A response to Jedite's rant on Fanboys...

Yeah, I know, 4 posts today! I'm on a roll though! Anyway, last week made a quick rant about on Youtube and I thought that I'd make a quick response...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKjHQdLm2BY ( I wanted to post the vid but I wasn't able to)

First, let me say kudos for not going the cop-out route of just saying "all the consoles are good, so everyone chill out." You actually made arguments to support your position. Now, I do have to say that opening with a "No true Scotsman" fallacy was a bad move. Saying that fanboys are not true gamers isn't really going to convince anyone on that side to quit it man, it's just gonna get them more pissed off. You know these guys are like monkeys, they'll just start flinging excrement all over the place when they get mad.
Next, I do agree with you to an extent, no regular gamer should be asking for any system to fail because of the company who makes it. However, you have got to realize, some people may want a system to fail because they would see its success as having the potential to take gaming in the wrong direction. For instance, some may want the 360 to fail because they believe its continued success will result in a future Microsoft takeover of the industry with the console equivalent of windows being made the world standard. Others may wish the PS3 to fail as it represents the apex of specs determining console success and the belief that graphics should come before anything else. Still others wish the Wii to fail because they see it as the beginning of an age of appealing to the lowest common denominator in gaming, similar to the toilet humor comedy of film and the reality TV show on television. If someone truly believes that only a single console represents the direction they want gaming to go in (and this generation seems to represent that more than any previous one), than they have an obligation to root for one system, and hope the system that represents what they see as the wrong direction fails.
Now, if a console fails, it does not necessarily mean that no one will take its place. After all, after Sega collapsed, Microsoft arrived to take up the mantle of 3rd competitor. Back in the days of the 16-bit era, only two consoles were competing. Sure, there were many more, but no one really remembers the Turbo-Grafx or the Neo-Geo (outside of the arcade that is). At the end of the 8-bit era Nintendo was in control of a relative monopoly, and the gaming industry continued to grow and grow. If, say, Sony were to back out of consoles at the end of this generation, do you really believe that no one else would leap into their spot? How long would it be before Apple decided to make an iSystem, or Capcom, EA, or Ubisoft go first party and take all their IPs with them? As it is right now, with 3 equally competitive systems, the market is crowded. There is no more room for another system, and there have to be plenty of companies ready to jump into the increasingly more lucrative business of gaming.
Also, about what you mentioned about console exclusives; if a company were to fail, all of its viable exclusives would disperse with the teams who made them and would easily find work with another console. Say Microsoft fails, within a matter of weeks Epic would be bought up by another company or sign a deal with another console. Microsoft Game Works would also still be making games for the PC, and would likely begin making some games for the Wii, PS3, and whatever other console that jumps in to take Microsoft's place. If Sony were to stop making consoles, Insomniac and Naughty Dog would have no trouble finding work (hell, they're two of the best game studios around today along with Bioware, Epic, Bethesda, and Pandemic). Same with Nintendo if it were to go 3rd party, do you really believe that they would not continue to publish they're extremely profitable IPs?
In conclusion, you made a good rant, despite the fact that I didn't agree whole-heartedly. I do understand how you feel about console fanboys, but I must say that not all people who wish a console would fail are fanboys. I love your Vg Q and A's Jedite, so keep up with them man. Hope you read this man!
Joe