/games/ - Games

I don't know if this fits here, but I've been thinking of console wars, My theory is that the breakdown of both the nuclear family and the nation state has led to individuals seeking out tribal loyalties from the only places guaranteed not to turn them down: companies selling a product that want their money. Same with sports. Rather than having a tribal affinity with your family/hometown/nation/people, this instead gets redirected to rooting for this squad of steroid freaks recruited from all over the country over this other squad of steroid freaks recruited from all over the country because the nearest major city has them playing at McBankTM Stadium, Thing is, with a few exceptions, I don't think it's artificially induced the way /pol/ does. I think it has arisen naturally out of the decline of important institutions of belonging: people are naturally reaching out, and like a kid trusting a man offering sweets, they are not necessarily doing so very intelligently.
The apogee of this within gaming was the console war of the mid-2000s. Trump hate is as nothing compared to Sony versus Microsoft. I know this stuff is ancient, like the Byzantine Riots over the coloured chariot racing teams, but I can't help but notice how most of that stuff occurred in the pre-modern era, before nations, religious institutions and families were really crystallised in full. Something needs to be done about this, we can't keep atomising forever.