I find that the pride and the outspokenness of a console's fans is usually inverse proportional to how well the console is actually performing. This is because they have the most to defend and the most to damage control. This gen it happens to be the PS3, and this is amplified even more by the fact that the PS3 cost so much as launch, and has only recently been axed to a more decent price. The more the price of a product is, the more emotionally involved a consumer becomes with the product, because they must convince themselves and others that they made the right choice investing $600 on the PS3. They must convince themselves and other that their console is really "the best" despite performing the worst.
It was similar last gen, though to a lesser extent. The Gamecube and Xbox fanboys were the most rabbid and usually battled eachother while the PS2 fanboys were usually quiet and subdued, sitting back and laughing as the Xbox and Cube fanboys ripped into eachother. (I know because I was heavilly involved in this fight). The PS2 fans didn't really need damage control because the sales and the games spoke for themselves. At least that's what I picked up from my experience anyway..
