Gamer Thread:

As my bloodfeud with @HeckPhiIIy continues, I gotta say, it’s been interesting learning about the next gen consoles and just how far we’ve come in a 25 year Console War™.

Nintendo bowed out of said war with the Wii and do their own thing now. But Sony and Xbox…

They FOUGHT! We’ve spent two decades arguing hardware power and graphical doodaddery (TERAFLOPS!), and then the PS5 and Series X get revealed and, man… this is *sincerely* not a shot at @HeckPhiIIy, but it feels more and more like Sony’s the only company still actually “warring”

Sony is the biggest roadblock in crossplay integration, dating back to Rocket League. They’re super aggressive with marketing exclusives (see: Destiny 2). Meanwhile, Microsoft has been buying up developers, but still allows the games to be multiplatform (see: Cuphead & Minecraft)

I don’t know where we are with getting Xbox Live on the Nintendo Switch but remember that being a discussion. Microsoft this week announced that Apple (the Sony of computers) is the only OS blocking XCloud implementation.

Don’t get me wrong, fuck omnipresent corps, but still…

Sony will exclusively have Spider-Man on next month’s Avengers game, which…

Hurts everyone AND ALSO makes Sony look bad: an exclusive character on a multiplatform game *CAN’T* have any narrative influence cuz it then fucks the story on the other systems.

And with the new consoles, Sony is clearly focused on moving units while Xbox wants your subscription money more than selling a new system. Both models are fine!

100% Sony has the BIGGER (and in many cases better) 1st party titles but X offers MORE games for “free” thru GamePass

I’ve played Gears 5 & Tactics, Outer Worlds & Wilds, The Touryst, and so many other dope games thru my GamePass subscription. I’m annoyed that after YEARS of zero interest, I bought GTA V and like three weeks later, I came to GamePass. $60 for 1 game vs 100+ games for $15/month.

This isn’t me hyping Microsoft as some benevolent company that “just wants to give gamers good games.” If anything, Nintendo is the smartest of the three cuz in 2006, they said “we’ll eventually hit a graphical ceiling; we need to innovate gameplay itself” and gambled on the Wii.

Microsoft is winning the OPTICS War vs Sony, which I think has been a theme over the last few years in many areas of entertainment. We are in this fascinating time in Amerikkkan capitalism where “the people” are discovering both their voices and how lopsided traditionalism is.

In film & TV: there’s a (half-hearted) rush for diversity on screen & behind the camera
In college football: UCF (my alma mater, so I’m biased) has challenged the “power” system; players are flirting with unionizing and threatening walkouts in response to racism at their schools

A big one in my niche of the world is wrasslin: WWE looks tyrannical compared to AEW and other smaller promotions. Yet, @yogawench & I constantly discuss that AEW Tony Khan *feels* drastically different than NFL Tony Khan.

So all of this is OPTICS; capitalism gonna capitalize…

And with that, bringing it back to gaming, I think the Console War™ is dead. Instead of three companies vying for total domination, you have three drastically different consoles that can fit your preferred flavor of gaming.

If you want epic, immersive, graphically stunning AAA first party games, Sony.

If you want dope games that you can play with everyone regardless of hardware, Microsoft.

If you want unique, dynamic gameplay… OR HI, LOOK AT THE LABO SERIES… Nintendo’s got you covered.

I know @HeckPhiIIy and I are just two dudes giving each other shit, but there are people who legit still attack EACH OTHER over the marketing choices of global, amoral companies. Capitalism does that to you. “My indistinguishable brand is better than your indistinguishable brand”

LOOK AT COLLEGE FUCKING FOOTBALL!!! December 2018 had me and @juanyfbaby firing (playful) shots at each other… we almost never disagree on anything, and yet I told him he’s “thinking like a republican” just cuz our favorite schools were playing in the same bowl game. JUAN Y’all!

Optics, man… maybe this is my adderall third eye talking, but we spend SO MUCH time fighting each other over trivial shit instead of fighting systems.

Anyway, I’ll go to my grave saying I’m better at Fall Guys than @HeckPhiIIy, and we’ll never know if it’s true cuz no crossplay

*it came to GamePass. I legit proofread this thread before pressing the blue button too, I swear! https://twitter.com/drsixfingersesq/status/1293643709901225984