You're ruining it

#43: Stand down soldier

December 16, 2022

As most of you would probably agree, one of the best things about being into video games is sharing your passion and love for the medium with likeminded people. There’s not much better than discussing your progress through the latest FromSoftware epic, or reminiscing about how you took turns playing Mario or Sonic as young’ns.

The beauty of the game industry is that it creates and fosters passion like few others. Indeed, the gaming community is home to some of the most passionate and devoted people out there, and this is certainly a strength of the medium. But all too often this passion can be taken too far.

Why, with all of the good things gamers have access to these days, must we fight and bicker over our chosen console’s selection of games or capabilities? What is it about games that provoke this excessive loyalty to a specific brand and apparent blind hatred towards another? Of course, brand loyalty is hardly exclusive to gaming, but rarely in other forms of entertainment can that loyalty become so extreme.

This tribe-like mentality exists in sport too, of course. An ‘us vs them’ outlook that can arise from your local team playing someone else’s. Thankfully, unlike the football hooligans of old, the console wars are rarely played out in the streets. It is, however, fought in arguably a more insidious and personal area of our lives; online - where arguing and toxic actions can be carried out and projected 24 hours a day right under our noses.

To make it worse, there are large, high-profile accounts on social media that do little to help the issue. They've picked a side, claiming to support a specific brand whilst constantly regurgitating anything negative towards the other. I'm sure you can think of a few off the top of your head right now, and they're only fuelling the fire and providing a bigger and more visible battlefield on which their disciples can fight.

They seem to spend more time searching for ways to highlight others' faults than they do celebrating the things they claim to love (or, in fact - and here’s a novel idea - actually playing games). They should be using their status to highlight the games they love, not rallying their troops against the ones they don't.

They'll deny this, of course, but the cloud of vitriol and bickering brats that surround them whenever they appear anywhere near your feed would suggest otherwise. These people know exactly what they're doing, and they're doing it for their own benefit. Not that of the industry or of its players.

I know many readers here are also regulars over on Twitter (and what a lovely bunch you are, too), but I’m sure everybody reading has had quite enough of seeing a feed full of console wars. Of ‘Ponies’ this and ‘Xbots’ that. Endless squabbling and attempted one-upmanship over the tiniest of frame-rate differences, resolution benefits and - yes really - the interactivity of in-game fruit.

It’s for this reason that I feel particularly sorry for Digital Foundry; a brilliant offshoot of Eurogamer that expertly and thoroughly dissects the technical aspects of games for those of us interested to know how our interactive entertainment is made - only for their work to be used as ammunition in petty battles across our screens. It must be hugely disheartening to the folk who work there, who appear to want nothing more than to share their passion and knowledge of the medium with others.

Truly, gamers have never had it so good. With countless subscription services, instant access to digital games, physical discs delivered next day to your door, three successful and highly compelling consoles, AAA movie-equaling epics, one-man indie darlings and everything in-between. We've never had so many great games to play or such ease at which to access them.

Unfortunately, there's a vocal group out there who can’t see it, and seem intent on fighting a war that benefits nobody. Not least the games industry itself, which has struggled to shake off a perceived childish image in the eyes of onlookers since its inception.

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I hope you enjoy the rest of the newsletter.

Take care everyone, and see you next week!

Jeff

THE WEEK IN GAMES

The best news, deals and gaming content of the week!

NEWS

DEALS

  • You can currently save up to 50% on a 12 month subscription to PlayStation Plus.

  • PlayStation's End of Year Deals sale is still running, with up to 80% off a comprehensive selection of games both big, small, old and new. As is the PlayStation Indies sale, which has up to 75% off indie games and associated add-on packs. You can also still save 40% on the PS4 and PS5 editions of FIFA 23.

  • Over on Xbox you can save £50 on an Xbox Series S console, and at the time of writing, that's about it....

  • On Nintendo's eShop there's a Festive Offers Sale running, with up to 60% off a range of titles including Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope and Sonic Frontiers.

  • The Epic Games Store is giving away 15 free games over Christmas, and is currently in the middle of its Holiday Sale promotion.

  • Over on Steam, a number of games are currently on Special Offer, including Assassin's Creed Valhalla for £16.50, Assetto Corsa for £3.09 and FIFA 23 for £23.99.

MORE!

  • PlayStation Wrap-Up 2022 and Switch Year In Review

If you'd like to see how much time you've spent on your PlayStation this year, and which game you've devoted the most time to, the PlayStation Wrap-Up has your back. Simply sign in for a breakdown of everything you've played in the last 12 months.

You can also check out your Switch Year In Review here.

NEW RELEASES

All the major releases arriving this week and next!

The Witcher 3. Remastered!

THIS WEEK:

NEXT WEEK:

RECOMMENDED READS

Hand-picked gaming articles from around the web!

By Dominik Diamond - The Guardian

Dominik Diamond desperately wanted to like Outer Wilds so he wouldn’t disappoint his son. But the profound joy of gaming provides a universal bond, even when you totally suck at it.

By Martin Robinson - Eurogamer

How racing royalty came together for this year's Need for Speed.

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…and that’s it for this week!

I hope you enjoyed the issue. If you have any comments, suggestions or enquiries, please reply to this email directly or catch me over on Twitter or Hive!

Thanks again, and see you next week!

Jeff