First, I simply cannot believe you think this is anything new. The PS2/GC/Xbox wars were especially bitter, and the flaming at the beginning of this generation was MUCH worse than it is now. That makes sense, of course, because those topics are mostly exhausted by this point, but it still means you're wrong. We're actually in a pretty peaceful period for the next few months. War is coming, however.
Second, as far as gaming discussion goes, have you not seen that massive Vita thread? You call out Vita in particular, which is interesting, because it's probably the one system where people do talk about every single game that gets released. In fact, I remember a thread not long ago complaining because Vita fans supposedly over-hype everything.
The majority of people on these forums are fine. The problem, as always, is that a few people rile up both sides. One antagonistic person can take over a thread and cause discord that wasn't there before. That's just part of internet forums, though, and always will be.
