The “console wars,” while rightfully criticized as juvenile and antithetical to the inclusive spirit of gaming, inadvertently unveils an intriguing aspect of gaming culture: a boisterous, public, and unabashed affiliation to one’s console of choice.
Whether hoisted under the banners of PlayStation or Xbox, this allegiance transcends hardware preference and morphs into a symbolic totem of one’s gaming identity. It’s loyalty so fierce, so seemingly personal, that it spawns heated online debates, skewed polls, and hurt defenses of one’s chosen videogame box.
Gamers proudly align with a product they paid hundreds of dollars to own, reflecting a product preference and an intrinsic and emotive tie to a specific gaming community. So I ask you… when was the last time you saw two people impassionately arguing about Netflix vs. Hulu? (ICVR)