The heartwarming tale of a child's brand switch to PlayStation 3

by Nick Doerr { Jul 23rd 2008 at 3:30AM }

Looking for a sickly-sweet bedtime story? How's this for you: Jane Wells over at CNBC offers up her "ultimate proof" that Sony is winning this 'console war'. You could read her story if you'd like, or if you're in a hurry, read our truncated version. Wells' 16-year-old son is an Xbox Fanboy. He had a PS-One, but when the Xbox came out, he stuck with the Microsoft console ever since. We don't blame him -- he was the perfect age to grow up with Halo and the like.

To him, Sony didn't have the great games. Until he watched the Sony Press Conference from E3. He heard about what's coming up and finally got a good look at Metal Gear Solid 4. That was enough. He packed up his 360 and all his games and traded them at Gamestop for the PS3 and a copy of MGS4. An Xbox fanboy actually dumped his favorite line of consoles because of a single press conference. Has anyone else experienced, personally or through a friend, a complete brand switch like this?

Tags: metal-gear-solid-4

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

TypeF @ Jul 23rd 2008 3:41AM

the kid saw the light shine on the ps3 lol

Mark @ Jul 23rd 2008 3:41AM

Yes, similar story, my friend was a Xbox and 360 owner, never had a playstation ("they sucked"), he was over, and I was playing SuprtstardustHD, and he was like "that's pretty cool", then I showed him GT5, Ratchet and clank, Uncharted, UT3, and he had a mess around on Buzz!, and he finally admitted he had been brainwashed into thinking PS3 had no good games. The following week, he bought a PS3. A month later he traded in his 360 and games for a bunch of PS3 games and a store credit.

He now realises what he was missing out on all this time. Last week he was telling me how great Uncharted Drakes Fortune is, and i'm like, "yep played that and finished it 6 months back, where have you been?"

skin.bintin @ Jul 24th 2008 4:08AM

He's still missing out though. I admit, the PS3 does have a great line up of games, and many more great ones to come. But so does the X360. He should have just kept both.

I own both, and I love it! It doesn't matter what console the big exclusives come out on, because I'll be playing them regardless.

GridloQ @ Jul 23rd 2008 3:47AM

Good, the faster anyone can get out of that cesspool that is the Xbox Live community, the better.

Rygar @ Jul 23rd 2008 8:28AM

Head on over the PlayStation forums. If the Xbox community is a 'cesspool', then the PlayStation community is a complete hellhole. Ten minutes on there and it makes you want to never interact with anyone online.

Lars @ Jul 23rd 2008 12:58PM

I've had pretty good experience with the PS forums. Maybe it's just where you go? I usually am reading up on Warhawk patches or something. I maybe see 1 of 100 posts that are immature tards, that's not too terrible.

Rygar @ Jul 23rd 2008 2:13PM

@ Lars - PS3 General, Network, and Home sections were enough for me. The posters in there treat everyone alike bad enough to rival any over-privileged tool crying cause you killed him in Halo.
The game specific forums are pretty good most of the time.
I don't think dikwads prefer one system over another..they're everywhere.

Richard @ Jul 23rd 2008 3:50AM

After my friends 360 died* and he waited six weeks for MS to fix it (including 3 weeks waitng for them to collect his xbox) followed by a good stint on RFOM multiplayer on my PS3... he is just one more pay-day away from trading in his 360 and turning to the dark side.

*he was so confident that it never would die even though all the other people he knows, including me, had had it happen to them.

alkeels @ Jul 23rd 2008 4:00AM

Well i must admit i done the same, i bought a 360 when i it was released, then my mate brought a PS3, so whenever i wen't to his house we would play that, he would show me some trailers and demo's that were on PSN and i liked what i saw - so i purchased myself a PS3.

I now happily own a PS3 & 360 and love them both
:-)

skin.bintin @ Jul 24th 2008 4:08AM

Same here. I love having both. I'd hate to get rid of one console, to get the other. Because the moment you do, you turn your back on a great range of exclusive titles. Both consoles have great games. Why not play them all?

wocyob @ Jul 23rd 2008 4:19AM

i was never that dumb to buy an xbox 360.... i heard the ring of death and keeped my self far from that evil mess they call a gaming system

Gemini Ace @ Jul 23rd 2008 9:01AM

Keeped? You may want to rethink that entire statement.

e.Missark @ Jul 23rd 2008 11:33AM

A misspelled word does not by any means invalidate the point he was trying to get across, so you might want to rethink your statement.

thinkofmeasmra @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:03PM

oh snap gemini got punked!

skin.bintin @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:30AM

Yeah, I've been an Xbox fanboy for years. Then, the 360 began to feel dated. So I stopped playing it, and started turning on the PS3 more and more. Then, at E3, Microsoft announced their new 'experience' and I jumped right back to the dark side. How long will my change of heart last? Who knows.

Lars @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:30PM

Wait... which side is "the dark side" again?

deaftly @ Jul 23rd 2008 1:57PM

depends which site you post on to make the fanboys happy

skin.bintin @ Jul 24th 2008 4:08AM

Um, both I guess ;)

I am having trouble recently trying to decide which console I like better. I'm starting to think that perhaps I just like Video Games and as a result, love both consoles equally.

Greg @ Jul 23rd 2008 4:34AM

I heard same story, but with a Sega Master System :)

Adrian @ Jul 23rd 2008 4:56AM

Hello. I'm sort of new. I had the same exact experience throughout my gaming experience. I too started out with a PS1. I never really wanted one but my dad kept insisting that it was one of the best platforms of the time. But the only games i would play on it is crash bandicoot and spyro. Then, a few months after microsoft released there xbox console, I got it as birthday present from my uncle. i really wanted a playstation 2 but instead I got an xbox. But somewhere during 2003 and 2004, I started to realize that the xbox was the best system at the time because I had grown an addiction to a game that everybody knows: Halo. I was also one of the first to be on the xbox live community and i guess i enjoyed it. When 2005 came, I traded in my xbox for an xbox 360. i was really excited about it but then came the day, that horrible day:The RROD. I complained about it soooo much. I got my 360 repaired but it came back with the same problem, AGAIN! so I complained some more and got my 360 back again. then that was the day I realized i had a problem. but then I found the light. I pretty much figured in the end that there was more games of my genre on the playstation 1, 2, and 3. so, I sold my Xbox 360 and all my games and accessories to my friend for quite a bit of money. I told my Dad and he told me that I did the right thing. Im only 15 but I know what is now going on in the world of gaming. I am proud to say that my money is on sony and will always be. ^_^ proud owner of an 80GB MGS4 Bundle. ^_^

infekt @ Jul 23rd 2008 11:24AM

And let me be the first to say, Welcome!

maverel @ Jul 23rd 2008 12:27PM

Me and my partner decided to trade in 360 and all the games and accessories after sound have gone off and console had RROD and we were refused repair through extended warranty scheme. Before we always thought about PS3 as too expensive but since then we know that we made right decision as we both enjoy using it much more that xbox.
I personally love PSN Store and fact that you can hook into PS3 nearly anything with USB cable. Range of games is brilliant and appropriate even for me - complete beginner in gaming. After all: I tried xbox, I tried Wii - none of them can compare to PS3.

USED 2 BE 360 NOW PS3 @ Jul 23rd 2008 4:59AM

i have a similar story. had a 360 and thought PS3 would not be good enough to compete. but when i saw MGS4 i was amazed and decided i had to get a PS3 as i think that MGS is the best series of games ever made. since i have my had PS3 i haven't even turned on my 360 and i am also selling some of the 360 games that i have so that i can get them on PS3. the features that the PS3 has are so much superior than the 360, that microsoft has no hope of catching Sony

Henrik @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:05AM

A friends Son were going to buy 360 or PS3. I borrowed him my notyetmelted 360 (i bought 2 at launch, one has melted the other still works but hasn't been on for 9 months) and a huge pile of games for 1 month, then my PS3 for 1 week with a small pile of games. He immediately desided to NOT go for the 360, not even when he knew he could burn 360 games ;-)

British @ Jul 24th 2008 1:46PM

my mate came to my house and did 5 laps of GTP and next day bought a PS3. he still has his 360 but its currently gathering dust ;-)

zaockle @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:10AM

my friend was a complete halo freak an was even in an mlg team an was sponsored by monster, an i always tried to tell him to try the ps3 out, but he said he didnt want to an it looked stupid. so i said w/e. then the came the day that he saw the first screens for mgs4, an he fell in love. now he buys mostly ps3 games then 360. he still plays x360, but ps3 won him over for gta4, burnout paradise, ut3 (well only avaible at time for ps3), mgs4, an other great titles

MisterTwoTurbo @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:13AM

Well this isn't a personal experience. But I have a friend that's a huge Xbox360 fanboy. But he had it for good reasons. He just loves Forza 2 and Gears of War. He would also tell me I should buy a 360 and get Live to play with him. I already have a 360, but refuse to pay for Live since online gaming is free on the PS3.

So basically he's been playing on his 360 since it came out. And so his 360 RROD. Something he never expected because he doesn't really read up on games on the internet or anything like that. Then the next time I talk to him he has a PS3. He basically brought it back to Best Buy, and they gave him a gift card because he purchased the PRP plan thing. Instead of getting another 360, he just got the 80gb motorstorm PS3 instead.

I asked him why? He told me "MGS4 is around the corner, and Tekken 6 is coming soon. There's more PS3 games coming out."

skin.bintin @ Jul 24th 2008 4:08AM

Can't have been that big a fanboy then. Fanboy's tend to be blinded by their lust.

davidcc90 @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:19AM

my friend first played my ps3 near launch and he admitted its better than 360 but he would only admit it when other xbots were around,this led me to believe that the reason people are sticking to 360 is purely because of peer pressure but after i convinced 6 other xbots to buy a ps3 and showed him mgs4 + sshd he said right there hes selling his xbox and getting a ps3 next month(its his bday and he cant find a preowned one ANYWHERE)

Whoppy @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:25AM

Just because an article has a good slant for the PS3 doesn't make it a good article.

"As we left the store, I said to him, “I never thought I’d see you with a PlayStation.” “Neither did I,” he replied."

For me a happier ending would be them both getting run over by the schmaltz train.

tom @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:34AM

lol, i was originally going to get an xbox 360 because all my mates had 1, but then i saw home and i was like PS3 HERE I COME..

that was a year ago still no home lol

Barely @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:36AM

A short tale of mine:
Me &my 360, 4 times broken, 5th repair since october 2007 (!!!).
Sold all my 360 games, bought a PS3 and some games,
still waiting for my 360 to come back.
And the very second it will reach my house, it will be on Ebay...

Young_Jey @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:53AM

after owning a ps2 i got a xbox 360 cuz i just couldn't wait for the ps3 wich was coming out later that month n i think it was a good choice cuz of gears of war n i finally got d ps3 this june, just in time cuz my xbox got the red ring on sunday n i still have my ps3 toplay.

Shin @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:13AM

Wait what?
Playstation 3 was released a YEAR later than X360, not few weeks after X360, lol.
Don't make up storys like that. ;]

LJ @ Jul 23rd 2008 8:22AM

He said when he got his 360 the PS3 was a month away from coming out.. he never said he got the 360 on launch day..

Comprehensive Reading my friend.

Young_Jey @ Jul 23rd 2008 3:39PM

i got the xbox a few weeks before the PS3 came out, wich means it was going into its second year so i got it late, i didn't say i got at launch

mugenoesis @ Jul 23rd 2008 5:58AM

this is a much older story but its kind of along the same lines
when i was younger i had a Nintendo 64 loved it Zelda was my favorite Mario all that, went to a friends house and they all had ps1's i thought they looked useless, until one friend was playing final fantasy 8 so i instantly sold my n64 and all my games (completed fully first) bought ps1 and ff7 from then on im following ff everwer wen ps2 came out still thought nah wont bother then up comes ffx and im sold, sell the ps1 and all my games (beside the ff's) and again with the ps3 except i pre-empted this time by buying the ps3 early and have been waiting now with nothing to play except my older titles (and warhawk) but i can wait

sean @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:05AM

i kinda got a story. my brother is a 360fanboy. since we got the original xbox with jet set radio future(only game i ever liked on xbox by the way) and Sega GT, he always loved xbox. he loved all the big Xbox/360 games. and was a typical fanboy towards sony platforms. but for some reason even though he always calls it the PieceofShi*3(PS3) he puts more then triple the hours into my PS3 then he does into his 360. and it all started with Warhawk. and now he doesn't even renew xbox live because its a rip off compared to PSN being free. i think the only reason he wont admit the PS3 is better is because he doesn't want to admit that i was right. o and he cant wait to play MaG.

my story isnt that good but im tired and wanted to write something in. plus the news person this story is about is funny. she should posted her sons PSN ID.

tan @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:44AM

i used to be a nintendo fanboy!
i still am for the handheld systems..

but then i switched to the ps2 from the cube for a short while, and after a few months got an original xbox, i only had a bout 2 games for that xbox and about 10 for the ps2 but i still for some weird reason just like the xbox more.

i still loved my ps2 because of the amazing games that came out, gta (first on ps2) etcetc

and i decided to get a 360 because i haven't seen anything that the ps3 does that blows me away,
at my friends house on his ps3 i loved the gt5 demo, it was amazing, also the look of casino royale in blu ray was so sweet to watch, but i figured i play more games than movies, and at this moment the xbox just has more games that i like.

also i want a price cut on that ps3 lol, i can't afford 300£..

Onigreed @ Jul 23rd 2008 2:15PM

gt5 demo?
it's larger than most old racing games.

Konchu @ Jul 23rd 2008 3:19PM

I have downloaded the GT5 demo but not prologue there is a big difference there. So cut em a little slack.

Ben @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:43AM

Geeze, you know I am truly a Sony fanboy and i love my PS3. But these comments feel like viral marketing all over the place. Just be careful to judge whether these comments are real or not.

infekt @ Jul 23rd 2008 11:24AM

Ben, everyone has a right to express themselves even if it feels like viral marketing..

ryan @ Jul 23rd 2008 11:34AM

i feel the same way dude. oh and i have a story that i'd like to share too!!

i was such a 360 fanboy before it red ringed, then i couldn't wait to play certain games before it came back from the shop, so i bought a PS3! now all i play is my PS3 and my 360 is still in it's cardboard coffin. I love Sony and their lineup next year, M$ has absolutely nothing that can take my interest away!

Taylor @ Jul 23rd 2008 6:55AM

i did i had the first xbox i loved it then i just couldnt wait for the 360 i got it for christmas then i seen the trailers for the ps3 even thoe gears of war was the best game ive ever player multiplayer was so addictive.when the ps3 came on it march i just had to have it so i traded in everything they would take for it xbox,xbox360,N64,ps2 and about 50 games and accereise.but getting that £500 was a bullit to the foot(im only 14) i only got about £270 or something for all that. so i had take £200 from my savings. and now i wouldnt look back =)

Xoviet chiK @ Jul 23rd 2008 7:53AM

Heartwarming? More like Horror Story.

It sucks to be that young and into gaming, having to rely on others (be it a game related gift or cash) to get your game on, you can't earn the money on a regular basis and are forced to trade in a great system and a lot of great games just to be able to barely get another great system and one great game.

In a perfect world, he would have been able to have kept the 360 / games and gotten a PS3. I'm sure he'll regret it down the road, not because because PS3 isn't great or 360 is better... But because he'll regret not being able to play that one game he really loved when he looks back.

I've never gotten rid of a system, though my SEGA Saturn barely worked so I got an N64 and never went back (at least not until I could afford to buy my own games, and totally splurge on all things Saturn).

Hope the kid is happy, PlayStation 3 rocks - and it's not like he made a poor choice in games (though I have to wonder, how much of MGS4 will he be able to comprehend considering he hasn't had a PlayStation since the original and may or may not have even played MGS1).

Xoviet chiK @ Jul 23rd 2008 7:56AM

EDIT:

Never mind... I overlooked that the "kid" is 16. He could have a job, and could have kept his 360 and payed for a PS3 out of pocket. Man, kids these days.

John @ Jul 23rd 2008 9:55PM

Dude... I mean, Person (just now saw yer name), he CAN get his old system back. My friend is in his 30's and missed his old gaming machine, Commodore 64. But he's bought it off eBay (wage at 30+ is decent) and buys games for it, and still plays it. I personally achieved this through downloading an emulator, I don't have his money. Point is, just because you sell a system for another doesn't mean you can't buy back your old system at a later date, maybe even appreciate it more, for some people. And for some systems you can run emulators, and some even have blur and glow systems which make it look not so pixelly, but more like it did on your old TV.

Tony @ Jul 23rd 2008 8:16AM

"(though I have to wonder, how much of MGS4 will he be able to comprehend considering he hasn't had a PlayStation since the original and may or may not have even played MGS1)."

MGS4 is my first MGS game, and I don't feel as if I need to play the older ones in order to enjoy it. It may enhance my enjoyment, but certainly I don't feel that it's vital to it.