Industrial Gaming 07 | Fanboys

By Barry Lewis 21.04.2006 22

Fanboys
Barry Lewis :: 20th April 2006 :: Issue 7


Having just caused you to not only think about fanboys, but to also potentially read the word five times so far (tip of the iceberg, really...), I can only imagine you'll be sitting there, frothing at the mouth, pupils dilated and twitching at the very thought of these people. Nintendo, as the longest running and most battle-hardened console producer, is oft viewed as harbouring the largest and most elite fanbase from the big three. There is a darker side to the terminology though, one that rarely gets any form of attention, but is it one that even deserves to be addressed considering the very problem in the first place...

Here at Cubed3 we are actually quite lucky, in the grand scheme of things. Our forums are packed full of intelligent and sensible fans, and even when heavy critique is directed towards Sony or Microsoft it is in nearly all cases put forward in an English friendly manner and with sound enough logic / reason to back it up. Without wanting to sing our own praise too much but you'll be hard pressed to find some of the terrible "leet" slurs against rival systems that seem so inherent in both system specific and multiformat based gaming sites.

Now, before you think this is just going to be a long rant about fanboys, which would just as easily be covered by an amusing comic, I'm actually going to stand against this trend of screaming fanboy like it's going out of fashion. First and foremost, and this really is a no-brainer, it's not a real word

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nin10do is offline. nin10do 20.04.2006#1

This didn't quite turn out how I planned it, and being pestered by a mate didn't help, but hopefully some of you enjoy this and I managed to get some of my points across

Barry Lewis [ nin10do :: General Writer :: Feature Writer :: Fountain of Industry Statistics ]
"We're mentalist psychic Scots, which means we can read your mind. If you're lying, your head explodes and we laugh."
 
knighty is offline. knighty 20.04.2006#2

Hehe, nicely written with clear and intelligent points.

g'job.

I've peronally called a lot of people fanboys. But only the real fanboys, ie people on gamespot and ign forums <_<;

Fanboys are like strictly religious people; bonkers. Smilie

 
nin10do is offline. nin10do 20.04.2006#3

To be fair I rarely see the real fanboy infestation, my only forum is C3, besides that I read (and sometimes comment) on Joystiq - otherwise it's all content / news / article reading.

I tend hit 'back' in a heartbeat if I stumble upon Gamespot / IGN members, perhaps my article would be a just a little bit different if I ventured into these scary waters more often Smilie

I just feel on more mature sites the term is used very harshly, and cheers for the comment knighty!

( Edited on 20.04.2006 23:52 by nin10do )

Barry Lewis [ nin10do :: General Writer :: Feature Writer :: Fountain of Industry Statistics ]
"We're mentalist psychic Scots, which means we can read your mind. If you're lying, your head explodes and we laugh."
 
Flynnie is offline. Flynnie 21.04.2006#4

Yea most fan boys are not fan boys by their choosing. I would of concidered myself a fanboy back in my younger day simply because of the fincial hardship, but nevertheless i would oppose anything that had the Sony Brand.

Most of my close friends were Nintendo fans though (but were they my close friends because they were nintendo fans...???) so it was never really a problem. One of my friends (ironically the "poorest") had a playstation so there were games i would play at his, and although he was somewhat like 4years younger than me (he still is Smilie ) he would have quite an open view on games.

If it hadnt been for him owning Metal Gear Solid then maybe i would of been a fanboy for quite a bit longer... I bought a PS1 in 2000, preowned with a few games that i kind of liked. It was Metal Gear that got me to like the playstation but after a few times through i sold the playstation and the next console (non Nintendo) i would purchase was the Dreamcast.

The Dreamcast was more worthy investment and i purchased this around 2003, for me having a SEGA console again was great (the first being a Master System 2) having Sonic and many other Dreamcast hits it was great but this was pushed to the back of the pile as my Gamecube list grew and grew and was eventually sold (only to be rebought in 2004 Smilie )

As time grew on my other friends would invest in PS2's whereas me and 1 other friend got Gamecubes (lol ironically i had fallen out with my 2 friends who got PS2's ( however completely unrelated....)) either way i edged more towards fanboyism again and it wasnt really until the Gamecube started drying up that i would invest in a PS2 (April 2005) and many games (however i have stored my PS2 away since last autumn and dont intend to get it back out until this autumn)

Am i a fanboy? I dont concider myself to be, but a more so devoted fan of Nintendo. Now i know that just sounds like im in denial but i have a Dreamcast and PS2, (granted they are neglected ) and i do have a vast amount of games for them. I also suport many third party games and not just Nintendo ones , i tend to support games from Konami,Capcom and Namco but my it always lands down to me prefering Nintendo's own IP's such as Starfox,Metroid,Zelda's and Mario's , but seeing as ive given the competition a chance i can critisize and free my self of the "fanboy" stamp.

Just because i prefer Nintendo games and a handfull of SEGA games should i be classed as a fanboy? No.

As Nintendo didnt impress me with the Gamecube all too much i thought i would keep my on what the competiton was doing in preparation for the next generation. And it is still a close call. Im still not sold on the idea of the Revolution controller but like the fact of the VC and now with Mega Drive games aswell it seems like the more likely option. But im still waiting for E3 and the Summer to occur before i make my decsion on the Next Generation...


(Sorry for bad grammer,spelling and inability to string feasible sentences together)

 
jb is offline. jb 21.04.2006#5

^ Longest comment. ever.

Nice article Barry, very good stuff (I'll edit in my comments later, need some kiP!)

Cubed3 Admin/Founder & Designer
 
Raff is offline. Raff 21.04.2006#6

I was a fanboy from the age of about 9-11. Only one of my mates had a 64, everyone else had PlayStations. From what I saw, the Ps1 had ugly warping graphics, a nasty controller and everyone had at least 2 games that 'Don't work 'cos it's scratched'. The Ps1 just represented scrufiness, not in a financial sense, but in the general poor state owners kept thei gear and the concentration of about 1 decent game in evry 200 pS1 games.
The N64 was sleek, marketed at my age-group, and didn't have ugly warpy blocky graphics.I was just going on what I knew, in fact, if I was as old as I am now back then, my opinion would not have been very different for it was largely correct.

It's going to be shit and you jolly well know it.
 
Flynnie is offline. Flynnie 21.04.2006#7

I'd have to say that the 64's graphics were still pretty blocky, but i think the N64 had way more killer games and if it had the Final Fantasy series would it have been more popular

 
jesusraz is offline. jesusraz 21.04.2006#8

I like to think of myself more of a 'Nintendo Stalwart' rather than fanboy, supporting the company all the way, whilst trying to keep an open mind about the competition.

It's a tricky balance, and sometimes difficult to exclude bias from writing...but all I can do is try Smilie

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses
 
James2t3 is offline. James2t3 21.04.2006#9

Lol i remember i was a total Sega freak back when i was younger but I also had a gameboy and played Mario Land and kirby all the time. I remember my friend had a game gear and i had fun with it, another friend had mario kart and i totally loved it.
It pretty much is wheather you can afford the consoles or not and being a single formate gamer can unfortunatly make you seem rather obsessed with the console you have, especially with Nintendo in there current UK state. It's only because your looking forward to games coming out on the system you bought, i mean why shouldn't you? Every gameer looks forward to the next big game and because some are limited to one platform they can only look forward to the games on that system.
I've always been pretty much a single formate gamer( never had THAT much of a commitment to gaming, it's my cash, MINE) but I always take advantage of friends who own diffrent systems too make sure i get to play games unavialiable to the system i own Smilie.

( Edited on 21.04.2006 03:38 by Blade2t3 )

( Edited on 21.04.2006 17:20 by Blade2t3 )

XBL Gamertag: James2t3
 
Kangaroo_Kid is offline. Kangaroo_Kid 21.04.2006#10

although he was somewhat like 4years younger than me (he still is )

Why wouldn't he be?

I've never owned any console other than a Nintendo, but I don't consider myself a fanboy. Most of my friends have an XBox or PS2 but at some stage owned or own a Nintendo console. I still go to their places and play their games, I don't sit in the corner and sulk just cause the game hasn't got Fox McCloud in it, however I don't enjoy the "more mature" games as much as Nintendos franchises.

 
Marzeee is offline. Marzeee 21.04.2006#11

I am a nintendo fanboy but im not, its hard to explain. I play other consoles but not as much as nintendo and I have all nintendo stuff in my room like posters, stickers, drawings, keyrings and loads other things like a mario mouse mat and stuff.

 
Flynnie is offline. Flynnie 21.04.2006#12

Why wouldn't he be?

Thats what the Smilie was there for!


I am a nintendo fanboy but im not, its hard to explain. I play other consoles but not as much as nintendo and I have all nintendo stuff in my room like posters, stickers, drawings, keyrings and loads other things like a mario mouse mat and stuff

Yea i also have posters,calenders, mousemats and other gimmicky items in my room.

In response to Blades comment, i was a Sonic fan moreso than a SEGA fan. I owned a Master System but i never really carried it on to the Mega Drive Era or even so Saturn era. Shame in a way...

I prefer playing Nintendo franchises such as the Zelda's, the Mario's and the Starfox's but i concider myself to play a few more mature games aswell, such as the Metroids, Resident Evils and many FPS' (but are all FPS' mature games just because you go around shooting people....)

 
James2t3 is offline. James2t3 21.04.2006#13

In response to Blades comment, i was a Sonic fan moreso than a SEGA fan.

Yeah same here Smilie but back then in my eyes Sonic was SEGA in the same way Mario was Nintendo. But I ended up getting a Playstation and then after that a GC lol.

XBL Gamertag: James2t3
 
nin10do is offline. nin10do 21.04.2006#14

Thanks for the comments, 'tis the sort of discussion I was hoping to raise Smilie

As for me, I started out life gaming on things such as the Dragon, Speccy and BBC. But more relating to console gaming it's hard to name a console / handheld I've not had, I've even had the pleasure of owning an Amiga CD 32 - worth it purely because of Cannon Fodder!

I'm very much a 'Nintendo Stalwart' (as Raz nicely put it) these days though, quite simply having sampled all that I have Nintendo exclusive titles are the games I would least like to miss, so that's the consoles I make sure I buy first - simple.

I do wish I had the funds for a PS2 and stack of games, but frankly I can't keep up (financially, damn this expensive country) with the DS / 'Cube games I want let alone buy an over-priced system and all the games I'd want there too.

And to add insult to injury you end up being branded a fanboy by ignorant fools because you're skint - yay Smilie

( Edited on 21.04.2006 16:21 by nin10do )

Barry Lewis [ nin10do :: General Writer :: Feature Writer :: Fountain of Industry Statistics ]
"We're mentalist psychic Scots, which means we can read your mind. If you're lying, your head explodes and we laugh."
 
Cheesing It Up is offline. Cheesing It Up 21.04.2006#15

People look down their nose at fans with one system, claiming to be the only

 
Flynnie is offline. Flynnie 21.04.2006#16

OOoooo my bro had an Amiga CD-32! Over priced piece of sh... *runz*

Nah the it did have a few ummm decent games.... I did like Bump N Burn quite a classic. It also brought Lemmings,Dangerous Streets,Diggers,Pinball Illusions, into my life. But the controller was awkard and my bros always had loading problems ....quite like my dreamcast really...

I didnt concider this to sway me whatsoever...it was never good enough to beat the Playstation or Saturn and it just went out of fashion so quickly.

I just remember the advert.

Amazing graphics!
Amazing games!
The worlds first 32 bit console!
The Amiga CD32 will blow your mind awayyyyy

"Boom" (explosion)

or something like that. It was so laughable...ahh the 1990's...great decade

 
Faust_D is offline. Faust_D 21.04.2006#17

I had a super nintendo and a playstation at the same time, and a friend of mine had an N64, and I always played my super nintendo or went to my friend to play the N64, never really liked the games on the other consoles, not saying they're bad games, but they just don't "attract" me. I have tried a lot of games, just weren't my thing Smilie And I have a grudge against Sony, but that developed later on Smilie

I'd choose Metroid, Zelda or Mario over any PS2 or Xbox game, anytime, simply cuz I find them a lot more fun. And a nice little FPS on my PC from time to time is nice as well Smilie

~Getting on C3's massive tits since 2K5.~
 
knighty is offline. knighty 21.04.2006#18

GC + Xbox = every single good game of this gen Smilie

 
Flynnie is offline. Flynnie 21.04.2006#19

GC + Xbox = every single good game of this gen

Ive noticed that you seem to be swaying away from your ninty consoles knighty. lets just hope this is a phase and that the dark side wont consume you fully. Otherwise you will go from this

to this!

but at least you will get this Smilie

I guess in a sense that kinda makes me look like a fan boy Smilie

 
Erotic_Spider is offline. Erotic_Spider 21.04.2006#20

i came to C3 to get away from Fan boys in the first place. I was even the leader of a certain fanboy club on the nintendo europe forums, we were against the anti fan boy club. Pretty pathetic isnt it. Eventually some one told us all to go F*** ourselves and had a huge rant at both societies, I realised what i was there and then so i backed away from it all. Later i was branded a traitor by the fanboy club. And now im here at C3.

-Have you any idea what it's like to be a Fembot living in a Manbot's Manputer's world?
-What?
 
nin10do is offline. nin10do 21.04.2006#21

The Guru said:
OOoooo my bro had an Amiga CD-32! Over priced piece of sh... *runz*

Nah the it did have a few ummm decent games.... I did like Bump N Burn quite a classic. It also brought Lemmings,Dangerous Streets,Diggers,Pinball Illusions, into my life. But the controller was awkard and my bros always had loading problems ....quite like my dreamcast really...

I didnt concider this to sway me whatsoever...it was never good enough to beat the Playstation or Saturn and it just went out of fashion so quickly.

I just remember the advert.

Amazing graphics!
Amazing games!
The worlds first 32 bit console!
The Amiga CD32 will blow your mind awayyyyy

"Boom" (explosion)

or something like that. It was so laughable...ahh the 1990's...great decade

I didn't realise it was even advertised Smilie

But yes, it was an over-priced lump of plastic in the end, I liked the idea of the system (the name Amiga alone helped that) and I played a silly amount of CF on it - but in reality it was the biggest gaming-purchase mistake I've made.

Barry Lewis [ nin10do :: General Writer :: Feature Writer :: Fountain of Industry Statistics ]
"We're mentalist psychic Scots, which means we can read your mind. If you're lying, your head explodes and we laugh."
 
Inkredible_Hunk is offline. Inkredible_Hunk 21.04.2006#22

Lookin at my setup in my room, I can safely say I'm no fanboy - have a SNES, N64, DC, PS2, and GC stacked neatly under my TV. No Xbox - no space for it! Yeah my Nintendo systems outnumber the others, but that'll soon be rectified - the Revolution will mean I won't need the older systems hanging around!...Smilie But yeah I have to admit, I do get more gaming mileage on my Nintendo systems than the others...have used my PS2 more for movies than for games Smilie

The biggest problem (besides lack of funds) is lack of time. There just aren't enough hours in the day to do things that need to be done and yet play the games that are worth playing. I got the Grand Theft Auto double pack for the PS2 almost 2 yrs ago, and - would you believe it - I have yet to even insert GTA vice city into my PS2!

Have to prioritise which games I can play in the little time I set aside for my favorite pass time, and with so many systems + games out there, that inevitably means I have to give some games a miss, and leave many others half-finished. And don't even mention playing through a game twice!

Thats why I'm not even considering getting into PC or Xbox gaming really (although I do regret at having to miss out on it all).

So thats another reason why one can end up being a single console owner - lack of time. You just can't expect to have a normal life if you play all the games out there!

 

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