Console "wars": when things go too far

I really don’t understand why the console war is still a thing, seemingly in the comment section of any Xbox/PS5 tweet/Facebook post and any PS5/Series X comparison video on YouTube (looking at it). If people can’t/don’t want to own all of the consoles then they need to make the best choice for themselves going forward, whichever console that might end up being.

I sometimes feel I don’t have enough time to play the games I do own (although I have poured the hours into a couple of games this year, mainly Animal Crossing :lol:

), never mind about endlessly complaining about to try and rile people up for no real gain from the ‘opposition’! We seem to be in such a fantastic place gaming wise currently, what is there actually to complain about?

Also, it can be slightly amusing at times, mainly on here though :lol:

I love how, no matter what choices I put in the voting categories, someone will always vote for them! :lol:

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Might see how far I can push this :toot:

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consistent wrote:I sometimes wonder if humans have a built in, psychological tendency to align themselves with a particular tribe and defend it viciously. (etc)

There's no real evidence for this, or for other human nature factoids, no matter how much it seems like common sense. It's just as likely that tribalism is cultivated by culture. Sporting culture perpetuates team loyalty, just as the systems of capitalism and imperialism perpetuate racism, and, like, games console marketing and business practices perpetuate stupid console wars.

"Humans are inherently a bit evil and we have to channel that" is a common defence for all sorts of nasty things but it doesn't hold up.

Karl_ wrote:"Humans are inherently a bit evil and we have to channel that" is a common defence for all sorts of nasty things but it doesn't hold up.

That isn't what (I thought) I was suggesting - but I can certainly see now that it may read this way! Are there any examples of positive tribalism? Or something akin to tribalism? I suppose "loyalty" is the semantic variant...

consistent wrote:
Karl_ wrote:"Humans are inherently a bit evil and we have to channel that" is a common defence for all sorts of nasty things but it doesn't hold up.

That isn't what (I thought) I was suggesting - but I can certainly see now that it may read this way! Are there any examples of positive tribalism? Or something akin to tribalism? I suppose "loyalty" is the semantic variant...

Community spirit?

Marginal differences between PS5 and XSX are going to make this generation so much more tedious. I feel bad for DF because of how in depth the nature of their vids are, it only attracts those looking for the small outliers to exaggerate them for their self gratification.

It’s all well and good to say that sales don’t matter to the end user if you’ve never owned a PS Vita.

consistent wrote:
Karl_ wrote:"Humans are inherently a bit evil and we have to channel that" is a common defence for all sorts of nasty things but it doesn't hold up.

That isn't what (I thought) I was suggesting - but I can certainly see now that it may read this way! Are there any examples of positive tribalism? Or something akin to tribalism? I suppose "loyalty" is the semantic variant...

I’ve been reading a pop psychology book called ‘The Chimp Paradox’ (Christmas present), and it talks a lot about ‘the inner chimp’. Essentially that’s the basic biological evolved monkey in us, that hopefully we supersede a lot of the time using concepts such as morality. Key to the book is the idea that ‘The chimp is neither bad nor good: it’s just a chimp.’

Anyway, one of the things it talks about is the drive to be in a troop, for protection in the jungle and for deeper urges like that for acceptance. That’s where I see this tribalism as fitting in. It’s neither bad not good: it’s just a chimp’s wish.

Balladeer wrote:I’ve been reading a pop psychology book called ‘The Chimp Paradox’ (Christmas present), and it talks a lot about ‘the inner chimp’. Essentially that’s the basic biological evolved monkey in us, that hopefully we supersede a lot of the time using concepts such as morality. Key to the book is the idea that ‘The chimp is neither bad nor good: it’s just a chimp.

Anyway, one of the things it talks about is the drive to be in a troop, for protection in the jungle and for deeper urges like that for acceptance. That’s where I see this tribalism as fitting in. It’s neither bad not good: it’s just a chimp’s wish.

We don't really understand which behaviours in humans are linked to some kind of evolved "basic primate nature", or the extent to which human nature exists and is consistent across the species.

Please don't get me wrong, if the inner chimp model helps you understand your emotional processes then I think that's fantastic. I don't think it should be presented as a factual scientific explanation of how human psychology works though. It's more a kind of therapy model.

I think the console wars back in the day were really fun, but nowadays the Xbox and Playstation are so similar I find it impossible to see how anyone could get worked up over the differences.

I sometimes watch those videos where they do side by side comparisons of games running on each platform and the commentators are talking about the CLEAR AND OBVIOUS differences between the two and I genuinely have no idea what they're talking about. I often wonder whether it's the same video playing side by side and they're just strawberry floating with me like when they get professional sommeliers to comment on a rare vintage of red wine but it's actually just white wine and food colouring.

Karl_ wrote:
Balladeer wrote:I’ve been reading a pop psychology book called ‘The Chimp Paradox’ (Christmas present), and it talks a lot about ‘the inner chimp’. Essentially that’s the basic biological evolved monkey in us, that hopefully we supersede a lot of the time using concepts such as morality. Key to the book is the idea that ‘The chimp is neither bad nor good: it’s just a chimp.

Anyway, one of the things it talks about is the drive to be in a troop, for protection in the jungle and for deeper urges like that for acceptance. That’s where I see this tribalism as fitting in. It’s neither bad not good: it’s just a chimp’s wish.

We don't really understand which behaviours in humans are linked to some kind of evolved "basic primate nature", or the extent to which human nature exists and is consistent across the species.

Please don't get me wrong, if the inner chimp model helps you understand your emotional processes then I think that's fantastic. I don't think it should be presented as a factual scientific explanation of how human psychology works though. It's more a kind of therapy model.

Oh sure, that’s why it’s pop psychology. The bit I am taking away from it, which I think is valid (please do correct me if this is wrong as far as you know), is that we’ve evolved to seek people to form tribes with for various reasons, and that this behaviour is neither bad or good. I don’t think tribalism = ‘humans are essentially a bit evil’! I think other aspects feed that belief...

I think it's pretty nailed on that humans innately enjoy the feeling of community. I guess where I'm a bit cautious is that doesn't necessarily entail tribalism (at least in its connotation of hostility towards or competitiveness with other communities or outsiders), that's all! For instance, there's not much evidence that early humans or that contemporary remote hunter-gatherer tribes are xenophobic as a rule. If you go and look now, you might find a few tribes with that culture, but most seem to be pretty friendly towards other tribes who enter the same area, and have fluid membership in which people leaving or joining the tribe is a normal thing.

To bring it back to the topic, the natural state of humans (to the extent that exists) may well be to accept and tolerate everyone no matter what console you or they bought - so it's a testament to the mind-twisting power of marketing that the console war exists and is on occasion so vicious!

For one thing I think I was using tribalism wrong. :slol:

For another, I’m surprised that evidence shows a lack of instinctive protectionism regarding social groups. Maybe it’s what I see around me, i.e. unreliable anecdotal experience, but I’d imagine tribes to be more... ‘gatekeepy’ than you describe Karl.

I wonder if the investment thing I was talking about above is part of the tribalism we see? ‘I spent £450 on my box plus games/season ticket, how dare you think your box/team is as good/better?’

(Side note: the last few posts on the previous page are quite funny to me if you imagine they’re all about sports teams, Drumstick’s and Moggy’s in particular. :lol:

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Disappointed a more severe option was not in Poll because holy strawberry float.

I must have tweeted several times to John to ignore the eejits and block them... one week he’s accused of being pro Sony, the next pro Xbox. He needs to start blocking often. I do it all the time.

I don't think the terms tribe and tribalism naturally imply an aggressive (or defensive) relationship with other tribes, but are merely descriptive of togetherness and connection within your own.

Cooperative and complimentary tribes are absolutely a thing and I'd argue that a configuration along those lines is more likely to represent a "default behaviour" for our species, if such a thing does exist.

The only console war worth fighting is Stadia Superiority.

Amico supremacy!

Amico? Pfft, that baby toy?! Vortex is where the hype is at!

Victor Mildew wrote:Amico supremacy!

Mods! Jawa’s hacked VM’s account!

Console "wars": when things go too far

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