they are, don't make a strong lineup, especially when the competition has titles like MGS4, Little Big Planet, Resistance 2, SOCOM, Disgaea 2, Valkyria Chronicles, and in Japan, White Knight Chronicles under it's belt for 2008 ). They get a pass for the Red Rings debacle. Even their games get passes when being scored; the media overlooks major flaws like framerate issues, poor animations, sluggish controls, lack of story, weak ending, mediocre co-op in Fable 2, and a lack of any kind of depth in Left 4 Dead, lavishing both games with perfect and near perfect scores, but call out a game like Resistance 2 because it doesn't have a main character that spouts cliches and chatters the entire time (Gordon Freeman from Half Life is mute, and yet he doesn't get chewed out for it).
When should you let the past die (CG target renders, high price, arrogant statements), and simply say, "you know what, the Playstation 3 is not the same machine it was 2 years ago, it's better, and even though Sony boasted a lot about its "power," games like Uncharted, Ratchet, Metal Gear Solid, Little Big Planet, Warhawk, and Resistance 2 have offered me enjoyale, unique, and also familiar gaming experiences over the past two years, and the future looks even better"?
I don't deny I'm a big Playstation fan, but when I see other consoles getting free passes, when I can literally sense the tone of a PS3 story on the net being vastly different from the tone of a Nintendo or Microsoft story, and generally toward the negative (check out any kotaku PS3 story, and you'll see what I mean), when I see such a vast shift in the way the media reports PS3 news, and evaluates PS3 games in relation to the other consoles out there (the Wii gets excuses because it's not as powerful as the 360 and PS3, the 360 gets excuses because of LIVE, and because most early games were developed on 360 first and ran better; even when Bioshock finally came to the PS3, it was met with many a snide comment about how it came a year later than the 360 version), it bothers me. It frustrates me. I don't care if the fanboys behave this way, but when it's penetrating the media, and when they reinforce that fanboy mentality with every. article. they. write. I have to say something, if anything other than to get it off of my chest.
Thoughts? Is the hate for the PS3 still justified, even after 2 years of rather significant improvements? I'd like to hear both sides of the argument in the comments section.
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