An ardent devotee; an enthusiast.
boy n (boi)
A male child.
fanboy n (fan-boi)
A person which at all cost must protect the integrity of a video game, console or game-related topic, for the sheer reason of competition.
If you have never heard of the term “fanboy”, I’ll put it as simply as I can: someone who endures, at all costs to keep the reputation of a video game or console (or anything, really - Ed.)at levels where it benefits from positive publicity. Well that doesn’t sound so bad you might say, but unfortunately there is normally one clear way of upholding this “Fanboy Honour” which entails verbally bashing the living crap out of anything which directly competes with the video game or console in question.
It’s human nature to compete. We compete in sports, academic achievements and so on. You might be able to pass the term “fanboy” off in these instances, they are forms of competition so what’s the difference in the video game genre? Not a lot, however it’s the ignorant fanboys, found within this medium which separate the genres to such a great degree. These are the type of fans that will ignore all facts, unless it benefits their argument in some way. You have seen them on the message boards – “Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is the worst game eva man. it looks real bad and boring as.” Of course they ignore the fact that Vice City has averaged some of the best marks in video game history but that doesn’t matter to the fanboy. They want you to agree with their perspective, regardless of any well-known facts, and this wouldn’t be a major problem until you see fanboys versus other fanboys.
VERSUS
I’m going to use the recent debacle with the scoring on Killzone on IGN. It is not hidden fact that Killzone, an impressive first-person exclusive shooter on the Playstation 2 was being hyped by media publications as the “Halo Killer.” Xbox fanboys who have struggled against the Playstation 2 in verbal arguments for the sheer reason of competition always had the success of Halo to throw back in their faces. So when Killzone was being announced as the “Halo Killer" there was an uproar between both forces of fanboys. Playstation 2 fanboys were fanatical that an exclusive game could free them from the arguments of the great Halo. Xbox fanboys in turn verbally bashed the game's previews, saying it would never reach the status of Halo. Killzone was progressing nicely until IGN dropped the bombshell, the review of Killzone – overall score 7.5.
If the message boards of both games were a warzone before, this review turned them into a nuclear holocaust. Halo fanboys invaded boards with victory cries, laughing at Killzone, the great “Halo Killer.” Playstation 2 owners attempted to digest what had just happened, previous previews and even reviews from other publications said the game was a pretty solid shooter. They of course came to the conclusion that IGN was biased, unfair, Xbox fanboys themselves and even that they reviewed a 90-day old build of the game.
Below are some comments from a range of gaming boards, the authors will be left anonymous. Note that none of these posts have been edited in anyway.
*Warning - the below statements contain some offensive language.*
“always thought that ign was fair at reviewing games, but this just pulled it off. They are fan boys. Like you said, the AI is better in the demo then the bilt that ign review. I'm really pissedoff right now. I think that we should write a letter to them and thel them to review the game that was just realesd”
“ign made it sound like this game sucked halo's ass. dont beleive what the jakass who reviewed that ganme said, its bs. i dont need no damn review to tell me what i good game is, i no killzone is the sweetest looking game. damn! it sure does piss me off that they sadi all that tho”
“Those bastards just think that Halo 2 should win at any cost. I have the demo and the AI is waaaaay better than those dumbshits in Halo. Just letting you all know that I still root for killzone”
“watch now IGN will give Halo 2 a 9.4-9.9, there a bunch of Halo whores and i will no longer trust them for any more reviews, considering they gave ATV offroad fury a ****in 9.2 or sumthin like that”
“Well i personaly believe that Ivan was payed of or gave an unfair rating because killzone might look like a threat and thats why he didnt like it. I mean he wrote that the shooting range was totally awsome. he praised it......and that was a 13 month old buil HAHAHAHAHA Sulic i hope you die.”
Xbox fanboys were quick to retaliate with new revere.
“Uh excuse me bust didn't you little ps2 fans have to buy a HD to even get online? How much did that cost? Xbox live and Xbox are so superior over PS2 its not even funny.
Believe me, i used to have a PS2 and was a big fan, but after Halo sucked me in and Metal Gear Solid 2 was over, I sold that for a Limited Ed. Halo Xbox. W/ halo 2 around Xbox live will be the biggest gaming experience ever, Killzone has nothing now.”
Ivan Sulic, the reviewer of Killzone on IGN also received his own flak from the fanboys.
So why do fanboys fight each other in a barrage of flame wars in order trying to convince each other who has the better game? It’s not like the respective company is paying each and every one of them to bash the competition. More so I believe it lays in the fact that fanboys want the console they have brought with their cold earned cash to annihilate the competition. But what about those people who own all three consoles? Well it seems they have still put their preference first for a particular console; otherwise they wouldn’t be engaging in flame wars on the internet. Maybe bashing another console reassures the fanboy that they have made the right decision in the console war, maybe it’s some dark and hurtful memory the fanboy has about the other console. Whatever the reason “fanboyism” is something which should be overcome because…
If you don’t you really are missing out of the best of both worlds. I’ll think I let the following quote from a fellow board poster at a Killzone site sum up my words.
Posted by MasterChief @ Sunday 31 Oct '04
“Well being an Xbox owner all I have to say is good luck Killzone. Hopefully the game will score high marks so the PS2 also has an awesome shooter like Halo(2). Both games should be able to live together (Killzone shouldn't even be compared to Halo) so good luck on future reviews and hopefully fanboyism one day will end.”
Posted by MasterChief @ Sunday 31 Oct '04
“I wonder when we can all just enjoy the great games regardless of what system they come out to. I find it hard how some fanboys have to stick for their console just because they don't get a game or whatever. Just because I own an Xbox and probably never will play Killzone doesn't mean I want it to fail... Why the hell would anyone want that, so people don't get to enjoy well developed games that are fun? HELL NO... Xbox fanboys should stop coming in here and ruining this forum. Good Luck on Killzone.”
Fanboys should be happy that great games are being made for great consoles. You have all the right in the world to be a fanboy, but crossing that line of bashing another game or console to prove your point doesn’t do yourself any favors. The gaming world is always going to have “fanboyism” however, if we can keep that strictly in the sense of being a “fan” then maybe we all can live in happiness.
The views expressed in this article are solely that of PALGN staff writer, Matt Bassos and do not represent the views of the entire PALGN staff.
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