Lunchtime Discussion: Cynicism

It seems that the second there’s a shortage of any console the internet calls foul play. The Wii’s shortage a few years ago was generally assumed to be a deliberate move on Nintendo’s part to drive the already high demand into some kind of frenzy. Unfortunately for consumers it worked like a charm, leaving the shortage in place for significantly longer than one Christmas season.

Maybe gamers are just too cynical about the industry as a whole now, but as soon as the PS3 began to sell well and experienced shortages it was ‘clearly’ a manufactured shortage from Sony, rather than a consequence of the new Slim model and price cut causing an unprecedented demand for the console. In reality a shortage is a good thing, and not always just an attempt to alter the supply and demand curve to their benefit.

I’ve talked in the past about the growth of arm-chair commentators that have come hand in hand with the new generation, probably because web 2.0 has exploded over the same period. The sheer level of cynicism in the gaming population that’s been revealed with this growth astounds me, it almost borders on paranoia. Nothing is ever simply a coincidence; shortages are all manufactured, no-one ever misspeaks in an interview and executives are all in bed with the devil. Sometimes things just happen, and sometimes people say what they mean.

Then again maybe I’m just the one being cynical about everyone else, so lets hear it. Have gamers become more cynical about the industry? Does the industry deserve this treatment? Has it always been this way, and now we just have the ability to air our problems?