Independent Thought Alarm - every gamer is supposed to think exactly alike
The term “fanboy” has to be the most overused and vilified word in gaming today. “I like Nintendo!” FANBOY. “I like Sony!” FANBOY. “I like Microsoft!” FANBOY. What happens if someone likes all three? Are they a triple fanboy, or a fine, upstanding gamer who is forced to reject all natural human urges and appreciate every single company at an equal level? That's called communism, and is one of the great evils of the world. That's right, breaking down pseudo-ideological gaming barriers, people!
Consider this: Video games are games. Rugby Union is also a game. Are we going to bash on those who support one Rugby team, and instead prefer that they watch the sport simply to appreciate the quality of the rules? Last time I checked, there’s plenty of abuse and rejection between opposing team’s fans at matches, but that’s the social norm. It’s called competition. And, surprise surprise, the three gaming giants are also competing.
Ah, but Phil, you say! The teams that the fans support are their home teams! Supporting the places they’ve lived in and grown up with! That’s absolutely right, and they’re right to do it. So why is someone flamed as a fanboy when he or she supports a company they’ve grown up with? Last time I checked, thousands of gamers responded fondly to the days of Super Mario Brothers back in the 1980s, a time when Sony and Microsoft were still just little gaming tadpoles, swimming around until someone came up with the idea of console conception. How can one deny the probable psychological and character-building process one goes through when growing up with any form of interactive entertainment? To this day I have a profound mystical understanding with MacGyver.
Fanboy got you down? Ask yourself - what would MacGyver do?
If you don’t want to support Microsoft, or Sony, or Nintendo, for any reason at all, then don’t. If you want to do the exact opposite, that’s fine too. Do whatever the hell you want. For example – I don’t watch Channel Nine television because their in-channel advertising is annoying. I also hate Channel Ten advertising, but I love Futurama, so I watch it. Am I a Seven fanboy? Well no, I barely know what it shows, but who cares? Nobody, because there aren’t all that many forums where people discuss whether McCleod’s Daughters or The O.C. is the better show. For the record, they are both terrible. Forums spawned the concept of fanboy, because nowhere else will one find such a free and unregulated conflict of opinion.
Games are meant to be fun, and given the growth of the industry, all aspects of the gaming culture are being opened to consumer eyes to be commented and critiqued upon. This includes the movements and goings-on within the camps of the Big Three. I’ve seen Reggie Fils-Aime’s name being chanted by a happy crowd upon the North American launch of the Wii. I was physically on location at the massive Xbox 360 launch in Japan, where the 360 has subsequently been selling rather poorly. Are all the Japanese gamers Sony and Nintendo fanboys? They love crazy Japanese games and RPGs (as a broad, broad generalisation), and don’t particularly gravitate towards gung-ho burly macho men shooting up aliens. So let them.
In fact, be proud that we have the gamers who are completely committed to a genre or company. Why? Because they are fighting on the front lines, making voices for various groups heard - and whether you realise it or not, this indeed has a marked effect on some industry decision. Don't want to be partial yourself? That's great, sit back and enjoy all the gaming goodness that evolves from constant conflict and competition between others.
Don't like him? Don't shop in his store - where he dispenses the insults rather than absorbs them.
The role of the reviewer is to put themselves in the shoes of thousands upon thousands of gamers at the exact same time, in an attempt to analyse a piece of software in such a way that conveys what, if any, benefits it will have to the person reading it. If a particular game is clearly and unabashedly targeted to a very specific demographic and psychographic group, then that issue will probably be discussed and brought to light. Personally I am a terrible RTS player, but can recognise what benefits a quality RTS (such as Company of Heroes) will provide a gamer who may be interested. A reviewer may prefer a particular console or game at any particular time, but that’s for their own personal collection. Work and leisure are two very different things.
To repeat – games are meant to be fun. If a recreational gamer decides to involve him or herself in the industry events, that’s fantastic. The personal base of opinion and choices one makes when deciding which games to play and the best console to buy is extraordinarily complex, not something that can be analysed, responded to and disputed by n1ntend0_man69 in some forum. Discuss any topic in any capacity in whatever forum you want – but try to realise the fanboy concept is endless, overused and completely redundant, which will continue to be so unless we can all recognise the importance and value of what we do as individuals.
We’re all gamers here, doing what we love – you may constantly be defending your primary hobby from acquaintancerial oppression, and so too does the “fanboy” when taking metaphorical punches from opposing “team”. Wouldn’t life be easier if the gamer-haters (substitute “gamer” for “player” at your own leisure, nice) just left you alone doing what you love? So too, wouldn’t life for the gamers be easier if we just stayed away from what we didn’t like, and embraced what we did? Don’t waste others and, more importantly, your own time trying to convince someone who can’t be convinced. The crux and crescent - do whatever the hell you want, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
They’re not fanboys. They’re fans, waving their own personal flags of support for what they believe in, and you too should do the same.
Can you convince anyone?
Does it matter?
phil@palgn.com.au
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Thoughts and opinions expressed in +3 Dexterity remain those of the author alone, and do not reflect the views of PAL Gaming Network, its advertisers, sponsors, and all other related parties.
Still, even though I've been labelled a fanboy, I'm not completely committed to Nintendo, I like PS2 a lot and I also own a PS1. I have more PS2 games than GCN ones, actually. 
However, Nintendo are my company of choice. Guess I'm a non-typical fanboy.
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