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I remember when the XBOX and PS2 were out. I never got into console gaming, so I was very much on the sidelines. From that perspective it was amazing how passionate people got about a consumer product that realistically should form no part of anyone’s identity. Since then I’ve seen the same pattern over and over again. I don’t really get it. Kudos to modern marketing I guess.

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I dunno about the marketing, but I for one was excited about the first consumer devices capable of realtime, immersive 3D worlds. I played a lot of 16 player halo in college classrooms on big screen projectors. It was exciting.

I guess maybe the point I was trying to make wasn’t explicit enough. Getting excited about either one, understandable. Getting into serious and sustained arguments about which one was better like they were political parties or religions, not as understandable.

More understandable for anyone who was around for the virtually identical Sega vs Nintendo wars of the 80s and 90s.

I think it’s partly down to money.

If you’re on a tight budget and can only afford one, you don’t want to feel as though you’ve made the wrong choice and are missing out.

If you can afford to buy both then it’s not as big of a deal.

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