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It's just a tragic facet of the human condition - a tribal instinct that can pit friend against friend and brother against brother. Catholic v Protestant, Sunni vs Shia, Spectrum v Commodore 64 and now - perhaps most bitterly of all - Xbox 360 v PS3.
Building off of his essay where he asked 'who's winning the battle for the hardcore?', Chris Bateman has posted an essay on 'what makes fanboys tick?'. His answer? Much like fanatics on any side of sports rivalry, political divides, or religious divides, it's cognitive dissonance at work. As Bateman explains, "When we come across situations that radically contradict our beliefs, we are filled with an uncomfortable feeling: to lessen this unpleasant experience (which is termed cognitive dissonance) we modify our beliefs in a way that will lessen the cognitive dissonance." What does this have to do with console wars (and warring factions?):
Posted by Logan Booker at 3:30 PM on September 8, 2008
Flaw or solid design decision? Bad content or work in progress? When you jump online to browse the forum of your favourite MMO, what are you likely to type out in response to criticism? Dave Kidd over at Trembling Hand has written a great piece that should help you identify whether you're an MMO apologist or fan. From the story:
They're ultra conservative about the state of the game, and they place enormous faith in the wisdom and work ethic of its creators. They'll excuse clearly broken parts of the game as 'design decisions' and they see criticism as a personal attack on the developer -- and thus themselves -- and consequently respond defensively. It's a black and white world for the Apologist and you're either with him or against him.Have you been caught out as a sycophant? You might find the answer is "yes".
Are You a MMO Fan or an Apologist? [Trembling Hand]
Destructoid has a handy list, on the heels of TechRadar's "Signs you are no longer a hardcore gamer." Now, Kotaku is an open environment where fanboys are very evidently welcome. But fanboyism is, like terrible driving and owning yap dogs. In case of the former, no one admits to it. The latter, well, you're just a better owner of a more well behaved yap dog. Or some other bullshit.
Among the 10 signs:
• Any criticism of your chosen love is a result of bias
• Call everyone else a "fanboy" before they call you one
• Justify even the stupidest decisions/games
Well, I think we can all safely agree that none of these apply to any of us! And btw, I am toats not in the bag for Xbox 360, Rockstar sandboxers or any western-themed game.
Ten Golden Rules of Video Game Fanboyism [Destructoid]
Ernest Cline, the writer of the on again, off again movie 'Fanboys', has just sold the script for a new comedy film to Lakeshore Entertainment, and the topic hits pretty close to home. 'Thundercade' follows the story of a video game junkie in his mid-30's who learns that a young gamer has beaten a record he set when he was a teenager, who then travels with his friends to the world's largest gaming championship, Thundercade, to restore his former glory. If they don't get Fred Savage for this movie, I will cry.
Leigh Alexander has another great Aberrant Gamer column up over at GameSetWatch, this one talking about 'fanboyism' and the inherent conflicts that crop up with the review system:
I would like you to briefly indulge me by participating in an exercise. Remove all of the mascots and familiar faces from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and replace them with original constructs. Notice, if you will, the somewhat clumsy user interface, the high percentage of total content that must be unlocked to be enjoyed, the complete lack of usability of the Wii controls, and the lack of significant graphical or gameplay progression over the previous generation. It's true that even then, you'd have a good game. But would you have a 10 game?
The bravest journalist working in Japan today replies! Previously, we brought word of a new haircut our favourite Japanese Xbox 360 fanboy and Famitsu staffer Jamzy. Over at Famitsu, he's actually gone through an addressed comments our commenters had. Don't remember which of you knuckleheads wrote what, but here are some highlights:
Jamzy looked like he was 50 years old in the last picture
"Wasn't the reason I looked like I'm 50 because there was a giant wrinkle in my brow? lol"
Haircuts in Japan cost something like $200
"Sure, places usually charge that, but me... The place where I go charges nothing extra for designs like this lol"
His glasses
"Thanks for the kind words! I bought them at a-look in Shinjuku."
Whether he's got an English blog or not
"Bummer, but there's no English site. Eh, write each time in English? Sorry, tough..."
How rad is this? It's stuff like a dude shaving game logos into his heads, commenters adding their two cents and then said dude replying to those comments that really make getting out of bed truly worth it. What's more, Jamzy even was cool enough to write a message in English. That after the jump!
Holy crap! Our favourite Japanese Xbox 360 fanboy and Famitsu writer has cut his hair again. Last we saw him he had a Halo 3 logo shaved into the side of his noggin. That's nothing, and this time he is so not fucking around. This time, he's gotten four, count 'em four, designs etched into his scalp. His head is a game billboard! Here's the rundown: In the front, he got a 3D Xbox 360 iconic logo. A simple "X" is shaved on the back of his head. The side of his head is a Garuda team logo Ace Combat 6 and the opposite side is from the Assassin's Creed logo. Total time for these creations: Four hours. You know, Jamzy isn't only the most entertaining game journalist in Japan at the moment, but probably on our spinning blue planet known as Earth.
Us, we're really hoping gaming haircuts will take off as the next big thing. Game tattoos are so, you know, permanent. Hair grows back — that is, unless you are bald!
With Peter Moore gone, J Allard in deep cover, Jeff Bell ignoring our Facebook friend requests and the new boss so uninteresting we can't even remember his name, things aren't looking so hot for Microsoft on the personable PR front. Or...are they? This is Jamzy. Jamzy is our new favourite Microsoft fanboy. Dude runs the "360 Psycho" blog on Famitsu (he's employed by Enterbrain, not Microsoft) and is just on the right side of the nutty/too nutty divide. Yes, that is the Halo 3 logo shaved into the side of his head (he's got the 360 logo on the back, too). No, we don't know how exactly he manages to pull it off. Just that he does. It might be the horns. Or the fact he's odds-on the most hardcore fan of an irrelevant system in all of Japan, and can still get out of bed in the morning looking so enthused. Either or!
Halo3　髪斬りデスマッãƒã®å…¨è²Œ [360 Psycho]
What's the fan rush look like at GC07? We risked life and limb to put you right in the action. Seriously, about 30 photographers are lined up in front of thousands of fanboys. It's scary. And this is just one of three entrances to the show floor.
So what big company is behind us? Sony.
