Brand Loyalty Is Killing The Gaming Community

Rich Drummond of Richie D Rants says:

"Fan boys, console wars and blind hatred. These were all things that were absent years ago in the gaming community compared to what we endure on a daily basis on the internet. Why is this so present in the gaming community today? Why do people adamantly defend a big corporation? Why did the gaming community turn to this sort of thing? In this video I dive into just that."

[SCW1982]

Sorry but they have never been absent everyone just has a online voice now instead of picking fights on the playground between Nintendo and Sega.

[imXify]

I was about to say the same thing. Internet.

[darthv72]

brand loyalty is understandable to a point. Like you have had such good luck with a car mfg or you like a certain mfg of tv. But that type of loyalty is where you generally keep to yourself and you arent out there harping on how every other brand sucks.

Even (some, not all) sports fans can be respectable in the space of other fans. Trash talk is understandable especially when two teams are playing against each other and its all in good fun. There are times when others take things too far and its really sad when that happens.

With video games....it can be just as toxic. The unhealthy part is when people cant simply like what they like. they have to tear down the opposition.

I drive a dodge but i dont hate on ford or GM or imports. I like samsung phones but i dont hate on iphone or HTC. I like LG tv but i dont hate on sony or Vizio.

If i dont like something, i dont buy it. I wont hate on the next guy because he does. That's not my place. To each their own.

[starchild]

This was a good video. It's true that there has always been fanboyism in videogames, but it has gotten exponentially worse over the past few generations.

[N4g_null]

Things like this get worst with age. It use to be a lot of mature older gamers now kids are yelling gay, f this and that over these online networks. This has lowered the expectations of what we expect from fellow gamers. Then these people get jobs in the industry and produce crap. Then they get mad at the world.

Lots of gamers that loose a lot do end up mad at the world.

Online gaming has ruined alot.

[xHeavYx]

Isn't this the guy who made a video about how PS+ is better than Xbox Live or something like that?
I do agree that favoritism has always existed, but not only in regards to video games

[creeping judas]

Agreed, because we all know GMC truck is better than a Ford or Dodge truck!!

The funny thing is after 27 years of driving I finally was able to purchase a full sized truck, and I kind of love it. So I went to a GMC fan based forum, just to see what people were saying about it. And, the same kind of fanatical fanboyism exists outside of N4G. So the console fanboys are not unique, they are just an extension of their passion.

[static5245]

I posted this in another article seems fitting here too

Whatever happened having it being about the games. I'm tired of these $ony and Xbots attacks. Pick the console you like and just play.. have fun. But everyone wants to attack the next person.. Some to the point of delusional (not naming names but we all know the livejournal).

There's genocide and people starving and dying out there, all we can fight about is our HD experience.. First world problems I guess

[ArchangelMike]

Brand loyality is the other half of what makes gaming so much fun. C'mon tell me you don't enjoy it. You online gaming journo's love it. Whole careers are built around it.

Without brand loyality aka the console war, there would'nt be such competition between the big three.

We all love it, be honest!

[FragMnTagM]

Speak for yourself. I firmly dislike everything to do with the "console wars." It is a huge waste of time and I would like to see it go away.

[FragMnTagM]

I do remember that a little bit back in the day, but it was nowhere near as bad as it is today, internet or not.

[Sharingan_no_Kakashi]

Look... I would love to own every console but I simply don't have the funds. If I have to choose one then I'm gonna stick to what I know, and has never let me down. Now excuse me... I have to go get Ps4 tattooed on my arm.

[Sci0n]

I agree and I was always the kid that proudly stated that I have both and enjoy both equally. This time around I can't say I feel the same way about being a multi console owner. Its PS all the way for me, I gave microsoft a shot with the 360 and after going threw the rrod fiasco and experiencing there screwed up policies I said to myself never again will they ever get a red cent of mines. Look at microsofts anticonsumer policies and how out of touch with gamers they are. They emphasized tv at the last E3 and force a camera on its consumers that not everyone is interested it. What was real scary was MS's drm policies before the internet explded and made them restructure there plans. Microsoft is single handedly holding gaming back and tried to single handedly kill gamimg as we know it. Its a good thing gamers are waking up now and getting tired of being suckered and pay walled to deah. Brand loyalty is fine the disgusting thing is denial.

[medman]

There will always be brand loyalty, but brand loyalty does not mean blind loyalty. The fact that the ps4 is outselling the xbone in the US and UK despite supply constraints points to that. Some gamers in those territories who were 360 only last gen have migrated to Sony's console this gen. I own a ps3, 360, and ps4. The ps4 was the clear choice to me because of my experience with both consoles and their exclusives last gen. Sony killed it, especially the last few years before the ps4 release. Microsoft exclusives were severely lacking. So the ps4 was my first purchase because the experiences I had with games from their first party developers were much better than what Microsoft had to offer. The quantity, and quality, of the free games offered by psplus also swayed that decision. Those are the things that made my decision. By the time the specs for both consoles were revealed and it became apparent the ps4 had the power advantage, that was icing on the cake as my decision had already been made based on exclusives and psplus. I believe many other gamers chose similarly for those reasons. That is not brand loyalty. That is choosing what I believe is the best gaming system on the planet, with the best developers making the best games with the best free game offerings. The decision was easy.

[admiralvic]

Yes / No.

Brand preference (most people simply prefer a brand, they don't just buy 1 system and everything for that system forever) is a problem, but it is one that always has and always will exist. The main reason why it's so prominent today, is simply because there are more lines of communication than in the past and systems are way more complex. Like, it wasn't until the last generation that we really saw consoles step away from being gaming machines and become more of a media hub. Since more and more options came into play, we started to see people looking for more and more things and now vast differences causing there to be constant compare and contrast articles, since this stuff matters to someone.

However, this isn't all a bad thing either. Because of people complaining about various things, you have companies constantly working to be better. This lead to several good and innovating things and is the main reason why monopolies are bad. Each company and their fans push one another to be better or try new things.

So while this stuff can be extremely negative, it can also be somewhat positive too.

[PSN-JeRzYzFyNeSt]

not only Brand... but also a Team, Sport, Country, Food, Phones, Websites...

so i dont understand why ppl complain about Fanboys like it only exists in the Gaming Community ..... they are everywhere

deal with that crap if you dont like it build your own cave and live in it

@Fireseed

it depends how you look at it..

if you a die hard Giants and/or Chelsea fan and you having a match against the Jets or in (soccer) Manchester United.. and the opposing team is Grabbing helmets and diving all over the place in the area what do you expect a fan to do not talk shit and call them out saying they suck for all the crap they are doing in the match of course if you are a Passionate fan you will say all those things. its part of the Passion you have for that certain product..

according to you Fans all over the sporting world are trolls and have interpersonal relationship problems..

according to me youre an idiot

[Fireseed]

I'll lay it out real simple.

"I love my PS4, Sony is such a great company" <- Good

"I love my PS4, Sony is such a great company... the Xbox is horrible and people who chose picked the inferior and worse decision" <- Bad

The simple difference is it's great to have a preference. But at the same time putting down others just shows you as a weak, pathetic, insecure troll who has trouble with interpersonal relationships.

[PoSTedUP]

lmao hahaha, word @ your edit. +bubs jersey.

i said the same thing in regards to comparing fanboyism to sports teams, years ago. havent gave a **** about these articles since and just read the comments.XD. but better way of putting it bro.

[curtis92]

It's something a lot deeper than brand loyalty and revolves around deep psychological issues. Something on the level of wanting to belong to the winning team and to feel like the winner. To feel justified and victorious. The internet has given people a platform from which to announce their allegiance and therefore they commit to that stance and wish the opposition harm. Before the internet, this behavior might have displayed itself somewhere else other than gaming, because before the internet people didn't spend so much time in pointlessly heated debates over brand allegiance and just enjoyed games.

[iceman06]

I agree to an extent. There have always been these "pointless and heated" debates. They just took place face to face. So, there was no internet to look up tedious stats and archived articles to fit your particular agenda. It was put up or shut up. Most of the times, people were shut up. The psychological thing is true. Nobody wants to be an outsider...well..except for the new hipster thing. LOL
In general it's bigger money spent on gaming and the need to justify the purchase. Couple that with the need to be on the winning team and boast about it and a venue for which to do it. A venue where you are completely anonymous. That's a recipe for creating some pretty contentious people.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

I'd say the problem stems less from having brand loyalty, and more from jerks not liking anyone having any brand loyalty that is different from their own.

In short, fan boys who hide behind screen names.

If they stripped the internet of anonymity for just a single month, then turned it back on without telling these jerks it was gone, half of them might not even return for fear of being forced to face some consequences for all of the crap they've spewed all over the internet in their years...

[gpturbo81]

blind sheep that buy into the garbage the gaming media spews, are ruining the gaming community.

[staticdash22]

The only thing that has changed, is the emergence of online gamin/forums and the internet. Back in the nintendo/Sega Dreamcast days, this stuff was always around. Console wars have existed as long as the competition has been there and unfortunately they will be here as long as there is no monopoly over the game industry.

I feel it is the gaming media which perpetuates this nonsense. Look at the amy hennig article that IGN posted, along with their sensationalist titles. The media loves to pit these companies against one another because it's good for "hits" and draws attention to their site. Got bad news? Let's post it and watch the flames burn. Polygon, IGN, and etc are the problem IMO although the gamers themselves share the blame.

[NinjaRichParty]

Actually my first console was a Sega Genesis. I know that the console wars have always been around (ie NintenDON'T), but with the growth of the internet it seems as if the gamer to gamer interactions have taken a turn for the worse. That's all I'm saying. :)

[staticdash22]

Oh, I was just poking a little fun there lol. But yea I get what you're saying.

[FAT MAN GO BOOM]

Why defend one companies gaming policy over another simple... I am a consumer as well as a gamer. And knowing how MS treats their consumers poorly is why I did not get an Xbox this generation...

Now many people will be quick to say oh they changed ... but they did not do that till after they were getting beaten so badly at the preorders... even today ps4 out sells them 2 to 1 more in some parts of the world..

That being said. MS try to force consumers giving up rights.

Now that we are aware of where they want to do with our rights and where they want to take gaming... Why would I support a company like.

If Sony was to act like MS and MS was to acct like Sony... you think I would be with Sony if they were trying to take rights???

Hell no...

It comes down to as a consumer... I want to protect my rights... Simple as that I will vote with my money and I have.

Next generation I will have to choose all over again.

[jessupj]

Agreed.

All fanboys are bad, but this is why I think blind MS apologists are perhaps more damaging to the industry.

People call me a fanboy for hating MS for what they tried to do with console gaming, but that's just me being a passionate gamer, making an observation and coming to a conclusion from said observation.

When next gen comes around I'll be looking at the facts again to decide which console, maybe both, I buy.

There's no blind loyalty, just cause and effect.

[FAT MAN GO BOOM]

Yes We'll said.

About the passionate part the reason why gamers are so passionate is because lets face it we pay a lot of money.

Many gamers become fanboys because they have invest a large amount of money and can only invest sometimes into one system. leaving them with no option but to root or hope or be a fanboy over their system.

That said. This generation looks like it is going to be an excellent generation for all systems... I am looking forward to GDC next Monday.

I am glad that their are likeminded gamers out there...

Cheers Jessupj

[webeblazing]

sorry to break it to you but ms was always like that. it business to them. they are not really devoted to it like other companies is. you shouldnt have got an xbox the other gens too. did you support live? they do this in every type of market they get in.

yall may say yall hate for what they tried to do which you have your reasons. but it just seems naive to think ms isnt going to try and put everything in their favor. its what they do and it constantly makes them money even with they failed attempts like zune

[Longshot28]

I've been a PS fans since the original, and I don't hate xbox, I'm just not into it. sorry.

[voodoochild346]

I can agree with this premise to an extent. People will disagree on this but the fact so many people blindly buy systems(namely xbox ones) just because they bought the previous system sickens me. As a person who had a 360 all last generation I can that under no circumstances will I own a system from a company that has continuously screwed me last gen. Paying for multiplayer was bad, but to force people have gold in order to use apps for espn3, YouTube, hulu plus, netflix etc. is astonishing! Not to mention the fact that not only are each of these items are free to access anywhere else(even the wii!), but in the case of netflix and hulu are free to access since they require a separate subscription anyway. How about the fact that it's 2014 and yet Microsoft still makes you by a play and charge kit separately instead supplying a rechargeable battery like their competitors do. I haven't even gotten to the fact that Microsoft tried to implement some of the most draconian policies in gaming history and just like they "flipped the switch" to turn them off, they can turn them back on at any point without warning. So yes brand loyalty allows for companies to get away with things like this but it is also possible to have brand loyalty in response to good business practices also. It's just rare in a period where people willingly accept broken games on launch and day one dlc without batting an eye.

[its_JEFF]

I don't necessarily think "brand loyalty" is a bad thing... I think "blind" loyalty is a bad thing.

[NinjaRichParty]

Nicely put. I do think that "blind loyalty" is a better term for what I was getting at.

[its_JEFF]

Even though you didn't say it, that's what I got from your video... good video, and I'm glad you like PS+.

[iceman06]

Brand loyalty and being a typical "fanboy" are completely different. There is nothing wrong with finding a brand that fits your needs. In fact, we ALL do it. Whether it be toilet paper, or cereal. We go with what we know we like. This extends to our hobbies. So, it's only natural that we pick a brand. However, the fanboy extension of this idea is to assume that what you have picked for yourself is what EVERYBODY should. That's the difference. Brand loyalty forces innovation, fosters competitive business practices, brings NEW products, and even lowers prices. Being a fanboy services only the fanboys. I don't believe that there are as many blindly loyal fanboys in real life as what it seems on the internet. I DO believe that message boards and comment sections bring them out in droves.

[ajkula]

And who's that??? O.o lol

[yewles1]

Nope, too late to say this now, you had at least 4 generations to speak up if it bothered you that badly.

[MNGamer-N]

I think bickering about who is better is ridiculous. I like, and want to play all of the consoles. As a lover of playing "games" why would I want to exclude a gaming experience because of brand? I think it is super immature, and to me it's like terminal cancer of gaming. A bad infection that will never go away.

[sean_35]

The problem with brand loyalty now is to an extent there is no genuine reason back when it was Sega and Nintendo competing. The person who purchased a console either Sega or Nintendo purchased it primarily for its exclusives, for some reason that has now changed its all about power now. I purchased my Wii u primarily its exclusives but am undecided which console to purchase next in regards to Xbox one or ps4. As i have PC that will out perform both those systems, so i am really waiting to see which one gets the exclusives i am interested in. To me console diversity is not as good as it used to be in my own opinion.

[Geekman]

It's not killing it, it's just annoying as heck. I just had some guy post on my blog a long comment about the PS4..... which would've been cool had the blog been about the PS4.

[urwifeminder]

It is a blast especially when fans turn on them selves with the recent game down grades I just read and laugh no need to comment at all , keep up the good work its the best comedy in town.

[mochachino]

Gamers aren't really brand loyal if you think about, or at least not brand loyal for long.

Think about all the PS2 gamers that went to 360 and trashed PS3, then went back to PS4 and trash xone.

If anything gamers just trash brand they don't have even if they had it before. It's more like they're current policy/hardware spec loyal.

[truechainz]

Honestly that's why I say get what you need to play the games you like. Some companies offer better deals than others, but all of them have done things that are not beneficial to gamers. All have allowed a game to be made where DLC was planned and worked on before the game even released, allowed broken games to be released, and offered games for a price that probably should have been lower. Some people don't have enough accomplishment in their own lives so they try to piggyback the sales/tech accomplishments of a big company to make themselves feel better.

[AJBACK2FRAG]

Good.

[BlakHavoc]

Articles like this are honestly pointless, it's almost just human nature lol. People will always choose sides, there will always be fans, and fanboy wars. Being a fan of a specific gaming brand is no different than being a fan of a specific sports team. Just like football for instance, we all want to see our team of choice do well and their main competition do horribly. Sony and MS fanboys may never admit for the sake that it's not good to sound like a fanboy, but they all want to see the opposition do bad, they all want the exclusives they get to play to sell more and get better reviews lol. That's why you see fanboys raid the competitions comment section when an exclusive launches and get's bad reviews. Or even a game that gets excellent reviews, fanboys still raid it and find a way to point out the negatives and neglect all the positives that are the reason it's getting recognition in the first place aka TLOU or Titanfall. Without a doubt just like TF, once Infamous drops Xbots will be on the comment section of an infamous review bashing the crap out of the game whether it gets a 10/10 or a 6/10.

[NeoTribe]

Its like everything in the human world. If one person likes one thing, than that person is going to try to convince him hes wrong. Weve been doing this since we existed, its not going anywhere. People kill eachother and burn citys over sport rival games so whats the difference. "Mines better than yours!"

[Picnic]

People tend to adjust to behaviour even a fraction a certain way when being one way, no matter how noble, innovative or downright correct it may seem, is serving to put off attracting too many people to their cause.

It partly accounts for why the mighty N64 didn't achieve the sales that the PS1 did- discs and 'urban cool' games were in fashion, cartridges and people going off on quests weren't so much even when those cartridges contained games of great complexity. And it's like Sony always later stepped in to territory first tested to less sales success by Sega- they did it with the PS2 following the Dreamcast as well. There was nothing massively inferior about the Dreamcast than the PS2 (some things were superior on the Dreamcast such as some first party exclusives and the crispness of the graphics was better on DC) despite sales of 10x + tending to suggest otherwise.

In a nutshell- whether through ignorance or outright self-serving cunning, people tend to be ego-centric, selfish pricks. Especially the quiet ones. They will support whatever supports the image they want to project. They got a new family? Suddenly they'll pretend like they were never much in to gaming before and that's all about the WiiU now.

People are liars. Needy, grasping, liars.

So many of them now, ex-360 players, are all about the PS4. Why? The media told them so. It's not like these people even bought a PS3 late in the day. No- they want to get on the ship when it's new and when they're told it's always been as unsinkable as Titanic. Fortunately, the PS4 is probably the most unsinkable console that has ever launched. But that's slightly incidental to why so many people are now pro-PS4. They go with whichever way the wind blows. I go whichever way the first party exclusives I want to play are - even if that's at the expense of not necessarily getting the best version of multiformat games.