Time for a bit of self-reflection. We are, by definition, Fanboys. We're huge followers of Nintendo; we eagerly await every drop of news that springs forth from those locked doors in Kyoto, we have an effigy of Reggie in our bedrooms, and we attempt to feed mushrooms to every Italian we cross in the street.The word "fanboy" has a negative connotation these days. With the possible exception of the PC vs. Mac battle, it's quite rare to see people galvanize and root for multi-billion dollar companies as we do in the land of gaming. People do not "root" for Paramount Pictures, nor do they "cheer" for Exxon-Mobil. One could make the case that we want Nintendo to succeed because their success will breed more of the same: as in, more of the franchises we know and love. But why are we so passionate, so stalwart in our fandom? Is it truly a "bad" thing to be a fanboy, or do you bleed phazon and red potion? Let's hear it!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-06-2007 @ 9:20AM
Zan said...
Fanboyism is baaaaad!
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 9:28AM
Luigi said...
As long as you respect someone else's (non)fanboyism, and perhaps have some friendly discussions about the subject, it's cool :) Sadly that almost never happens...
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 9:49AM
Nucklez said...
People are making fanboyism a bad bad thing. If you visit any of the official forums for the three companies, they are mostly full of posts bashing the other systems and praising their favorite system beyond all glory! I can see having a favorite system, but why does everyone have to be so forceful on making everyone else love their favorite system as well! Also, no matter how good your opinion on your system looks on the screen before you hit the submit button, it isn't going to look that way to the "other" guy when he reads it. You aren't going to change their opinion by ranting and raving on how much the other systems suck and how glorious your favorite system is.
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 10:26AM
Chicago_Josh said...
I think there are two kinds of fanboy. One who likes everything no matter what, and the one who can actually admit there company can do bad.
A perfect example of the first is usually the loudest, and therefore the most stereotyped. Nintendo could release a game involving nothing but a pile of poop sitting on the screen. Your objective, hold the Wiimote as still as possible lest said poop falls of the magic tray it has been placed on. He'll gladly shell out $50 for it and proclaim it as grander than the soon to be released Resident Evil 5 or Halo 3.
The second, the one who can actually admit his company can do wrong, can admit things like the fact Nintendo really should have added more on-line gameplay to the Wii launch titles and the whole idea of the blind game matchups on DS games isn't the best way to go. Also, PS3 and Xbox 360 fanboys would shut up about the whole graphics superiority thing and just go see a damn movie if they care so much about realism.
In closing, I'm a Nintendo fanboy and have been since before the glory days of the Genesis/SNES wars (I don't care how fast Sonic is, Mario would totally roast that little blue devil in a street fight.) I freaked when one of the editors over at IGN said Twilight Princess shouldn't have even been considered for Game of the Year... @#$hole!
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 11:38AM
20XX said...
Freakazoid fanboys are great.
Video game console fanboys, not so much. Divorcing yourself from brand loyalty and enjoying games on their own merits is where it's at.
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 12:05PM
Moe said...
Why use the term "fanboy"? It makes us seem as immature, unfair, stubborn, children incapable of common sense. I am offended by that term. With that said, Nintendo is the best video game company in the world and I don't want to hear otherwise. Plus, I love to play with my Wii. Anyone care to play with my Wii?
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 12:16PM
Loban said...
The only bad fanboy is a Sony fandoy. Mostly because the majority of them are 12 year old boys with bad grammar and horrible spelling. Have you seen the youtube video of the little kid and his love for the PS3? It's hilarious. He practically has the mic in his mouth and you can't understand a damn word he's saying. That's a true Sony fanboy right there.
Nintendo fanboys tend to be educated men in their mid to late 20s who grew up with Nintendo and appreciate what they're trying to do.
Microsoft fanboys are somewhere in the middle. I neither like nor dislike them.
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 12:47PM
Edge of Blade said...
In the real world, "Hateboy" seems to be the standard. And for the record, I have been increasingly critical of Microsoft, for favorable of Nintendo, but I have always been a Sony hateboy.
But people outside of gaming are hateboys over Fox News, Exxon (and petroleum in general), and Microsoft for non-gaming reasons.
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 1:08PM
Jesse said...
Mark Cuban (owner of HDNet and the Dallas Mavericks NBA team) wrote a blog about Fanboys, check it out
http://www.blogmaverick.com/2007/02/03/the-fanboy-culture/
Reply
2-06-2007 @ 5:46PM
Mark D said...
I couldn't agree more that Fanboys are an immature annoyance that makes reading some forums and blogs a chore.
They're entitled to their opinion of course but the purposefully bad spelling is inexcusable, mistakes are made by everyone of course.. but what's this? This wonderful new internet software is pointing out every single mistake I'm making and even offering to correct them for me!
With this technology soon to become an expected standard perhaps it's time to start writing blog/forum software that purposefully blocks badly spelled posts or maybe makes their writer keep re-typing them until they get it right
It wouldn't make them go away but it would force them to type in decent English otherwise they'd spend so long correcting everything that they'd never get to throw their opinions around. ;)
As for the mechanics of it I suggest a percentage based system where a certain amount of mistakes or made up but "allowed" words (Batman for instance) are allowed.
Reply
2-07-2007 @ 6:40PM
beesnipe said...
I..... I just want to play Nintendo games...
I'm gonna cry next to my big damn shiggy poster now.
Reply