Zero Sum Game

[Yeargdribble]

Why must it be this way with gaming. Why is it that for one person to be right everyone else must be wrong. For one console to be good all others must be garbage. It's not possible that both 360 and PS3 have good exclusives. It's not possible that the Wii has any worthwhile games. Today, it was controllers. People arguing about which controller is superior by thrashing the other one. It's hyperbolic arguments about how XXX controller permanently disfigured me and crippled me for life... well not quite, but usually there are dozens of comments about how one controller or the other gives them cramps or something.

Of course the counter to this is, "Nuh uh!!! The controller that gives you cramps is the superior one... because the other one gives me cramps!!! You're wrong!!"

Go die in a fire please. We can all have preferences based on all sorts of subjective things. It might have to do with the size of our hands affecting the controllers we like. It might be the amount of time we have to devote to gaming affecting how much we like RPGs and the such. It might be the fact that we do or do not enjoy online play that affects how much we like a game for a given platform.

This isn't to say that there aren't legitimate points to be made one why one thing is actually better than another thing. Like for certain games actually having better graphics on PC is a legitimate fact... not a subjective issue. At the same time, that doesn't inherently make the PC version better (it might be riddled with bugs or badly translated controls).

Why can't we just have the discussions without our major premise being, "I'm right BECAUSE you are wrong!"?






NOTE: I basically know the answer. This is a rhetorical rant because it drives me out of my skull every time I see it pop up (daily). Feel free to discuss.

[Momiji]

Arguments on this sort of thing are stupid. Everyone has their preferences. People need to deal with it.

Debates and discussions are fine, but when they turn bitter and angry, it becomes pretty damned stupid.

[Jiro]

I know these sorts of things exist, but fortunately I avoid them on the internet and don't experience them in real life. My friends and I have discussed controllers in the past, and when opinions differ then they differ and that's it. We go "this is why" and then "oh yeah I understand that/ I don't get that but ok"

Is it really that big a deal for some people to be right? I suppose I'd lose my at someone if they were wrong for thinking it's a big deal, which kind of makes me just as bad

[ljkkjlcm9]

I understand the rant, and have thought about it as well. Clearly sometimes certain versions are better, like Left 4 Dead or Dragon Age on the PC being better than the other versions. But each system has it's own games, it's own unique things about it, and different people prefer different things. That's the entire reason that 3 systems can exist. It's the entire reason that Monopolies are so rare, because people like having choices, and people will pick different things.

It's essentially always my argument. Sure the 360 has some good games, as does the PSP, but neither is a system that has enough on it for me to warrant purchasing. I understand some people prefer those games, but I prefer the games available on my DS, Wii, PS3 and PC.... hence my purchase of them!

THE JACKEL

[Yeargdribble]

I suppose I'd lose my at someone if they were wrong for thinking it's a big deal, which kind of makes me just as bad

And this is precisely where I find myself constantly. For whatever reason it really bothers me that it's such a cut-throat thing. It's just not okay to like something in gaming because there's certainly someone out there that thinks you are completely wrong for no real reason other than the fact that they have a different preference and to validate it to themselves they have to tear others down.

I understand that people (stupidly) defend what they've bought despite evidence to make themselves feel like it was a better investment... but these are video games. You didn't buy into a time share or invest money in a perpetual motion machine.

Maybe it's easier for me to defend them all because I have access to all platforms, but even when it wasn't so, I just don't remember attacking the others. A lot of people hated on Wii when it's all I had. I defended the games that I enjoyed on the Wii. I didn't feel the need to attack the game library of other platforms. It's so silly.

If you're going to attack, at least make it a reasonable attack based on facts and don't try to ignore the positives. Yes, Wii has shovel-ware, but Wii also has stuff like SMG. That type of thing. You could say something negative about every platform, but there's also a lot of good you can say about every platform ... except maybe the PSPGo.

[Jiro]

Clearly sometimes certain versions are better, like Left 4 Dead or Dragon Age on the PC being better than the other versions.

It's still a subjective thing. My PC wouldn't run either of these, so clearly for me they aren't better.

Even if they did, I prefer the feel of a controller. So, for me, the PC versions would be inferior in that regard.

I'm no more or less right than you are for preferring the PC version. Damn subjectivism.

[Yeargdribble]

But assuming you have the specs to run certain things, the PC is objectively superior. DA literally is functionally superior due to camera limitations on the consoles, though it doesn't make it a bad game on the console.

While most people will agree that RTSs are significantly better controlled with KB&M, nobody is allowed to say the same thing about FPSs... it gets too contentious.

However, it's really just a point of fact that you can aim better in any FPS with a KB&M than with a controller. Some people get really good with a controller and some people love to play on their couches with a big TV, that's fine. Some people are less familiar with the feeling of the controller in their hand, but technically, all else equal, a controller will never have the accuracy of a KB&M. It's simply just the nature of analog sticks.

But like I said, it's okay to like a controller, but incorrect to say that it's equal to KB&M for FPS. Of course, most of the time it's a moot point because only people with similar inputs are playing together.