It just sits there, staring at me. Mocking me. Taunting me. Whispering in my ear. 'They were right, you know...' it says. 'I am the king, I'm the best, don't try and deny it'. It takes a look at the purple toy beside it, and rolls its eys. 'You still obsessing over that thing? You're just wasting your time. They'll only be around for another few years...may as well jump the sinking ship.' I try and ignore the black piece of hardware, but the more I play it the more it laughs at me. 'You like this, don't you? I know you do.' 'Shut up!' I tell it. 'You're wrong, you're wrong.' But the damn thing just keeps on laughing. Laughing, laughing eternally.

Alright, perhaps I'm being a tad over-dramatic.

Ever since my brother's luck at the bookies resulted in a purchase of the PS2, I've found my views of the console changing as the days go on. I remember years ago when my cousins, fellow Nintendo fans, decided to buy a Playstation. Needless to say, I was shocked. Flabbergasted. The heathans! How dare they betray Nintendo, how dare they! For Sony! Sony for bleeding sake. They were the great enemy, the usurper of Nintendo's throne, the ones who shepherded flocks of dumb, mindless, casual gamers into the games market. It was their fault Sega had to quit the console race. Their fault Nintendo's reputation was being knocked. They were the enemy. Yeah, well, I was a bit of an idiot in those days. Luckily, I've matured since then, something that unfortunately cannot be said about some of CE's community members. I was ten years old, what's their excuse?

Being Nintendo fans, a certain bias and preference is expected towards them. Like any kind of following, we should support, and cheer for, them. They are our team, so we should root for them. Thus, a little friendly banter with our rivals is obligatory. A light mocking of their console and games here, some satirical cartoons there, and some cheering on the seldom occasions when Nintendo come out on top. It's part of being a Nintendo fan. But people can go beyond just being a Nintendo fan, to being what I suppose we would call a 'Nintendo fanboy'. You know the type; obsessively pro-Nintendo and anti-everyone else they have eyes for Nintendo and Nintendo only. Microsoft sucks. Sony sucks. They have no good games. All of Gamecube's games rock. Etc etc.

The 'casual' gamer I can stand, however ambiguous the phrase may be. They are a necessary part of the fanbase, and tolerable. The fanboys, though, are completely intolerable and intensely irritating. More often that not, their over-the-top love and 'loyalty' to Nintendo blinds them to anything else out there. They miss the great games that happen not be on a Nintendo console. I've no problem with someone unwilling to buy a PS2 because they're content with their Gamecube, or have looked at the PS2's lineup and found it not to their tastes. It's those GC owners who absolutely refuse to even try the PS2 just because it's the PS2. Sony's fruit, not Nintendo's. In the end, they are the ones missing out, and those dimwitted enough to join their cause.

One of the more ridiculous notions which arises from console tribalism is this idea of a certain kind of gamers for each machine. You know the sort; the 'PS2 gamer' is a mainstream guy, who only bought the console because it's the 'cool' one, while the 'Gamecube gamer' is the true gamer, who is interested only in gameplay, and nothing else. Honestly, what an absurd pigeon-holing of gamers. I am both a GC and PS2 player, so where does that leave me them? A hardcore gamer, but also a shallow one? It's a tricky one. That's the problem with such labels; they oversimplify everything. If all PS2 gamers are casual ones, interested only in cool graphics, and blood, and gore then why did Rez shift copies? Or Ico? Underachieving, yes, but who honestly expected any different? A friend of mine loves the Gamecube, but is uninterested in games like Pikmin. He'd rather play True Crime. Sorry, guess he doesn't fit into that neat little box. The truth is we're all gamers and we're all interested in playing good games. Trying to define someone based on their console preference is just...ignorant.

My experience with my PS2 hasn't just taught me that console tribalism is stupid, but that certain myths pushed by Nintendo fans about the system are plain untrue. Here's a few:

Myth 1: It's all racing, fighting and sports games
There seems to be an idea among some Gamecube gamers that the PS2's entire library of games is composed solely of generic, unoriginal games. That it's all realistic racing games, mindless beat-em-ups and copycat sports games. This view is derived from the fact that the PS2 has huge massmarket appeal, and so all the games are engineered towads this audience. Who are, of course, dumb cavemen who beat eachother with clubs between sessions of whatever violent, ordinary game is giving them their current kicks. This thought is inherently erroneous, however. Surely the more popular a console is, the more developers there are working on it. And the more developers there are, the greater the chance of a creative, talented team coming up with a quality, different game.

It just makes sense. Gamecube has the very games people accuse the PS2 of having (BMX XXX, Dead to Rights, Twin Calibur etc.) but they seem to forget about them, focusing only on the Pikmins and Animal Crossings. PS2 has Pikmins too, arguably in greater abundance to our Gamecube. Think of Ico, Rez, Frequency, Gregory Horror Show...there seems to be a case of double standards in how the respective machines' rosters are judged.

Myth 2: Convergence is useless
Before getting a PS2, I was as skeptical as most about the need for extra features in consoles. I didn't need a DVD player; I already had one. Who cares about all that broadband, USB support nonsense...it just means I have to pay more for stuff I wasn't going to use. Ah, what a fool I was. The fact of the matter is that extra features does not, in any way, compromise game quality. How could I not realise this before? All it does is give the developers extra leeway in where to take the game. Sure, it means an extra buck or two to begin with, but prices come down, and sometimes it can be worth it. Being able to play DVDs in my room is so great. I no longer have to bother the rest of the family with my constant Angel and Buffy pestering, at least. Nintendo's insistence on games-only consoles does mean less damage to your wallet, but it's a bit out of date, don't you think? As technology progresses, surely we should be able to acccept the benefits of consoles being able to do more? Convergence certainly doesn't harm the games anyway.

Myth 3: GTA is just a violence and prostitute orgy
Of all the criticisms made about the PS2, this one I cannot stand. I'm sure this does not apply to the more sensible of CE's readership, but there are some Nintendo fans thickheaded enough to paint all PS2 games with the same black blush, based only on a negative view of the console. Ignoring for a second the fact that many of Gamecube's best games are on both consoles, it seems PS2's championing software is up first for bashing, only because it is that software which PS2 gamers praise most. The biggest target of such bashing seems to be Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City, only because they are the PS2's most important games.

Sure, the main appeal for a lot of people are the games' violence, it's to be expected. But I'd like to think that most people are smart enough to know a crap game when they play one (Enter The Matrix notwithstanding). The big reason behind the sticking value of the games, in my opinion anyway, is there fact that they are very, very good games. With more freedom than new frontiers and smart design by Rockstar, they are hugely fun games. There really is more to them than what meets the eye.

Bottom line is this; console pluralism is a good thing, and an open mind is even better. Hopefully most of you reading already know this, but for those still stuck with Nintendo blinkers, it's about time you ripped them off. Nintendo are the best developers around, but they aren't the be-all and end-all of gaming. So go on, why not try out something different?

You never know, you just might like it.

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