The new console war

About this time last year, I met up with a childhood friend who had been instrumental in my development as a gamer.  We played console games, table top games (including an RPG that he made up), and even arcade games together (yes, I'm that old).  He lives in Asia now, so when he asked me to grab him an XBONE for him, as they wouldn't be released for several more months, of course I agreed.

Right about the same time, I got myself a PS Vita and a PS plus membership and was really impressed at the selection of games that were available, and I was excited about the prospect of immersing myself in the PlayStation ecosystem much like so many of the Apple faithful adorn themselves with iGadgets because "everything is so integrated."  This is a bit out of character for me, as many of you know, I'm platform-agnostic.  That is, I play games on whatever platform suits the game best.

For example, in the last generation, FPS, and driving games were played on my X360.  Fighting games, JRPGs, and character action games were for PS3.  RTS, or western RPGs were squarely in the PC camp (although all these lines blurred as Steam became more prominent in the past five years). Each type of games, in my opinion, suit the controllers of those respective platforms.  Wii was a special case, of course.  If you want to play a Mario, Zelda or Metroid game, or if you wanted to play a game with your mom, then it was all Wii, all the time.

But I digress.  PS4 was what I had my sights set on.  PS plus for all three systems, and the concept of remote play seemed like I would be living in some kind of futuristic fever dream.  Consider, too, where we were at that time.  PS4 had "won" E3, and was cheaper to boot.  XBONE was more expensive, was saddled with Kinect, and the flagship title was deeply flawed. At the beginning of a new console generation, before the libraries fill out, the game dev cycle matures and the initial round of price cuts happens, even a fence sitter like me can only get one system.  But when my friend found out that I planned to get a PS4 even as we were playing Forza 5, his disappointment was plain as day.

Now, we're both (relatively) grown men, and I didn't think that this revelation would affect our relationship adversely, but this exchange was enlightening to a degree.  Until that moment, console loyalty was the province of internet trolls and teenaged COD fans who need to feel as though their tribe was the one worth belonging to.  It wasn't until a guy that I respected deeply cast his flag that I realized how truly powerful brand loyalty is.  Last generation, he played on X360, so his vote was already decided.

I guess this sense of modern-day tribalism doesn't make sense to me so much as the need to belong.  I get that.  We all want to feel like we're a part of something bigger than ourselves, and this can extend to the things we like and spend our free time and money on.  But that loyalty doesn't extend both ways.  Microsoft doesn't feel like it owes my friend anything any more than Sony does me.  Or Blizzard those poor, poor souls who play WoW or Hearthstone.  Do you think that Apple cares for its loyal customers any more or less than Samsung?  Of course not. But that doesn't mean that we won't defend our chosen platforms against those who decry it.

As for my "next gen" console choice... well, lets just say that 2014 was a complicated year for gamers, both inside and outside this so called "console war."  It's a much narrower decision for the gamer with only enough money to support one console.  After a year, PS plus has lost a bit of it's shine, and XBOX has made strides to close the gap.  So which system did I end up getting?

Wii U.