The (non)Logic of Fanboyism

[Tiamat666]

Thinking about what it would take for me to go fanboy, I come to the conclusion that fanboyism results from getting emotionally attached to something. This phenomenon can often be observed with young, teenage girls practically worshipping their favorite boyband. At that age it's easy to feel strong about things and music, being all about emotions, is a strong catalyst for that kind of behaviour.

I find that kind of behaviour in myself aswell. I'm a big fan of the band "Nine Inch Nails" because I feel emotionally attached to many of their songs, and I would go pretty far in defending the band from someone claiming that it was crap. In that sense, I guess I'm a Nine Inch Nails fanboy.

I think the same thing can be applied to videogames or anything else, like football. I'm also somewhat "emotionally connected" to the game Ultima VII, because I have many great memories playing it and I guess I would also react pretty "fanboyish" to any criticism of that game.

I'm sure its about emotional connection... but actually, its pretty obvious if you consider how emotional fanboys often get when discussing the relevant subject.

 

[Chilango2]

Gaming, like any other hobby, especially one populated by geeks, has its religious wars, it's Bigendian vs littleendian, or LISP v Emacs, or Mac vs PC, or............etc etc... all over again.

 

[Sylocat]

The phenomenon of fanboyism is caused by three things:

1. A belief that "everyone else in the world should have the opinions that I do, if not there is something wrong with them,"

2. A complete unwillingness to try anything new. Fanboys adore familiarity and find a lack of it threatening. There are probably a bunch of Freudian explanations for this.

3. Peer pressure, a need for social acceptance which can be easily achieved by conformity.

Look at Resident Evil 4. It is so far superior to every RE game before it put together that I can barely describe it. It has better play control, better graphics, a scarier story, better enemies, and everything else, but try telling that to the RE fanboys. All they wanted was more of the same tired old fixed-camera zombie-shooting formula that is so popular among the ripoff artists looking to cash in on RE's popularity.

Then we have the haters, who hate everything popular just because it's cool to hate popular things. They are driven by a further need for social acceptance, this time which they hope to reach through careful, timid, gutless rebellion from the percieved "mainstream."

 

[Zombie Badger]

The thing that I hate about fanboyism is that despite the fact that I own a PS1, an N64, an Xbox 360, and a gaming PC, as well as several handhelds, Xbox fanboys accuse me of being a Sony fanboy, Nintendo and Sony fanboys accuse me of being a Microsoft fanboy, and PC fanboys accuse me of being retarded simply because I enjoy console games.

 

[The Irrelevant Gamer]

Nobody likes backing the wrong horse whether it's a sports team, band, or video game. Nobody likes to be told what they love sucks, and they're stupid for liking it, and teenagers can't help but respond to this, flooding the internet with fanboy wars.

 

[Do4600]

There's an insecurity at play. We want to feel invested in a thing, that's natural. Some people, however, have to feel like everyone is similarly invested in order to give their investment meaning. That's where the trouble starts.

The winner and still champion, Russ Pitts ladies and gentlemen.

 

[Testing]

On the opposite side of the fanboy is the hater. The hater is exactly the same as the fanboy except they derive their feelings of self-worth from knocking down something rather than propping it up.

I agree. I agree with this because I am one of those people. I hate Halo simply because it is popular. :3

 

[Enigmatic_Apple]

On the opposite side of the fanboy is the hater. The hater is exactly the same as the fanboy except they derive their feelings of self-worth from knocking down something rather than propping it up.

I agree. I agree with this because I am one of those people. I hate Halo simply because it is popular. :3

I can't believe you take the time to hate a videogame. What a waste of life. People like you are why we have wars. People that can't accept others happiness or joy in a hobby, religon, or political views. So you hate it. Fucking pathetic.

 

[eggdog14]

A nice little quote from a friend:

me: "Oy have you played HL2 yet?"
him: "Nah, I'm a Halo man, through and through."


No further explanation needed.

 

[NeoSpriggan]

I manage to settle myself somewhere in the middle of it all. I like any game that i can have fun with, love innovation, dabble in most genre's (except sports, i also see little to no poin in them), have owned most consoles, and update my pc every once in a while to play the games that i missed.

Now thats sorted, and sorry if i bored anyone. I personally think that all points so far are true. Fanboys are ilogical, disagreeable little twats. To pick one piece of fruit and eat it only is folly of the worst kind.

"Look over yonder and see the many other trees. What are they like? Do they all make fruit? No, they are probably poisonous, or taste bad, im happy eating the same thing every day." Note: Applies to any kind of fanboyism eg. genre, console, single title, retro, online/offline etc.

That is how i see it. I pity them, since i shall be cutting all manner of hell spawn into chunks in Devil May Cry 4, or dicing enemies with my insane looking boomerang in Dark Sector, while they wallow in the repetitive sameness of Halo 3. No, i dont hate Halo, just its hype. Its about as original and innovative as paint, but fun.

 

[blackfly01]

I often try to avoid fan boys, forgiving the fact that it's hard to do. To me a fan boy is pretty much anyone and everyone younger than you who makes any and every attempt to prove how you are stupid for not 'going-with the flow' and having a difference of opinion and for a good god damned reason.

A fan boy shows no adherance to the particular detail of the older, the predecessor, what have you and will generalize any arguement for the sake of discussion.

However, there's a difference between a fan boy and other praisers of older subjects say purists. Take me for example, I'm a purist of Survival Horror games because I like the old tried and true; it offers more space for creativity and challenge on the developer's behalf and it is a defined taste. The fan boy on the other hand will accept the taste that everyone else like them craves.

Thus, fanboys are collectivists who turn the other cheek to individuality and trust me when I say there's more of them then there are of me.