| HappySqurriel said: Normally, when I create a thread I try to explain or add clarity to a situation but today I'm going to do something different. |
I knew it! You're abandoning your core readers and trying something different just to attract different more casual readers! /jking
Anyways, think I have an answer. You're right about other product and service announcements don't carry the same drama as many gaming ones do. However that's because those other products usually aren't so heavily rooted in the arts and entertainments people are usually so passionate about.
You'd agree, it's not uncommon for similar drama to erupt from debates involving books, television and movies. (At least on the internet) However the products involving customers enjoying these mediums usually don't have much effect on the media itself. Your TV, DVD player, or Cable and digital provider typically don't change what content you use them for, or even limit your selection of content. Dish and Direct TV have largely the same programs to offer, maybe one has a few more, or more in HD, but it's generally the same stuff from the same stations.
The world of console gaming is still very divided due to a lack of a single uniform system, and this probably part of the reason people take these kind of things more personally. The games and such they are passionate about are greatly altered or limited because of the multiple platforms, and this probably causes a more personal attachment to the platforms themselves because of how closely the actual content of the things they love are effected by it and other system's influences. Even the same single game can vary greatly on different platforms.
The other angle is interaction. Typically you see and hear movie, read a book. There's a generally only one way to partake in these mediums. Artists and entertainers choosing HOW to stimulate with either sight and sense, or through the words their audience will read is something of debate, but usually not a movie maker expecting a movie-goer to do something other than watch and listen to what he puts on screen.
With video games, there really isn't a single accepted way to have your gamer interact with game. Motion controls, voice controls, fake instruments, dance pads, joysticks, racing wheels. Even if you cut all that out, there isn't a single button layout that probably everyone agree with. Even if there was, then there's still be debate on how the player interacts in-game. Online/Offline, Co-op/Competitive, Computer/Human.
In a weird way these arguments may be more akin to people debating the merits of different artforms themselves. And a lot of these conflicting views on "how" people should game are again, rooted in a lot of these related products. Motions controls are heavily rooted the Wii at the moment. Simpler pick up and play stuff is often more rooted in hand-helds. The high end visual and audio angle obviously in the HD consoles. Because all of these consoles compete so closely, a competitors announcement may be seen a direct threat to someone's personal ideal on how people you play games because how heavily attached that playstyle may be to a certain company or set of companies.
