Xbox! Playstation! PC! Switch! Mobile!
We all sure do love our games, don’t we? We live in such a golden age for gaming it still kind of blows my mind on how far we’ve come since the days of Pong! A 2D ball, bouncing around on a screen, to a massive and immersive gaming world like The Witcher 3! The evolution of gaming has been substantial and quick, to say the least. Technology advances faster and faster each year, allowing the gaming industry to fully utilize this tech to bring the best experience to the consumer at home.
So the real question is, why are more people concerned about what the other platform is doing and not their own? It’s ok to be passionate about your platform, to want the best out of it and for it to succeed in a big way! If you go out of your way to “Bash” another platform just because it doesn’t do whatever the other platform does… well you might just be a bit toxic.
Gaming culture has always had its own form of negativity. One set of fans of a platform putting down the other. For whatever reason, its more rampant today than it has ever been. It’s not needed, nor does it do any good in the way of providing support for your favorite platform. Be proud of what you have, but don’t go out of your way to put others down just because they like something that you don’t.
More than ever, we need to support what we’re passionate about and push them to the limit of providing the best service and setups we will ever see! The more we support what we love, the more love these companies will give back to us in the way of fantastic products and the best gaming we will ever see. If you don’t like what your preferred brand is doing, give them feedback, give them criticism. Test out what they are trying to do, help them make their product better, constantly talk about what you want! They are always listening, because in the end if you don’t voice your concerns nothing will change.
The Under Ach1ever (@Under_Ach1ever) On Twitter provides a fantastic insight as to why it’s so important to properly support your platform and provides extremely valid points.
“We’re all busy. Most of us lead lives that do not specifically revolve around gaming. So when we do game, or when we discuss gaming, or any other hobby for that matter, we should use our time wisely. One thing that always comes up with any hobby in the history of man, is “fanboy” attitudes, sentiments, and beliefs. A common element of these interactions is not about supporting your own preference, or choice, but finding ways to essentially put down the product or hobby that you dislike. This is wasted energy. If you dislike something, you’re better off minimizing how that thing impacts your life, and use your time to further enjoy your own preference, platform, or hobby. The reality is this. The time you spend being critical of the competitor, would be better served by being critical of the platforms you choose. That does not mean that you are criticizing the platform you choose, rather, it means you are appreciating its strengths, while identifying areas that need work. If people who like a product or service, any product or service, always turned a blind eye to the faults of the product or serivce, it would decrease the likelihood of improvements being made for those things. It is all about perception and bias. People think if I love Xbox, but I openly critique them for things I feel they are doing wrong, then I am not a “true fan” of the platform. Those who choose to speak up, are the real supporters of platform versus those who sit idly by and never help identify the weaknesses of said platform. At the end of the day, being critical of something you don’t support in the first place (you love Xbox, but you’re not a Playstation fan) will get you nothing other than a fleeting satisfaction of having “proved” someone who disagrees with you “wrong”. It is wasted energy. Enjoy the positive things you like about whatever system you like, but pretending that there aren’t flaws that could be fixed or worked on is a disservice to you, and to the product and service you prefer. This doesn’t mean that discussions with people who don’t like your platform should be dissuaded, no, in-fact, if you went about discussions with this thought in mind, you might find that it leads to more insight and more pleasant interactions. Things cannot be fixed unless they’re identified, and turning a blind eye to glaring issues like blind fanboys typically do will help absolutely no one, and will hold platforms, games, and services back in the end. TL:DR, spend less energy on things you don’t care for, and more time and energy on things you do care about.”
So in conclusion, please be critical of your platform but don’t destroy what others enjoy and hold dear to their heart. It does absolutely no good, at all. Support what you love, help them build it up and help them provide you with the best possible service that they can give you. Do not waste your energy on others, but focus on what you want to see out of what you have a passion for. Make friends, have awesome construction conversations and always remember. We all love gaming, and we all have that in common.
