Xbox & PlayStation – Why Would Anyone Want Either To Fail?

Liam at BoxPlay ponders the question of why anyone would want either Xbox or PlayStation to fail. Discussion on how competition benefits the consumer, and the worrying trend of negativity in the gaming community.

[UCForce]

It's never ending of Console War. People want to win even they have to get rid of their competitors by any means necessary to climb to the top. For someone like @naruga and @donate are both want each of their competitors to fail miserably. "Sigh" I remember how much I freaking piss off of these two. @Naruga is like the Sony fanboy who hate Microsoft from get go, even that he completely hate Western Games and Superhero games which I find his hate is completely ridiculous. And @donate, the guy hate Sony from get go even Sony made one or tiny mistake he will go even further to hate Sony. I read his comments and he really want to get rid of Sony like for real. "Sigh" Like I said, people will do anything to win and want their competitors to lose.

[darthv72]

We are all in this hobby for the same reason. We like playing games and talking about games.

We cant always agree and that is not a requirement to be a gamer. The only requirement is that you enjoy games. You enjoy that sense of separation from reality they provide.

When people come to that realization then they understand the more the merrier. That there is room for all platforms and companies to be part of this as a whole. Pushing peoples buttons in these threads is not the same sense of enjoyment as pushing buttons on a controller.

There are no trophies or achievements to earn when all you do is bicker about companies, platforms and exclusives. You earn those by actually playing games and its way more satisfying that way.

At the end of the day... no gamer wants to see anything fail. We all feel bad about game cancelations and studio closures no matter the platform.

[salamander85]

Wiser words have never been spoken.

[Eonjay]

The success of the PS4 is the will of the people who contribute the most to the industry. Therefore the current condition of console gaming is more than the whim of hateful fans. It's literally what consumers want. Also, thanks to success the industry is actually doing better than it was last gen after this time. Had either Microsoft and especially Sony has left the industry, it would be doing much worse.

[UCForce]

You and @Eonjay are both right about that.

[Gazondaily]

True gamers want all platforms to succeed. Fin.

[AmUnRa]

I agree with you. But you are also pushing people buttons when i look at the comments history.
You are also talking Playstation and Sony down and hail the Xbox and Microsoft.
No offence darthv72, but you do it also.

[nix]

Competition is good but man I really hate the things MS wanted to bring in the beginning of the generation. Always online and the no second hand games. I'm against all that kind of things. I'm still bummed that Sony cut off the Logitech GT wheel support this gen.

[darthv72]

We are all guilty of that Ra, no disagreement there. 😉

Sometimes you have to in order to try and maintain a sense of balance. Those who make questionable statements like (insert platform) has no games.... need to be questioned and counterpointed because we all know that is just a ludicrous statement.

[raWfodog]

Agree, I don't care about sales comparisons or power differentials. I, and other gamers, care about playing good games. I will get whatever console necessary to play the games that I want. And when I'm playing, I'm not concerned about how much processing power is used to generate the visuals that I am seeing or how many other consoles have been sold this month. It's silly East coast/West Coast crap that doesn't have a place in this thing of ours.

[rainslacker]

Honestly, I don't see a lot of discussion about games outside the comparisons to other games from competing consoles. Most of the articles about games themselves have dead comment sections with maybe 2-3 posts. The only exception is exclusives, where they tend to just be a bunch of comments that are more console war stuff than actual talk about the games.

[conanlifts]

Each year i find my primary console of choice changes. Ps2 gen i choose xbox, last gen ps3 and this gen xbox one. Prior to that i always chose nintendo. Having said this i still buy the other consoles for the exclusives. They all have their pros and cons. This gen Sony has its exclusive lineup, ms has mods, early access games and backwards compatibility ( which for me is great as i only played 5 xbox 360 games last gen). Both companies benefit from the competition.

[UCForce]

And don't get me started with GreenGangsta aka Rookie Monster who is psychotic spamming Xbox fanboy. I have to deal with that freaking son of ****** for very long time.

[freshslicepizza]

@UCForce
"And don't get me started with GreenGangsta aka Rookie Monster who is psychotic spamming Xbox fanboy. I have to deal with that freaking son of ****** for very long time."

What was the purpose of that comment? Once this site gets rid of all the fanatics I think the rest of us could actually have a rational discussion but it's very apparent some are far too emotional and attached to their toys when they have to blast insults to others, especially towards those who are not even part of the curent discussion. The amount of ignorance shown towards Microsoft FAR FAR exceeds what's on display towards Sony and Nintendo. I have found nobody who wishes Sony to fail, there may be crticisms flwon towards them, even by me, but that pales in comparison to all the anti-Xbox stuff that gets thrown daily.

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[UCForce]

If you don't know who he is, he's the guy who keep spamming and attack personal people.

[morganfell]

"Once this site gets rid of all the fanatics I think the rest of us could actually have a rational discussion"

This is where you fail to realize that you are one of the people that need to be removed. First into so many Sony articles, attack, attack, attack with the most ludicrous remarks. You more than qualify as one of the very people that prevents rational discourse and an honest exchange of worthwhile ideas.

[Outside_ofthe_Box]

♦ ♦ ♦ "Once this site gets rid of all the fanatics I think the rest of us could actually have a rational discussion but it's very apparent some are far too emotional and attached to their toys when they have to blast insults to others, especially towards those who are not even part of the curent discussion. The amount of ignorance shown towards Microsoft FAR FAR exceeds what's on display towards Sony and Nintendo. I have found nobody who wishes Sony to fail, there may be crticisms flwon towards them, even by me, but that pales in comparison to all the anti-Xbox stuff that gets thrown daily." ♦ ♦ ♦

1. I'm not sure if you make comments sometimes just to get rise out of people or if you actually believe what you say. Either way you do realize that you're one of the people that fan the flames right?

2. There actually have been people that have wanted Sony to fail. You just don't see it as much because of the success the PS4 is having, but back when Sony was really really struggling as a whole, you had people laughing at the fact they sold a building and you had people hoping that they wouldn't be able to release a next gen console cause they might be bankrupt by the time next gen starts or that they simply couldn't afford to. "Oh how the Mighty have fallen..."

[OB1Biker]

'I have found nobody who wishes Sony to fail, there may be crticisms flwon towards them, even by me...'
even by me...'
...
you didnt look then or you d have found many.

'there MAY BE'
'EVEN by me'
its a joke right?
not saying you wish Sony to fail but your quite vocal.

[bluefox755]

"Once this site gets rid of all the fanatics I think the rest of us could actually have a rational discussion but it's very apparent some are far too emotional and attached to their toys when they have to blast insults to others, especially towards those who are not even part of the curent discussion."

Lmao, that's rich Moldy. Truly. You've got big brass ones, I'll give you that.

[AmUnRa]

"This site get rid of al the fanatics"

You know that you are part of the fanatic fanboy's, dont you??

[Razzer]

" The amount of ignorance shown towards Microsoft FAR FAR exceeds what's on display towards Sony and Nintendo. I have found nobody who wishes Sony to fail.."

Delusional rubbish. You just see what you want to see. There are problem children on both sides of that fence. You are acting like it is all one way. And yes, you are one of those problem children. You should really focus on yourself, primarily your ridiculous hypocrisy, and stop throwing rocks in that damn glass house.

[babadivad]

If this site some how got rid of all the trolls, it would lose 98% of its traffic.

[Sonic_Vs_Mario]

You've just made a fanboy related comment

[TheColbertinator]

I don't want Sony to fail and shut down. I just want them to leave the console gaming industry permanently.

They can keep making TVs and cameras but leave gaming to Nintendo and Microsoft. This arrangement would work out better for all gamers and the industry as a whole.

The time has come for us to embrace innovation and prosperity. Microsoft will lead us to a bold future.

[freshslicepizza]

Well this comes across as sarcasm because nobody would honestly want Sony to leave.

"The time has come for us to embrace innovation and prosperity. Microsoft will lead us to a bold future."

As I said above, so many have this anti-MS attitude here on the forums. Why people can't just enjoy what they ahve without the ignorance is beyond me.

[LiamBoxPlay]

This is all kinda proving the point I'm making

[TheColbertinator]

Come on Moldy,accept the truth. Sony has done nothing for gaming in decades. Much like Atari,they should leave the hardware business.

Sure they are successful...but only in deception and shady tactics.

[Aenea]

So, wait? There's not a single post here wishing that MS would get out of the console business AND there's this one you just replied to of a person who wants Sony to leave the console business by a person who is an Xbox fan and is known to be rather negative about Sony in general and yet you still believe there's more anti-MS stuff around here??

It's funny as heck tho!

[its_JEFF]

The console war brings out the shittyness on people. It's actually quite amazing to witness. A psychologist would have a field day analyzing these people. Where does all this pent up anger comes from? Where does all this HATE come from? Where does all this disdane come from? Yea, all negative, cause it is all negative. All this "it would be better for the gaming industry" it doesn't come from a place that wants change for the better... it comes from a place that wants to see something get distroyed, something to be brought down, someone to be humiliated.

Guys, it's video games... it ain't the serious.

[UCForce]

So you want Sony to fail miserably ? It's not about the truth. It's just disrespectful and dishonorable from you. Sony and Microsoft aren't perfect to be honest, but they need to head to head. If Sony gone, the competition will be gone and less options for people to choose. You do know that you are killing the competition in bad way.

[DarkZane]

No, the competition is just between Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft are just there because they didn't want them to take the whole living room and it shows.

[rainslacker]

Colby only plays the extreme fan boy on N4G. He doesn't actually believe half the crap he spews. Does have an Xbox preference, but he's admitted to me he's here more for the rise he gets from his comments, mostly due to boredom and giving up on rational discussion.

There are occassions where he isn't that bad and makes a decent comment. Not often anymore, but I don't think he's as idiotic as his comments seem to imply.

[SCW1982]

Halo Gears Forza Halo Gears Forza Halo Gears Forza Halo Gears Forza. What a bold future we will have indeed. This absolutely would work out "better for gamers and the industry as a whole." GTFO!

[LiamBoxPlay]

Again it's subjective. I can tell your not an Xbox fan...but why do you care if they make halo gears and Forza if you don't play on it? Why care who plays the games. Exclusives are preferences of the gamer. Some might buy Xbox for state of decay, sunset overdrive etc

[MegamanXXX]

LOL

[SCW1982]

@ Liam I am a fan of the Xbox brand from the OG Xbox days and early 360 days. The Xbox of today that over promises and continues to under deliver is sad and pathetic and the fact that people have given them a pass in the gaming industry for more than 8 years at this point is sad. Halo is a shell of its former glory, Forza is great but I think you lose quality in an open world design, and Gears 4 felt completely uninspired. But the thing that pisses me off the most is that they refuse to take any kind of a risk on new IP's for the betterment of the industry. Do they have some new things they do, sure, but not nearly enough is happening as far as building up studios and catering to different peoples tastes on the platform. Unless its "Safe" and guarantees money the Xbox division wont consider it and that's sad. You really think the Xbox of today would have taken a chance on something like The Last Guardian with how much development hell that went through? How about the fact that they scrapped the development of a game from one of the Industries most respected and revered directors around? Yes at the end of the day these are all just companies that want our money but the fact that SONY and NINTENDO are willing to take "risks" on new and "different" ways of expressing what the medium has to offer while Xbox stays the "dude bro" system is just sad. I miss the Xbox that took chances.

PS Gears Forza and Halo aren't bad games by any means but this constant cycle is becoming monotonous. Also SUNSET OVERDRIVE is the best game on the XBOX ONE by a mile and I loved it . Where in all that is holy is Banjo Kazooie 3!

[alb1899]

The fact is that no matter how much you say that MS just bring to the table halo, gears and Forza.....you won't make it true because i don't see halo and gears in the list of comming games.
And let me tell you this the PlayStation doesn't have a game that has the value of killer instinct, Halo, and Gears. Does games are better every 3 months and for free. I keep playing does games with the same excitement of the first month because they maintain them relevant.
And Forza horizon 3 is just expectacular.
I understand that SONY's fans doesn't get it.
I have a PS4 because I like Uncharted and God of War.
I'm a person that works, have a wive and kids so I don't have time for more entertainment than this and the third party is the 90% of the games.......there is so much options that I have been missing a lot of great games.

[UCForce]

@alb1899 Microsoft really need new IP flagship. Look at Horizon Zero Dawn, that game has become Sony Flagship ever since.

[babadivad]

You do know Sony has franchises they fall back on all the time as well right? Nintendo as well. There isn't a Gears game every year. There isn't a Halo game every year. Forza Motorsport is usually on a 2 year cadence.

This is the dumbest comment I've seen posted and spammed like it's some sort of truth. Gears has been around for over 10 years. And we just got Gears 4. Halo has been around for over 16 years, and we just got Halo 5. Stop with this nonsense.

[SCW1982]

@baba

Yes all companies have franchises they fall back on but if you think that Sony and Nintendo do this as much as Microsoft than your ignorance is bliss.

[UCForce]

That's not gonna happen. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo need to stay in gaming business. Now you are just selfish.

[DarkZane]

Sony and Nintendo leaving would create a shitstorm the industry would never recover from.

Microsoft are the ones that can go away and no one would care. They literally brought nothing to the industry except bad things like paid online and stuff like that. In fact, the industry would be much better if they had never came up with Xbox.

[Kiwi66]

So you say MS brought nothing to gaming then here's a few things that they did do
Standardised wireless gamepads
Pioneered cross game & party chat
Xbox live Indie Games
Xbox Live Arcade
Premiered Netflix & video streaming on console
Raised the bar for online play
and seeing as some are used by Sony for PS they must be good if they are common place now

[Eonjay]

When people see your comments it drives them further away from Microsoft because people are afraid that there is something about them that makes their fans demented like you. You are a reason Sony can't lose.

[OB1Biker]

'The time has come for us to embrace innovation and prosperity. Microsoft will lead us to a bold future.'
https://media.giphy.com/med...

[OB1Biker]

Hvaguy
Then it's matching the quote. Haha
Who speaks of 'conveying' something? If you don't get why the quote makes me smile then it doesn't matter XD

[Dragonscale]

@colb, people saw ms' 'innovation' and 'bold future' for what it was at the start of this gen, went down REAL well lol. If ms had continued with their 'bold future' it would've been them leaving the console industry fgs.

[ONESHOTV2]

Lol the colbernator the prophet.

[UCForce]

More like a cult I would say.

[UCForce]

The time for you need to rethink your statement, buddy.

[Ausbo]

Lots of people on this site would be jumping for joy if the Xbox went away

[Eonjay]

And far far less would be jumping for joy if PS4 went away because of math.

[Aenea]

Nah, don't think that would be the case, perhaps a handful of crazy fanatics who have no idea what it would mean in the end, but certainly not 'lots'.

[babadivad]

Because they are fanboys.

[rainslacker]

I wouldn't. I'd be kind of indifferent personally, but I'd recognize the void it'd leave in the console market. I'd be happy if another company could take their place and do better, because in general, MS tends to put a sour taste in my mouth as a whole, but that's more their corporate identity, which seems to have infected Xbox through the years, coming in waves of varying degrees.

It's not like the industry as a whole absolutely needs MS, any more than it needs Nintendo or Sony. If the market can support three different consoles, then someone will enter the market. If they don't, then there may be problems. The time before someone takes their place may be rough for many reasons on the industry, and certainly those invested in the respective console, but the industry as a whole will continue on.

Atari has left, Sega has left, NEC has left, and still, console gaming is on the rise, along with the rest of the industry.

[goken]

i think we need both companies to compete, this would be great for the consumers.

as much as i dislike ms as a company (just look at the bs we have to deal with using windows os, word, excel, etc). you have to recognize they did good (generally) with the xbox. but given half a chance they would turn full ms on you, just look at the bs they tried to pull when they first annouced xbo.
regardless we need xbox to do well to keep sony honest. seriously after the huge success of ps2, sony was being pretty arrogant as well. not ms level bs, but given the chance? sony's refusal for crossplay for me is indefensible. and i think their refusal to bc (while i dont care so much about this) is also not consumer friendly.

Xbox did good (and bad) for the gaming industry, but sony is no angel.
ms is doing a bad job for Xbox one so far, but they have reacted by doing a lot of consumer friendly moves, which is great.
but all in all sony is just killing it right now, with the awesome quality games they got releasing on ps4. they deserve to be doing well.
but i hope Xbox will improve and keep the competition going. as consumers we going benefit from the competition

[WeaseL]

The trouble with fanboys is the older they get the more vile & pathetic there comments become.
Still can't believe that some close to 40 or older gamer's still upload hate videos to YouTube.

[TheOttomatic91]

One side may beat the other but I doubt either would ever fail.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

The internet is strange place, that's all. I never in my life have ran into geeks who openly pledge their allegiance in real life. The fanatics are far outnumbered by plain old gamers outside of comment sections on websites.

[Rude-ro]

I want Microsoft to leave.
They are a reactive and not a proactive company that has always monopolized their way to where they want to be and use their marketing and media partners to try and bring down other companies while leading the way on deceptive pr fluff.
They bring nothing to the table but their wallet and obsession with controling all things related to computers and online.

[Dragonscale]

So true. People say we need competition which is true except when it involves ms lol.

[LiamBoxPlay]

So your happy to take a massive hike in the cost of console gaming just because you don't like MS? Competition keeps pricing robust

[Dragonscale]

@liam, it was ms who wanted to increase the cost of gaming at the start of this gen. Tbh thats one of the reasons I don't like ms because of their anti-consumer attitude. Its not competition thats the problem until its ms who's sole purpose is to dominate and remove the competition when they can. MS is probably one of the most the anti-competition companies out there.

[rainslacker]

@Liam

consumer demand keeps pricing in line. Why assume that a console will be overly expensive if there isn't competition, or cheaper just because there is no competition?

The market can only bear so much.

PS2 days saw almost no competition, and even some of the PS1 days, but costs were fairly inexpensive for those gens, and the cost of gaming has stayed rather flat for a while now....outside DLC and MT and whatnot.

[feraldrgn]

I agree with you, I still like Sony & Nintendo, they can compete against each other in different ways.

[its_JEFF]

It's this dilusion that company A is some how the reason for this persons "suffering" or the reason that "this" or "that" didn't happen or isn't happening. It's the same mentality you see when someone succeeds and a person thinks "why that person? Why not me?"

I honestly think that these people believe that if Company A were to leave the gaming industry: That audience would jump over to their platform of choice, their "team," that all those games that were going to be only on that platform would now be shifted to their console.... I don't think that would happen. I think what would likely happen is a high %, more than you would think, would exit gaming. Maybe not forever, but long enough to damage the industry, maybe permanently.

This is real life, not some fantasy world you created in your head where your delusions are real. Competition is the only thing that keep these companies in checked. It's such a simple concept and there are tons of examples... just look at MS, they had no competition in the 90's and early 2000's they became complacent. While Apple was there, kept chugging along. Then boom, one day Apple is in top and MS is wondering what happened. But look at MS today, they are how shifting to a "services" company and making hardware, successfully I might add. Why? Cause Apple was there, and Samsung, and Google etc. Which one of these companies would you like to disappear in your delusional fantasy world?

[rainslacker]

In real life, a company leaving the console industry would likely be a long term thing where the signs would be there, and much of the user base would likely move on before the point where the console had to leave the market.

A company just leaving the market is more transitional than sudden, and if history repeats itself in the hypothetical scenario, chances are, there will already be another choice to replace them already....or at least one on the horizon since the signs would be there well before the company actually left.

[ILostMyMind]

The essence of the consoles are their exclusive games. You choose one over the other for what one offers you and the other does not. It is normal that anyone who has chosen a console wants to have at their disposal all possible games and does not want the other console to have games that they can not play.

[Razzer]

Agree with the article. Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo need strong competition from each other. Some fans have fun with the rivalry, the same way with some sports fans. Others just get so obsessed with it, it almost seems like genuine hate. I think a lot of that is immaturity. As far as you know, the guy you see lambasting Xbox or PlayStation and wanting the company to die is a 10 year old.

Either way, it has been this way since the beginning of consoles, now folks just have more places to spout their hate. I'm fine with it actually. At least they are pointing all their pent-up vitriol on a plastic box and at fake names with avatars on web sites.

[Max-Zorin]

It would be fireworks, BBQ, and hangovers if the Xbox died.

[InTheZoneAC]

MS has repeatedly shown a lack of proper support for xbox. That is why. They've been in the game long enough because people blindly buy their products with no real reason, unless that person is the most diehard halo/gears of war/forza fan.

MS shows they can barely put any effort into enticing people yet they still have people flock, like a victim in an abusive relationship. If you can't see that then you might be the problem.

[Enate]

I've never wanted any of them to fail. However some people act as if my preference some how effects theirs. As if me loving all the great games Playstation has been releasing affects them some how. An some how makes me anti Xbox although constantly speak about improvements I want to see for both. One may give me what I want while the other doesn't it just is what it is. An for people who feel the opposite I'm 100% cool with that.

However I hate when people act like I some how need to care about the state of Xbox like my life depends on it. An just because I'm not concerned about them one way or another I'm some how anti Xbox. If they release a good game I want to play I'll play it on my PC. An if its actually Xbox only I've got a day one and One S sitting in the living room for whenever that happens. I'm grateful to be able to be able to afford all forms of gaming. However I know for us the Xbox is excessive because we don't play it. An yet we have two, I'd like to sell the day one but at this point I won't get an decent amount for it. So it just let it sit there but I am not anti Xbox am just not a fan of their current library or their UI. An I am not alone in those two issues.

[babadivad]

[answering the question in the headline]

Because they're morons.

[segamaniaco]

To buy only one machine and play all the games, halo, uncharted and mario

[txboy05]

I have been with Sony since PS1 but I wouldn't want MS to fail simply cause it'll be Sony vs Nintendo and nobody that has a Playstation should want that. The price on everything would go up, PS Plus would end of being probably double the price. Hell I hope MS does a complete turn around cause in return it will just make Sony better and have to keep getting better to stay on top.