Not a split-up, PJ, but a difference in principles.

To me, to make things livelier in here, you need a catalyst. This catalyst could be a person, an event, or release of new games , peripherals or new consoles.

New consoles? 2 months to go.

New games? Worth shouting for , but you need a group of people talking excitedly about it to get the crowd interested.

Events? No events here for Malaysians since they embrace piracy as their way of life. Event will only come when the gaming community is recognized by sponsoring bodies, and to get recognized, you need to go legit. Others try to create "events" of their own, but failed miserably. To host or execute an event successfully, you need greater planning, understanding of the crowd you cater for, and the fun factor. You cant simply throw parties and invites "penghuni rumah orang2 tua" for your hip party, or slap a futsal match when the so-called gaming crowd are more of a couch potato type or clogged up with work.You need a plan and an executioner of a plan which is able to rally the folks to such event to get excited and anticipative of that plan.

Person? Well, a happening, life-of-the-crowd person could rejuvenate the atmosphere of the audience here, but that person needs two things:- motivation to do such a thing, and a crowd that would somewhat responds to his efforts.When you do havent either one, most likely they move on to places where their efforts are better appreciated, or move on to other hobbies that he feels more in tune with his personality. That person might revisits his gaming hobby back once in a while, but the crowd that used to be fun and lively last time, no longer gave him or her motivation to psur the growth of the community further.

Kite, there seems to be a doldrum in people interested in gaming at this moment in time. Either that, or people tend to be selective with who they interact with, judging on that person's preferences and likings. Either way, that is what making the forums like melted cheese these days, slow-like-a-sloth and lifeless.

That is their choice, i dont know if anyone remembered but i already have warned and foresee this happening long before, during the "clash", but my comments were taken as retaliation.Sad though, i built the PSP community and had to watch it dwindle to nothing just because they want to do things their own way...

Okay back to the topic.

This idea is not exactly new, but im not sure how forum members here would embrace it.

During my PDA-using years, we used to have monthly gatherings called beamfests where members of a forum catering to PDa enthusiasts, would gather and meet, and presents new findings, discoveries, new news and anything related to PDA, besides putting faces to names and exchanging infos and contact.

Now, the atmosphere of this previous forum i was in was mainly considered friendly and accomodating.Im not sure, with the more volatile nature of Lowyat.net, if this is suitable for such events be held here.

The way i see it, console gamers in Lowyat.net groups themselves into particular console and adhere to their belief and fundamentals to one console alone. This creates a sense of belonging, yes, but it also creates a feeling of defensiveness towards one's particular console rather than embracing other new possibilities.

What would be nice is that, if it is even remotely possible, to see cross-platforming and sharing of ideals across all consoles without sticking to the stigmas of one particular console.We have demostrated that we can co-exists quite nicely in virtual cyberspace in here, but nothing beats face-to-face interactions.

Imagine, on one of these such gatherings, each and every respresentative of a console, demonstrates what their consoles can do( gaming or feature wise), to other "opposing sides" , that way it may helps towards opening up minds towards breaking the ice and getting one accomodated and closer to a console. These reps would have to do it presentation-style, with each camp presenting their console strengths and swaying interest among those who are either uninformed or didnt know.

Imagine, Tots or Snipersnake presenting their works on installing hadr drives on PS2 and setting them up for online play, imagine PJ and FendyKoston elaborating on the strengths and possibilities of Xbox Live, imagine Marauders and Mudmaniac pressing the fact of fun-in-games over flashy graphics Nintendo-style, imagine all this, done presentation-style live infront of a huge gathering of gamers, the console gamers of Lowyat.net.

No longer there will be camps of singular console interest, with this, you can help build interest of others on your favourite console, while also keeping an open mind on other possibilities on other consoles itself. We cannot have our own Gamers Day here in Malaysia, because of lack of recognition to such, but are you going to stop these things from telling the world how passionate you are about your games?

The way that such gathering on PDAs were held, we had presentors from many different aspects of what's possible on PDAs, to present themselves, and with Q&A and mingle-around sessions after that. Im excited over the fact that gamers have been opening up and supporting the idea of meeting up other gamers of same interest and holding small gatherings of their own, like the LAN party for the Xbox folks and such. My question is, what is stopping us from going one step further, to make our own party, our own Gamer's Day?This is your chance to show other opposing console fanatics what your consoles can do, and open them up to things that make up the strengths of your own consoles.

I see this becoming more important as we move to the next gen of gaming, the XBox360, PS3 and Revolution. These gatherings of sorts, serves as an advertisement, a gauging platform for those who were unsure of which consoles they would choose, and with these kind of event available, they can judge these themselves to see which console suits them.

Im planning to get the Xbox360 when it launches, so does the other two consoles competing against it. But to those wo are only privy to owning one console next gen, can we help them make that decision? Sometimes, when one undecided person hears too much from only one side of things, he gets bombarded with only the good stuff from one side of the coin, not from other options.It is only fair to show them all the possibilities and let them decides.

My suggestion:- a LYN's Console section's very own Gamer's Day gathering.

Too long have people here be divided by their preference to one console, either through personal preferences or financial means. I feel it is time we break those barriers and start cross-platforming, or at least experience a taste of cross-platforming, either by trying our other LYN member's consoles, or attending these gatherings.

Just my suggestion.....

That why it is imperative that we cultivate a sense of tolerancy among opposing console fanatics that we shuld open our minds to other possibilities. In small numbers, we are confined to our own narrow minded preferences on our own preferred consoles, you might not able to afford another console, but it shouldnt stop you from enjoy the other consoles.

The community is already a fledging community to start we, and we already are setting ourselves apart with our preferences. When you divide an already small pie, all you get are bread crumbs.......

The problem here i see, is that gamers are either a loner or a small tightly wound lot. They stick to narrowed down few people only, and not willing to change or consider a different outlook on gaming other than what they have been doing up till now.

To me, that is a shame and a waste, since you a missing a helluva fun on other consoles.