STFD, BBS.

(And for those of you who don't speak Internet, it means 'simmer the fuck down.')

See, this is why we can't have nice things. (Also a caveat to avoid reading the comments page of any news site ever. Oh, why can't I ever learn?)

With the news of Black Friday sales statistics popping in from analysts everywhere, gamers are fighting their own little war right now. What war is that exactly? The Wii War. The Gaming War. The Whatever War. BOTH Microsoft and Sony refuse to acknowledge the status of Nintendo as a potential competitor because they feel it's not on par with their consoles. But I say - what? What makes a competitor? While the Wii is still struggling to beat PS2 sales, that still doesn't change the fact that it's been this season's best console so far. For lower/middle-class folk, $400 - $600 is a lot to shell out for a console, much less $50-$75 a game. And for what?

The fanboys are screaming: "Graphics! Graphics! Graphics and high-res make the game." But if this year's sales have anything to say about it, the answer is NO, THEY DON'T. Nintendo gets a lot of flack from the hard-core gamers because they feel the company exploits the niche market, a little cul-de-sac of shoppers not wooed by the big companies. While Call of Duty and Halo belong to the so-called "Big 2", Nintendo is pushed onto the outskirts because of its animation style video games and its so-called family orientation. Super Smash Bros.? Mario Kart? Wii Tennis? PSHAW, they say. PSHAW. Where is the blood, the gore, the utter violence and destruction? And under this giant umbrella of an argument, they yell graphics.

Sure, I'll cave. The Wii doesn't have the awesome specs that both the 360 and the PS3 boast. But does it need to? To be a competitor, does it mean that specs have to be the same? The DS outsold the PSP in mass numbers - and financially speaking, every PS3 sold still means Sony loses money while the 360 barely allows Microsoft to break even while Nintendo rakes them both over the coals with a $6 profit per console. But awesome specs is not Nintendo's goal. It's all about gameplay. It's always been about gameplay. I enjoy gaming as much as the next girl. Hell, probably even MORE than the next girl. I'm the non-creepy girl gamer who has played an RPG or two, mmkay? So don't start preaching to me about practicing what I rant. Because I have (and I prefer Final Fantasy X to all the others, including VII, so if you want to disown my opinion, feel free to do so on that; go ahead, that was a freebie) played games and I honestly say that the interactive element of the Wii is probably its biggest selling point. Families nowadays need excuses and devices to get together, and the Wii lets that happen.

It has mainly non-violent games (unlike Call of Duty or Medal of Honor or Bloodlust or whatever they're making) that prove to be the big sellers (like Legend of Zelda, the cartoonish Super Smash Bros., and Mario Kart, Mario Party, Paper Mario, etc. etc.). The tried-and-true party titles are available for Wii, like Karaoke Revolution, DDR, Rock Band, and Guitar Hero. A lot of people have talked about how the Game Cube was a huge huge failure (let it be known that I do own one). Gameplay is the name of the game, my friends, so clearly Wii is a competitor.

I know that Wii doesn't operate on the same fanboy level as the other two do, so maybe it's not a competitor in terms of fan cons. But lo and behold, all you fanboy snobs, that your opinion does not apply to the 5,999,999,998 other people on earth. So maybe its graphics are unimpressive in comparison but sales-wise, it's still kicking Sony's ass this financial season, so maybe you should shut up, stfd, play a game, and chillax, bbs.

Want a rec? I hear Tennis is a great destressor. So suck on that.

ref: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-10111170-17.html