Remember the days of console wars?

[Dr. Percival Cox]

I do.

I remember when the X-Box and the PS2 first came out, people were divided. Apparently you couldn't like both. It was a law. Like some kind of Cold War had been started in the midst of gaming. Even when the 360 and PS3's first came out it was still going on. But I've noticed that in the last couple of years, this shit has died down. At least, amongst the home consoles. It's still pretty strong between the handhelds. When news first came out about the 3DS there were alot of people saying bad shit about the PSP2 and so forth. But it seems like people are becoming united again. Of course, there's still the retro gamers who believe that nothing released after the SNES generation has been worth playing. Don't get me started on them folk.

There's really no point to this thread. Just making a conversation piece. Sort of my way of noticing unimportant things. :dave:

 

[Ethics]

Actually, I read something about this (GameInformer, maybe?). It was a survey of some kind here in the states about the console wars. I doubt it's accuracy but it showed people are more likely to have both (assuming they can afford such) than just one. Which is cool, maybe now I'll play a 360 for the first time soon.

 

[AddleBoy]

I remember this pretty well, but I was never a participant; I didn't choose any side in particular. Back then, I had all three of the major systems (if you don't count the Dreamcast). I only a Wii this generation, but that's because my roommate already owns a 360, so I don't have to buy one myself, and I just haven't got around to buying a PS3, but I really want one.

I'm the same way with handhelds. I own both a DS and a PSP.

 

[Dr. Percival Cox]

I remember this pretty well, but I was never a participant; I didn't choose any side in particular. Back then, I had all three of the major systems (if you don't count the Dreamcast). I only a Wii this generation, but that's because my roommate already owns a 360, so I don't have to buy one myself, and I just haven't got around to buying a PS3, but I really want one.

I'm the same way with handhelds. I own both a DS and a PSP.

Same here. I never got into it. I own consoles that interest me. But that doesn't mean I don't like it's "competitor". I want a PS3 really badly, and maybe somewhere down the road I might get a 360. I'm not picky. There are more games on the PS3 that I like, but as long as Splinter Cell: Conviction exists, the 360 will always have a place in my home.

 

[Sultan]

Weren't people divided over the whole Nintendo vs Sega thing in the past anyways? Anyways, it seems that PC vs Consoles is the new hotness /sarcasm

And don't tell me that my post is too short and that I need to elongate it so it doesn't count as spam. That's really all I have to contribute to this thread so far.

 

[Rydia]

Console wars go back pretty far. There was the Sega vs the SNES.

Remember these commercials?

I'm kind of glad that console wars aren't as popular as they once were. You still see them on some forums and at cons, but it's much more tame as far as I've seen it.

 

[Starships]

I don't remember the SNES vs Genesis wars, but looking on youtube, it seemed pretty nasty and vicious back then. Some of the stuff, I'm shocked that they were aired because of so much mocking towards the other company. These days, between X- box 360 and PS3 it seems pretty tame.

The only thing I've heard or seen anything that was X- box 360 vs PS3, was a bunch of ten year olds shouting out that the " PS3 is lame and gay ", but that was only their own opinion. If I was born a little later, I probably would of preferred the Genesis and would of been brainwashed into hating and loathing Nintendo, because the Genesis had Sonic on it. Which stinks, because I've been playing some SNES games lately, and it's a really great console.

Gaming wars, just make un wanted hate, and just judging a console just because it's the different from the one you have or grew up on, is just stupid, because the other console could be just as great, or even better. I used to hate the X-box when it was out, because it was the "Ps2's rival, and enemy" but now I own a X- box 360, and it's a really great console. But I don't hate the PS3 now, because of owning a X- Box.

 

[Tom Badguy]

Weren't people divided over the whole Nintendo vs Sega thing in the past anyways?

This is the war I remember. Nintendo Vs. Sega. Also known as "The Bit Wars." This was a time when developers thought kids cared more about the number of bits a console had over the quality of the actual system and the selection of games. I remember Sega always trying to get the jump on Nintendo by releasing the Genesis first. Then the SNES came out and blew it away. To counter, Sega unleashed the 32X and the Sega CD. What pieces of shit they were. Your Sega hooked up on top of the Sega CD and the 32X would fit inside the cartridge port to the Genesis. Why so many fucking attachments?? And to top it off, THEY ALL NEEDED THERE OWN AC ADAPTER. What a load of BS.

I always felt the SNES had better titles then the Sega. Yeah, Sega had Golden Axe, Streets of Rage, Phantasy Star....that's about all I liked. But Nintendo had games likes Super Mario World, Super Metroid, Link to the Past, Super Castlevania IV, and my favorite game of all time, Chrono Trigger. It was a fun battle, but Nintendo came out the Champ.

When the X-Box came out to rival Playstation, I thought it would be a repeat. Playstation had better games while the X-Box had more power and utilities. I thought Microsoft made a huge mistake. But it persevered up to the 360. Now I own a 360 and would never touch a PS3. Before this, I loved the PS1 & PS2. But as the next generations evolve, so do the systems. Now, I don't actually really like any of the next gen systems as much as I liked the SNES or the PS1. I just had to get one to play the new games. So Sony and Microsoft can duke it out, but to me, the last great console was the Playstation 1 with the SNES as an extremely close second.

 

[blakstang98]

Ahhh, the good ol' Sega Genesis vs. SNES war. I remember being a pretty hardcore Sega Genesis fanboy. When I recently counted the Sega games, I had 50-something. I never did own SNES, but I've inherited one from my girlfriend. But there's still more Sega games in the house.

I then remember Nintendo make the Nintendo 64 and Sega made the Dreamcast. Then out of nowhere, Sony brings us the Playstation. Playstation acted as a neutral ground that sort of had games from both sides of the fence, when Nintendo and Sega were sort of carrying stand alone games (well, they didn't have games for the other system). So I had gotten the Playstation for this reason. I did end up getting an N64 over time, but only owned a handful of games. And I never had the pleasure of playing Dreamcast.

Now we have the war of Playstation 3 and XBox 360. The neutral system being the Nintendo Wii. And again, if a person owns a PS3 or a 360, they usually own a Wii as well, but not the other battling system. I've inherited a 360, which completes my trifecta, but I was one of those who owned one battling system and a Wii. But I'll never go back to the fanboying ways I had way back in the Genesis/SNES days.

 

[Dr. Percival Cox]

I then remember Nintendo make the Nintendo 64 and Sega made the Dreamcast. Then out of nowhere, Sony brings us the Playstation. Playstation acted as a neutral ground that sort of had games from both sides of the fence, when Nintendo and Sega were sort of carrying stand alone games (well, they didn't have games for the other system). So I had gotten the Playstation for this reason. I did end up getting an N64 over time, but only owned a handful of games. And I never had the pleasure of playing Dreamcast.

I actually remember hearing alot of people talk about how the Dreamcast was going to be the biggest thing. Personally, I loved the Dreamcast. But unfortunately, because the games were incredibly easy to download online, alas the system went nowhere. It's kinda sad. It was a fucking awesome system and I would have loved to see where it would have gone.

 

[Soltharn]

I never really saw the point in the infamous console war. I've been less than impressed with the quality of RPG's upon the Xbox360 and PS3, and often find myself replaying RPG's from the PSone and PS2 era far more than I play anything on the recent consoles.

I really miss the days of buying a game with 3-4 discs.

 

[Dr. Percival Cox]

I really miss the days of buying a game with 3-4 discs.

Honestly, I was much happier when they decided to put everything on one disc. Because if one disc was fucked up, you had to sell the entire game unless you could find a replacement which I personally never really ran into many stores that sold individual discs from a multi disc game.

Off topic, I remember one time I bought a copy of Resident Evil 2 from GameStop. When I finally got home I opened it up and there was a Leon disc and the other was a copy of the first game. When I went back up there, I had gotten a copy of the Claire disc but when I got home and put in the Leon disc, it didn't work. So I had to go back up there again and finally got the whole fucking thing straightened out. Of course, like three weeks later I lost the whole game so... Yay!!!

 

[Sir Kenneth]

I think the whole console war thing got phased out because the difference between systems isn't as prevalent as it once was. The Xbox 360 and the PS3 more or less do the same thing and for most parts it's the same games coming out for both systems, so there's not really anything to get worked up over any more.

 

[Stoic Hero]

I was blessed to be around back in the Atari vs Nintendo days. Nintendo won that shit hands down, of course, but there were some dedicated Atari fanboys. Then, SEGA came along and brought about a much greater hardware war.

SNES vs Genesis. The single BEST console war ever, because, you know, both systems had different specs and much different games all around. As a kid, I could only own one, so I chose the SNES, and don't regret it a damn second.

N64 vs Sony Playstation. Hooooo crap. This was the best time ever for me. I got the best of both worlds (my mom's friend's son sold me his PS1 for $40, and I already had an N64) and so I got to play Ocarina of Time, Star Fox 64, F Zero X, Goldeneye 64, and Final Fantasy VII. The best gaming years I've ever had, by far.

Gamecube vs PS2 vs Xbox vs Dreamcast. Everyone stepped up to the plate here. The Dreamcast came out a lot sooner than everything else, but didn't fare so well. Which sucks because it was amazing, and definitely worth picking up today for cheap. The Gamecube was good, really good, but underwhelming compared to the SNES and N64. PS2 had Final Fantasy X and XII, Shadow of the Colossus, and so many other good games...and Xbox had Halo. This was a great console generation. I never owned an Xbox, but I played Halo with my friends and those are some of my greatest high school memories.

Last is this generation, Wii vs PS3 vs 360. The heated rivalry between PS and Xbox was still very strong, but, honestly, The only real difference between the two systems is a few exclusives and Sony's free online. The Wii is off in its own world, and I hope Nintendo jumps back into the hardcore scene, or they might lose me forever. Which is sad, because I've always been such a big Nintendo fan.

 

[Tom Badguy]

The Wii is off in its own world, and I hope Nintendo jumps back into the hardcore scene, or they might lose me forever. Which is sad, because I've always been such a big Nintendo fan.

I agree that the Wii is in its own world but that's only because of their success. Hasn't the Wii outsold all the other consoles? I don't own a Wii and don't want one, but Nintendo is holding its own against Sony and Microsoft. Kids still go crazy for Mario and I know a lot of families that bought the Wii over the PS3 and 360. So I think Nintendo is doing a pretty good job.

 

[King Sean]

In my HS, the console wars still exist. Only it's this generation's consoles that are being debated. You absolutely CANNOT like the PS3 and Xbox 360 the same. You will be shot and killed. It simply has to be one or the other. And the Wii does not exist to my classmates. They label it as a console for families and don't even consider it. I don't even debate with my friends, because all they say is "This console has better graphics, yada yada yada" Their whole argument is based on that.

 

[Tom Badguy]

In my HS, the console wars still exist. Only it's this generation's consoles that are being debated. You absolutely CANNOT like the PS3 and Xbox 360 the same. You will be shot and killed. It simply has to be one or the other. And the Wii does not exist to my classmates. They label it as a console for families and don't even consider it. I don't even debate with my friends, because all they say is "This console has better graphics, yada yada yada" Their whole argument is based on that.

Well, GFX was still a hot debate even with the SNES and Genesis. Everyone obsessed over Bits. SNES was 16 bit but the Genesis had the 32x, blah, blah. GFX are really important to a lot of gamers. Especially younger gamers. Most of them want everything to look pretty and fuck everything else. But GFX will always be a constant debate among games and consoles.

I'd say a good comeback for someone that says, "But it has better GFX!!!!" then just tell them, "Yeah, but that game SUCKS." And continue to berate them for liking shitty games.

 

[Stoic Hero]

I agree that the Wii is in its own world but that's only because of their success. Hasn't the Wii outsold all the other consoles? I don't own a Wii and don't want one, but Nintendo is holding its own against Sony and Microsoft. Kids still go crazy for Mario and I know a lot of families that bought the Wii over the PS3 and 360. So I think Nintendo is doing a pretty good job.

I'm not at all saying Nintendo's strategy was a "bad" strategy, because that isn't true. It has made Nintendo a lot of money. I'm saying their strategy is bad for me, because I'm a "hardcore" gamer and Nintendo is catering to the "casual" audience, which is a much bigger audience. What this means is they take all the difficulty out of the game, streamline all of the RPG elements, and make it into something the everyman consumer (be he young, old, male, female, what have you) would want to buy. This doesn't sit well with me, but I understand that the dedicated Nintendo fans are a niche group nowadays. The people that own a Wii nowadays probably don't know (and don't care) what an NES is and would be completely appalled if they were asked to play one.

The PS3 and Xbox 360 have done a much better job catering to the hardcore crowd, though Call of Duty is becoming more and more of a casual game. And with Move and Kinect, they tried to grab some of the humongous market Nintendo got with the Wii.

I don't like "casual" games. They dumb down what is otherwise a deep, rich experience. Sometimes, streamlining is good, like with Mass Effect 2. Most of the time, it's bad, like with Final Fantasy XIII, Dragon Age II, and the majority of other RPGs.