But regardless of Fanboy's moronic personal attack, I was left wondering 'am I actually a Fanboy?' Looking deep inside myself, I've been forced to examine whether I've ever displayed a bias between the likes of and PGR, and Splinter Cell, and Pro Evolution. I know that I have. Yet, I'd stop short of calling that bias an example of Fanboy behaviour. I've played all of the above, I've enjoyed all of the above, but I do have my favourites. Surely we all do. For me, being labelled as a Fanboy is built on the unwarranted chastising of someone who enthuses over a game/console that you absolutely refuse to acknowledge the merits of and/or have simply never played. For example, only last week I wrote a review for play.tm on EA's FIFA 07. I duly awarded the game 95%. Simply put, it's as close to a complete footballing package that you're likely to get, and it mark a huge leap forward for EA's long-running sporting franchise; it's not merely an edition of incremental tweaks as we've seen in the past. Some of the contributor comments for said review were "fifa sucks ass" and "pro eva is da best much better than fifa". Considering that Pro Evolution 6 wasn't even released to when the review was posted, and FIFA 07 is 'clearly' superior in 'every' way to Pro Evolution 5, I'm sure you'll agree that both comments were weightily inaccurate observations, in every way indicative of a devolved Fanboy attitude.

Related

More importantly than software bias, however, which we do all feel to some degree, is the subject of Fanboy fanaticism. Have I ever displayed Fanboy behaviour where the likes of Sony, Nintendo, and are concerned? Yes, yes I suppose some would say I have. In a rather contentious piece I wrote a few months ago for play.tm called 'The Rise and Impending Fall of the PlayStation', I shamefully used my position on play.tm's staff as a platform to air my personal disgust with for its continual marketplace arrogance and total disregard for its consumer base. Without dredging up the article's content in extreme detail, I gleefully pulled spurious and half-truths from any semi-credible source and constructed a biased attack against Sony around a pseudo-biography of its evolution. Play.tm's readers subsequently - and quite rightly - tore the article apart and sent me packing with my tail firmly betwixt my legs thanks to comments such as "Talk about an article based on hate" and "you sir are a retard", and, most pointedly, "This is not journalism". Yet, I'm still loathed to call my actions those of a Fanboy - an imbecile perhaps, but not a Fanboy. I have never viewed Microsoft or or SEGA or Sinclair or as singular champions, god-like entities that should be followed blindly without ever turning from the righteous path to worship at the feet of false idols. The piece I wrote on Sony was a shallow attack based on frustration at its constant barracking of hardware importers while us lowly Euro-pee-ons shoulder launch after launch delay as an afterthought market. It was also based on the disgust I felt following Sony's separately reprehensible sexist and possibly racist campaigns and the corporation's utter lack of resulting sensitivity. I don't believe it makes me a Fanboy.

The bottom line here is that Fanboys are a necessary evil, and not just in the videogame community; they exist everywhere as dim-witted conversation starters, inadvertently prompting genuine discussion based on ridiculously one-sided comments, only to later cripple said discussion with expletives and immature ranting because the terminology being used makes their brains hurt. The Fanboy phenomenon pops up everywhere, spreading its special brand of baseless and banal bias across any subject that involves brand competitors and genre rivals: Sony and Microsoft, Adidas and Nike, Manchester United and Chelsea, and Star Trek, the stubborn championing of one against the blind intolerance of the other is something that's always existed. The internet just means that jovially heated discussion between friends now becomes full blown faceless frontal assaults against anyone who dares disagree with one outspoken - and often fractured - opinion. But like without referees, the X-Factor without Simon Cowell, and The Menace without Jar Jar Binks, the world needs Fanboys to invoke progressive indignation in those better equipped to formulate mature and forward-thinking conclusions. But remember, "fifa sucks ass".

Finally, just in case you're wondering, I'm perfectly satisfied with my 360, I'll be snatching up a Nintendo upon release, and I'll be actively avoiding the PlayStation 3 unless an editor thrusts one upon me for reviewing purposes.

I'm not a Fanboy. Are you?

By Stevie Mostyn