For the first entry here I find it only fitting that I pick a topic that involves me ranting on stupid people. Anyone who knows me, know I can't stand stupid peope for the life of me. Anyway, on with it.
This whole Next Generation gaming thing all sounded wonderful in the begining. The chance of having three great systems to play on and enjoy the games you love was a smile waiting to happen for all gamers alike. Of course who were we kidding? Smiles from the gaming community itself? Yeah, Right.
Over the course of the past few weeks I have been spending quite a bit of time on the GameSpot forums and browsing around other gaming sites. At first it seemed nice to take a look at a bunch of people passionate about what system they want and what games they liked or disliked. Then I began to see the true side of these people. The mindlessness chaos that this Next Generation Gaming is brining.
The key element that brough my attention to the type of people I was dealing with was on the launch of the PS3. There was a drive-by shooting with a BB Gun at one of the Best Buys where people were waiting in line to be one of the first people to snag a PS3. I found this to be shocking and outrageous, but apparantly I was one of the few. Many people started laughing and making jokes about it. Sick jokes about people being shot at, regardless of what type of weapon was used. People saying "that's what they get for trying to buy a PS3" and other type comments. It only grew and escalated from there.
The "System Wars" forum here on GameSpot was lit up with people bashing on the PS3 and even the Wii from Xbox 360 fans (fanboys aka. lemmings). These people would harass people constantly calling the system they wanted garbage, calling them stupid, blind, weak, idiots, morons, etc.. the list keeps growing daily. The worst I saw was someone literally calling someone's mother a name and saying the innapropriate things he should do to her. Of course these "lemmings" weren't the only ones doing this, the PS3 fans (aka. cows) were retaliating some too, but the lemmings stood out the most because of their vast numbers and eagerness to bash the other people (not the system). It's become a dog fight over the course of the past week or so especially, not over the systems, but between the people themselves. It's a constant arguement of who's who and what's what. A topic starts off innocent by just saying something like "PS3 vs. 360" but then it escalates nearly always into a forum bloodbath per say with profanities and name calling being thrown all around. Most of these incidents fail to get moded/reported because it's a back and forth battle and those who might report would probably get reported themselves for the things they say.
I find this current community very sad and very immature. Now don't get me wrong, not everyone is like the people mentioned above, but at the same time it is a large number amounting to atleast half of the community. It's a sad time and a sad place to be in what's actually supposed to be a happy time for all gamers. Whether you like Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo there's something for everyone.
The point of this mostly is for me to let some stuff out and to say one thing. I support all of the systems in their own way. Each system has games that I like and would definately love to play. If I had to narrow it down to one, I'd probably go with the PS3 because of Final Fantasy, but that's as far as my own loyalties lie. That's how I feel all gamers loyalties should lie. With the games, not these systems. Systems War? What the hell is that. Let's get real and be the gamers we should be and not worry about the hardware. Worry about what system your game is on and go from there. Don't hate other people because they want/believe something different.
In closing I just want to say System Wars has become the Racism of gaming. Compare the actions of a Racist to the way that forum is going and you'll see the similarities. It's uncanny. Remember that the next time you want to bash on someone for their beliefs on games.
~Kyo