Again, I agree and it’s a shame really. But I would guess most of those guys would be in their teens or early twenties (though I’m generalizing, and I hate that). I‘d say the older folk would at least give it a shot before making a decision.

I'm currently in college (A medical Technology student at IUPUI in Indianapolis), and things sure have changed. You can walk through a dorm an a good 75% of game consoles are Wiis. Every party as a Wii with drunken idiots playing Wii sports (I have to admit, this is fun as hell). It's cheap, it's small, it's great for playing with friends, and hell, none of us have HD-TVS anyway... A lot of people have PS2s as well. Lots of games and a lot of people want to play the sports games (though I have noticed a lot of sports gamers migrating to Wii recently too). If you go in the technology building there are kids (of both genders) with DSes sitting around playing. Sometimes you'll see a bunch playing against each other. I have to say I was shocked by the amount of penetration Nintendo has in my campus. I know in High School no one cared about Nintendo systems at all. Half the kids didn't even know what a Gamecube was. The first year of college was like that too... I can't believe how fast things changed.

Here's the facts. People around your age would have lived through the PS1 and PS2 eras. Most of them will be so old now that they haven't been following games like they used to. All these people will remember is how great the first two PlayStations were. And make no mistake, they were the better consoles both generations.

I think what you'll find is that Nintendo is the top brand for people growing up and playing video games right now. I've experienced the same thing you have. Everyone I know has PlayStation as their gaming brand. So, really, expect the next generation to grow up Nintendo. Unless something goes very wrong all of a sudden with the Wii or DS. 

It seems more that Playtstation is top brand for people who started gaming with the PSone. Most people older than that don't pick a brand, and just go with the flow, or are Nintendo fans because that's when they started gaming. Most people support one brand or another because it's their first experience. This is why most core Sony fans are younger than most core Nintendo fans.

Think of it like your first car, it may not be anything near the best car you ever owned, but it will always have a big place in your heart just because it was your first.

I grew up on the Nintendo and SNES. In fact, I remember having a vote in my house when my parents said: "We can get a Genesis or a Super Nintendo, not both. You guys vote and we will get the one with the most votes." Both my older and younger brother picked the Genesis. One claimed Sonic was the deciding factor and the other was the name of the console (Genesis, a rebirth!) I eventually saved up money on my own doing work around the local farms, mowing lawns and whatnot and I bought myself an SNES. Hell, I was even there on launch night to get an N64 because I worked at the store.

However, growing up and still being fond of the old games on Nintendo, I chose the PS3 over the other offerings. I'm tired of Nintendo. The only cube game I played was Super Monkey Ball. Even then, I was sick of all the Mario/Link/Kart, etc games.

Perhaps I shouldn't have mentioned cars when I mentioned rivalries... it's all a point of view really. Ofcourse brands are all rivalling at a certain degree. In my opinion there are no fanboys when it comes to cars... The rivalry doesn't concern the mass market... the market for cars is a big and relative open market... the games market you have only 3 and only 3 big players as opposed to hundreds of constructors and thousands of models in the cars industry! There surely is no room for a 4th player in this industry! EA may have plans to do so but their games suck anyway. Good games require more than big licences!

There was a time that people thought there wasn't room for 3 players in the games industry... you only had two big players 2 generations ago the player that ended last place were forced to step out of the console industry (Neogeo, Sega, 3DO, Amiga, Atari). Nintendo almost went the Sega way last gen. Many predicted the death of Nintendo when Microsoft entered the busines. But unfortunately for the Sony fanboys Nintendo isn't KO and beating the crap out of them. This round is for Nintendo... Next round will be fought in the next generation IMHO... 

What this thread is all about is how cool the names are. That's what the rivalry is about... wich name is cooler! Not wich is the best or wich is the fastest selling or whatever. Each fanbase will come up with reasons to defend their favourite console even when it's selling below zero as a matter of speech. I hope you get my point.

yes it was a good post, I agree
but it means that all is about emotion/hype
something that is not really rational but in what u believe.
That is what I think.

RolStoppable, what are ur 3 words ?

 First love never dies... hehe

And sometimes you get a really bad experience and stop playing the game... never hate the game, hate the player! 

Kber81 mentioned that there are not many Nintendo supporters in Poland. That is in general very true. From average gamers to press reporters, everyone always root for Sony or MS. It's hard to not call the entire Polish gaming community a great bundle of graphic whores since that aspect alone makes up for more than 70% of a game's score here in Poland.

If i were to explain why it is so, I guess it would have a lot to do with the need to have better things here in Poland. First it was all about having faster cpu's than enyone you knew, then it was ram and then it was graphic cards. In the end all that mattered to the average Joe was how good the game looks on his gaming platform leaving all other aspects out of the picture. Well that's my theory anyways.

I have to disagree with you,  my first system was a Sega Master System, then I went to NES, then SNES, then I skipped a generation and then I bought a PS2,  now I have PSWii60 because this console war has been so lopsided so far.