Weekly Opinion - Rabid Fanning

Rabid fanning is just a term I came up with, right this instant. Was thinking maybe Fanboyism or Rabid Fanboys, but fanning seems to be a better term, I believe.

Though I feel that this has diminished over the last few years, it still exists in some way. There are fans of the various gaming systems that feel as though their's is the superior one, that their's is the king while the others are not fit to lick the scum off the boot of their company of choice's president.

Diminishing Returns

I mentioned that I feel it has diminished. While there is no way to keep track, to my knowledge, as one who often associates with other gamers, it is a feeling I've had. The "Console War" was probably at its hottest in the last Generation, with Sony's Playstation 2, Microsoft's Xbox, and Nintendo's Gamecube (some include Sega's Dreamcast, though I feel that was out too early and died before the others came into being).

Part of this change may be due to the games in this latest generation (belonging to the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii) are reaching across platforms. Big hits like Grand Theft Auto 4 can be played on both the 360 and PS3, where once the GTA series played on only the PS2.

Though there are still exclusives (360 with the Halo franchise, PS3 with...actually I can't really think of any off the top of my head at this moment), the 360 and PS3 have become somewhat homogenized. But what about the Wii, you ask? Nintendo's targeting an almost entirely different crowd with their gaming system now, so they're almost out of the console race at this point.

All the same, though, you still have people who decry one system over the other, and refuse to back down. These people often refuse to listen to reason and back their system like a dedicated football fan backs his losing team.

The Why of Things

Just how did rabid fanning come about, though? The reason I think fits best is that this arose from kids from my generation only being able to get one console. Yahtzee of The Escapist said it best in one of his videos, but I can't find it (his videos are good to watch though. Be mindful, however, that he curses quite a bit, so his videos aren't exactly safe for work). Essentially, though, a kid could only get one console platform, and since he was stuck with it until perhaps the next generation, they either convinced themselves that the console was the best or just never tried the others and so never knew what the other consoles could offer.

The Outcast

There is one thing that most console players seem to be able to agree upon, though, and that is their dislike for PC gamers. Some just can't see the PC being a good gaming system, that the consoles are better. While the consoles have some advantages, and the PC have some disadvantages (check out my Piracy opinion post to see one such problem), the PC deserves to be counted among the 360, PS3, and Wii.

One can easily upgrade their own PC, thereby allowing them to continue to play new games as they are released, while console players may have to abandon their old platform in order to play new ones. This can be cost saving, if the PC gamer is careful.

But even PC gamers sometimes look down on their console gaming brethren.

Can't we all just...get along?

Why can't more gamers just see beyond the lines of their consoles and enjoy the fact that others are happy with their systems? Why do some have to be unhappy that former exclusives to their console can now be played on others?

I wish I had the answer, but I don't. While I would happily categorize myself as a PC gamer first and foremost, I absolutely love my Nintendo DS, and the Playstation 2 was one of the best gaming consoles, in my opinion. The Xbox line...I don't like too much, but eh, its there and people like it, that's good enough for me.

I hope that rabid fanning continues to diminish. We're all gamers. We all love the same thing. Why must we fight?