With the Wii U and Vita's continued struggles, I've seen a fair share of crude behavior surrounding the fanbases of both consoles on any post that seems to talk about either in any sort of positive or negative context. It's the kind of driveling tomfoolery that you would come to expect from an article written by Jim Stirling; arrogant, off-base and pretty immature. Don't get the wrong idea, I'm calling out fans of both Sony and Nintendo on this one. While I am most certainly a Nintendo fan and still an optimistic Wii U enthusiast, I've seen some incredibly disappointing behavior from some pro-Nintendo fanboys and trolls who refuse to show any sort of humility or empathy toward Vita owners. Perhaps it's reactionary to that same behavior (an eye for an eye, I suppose), but is by no means acceptable.
The lack of mutual understanding on both sides is daunting, with discussions often following a noticeable pattern every time VGChartz posts another one of their sales figures. Keep in mind, not everyone acts as follows, but I want to give an idea of the kind of rhetoric I'm tired of seeing.
"Look! Vita sales have gone 3K higher than Wii U! It's DESTROYING it!"
"Look! Wii U sales have gone up! Screw Vita!"
This goes out to the fanboys who refuse to acknowledge reality, regardless of their own particular video game "creed"; neither the Wii U nor the Vita are selling WELL. They both have been selling below 50K for most of the recent fiscal year with some rare spikes here and there during some months. You know how you can describe Vita after Toukiden came out in Japan? Less bad. Wii U sales after Pikmin 3's release in Japan? Less bad.
This is a "Year on Year Sales" VGChartz post. http://n4g.com/news/1323328...
Notice how Wii U and Vita have a 200K gap? Notice how both are being outsold by the PS3 and 3DS by at least 3 million? THAT is the reality of the situation. The Vita and Wii U are struggling, so much so that they have both apparently been outsold by the PSP (assuming VGChartz are being even slightly accurate, which is unlikely to begin with).
While Vita has done better in Japan, what with its price drop in that region and the release of the exclusive Toukiden, Vita sales managed to finally get out of the usual slump they were in and outsell the Wii U for several months and since then the two have been struggling to beat each other's place. The only problem here is this is like two racers competing for 8th place; it doesn't matter because this figure isn't worth a damn to the consoles, their manufacturers or the fans.
After Toukiden's initial spike for the platform, sales have apparently fallen again to roughly where the Wii U has been. Meanwhile, the Wii U saw a very brief but significant spike in sales come the release of Pikmin 3. Evidently the spike didn't last and Nintendo's console, like Sony's portable, has gone back to square one. And in BOTH occasions there was always the same fanboy-ridden cross-analysis on both sides riddled with some sort of excuse.
"Vita still outsold Wii U by 5K." As if that means anything when both are in the gutter.
"Oh well 3DS is still vastly outselling Vita." And? While the 3DS is the Vita's direct competition, the similarities between Wii U and Vita are far more uncanny, both in features and performance.
What you can take away from this blog is this; I believe both the Wii U and Vita deserve better. For a while I hadn't the time or interest to get the Vita, but I still felt for the fans who probably feel the way I do about Wii U's performance. There should be a great deal of frustration from Nintendo fans and Sony fans with how these respective companies have been handling these platforms. Why the hell has Nintendo taken such a cavalier approach to their console for the first year? Where's the marketing? Why in hell did Sony restrict the price cut and Toukiden to just Japan? It hasn't exactly been selling in droves in other regions. The truth of it is the fans of Wii U AND Vita should demand more effort from Nintendo and Sony; endless praise and defense will, in truth, not help these platforms succeed and they deserve better from both us and the manufacturers.
I'm not exactly saying that if you like the Vita you should like the Wii U or vice versa, but at least understand that crapping on 'the other guy' is not going to make you look cool or make your favorite platform's performance increase. It makes you seem like an apathetic hypocrite. Take the time to understand the other side of the spectrum. The community would benefit largely; less stupid arguments over nothing for one thing and more discussion of upcoming games for both platforms for another.
In the end, this is a call for peace and sensibility among, not Sony fans, not Nintendo fans, but gamers. I don't exactly expect this to reach a lot of people, but hey, it's my blog and its purpose is for me to express my thoughts. Yeah, I'm a Nintendo fan and I don't like seeing the Wii U get crapped on. What Nintendo fan would? But then what Sony fan likes to see the Vita get crapped on? Both are good platforms with specific functions that they both do well that have suffered similar problems. My hope is that this community recognizes these similarities and hopefully find a great deal more empathy within itself.
But this is wishful thinking. In the end, that's up to the actions of the individuals within the community, namely those of you reading this blog. Your thoughts?
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With you 100% Pops! We're all gamers in the end, why the need to treat each other like crap?
"They like a console that I don't, they are my enemy and I hate them!"
Seriously, does this seem like a way adults should behave? C'mon guys, you're better than that. I know you have it in you. We're gamers and should be good to one another. Long live gaming!
Gonna agree. Maybe it was partly due to my gaming system variety when growing up (Sega Genesis, N64, all the previous gen systems including the Dreamcast[RIP]) made me immune to the 'us or them' mentality a lot of people have but I'm glad I don't share in it. The only console company I actually find I dislike is Microsoft, and even then I don't dislike their products, just how they've been acting. I can understand friendly ribbing (I give my friend shit a lot) but there's nothing friendly about this. The best part is when they advise things that clearly wouldn't actually benefit a company or act as if they're sympathetic when the actual gist of the comment is anything but.
Good blog.
Honestly, the mentality of a lot of fanboys on this site is beyond my comprehension. It's best to just "ignore" them and stick with others who are respectful and open-minded.
You write an article like this and didn't include this picture
http://englishwithatwist.co...
:P
More on topic: Nice blog. I agree with you. I do think though, on this site, we can't criticise companies without inciting intense anger from some people. I agree comparing Vita and Wii U saying one is getting destroyed by the other is just stupid but I think we should criticise them both equally in a logical and mature fashion. We don't need to laugh at/insult the Wii U or Vita like some child but we should be able to criticise things without getting hounded by users here. I think the Vita (I have one by the way) and the Wii U share similar problems which similar solutions could help them both
Dear PopRocks, I quite understand your point of view.
It's quite interesting that people seem to compare PS VITA with WiiU where those consoles are so different from one another.
Firstly, we're talking about a difference in experience. I know that i'm stating the obvious but gosh! WiiU is a home console, and Vita is a portable one. IMO this comparison comes from the Remote Control (which still don't work with PS3) functions. Let's not forget about the guts. A portable console will never have power comparable to a home console.
Compare WiiU with other home consoles like PS4,X1 or their older iterations. Do the same with Vita - compare it to 3DS, DS or even Game Gear.
I think that the error in comparing Vita to WiiU is for both "fanbases" to feel good about themselves. Let's say it outright, they (consoles) both suck when it comes down to sales.
Even then Japan, US and most of Europe have it better when it comes to WiiU and Vita than people from my country (Poland).
If you want to buy Vita (3G-Wifi + 8gb memory), you have to work for about 20 days.
If you want to buy a game for Vita, you have to work 1,5-2 days.
If you want to buy WiiU (8gb basic white pack) you have to work for about 25 days.
If you want to buy a game for WiiU, you have to work 2-2,5 days.
All is calculated with Polish medium monthly wage.
Now let's talk about the companies - SCE Poland and Nintendo Poland.
I'll start with Nintendo Poland. We have no Nintendo Poland.
Duties of Nintendo Poland were given to a no-name company, which resigned after 8 months of work. Add to it problems with any console games in Europe and you can imagine the barren space in chain-stores and local gaming stores on WiiU shelves.
And don't get me started on SCE Poland. Big games are released in Poland like in every other country in Europe but smaller (digital) ones come out with a 2 week slip. Why? Because the description of the game on PS STORE has to be translated to Polish. You wait for those 2 weeks seeing all the reviews, finally you go to the store and what do you see? English description or description made with google translate (which translates english to gibberish).
Add to it the beauty of Europe which is:
- No PS MOBILE
- Many games which come out in US at retail are only available in digital
And you have a beautiful image.
But there are fans. IDK about WiiU fans in Poland (but i know a pair of them) but PS VITA fans here are going bananas over their consoles. How?
Since 13 months they're organizing meetings in different cities for adult adopters of this console, to drink, play, and have fun. They call them "Vitabros/Vitamuffins Meetings" or in Polish: "Spotkania Vitowców". Here's a link with photos from the meetings: https://www.facebook.com/pa...
But they don't stop with only playing. The entry is free and as they cooperate with many companies you can win prizes like PS VITA games, PS VITA accessories, gaming fashion (like LBP hats, Resistance necklaces, PSASBR T-shirts, etc.). They even got Vivid Games and Bloober Team to come over to one of their meetings and had the chance to play Real Boxing and Deathmatch Village before anybody else.
But i have diverted from the topic. Let's spread love Vita fans and WiiU fans. There's only 10 mln of us, so we shouldn't lose blood and power (and passion) fighting with each other.