Fast forward from 8 bit, through 16 bit, to 32 bit consoles. SEGA, with its Saturn and Sony with its Playstation. What happened? Sony dominated SEGA by getting the casual gamer involved. Something that was so unheard of before that time. Most of us were considered nerds or dorks for spending hours upon hours in front of the TV, wishing we could put on a racoon tail and fly, or wishing that we could run at super speeds like Sonic. Then, Sony launched the Playstation. Even though Sony had great games hardcore gamers enjoyed, they still set out to capture those who either out grew video games, or the ones who felt they were too cool to play games.

Now I'm not saying that the growth of the gaming industry is bad, not at all. I'm just stating my opinion of why I think it’s the casual gamer who thinks they are hardcore that are ruining the experience that many have loved for our entire lives. So PSone had a great run, great marketing, a diverse library, and at the time stunning graphics. Graphics are the #1 appealing aspect of games to casual gamers. They saw games in 3D, characters took form in shapes, not sprites. At the time it looked so realistic. Animation begin to mimic real life movement to the point that sports games moved (to some extent) close to their real life counterparts. With sports looking and moving a lot better, the die-hard sports only fan was born.

In my opinion, the die-hard sports casual gamer is fine. (even though they allow EA to charge full price for updated rosters). They play their sports games the ENTIRE year until the next iteration comes out. That's they're business they're not hurting anyone. They miss out on a lot of other games, but they're not really interested in anything else. With graphics achieving a closer representation to real life, PSone allowed for more mature rated gaming. We had games that would begin to rival Hollywood in its attempts to use more gore to express their ideas. Whether it was Resident Evil of Metal Gear Solid, a lot of people think violence is cool. Maybe not consciously, but people hate watching edited movies on TV, so I know violence in video game material is cool to people.

So we had those 2 big elements transform the way games are made. Good graphics, and violence seem to be pushing the industry forward at times. Fast forward again to the 128 bit generation. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo were pretty much on the same page in terms of hardware. We all know Xbox was the most powerful with PS2 being the least of the 3. Since SEGA bowed out of the race, Sony pretty much had the industry to itself for a year. With so many PSone followers upgrading, Sony just stuck with its 3rd party guns more in my opinion, than they did with their first machine. Then Xbox came out, showed its muscle, but developers never really took advantage of it unless it was a 1st or 2nd party game. Gamecube, while more powerful than PS2, its games were deemed kiddy. I don't think Nintendo's games are kiddy, just more traditional to what they've always created. Since casual gamers begin playing games on PSone and not the traditional fun Nintendo games that hardcore gamers can and always have enjoyed, it suffered. With no true adult or violent content, (our society is so messed up) Gamecube sat on the sidelines and watched Microsoft and Sony battle it out.

Once casual gamers found out that Xbox was indeed more powerful, some jumped ship. Not for the content, but for the look. Microsoft is the most successful software company in the world. Casual gamers not really knowing anything about the system jumped on it to not feel inferior or because their friends say its the best, even if it doesn't cater to their needs. So this is where the problem with casual gamers really begins to screw things up. You have casual gamers who know nothing about what they've purchased, know nothing about video games in general, and individuals who only play what other people tell them to play.

I'm not telling anybody that they have to know the extensive knowledge about video games from its birth, but at least know enough to have a opinion that makes sense. You don't have to buy every system that launches, but don't try and belittle someone for the choice that they make. Across the forums, I see a lot of, "360 is Xbox 1.5!" or, "PS3 sucks! I can't wait until Sony dies!" or, "The Wii is completely useless!". If you are a true gamer, you don't even have to be the hardest of hardcore, but if you are a true gamer, you will look at the strength of each system and choose to what fits you, or buy them all. I think most people choose a system, they feel that they need to justify their purchase, so they get on the internet and completely disagree with the other individual who chose the opposite system. I'm amazed at how one person could call themselves a true gamer when they completely dismiss the games on a different console. Not even just ignore the console, but the great games that are exclusive to it.

Regardless of your hate for a console manufacturer, every system has its share of good games and bad ones. I don't like the business practices of Microsoft, not because of their incredible monopoly, but because the lawsuit that was filed because they wouldn't promote a African American who said he was passed over numerous times for promotions while jobs were being given to people with less experience. That's messed up, but most of America could care less. Even though I disapprove of them, I still have a 360 and OG Xbox. Why? Cause I'm a gamer and I live to play games no matter who manufactures the console. How can you call yourself a gamer, when you want another game company to fail? That's so twisted, it doesn't make any sense. Competition breeds great games and we, as gamers are the ones who reap the rewards. No one is telling you that you have to buy every console. So why force your opinion on people so much that it becomes a stupid shouting match across the internet? No true gamer looks at a game and says it sucks just because they don't own the console.

Look at the other items that we purchase, and you won't see the amount of insane amount of arguments that take place on video game forums everyday. Look at cell phones, no one yells at people for choosing Verizon or Cingular. There are phones that people will pay top dollar for, there's 2 year contracts, and termination fees, yet I rarely see the hate over one person choosing a different provider other than what someone else chooses. No one has shouting matches about how their Nikes are better than another person's Reeboks. There's no forum where people try to force their opinion about how better their Honda is than the next person's Toyota. So why on earth is it, that as gamers (hardcore or casual) who are labeled by the media, the world, our family, and our non-gaming friends, don't get along when we ALL obviously have the same exact hobby? ALL CONSOLES ARE CREATED EQUAL!

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