The following is representative of my personal opinion and nothing more.
I am not coming to you as some spoiled princess who gets her every whim fulfilled (though I wish I did!), but as a hardworking gamer who chooses which console to purchase based on one thing.
(Cue light bulbs flashing on and angels humming in the background)
Games! It is literally that simple. I want to play games. Actually, I want to play a large variety of games. I enjoy my hobby and I don’t want to miss out on any title that will bring me pleasure simply because I lack the hardware to run it. With gaming being what it is, you are almost never guaranteed which console third party games will release on. I refer you to the Vita game Legend of Raven to back up that statement.
When I see the negative reactions people have when a game is announced for a console that they don’t support, I get a little bit enraged. Part of me understands. I get that some titles will be console sellers. I also understand that most of us want the company that we most root for to have amazing sales numbers for varying reasons. To boast that the company we love is on top is one such reason. The other, slightly evil part of me stands back, shakes my head and laughs because these people are going to miss out on some great games and I am not. While they spend their time complaining, I will spend mine gaming.
I would not limit myself to only owning one console unless I had no choice because of financial reasons. That someone would ever choose to do this absolutely blows me away. My question to anyone who has this stance is: why? Why limit yourself like that? If it is a money situation, I can understand. When you make this decision based on the company that makes the hardware though, that I can’t understand.
Let’s be realistic. Most of us have a preference of which company we best like out of the big 3. I am a Sony fan. You will notice that I did not say fangirl, I said fan. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with having one company that you favor above the others. What I do think there is something wrong with is picking one company and being unable to see any fault they might have. Refusing to support other companies simply because they are not your favorite also seems silly to me. I am not the biggest fan of Microsoft right now because of their recent choices, but I am not about to throw out my 360 and Wii because of it and become a Sony fangirl who screams into the abyss how wonderful Sony is and that no other company can possibly do anything right. If you ever see me doing this you had better put your gaming skills to work and save me because something has taken over my body or is threatening me!
I offer you this as proof that I put my money where my mouth is and spread the love around with each company. Currently in my home are the following systems: Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Nintendo 3DS XL, Sony Vita, Sony PSP and even a Nintendo Game Boy Pocket. There are also a couple of laptops that will play older PC games in the house. I don’t own a Wii U yet because I can’t afford it. Am I sitting here bitching about the games that are coming to the Wii U? No! You won’t ever see me complaining that any given game should release on a console that I do own and not on one that I don’t. Instead, I will save my money and purchase the system I am lacking as soon as possible.
The systems that I have were acquired over time. Around 13 years or so. They were purchased with a love of gaming in mind and not a love of any company. A company is a huge giant of a thing that could care less about you as long as you purchase their hardware. If you think any one company holds you in any higher esteem then the others, you are kidding yourself.
I hate to harp on money, but I am going to once more for just a second or two. If you can only afford one console right off the bat then you should absolutely purchase whichever one is going to give you the best experience. Whichever console has the broadest selection of games that you are interested in should be your first choice. Obviously. Speaking purely about home consoles, people who enjoy JRPG’s should, in my own opinion, own a PS3; those who like shooters and shmups should have a 360; and those who like platform games and first party Nintendo titles should have a Wii or Wii U. Obviously, each console will not offer you only these types of games, but I am speaking in terms of the majority of games available on each system.
For those of you who can afford to own more than one system and simply won’t because of the company that made it, I say this to you: Get. Over. It. Stop bellyaching that you are missing out on any given game, get off your ass and purchase the console that the game is available for. If you won’t do that then at least let the rest of us enjoy the games we will be able to play because we aren’t fanboys/girls who refuse to support more than one company.
Don’t hide behind the fear that if you support a company who isn’t your first choice you are somehow being disloyal to the company you love. This isn’t the second grade where we can only have one friend at a time. I promise you that it is OK to have more than one good thing in your life at the same time. You don’t start eating Pizza Hut pizza and give up on Domino’s do you? Then why would you give up on hardware that is going to offer you a fun experience because of the company that made it? Once we end this fight we can focus more on which games are not being localized to our area and what we can do to fix that. I think that would be a better way to spend our time.
