It makes sense that this site organizes itself around platforms and consoles that have games on them, because it is a sales site, looking at sales of different platforms.  However, in going over various sites out there, I see this is fairly common.  You have organization by console maker and game system (Wii/Nintendo, Playstation/Sony, XBox/Microsoft).  Even on usenet, this was done.  It was rec.games.video.ConsoleMaker.  Well, I have to ask if it is the best way.  Outside of issues regarding hardware and services for a given console, is this really in the best interest of games?

Is not a better way to organize categories for a website by game genre?  Have stuff like RPGs, FPS, and so on?  For people interested in such games, isn't this a better way?  Just because people own the same console, doesn't mean they have the same interest in games.  Like I am doing XBLA content primarily for XBox play now (including Pinball FX2 and Game Room).  Becuase others own an XBox 360, does it then mean I have a lot in common with them?

I am curious what others think on this.  What is the best way to organize forums on a game site?

I guess it's a little devisive the way we have it, Xbox fans antagonizig PS3 fans.  PS3 fans picking on Wii fans, or what have you but imagine the alternative:  If they're all mixed together, (FPS's for example) we'll have Halo fans trying to make Killzone fans feel inferior.  We'll have Call of Duty fans making Conduit fans feel bad.  But above all, we'll have people talking about experiences that 2/3's of the people in the forums can't relate to.  The way it is, if you're in the PS3 forums and a guy starts talking about inFamous 2, and you're a PS3 player, you can at least relate to them and plan on buyihg the game.  The only one who wins is me because I can talk shit to everybody and get away with it.

The way it is is the way it should be.  It's not perfect but it's the best way it can be.

The key about dividing forums is to allow for the creation of niche topics. That way we could discuss games like Fire Emblem or Folklore that gamers at large tend not to care about, but the subsets do care about

I went back to Metacritic to find a game reviewed by a decent number of sites, and looked over the organization.  The main way the sites are organized are by platform the game is on. This means the sites drive people together based on the device, rather than their interests in games.  What was on Usenet, under PC gaming, is genres of games, which had sports, action, etc... having their own subcategories of games.  I understand the need for people to be able to play the games, but with games increasingly being multiplatform, I don't see platform game is played on really being that great of a service as the main clustering point.  I also know coming up with genres is tricky, but still I see it as better than what is now.

Anyhow, I wouldn't necessarily get rid of platform for game on as the basis of clustering, but would consider having adding another clustering point.  One site I do see organizes by genre:

http://www.strategyinformer.com/xbox360/reviews.html

No guarantee it would cut down on console fanboyism, but might lead to more useful discussions and finding games of interest, and the preferred platform of choice.

Another type that uses genres as a clustering point, is BoardgameGeek:

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/

It is under subdomains, but is the main organization point on top.  An interesting this is videogamegeek.com , its companion site, decided to organize itself by platform.  And this also has to wonder, when dealing with retro gaming, does it make sense to decide to organize by platform?

Hence why general gaming forums can address games like GTAIV or Call of Duty or what have you, but organizing by console still makes the most sense because it is prohibitively difficult to sell games on one platform, even from a genre you favor, to owners of another console, unless that game is so incredibly compelling as to convince you to purchase that platform. For instance, i love platformers, but can't really talk about LittleBigPlanet2 in depth because i lack a PS3, and don't particularly care for one. Similarly FPS fans in general aren't going to care to discuss Conduit 2, as many of them likely game on PC/PS3/360

Dividing the Gaming forum into a Console humping/hating/d0ming section and a Let's Talk About F****** Games section would be nice me thinks.

Well.. I would be all alone in the Dance games section... :(

Take Black Ops, as an example.  It has had more sales than any single system exclusive, across the platforms it has been released on.  If you had a place based arounf FPS, then you could end up discussing Black Ops and comparing it to other games in the FPS genre.  Also, there IS the case of people who do own more than one platform, and are looking for games that are good in a given genre.

Also, consider this thread a general observation questioning why things are clustered the way they are across the Internet.

Right, but i'm saying games like that would naturally dominate discourse in a general Gaming Discussion forum, but then you could go over to Nintendo discussion to talk about Conduit 2.