I whole-heartedly agree with Marin.
Our consoles are merely platforms. They allow us to play the games we love. Yes, platforms are different, but as long as they enable playing the same game, it shouldn't matter which one you choose.
The fact that we have these competing, non-compatible platforms is a problem for us as gamers. Developers have to choose which platform to develop for, leaving many of us out in the cold, or spend that much more money to develop for all multiple platforms. We find ourselves unable to purchase some games unless we buy multiple platforms, whose initial cost is considerable. Inevitably, games end up performing better on some platforms than others, leaving us disappointed when we've chosen the worse platform. All in all, multiple platforms increase the costs to developers and gamers.
Competition is good, but platforms, because they aren't interchangeable, segment the market. With a car, you can choose any car you want and still be able to drive on the same roads and park in the same spots, but with computing platforms, your choice of platform limits what hardware and software you can use and who you will be able to use it with. It's no different than VHS vs. Betamax or HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray. As long as their are two competing formats, everybody loses -- only when we standardize do we get to reap the benefits of interoperability and the cost savings of only doing something once.
So stop arguing that your XBOX is better than your PS3, or that your Mac is better than your PC, and instead argue that you should be able to just buy a damn console and a damn game and play them. We don't want exclusives; we want to make purchases without fear of being on the losing side of a popularity contest. We want to make games cheaper for all of us, not choose who will live and die in the entertainment industry.
Our consoles are merely platforms. They allow us to play the games we love. Yes, platforms are different, but as long as they enable playing the same game, it shouldn't matter which one you choose.
The fact that we have these competing, non-compatible platforms is a problem for us as gamers. Developers have to choose which platform to develop for, leaving many of us out in the cold, or spend that much more money to develop for all multiple platforms. We find ourselves unable to purchase some games unless we buy multiple platforms, whose initial cost is considerable. Inevitably, games end up performing better on some platforms than others, leaving us disappointed when we've chosen the worse platform. All in all, multiple platforms increase the costs to developers and gamers.
Competition is good, but platforms, because they aren't interchangeable, segment the market. With a car, you can choose any car you want and still be able to drive on the same roads and park in the same spots, but with computing platforms, your choice of platform limits what hardware and software you can use and who you will be able to use it with. It's no different than VHS vs. Betamax or HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray. As long as their are two competing formats, everybody loses -- only when we standardize do we get to reap the benefits of interoperability and the cost savings of only doing something once.
So stop arguing that your XBOX is better than your PS3, or that your Mac is better than your PC, and instead argue that you should be able to just buy a damn console and a damn game and play them. We don't want exclusives; we want to make purchases without fear of being on the losing side of a popularity contest. We want to make games cheaper for all of us, not choose who will live and die in the entertainment industry.
