kowenicki said:
That statement is both pathetic and idiotic. Competition is healthy and benefits gamers whatever blind fanboys like you think. |
Competition does indeed help gamers in some instances. That is precisely why I didn't say "I hope everyone drops out except Sony". Microsoft style competition, however, does not help anyone except microsoft (and sometimes even hurts microsoft as they do anything to win).
There was a need and a market for the Playstation when Sony entered. The Saturn was overly expensive and difficult to develop for and Nintendo had not only failed to enter the next generation (they were sticking to their SNES guns and turned down the option to actually own the PS brand) but, when they did, they failed to adopt the newer more effective CD standard. Also they severely skewed towards family friendly going so far as to insist that genesis games like Mortal Kombat be transformed into Moral Kombat where fatalities and other aspects of the game were removed. Adult gamers needed a console and Sony delivered to that niche.
Nintendo also has been catering well to certain gamers. While to me that family friendly aspect which continues with the Wii (friend codes for instance) annoys me, its very important to a segment of the market. Nintendo is needed for gamers with kids and gamers who really like Nintendo games. Yes eventually they could probably be just as successful with a Sega conversion (only making games) but now they are a company that serves their segment of the market very well, a segment the Playstation brand isn't as strong in (just as Nintendo isn't as strong in HD adult gaming).
There is absolutely no need for Microsoft in the video game market, none. All it does is make gamers buy an extra console, drive up development costs as yet another system needs to be ported to in order to reach more of the market. The Xbox only exists for the reason equally poorly designed crap like Internet Explorer and Live Search exist, because Microsoft wants to extend its monopoly to other areas. They have learned that by simply leveraging the huge ammount of money they have from Windows and Office they can usually bully competitors out of the market, then proceed to make horrid products that work poorly the standard. Remember how seldomly IE was updated and how badly it worked (and how many security flaws there were) before Firefox finally started up taking the Netscape slot? Notice how badly Vista sucks because there is really no competition on that front?
Microsoft is antithetical to the kind of competition you are talking about. They do not compete on quality or anything else positive to gamers or any group. On quality the Xbox brand loses both to Nintendo with families and to Sony with HD gamers and has lost since its inception. The only reason it even exists is because they throw huge ammounts of money out the door to buy up studios that would otherwise produce for the other systems. Nintendo's best N64 games were made by Rare for the most part, so what does MS do? It buys Rare. Halo was being made as a strong component of an reemerging mac gaming community (in the vein of Marathon) so what does MS do? It buys Bungee. Similarly they have bought publishing rights to all kinds of other games from extra content for 50 million in GTA4 to exclusive distribution rights from games made by other companies like bioware (pre EA acquisition). Its not like these games WOULD not exist if not for Microsoft, to the contrary they WOULD exist without making consumers buy another system which fails all the time.
Disliking Microsoft is not a fanboy thing, its not a Sony thing, I dislike microsoft because I have been deluged with their inferior products for 20 years. I have never once found a single Microsoft product to be the best offering in any area from OS to internet search to internet browser to MP3 player to video game system to Office Software (yes Office is a bloated mess that is only used these days becasue, again, MS makes sure it is painful to use office documents without it). They crush superior products with money and then push their crap over the wreckage. Do not think for a second they are your friend even if you are their fanboy, the second they push Sony and/or Nintendo out you'll wish you had never wished for MS domination of Video games.
There are valid reasons to like Nintendo and Sony consoles and there have been those reasons for years. It's like picking between watching the Godfather and watching Finding Nemo, both are great for who they appeal to and even have cross appeal to some audiences traditionally on the other side. The choice that doesn't make sense is being force fed yet another _____ Movie (Disaster Movie, Epic Movie, Date Movie ect) and....liking it. If you force the other two quality choices out of gaming, you'll be left with only ____ movie type junk the rest of your gaming life (or at least 5+ years before something rises from the ashes firefox style).
PSN ID: ChosenOne feel free to add me
