Disc Swapping and the Variable of Choice

We’ve all seen the argument before, a game comes out on PS3 and Xbox with the latter version arriving on multiple discs spurring the ‘system fundamentalists’ into an immature back and forth flame fest. The likelihood of somebody mentioning RROD or lack of cross-game chat growing exponentially by the second and, as tempers soar and IQs dip, chances are high that innocent commenter’s will end up covered in the sticky residue of ignorance.

The aforementioned argument has seen more than its fair share of ridiculous comments and, although I think offering a logical resolution would prove futile, I’d like to try and clear up some points in the hope that I can provide a metaphorical wet-wipe to future N4G readers.

It all comes down to one word, a word that is incredibly important but so often taken for granted, choice. When you need to make a decision you weigh up the pros and cons in your mind or even make a list, if you’re that way inclined. For some the choice is simple they have ’heavy’ reason to make one choice over another; small minded people find themselves in this situation often as they tend to remove variables from any thought they have to do. Do you see where I’m going with this? That’s right, as with religion and politics, fanboyism is one big choice that removes the need to make more, just as important, choices down the road. Unfortunately the people that make the choice to remove choice need to ‘block out’ any reference of opposing points of view or risk having to actually think or worse, admit that they were wrong.

Anyway, the point and decision I want to analyze today is the choice of console on which to purchase you next multi-platform game. Let’s go back to the weighing analogy for a second and imagine you have your scales, with PS3 on one side and 360 on other. Assuming you aren’t tainted by irrational bias, when a game approaches release that is identical on both platforms the scales should be exactly even right? OK, now imagine the developer announces the game is coming on 3 DVDs on 360 and 1 Bluray on PS3, would the rational mind consider this a ‘weight’ to be used for the PS3? Of course it would, who wants to get up to change discs, even if it is only once in 40+ hours of gaming. Not only that, multiple discs just give off this air of inferiority, as if technology hasn’t advanced since 1995, although that’s more of a personal side note.

However, this ‘weight’ is often over exaggerated in comments sections to the point that it would make any other factor redundant. This is just as much a statement of ignorance, from the overly zealous hater of choice, as dismissing it altogether. In the end all it boils down to is another variable in a, sometimes complicated, equation of choice, which, should you choose to dismiss, will skew your final result. It’s like my mother always said to me...

“Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced equation inherent to the programming of the matrix. You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision. While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control.”