An interesting thread started yesterday in our forum concerning fanboyism, in particular in relation to the recent, scattered and rather disjointed pricing announcements of both the PlayStation Move and Kinect, and the subsequent squabbling that followed. In the first post, Chris claims that although we’ve managed to nurture and grow a community here that doesn’t run around shouting “PS3 SUX!11” we are all a little guilty of being a fanboy, even, as he calls it, the “mild kind” of fanboy.
“When we make a purchase of something like a computer, mobile phone or a games consoles we often invest a certain amount of time in thinking about a purchase and plump for either PC or Mac, iPhone, Nokia, Android or whatever, and of course, a 360 or a PS3,” says Chris. “The purchase also costs money so the investment is more of a commitment and this commitment can cause us to try and justify stuff, both to ourselves and on the internet, and I’ve been thinking about this recently and its kind of come to a conclusion.”
Chris then lists the two sets of prices for both Move and Kinect, assuming you want a full experience with two players. £204.97 for the Move (1 Move bundle, 3 additional controllers for 2 handed 2 player gaming and 2 subcontrollers which obviously can’t be used at the same as the two main controllers, but worth factoring in) and in comparison, £129.99 for the full Kinect experience. Putting aside the games and the tech for a moment, Chris says that both companies are “100% correct” in their pricing.
However, both here and on countless other sites around the web, communities from both sides have tried to disprove the Kinect pricing, saying that in theory the Move components can be built up as needed, and thus given certain circumstances the Move set up (already have a PlayStation Eye, don’t want subcontrollers, etc) can actually be cheaper.
The fact is that Kinect includes everything you need for multiplayer gaming right out of the box for that £129. Move, says Chris, enables gamers to “compromise” on the full 2 player experience so you can buy less if required. “Despite Move’s much heralded accuracy,” says Chris, “some people seem happy with balancing a DS3 whilst operating it with one hand, keeping in mind the Navi analogue trigger will be mapped to the L2 button I’ve found usable for about 2 minutes.”
“This approach in the gaming arena has of course been seen before with the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, only then it was the other way round,” continues Chris. “Sony produced a fact sheet which showed that a 60GB PS3, although more expensive upfront was cheaper than the 360 plus the hard drive plus the WiFi adapter, plus the Live subscription…” Xbox owners said it was good that these things were optional and you could build the package up to suit yourself, but Sony owners more or less pointed and laughed.
“How is it that now the shoe is on the other foot, with both sides of the fence now arguing the exact opposing thing they’ve been arguing about for the past 3 years?” asks Chris. “I think it highlights better than anything just how we justify stuff though manipulating points to suit our side argument, if the upfront all inclusive aspect of the PS3 was better than build your own package Xbox 360… then why is the opposite now true, just because Sony release a basic package that will probably need adding to?”
TSA Reader TheShockWave said that “with Move, you don’t have to spend the £205. If, for example, you only wanted Move to play single player, like Sorcery, Killzone and SOCOM, you only need to buy one Move controller and a [subcontroller], thus being cheaper.” He also said despite only having 2 DualShock controllers this doesn’t stop him playing 4 player local games – “I get my friends to bring their controllers, I don’t have to go out and buy two more for them to play,” he said. “The same can be said for Move.”
Other comments on the thread were based around the types of games for the Move, the accuracy, the tech, which in my opinion far outweigh anything Microsoft have shown yet and it’s really, at the end of the day, all about the games and the experience. But that’s not the point here – Chris was raising the issue that the tables have now turned, and with potentially a bigger initial outlay for the PlayStation Move (if you want to get the full multiplayer thing going on) than Kinect, is the fanboy in all of us starting to creep out?
We welcome your thoughts, as ever.
Tuffcub
What is the difference between being a fanboy and having an opinion? My PS3 does everything I could ever want, a mate of mine has just sent his 7th Xbox back as it died. My opinion, based on these and many other facts, MS is pants and Sony are rather good. Why does that make me a Sony Fanboy? I’m not, Sony can be terrible sometimes. IMHO Fanboys are the ones who go “SONY SUXX XBOX ROXX” and that’s it, there is no debate. No one does that on TSA, everyone is intelligent to listen to both sides of the arguement.
So in answer to the question, no we’re not fanboys, we’re just intelligent enough to have an opinion.
NEXT!
bunimomike
Nicely put except being faithful to a brand does influence our wording somewhat. Emotions run high when defending something we believe in. Still… top reply.
djhsecondnature
I second everything said here!
JakeMadge
I’m not a fanboy, I think they both look crap
monty2k
Agreed. I have a 360 and a PS3 and I won’t be buying Kinect/Move until I have a go at some games on them.
Mick939
Oh dear lord have you actually published this……
Soild_Nat
Firstly great article, sums up why this site is so bloody good!
Anyway my observation is that like it or not we are all fanboy’s, the fact we are on here posting about pretty much proves that doesn’t it? Finally, the pricing structure of the Move is very similar to the Wii and that didn’t stop them achieving world domination in about 4 months did it!
bunimomike
Regardless of comparisons the big thing to compare Kinect to is the Wii. If you’re sans a console then the Wii is a very affordable option. However, when it comes to Move, I would be happy buying controllers one at a time as and when I need them. Just like I did with my four DS3 controllers. Just like millions of people did with Wii controllers.
Microsoft are pulling more of a smoke and mirrors trick at the moment and if they convince people that Kinect is the gaming equivalent of the cure for cancer, then kudos to their marketing department. However, I have seen zero games that impress me or make me want to even entertain buying it. Then again, I’m not the target demographic.
The phrase “mild fanboy” irks me as it’s contradictory but mainly because of the word fanboy itself. I’m fairly faithful to the Sony brand when it comes to home consoles as I like how they go about things (branding, etc) but I feel no strong adhesion to any given product unless it’s very good. I’ve never had an Apple product in my life until my iPhone. I still don’t have any other Apple products. I just look to a product I want to fit a purpose and get what I fancy after weighing up the options. People like me exist! :-)
Dunks
Good read. I think there’s definitely a fan boy in all of us because I for one cannot (due to finaces) and to be honest don’t want to own all or ‘both’ consoles. I like to think Ive backed the right horse (so to speak). Well, at least the right horse for me. So, with my decision (PS3) comes a defense I guess and that in turn can come out in the opinions we project when talking about exclusives, etc.
badgersnapper68
The Kinect idea is pretty much all new to the public at large, whereas Move with its obvious similarities to Wii may be an easier sell (regardless of cost factors). However, people may think (and I mean the general public and not us informed souls on this site) that Move is just Wii in HD. I think MS may rely on this perception and exploit it. Some people are attracted to new things as they feel the need to be early adopters or perceive something as trendy and exciting – its all about the marketing and what they think they are getting.
For me, I may well go with Move as I see it as an improvement on Wii type gaming, and having tried the Wii can see how this kind of tech can relate to gaming from a controller/immersion perspective. Kinect needs to demonstrate its abilities beyond the usual motion based fare – if it can’t be used to control a FPS or an RTS or similar (you know, “proper games”) then how will it attract an audience beyond table tennis and rowing?
I’m probably a bit of a Sony man but if something is good and works well I’m willing to give it a try.
TSBonyman
Same here with regard Kinect, if it was or indeed if it turns out to be better than we’ve seen so far i will certainly give it more consideration.
As a PS3 owner I love the idea of just having to spend £50 for my PS3 should it turn out that i end up using motion control just for those occasional party games etc. I can go a bit deeper, playing ‘core’ games with Move support using my DS3 as a test navcon, not ideal as a permanent solution but if i like the way games play using that control system, then i can spend the extra cash on a proper navcon.
smokeybeef
I half agree with the article and half disagree. I agree there is fanboyism in everyone, I own all 3 current consoles and I sometimes ‘fanboy’ over certain games or peripherals. But I like to think its more of an informed decision.
I believe Move is the more expensive, yet better valued product. Kinect is the more attractive and simpler product (in purchasing and usage terms not the device itself).
I’ll probably end up getting both, once I’ve seen how they fare in the wild. But I’m more excited about Move as a gamer. As a realist, I think Kinect will sell better.
smokeybeef
Sorry forgot to mention my ‘disagree’. I don’t think comparing the ‘switch-over’ of attitudes is the same. Comparing things like WiFi and HDD to peripherals like controllers seems a bit skewed. The concept makes sense, I just think its a bit too apples and oranges.
monkeyspoon
I’m not a fanboy. I just think that Kinect doesn’t have any games for anyone over the age of 12.
TSBonyman
fanboy-ism won’t make kinect provide a deeper experience.
badgersnapper68
and its true to say that fanboyism will make those afflicted want to enjoy the products of their favoured company whether the product is actually any good or useful to them. Its like wanting your favourite football team to be the best even when they’re crap.
TSBonyman
It’s things like this that have convinced me, not fanboy-ism..
http://www.made2game.com:80/2010/07/30/asian-models-highlight-kinect-issues/#more-6823