The current generation of gaming makes me sick sometimes. No, it’s not because of the shovelware, or the high prices of the hobby, or the onslaught of generic shooters flooding the market. It’s because the gaming world has corrupted itself into a diseased culture where if a product isn’t in “first place” or has extremely high sales, then somehow, it’s crap. (This is primarily due to the Internet, and how that grand network has actually ruined gaming…but I’ll sum up my beliefs on that subject in another post. You’ll just have to wait.)

For example, the constant potshots that Microsoft takes at Sony in their press releases every month are also indicative of this first place culture. The only measure of the Xbox 360′s success, apparently, is that it outsells the PlayStation 3. Whatever happened to succeeding on your own merits? The same applies with games; if a game doesn’t sell a million copies, it’s often derided by the gaming public. This is ridiculous; as with any other media, popularity does not equal quality. (In fact, it’s often the opposite.)

You really see this behavior rearing its ugly head whenever criticisms (even constructive ones) are leveled at a particular game or platform. Let’s take, for example, the recently released Gears of War 2, for the Xbox 360. While it’s been getting the expected high reviews, the game’s not without its faults. Mention them to your stereotypical 360/FPS fan, though, and you’ll likely get the following response: “Well, it’s better than any game on teh PS3!!1!!!!11″ What, exactly, does the PS3 have to do with Gears of Wars 2? Absolutely nothing. It’s just like how when people pick on the PS3′s high price, a common Sony fanboy response is that “the 360 doesn’t even have BLU-RAY!” The 360′s lack of a high-definition optical drive has no effect on the PS3′s price, so why even bring it up? It’s apples and oranges, people.

Ironically, you see a reversal of the first place culture with the Nintendo Wii. As we’ve all seen, the Wii’s truly an anomaly in the gaming sphere; it’s not the most powerful system, it doesn’t support high-definition graphics, nor does it have a persistent online gaming service, but it’s absolutely trouncing the competition in sales. By the logic of the first place culture, it should be the king of the hill, because it actually is in first place, right? Oh, how horribly wrong. PS3 and Xbox 360 fanboys may not get along with each other, but they have no problem joining forces to trash the Wii. They’ll use any excuse in the book to slam Nintendo’s juggernaut, ranging from the absurd to the laughable. (My personal favorite is “[Insert game here] is the same thing as [insert older game here] with waggle controls!”) While the first place culture applies to them, it’s thrown out the window when it comes to the Wii, for no apparent reason.

This kind of logic disgusts me. Even during the heated Sega Genesis vs. Super NES war back in the 1990s, it never got this bad. There’s tons of great games available, no matter which platform you choose. Using your platform merely as a means to attack the competition is stupid, and only makes you look like a tool.