Hello, and welcome to a new series I have just started on blog. This 7th Generation Video Game Woes will be put up every 2-4 weeks I'd say and this is where I get to delve into my thoughts on what is wrong with the current generation of gaming. Once next gen starts I'll just change the 7 to an 8.

A Little History

This installment's topic is about fanboys. Well, what is there to say about fanboys. Fanboys aren't a new breed that have just come about with this generation. They have existed sine probably the beginning of gaming. The earliest examples of fanboyism that comes to mind is the early 1990's and the 16-bit war between Sega and Nintendo. Previously, during the 8-bit era Nintendo, in North America at least, destroyed Sega's Master System thanks to a far greater support from third party companies.

By the time the 16-bit generation rolled around, however, Sega was the first one out of the gate with the Genesis in 1989. Sega got a 2 year head start on Nintendo and many people that owned a NES the prior generation, but not a Master System were converted upon the Genesis' release. I suppose they were very eager to get a more powerful system and started becoming obsessed with graphics, but that's another topic for another installment of 7th Generation Video Game Woes. Nintendo finally released the SNES in North America in 1991 with their mascot appearing in a launch title. This was also the debut year of Sega's current blue mascot. This is when the fanboy war really started to heat up. It was Sonic vs. Mario. Sega vs. Nintendo.

This was bad enough when only the consumers were involved, but Sega's controversial ad campaign added fuel to the fire. Those classic "Genesis does what Nintendon't" ads ring in the annals of gaming history as ads attacking the competition. I don't want to spend too much time on this because I want to talk about fanboys and not the history of fanboys. This console generation is most certainly the worst case of fanboyism we've probably ever encountered.

My Accounts With The Culture of Fanboys

Yes, you certainly read that correctly. I used to be a fanboy. I have come to learn the error of my ways through my experience and through age. I now currently own an Atari 2600, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, SNES, PS2, PSP, PS3, Xbox 360, 3DS, and PSVita. I think fanboys are a plague that need to go die off for ruining gaming, but I once was one.

My earliest memories stretch to playing a SNES, N64, and PS1. I also owned a Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy advance. The funny thing is that this doesn't seem like a fanboy so far, but truth be told, I was a fanboy early this generation with the PS3. I remember coming out of school to see my mom carrying the Playstation 3 because. The level of excitement within me skyrocketed because the night before, we had spent all night looking for stores to find PS3's the night of the launch. Unfortuantely, we couldn't find any. I was foolish enough then to not reserve it despite how I much I yearned for one.

I recieved two launch titles, Call of Duty 3 and Tony Hawk's Project 8. Suddenly,I was a fanboy. Every time I heard anything about the competing companies I was quick to hurl insults and defend my precious Sony to the end. My username on three websites I frequented was even inspired by my love for Sony. I was excited by every single PS3 game that was announced as exclusive. I even remember being very angry during that E3 where it was revealed Final Fantasy 13 was going multiplatform. I vented my anger into a blog post on a gaming site. I was a pretty typical fanboy that called every game on my platform of choice the "BEST GAME EVER" and any game on other systems complete crap. I even used gay a lot to describe the Xbox 360 and its library of exclusives. I made jokes about the 360 like "It's called a 360 because when you buy it you turn 360 degrees and return it to the store."

I called Nintendo's franchises kiddy stuff to only be enjoyed by babies and faggots. I was a very cruel man. I had friends during this period who owned 360's and whenever an opportunity presented itself, I bashed them or their system. I even remember laughing my ass off and being filled with utter joy when a friend of mine had his system get the red ring of death at a sleep over at my house. He may have been pissed, but I was content.

Turning A New Leaf

All this behavior turned around when I heard about a little game called Alan Wake. I was very excited by not only the premise, but also by the developers making it. I remember having a good time watching my uncle play Max Payne and Max Payne 2 last gen. At the time it originally piqued my interest, Alan Wake was in development for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Eventually the PS3 and PC versions were cancelled(only for the PC version to come a year later with all dlc). At this point, I was devastated. I loved Remedy and needed their new game, but I would be forced to deal with the "gaybox".

I decided to settle my differences by reserving the collector's edition, then buying my Xbox 360 on the same day of the game's launch. Alan Wake ended up being one of my favorite games this generation. After completing the game, and getting most achievements for it, I decided to prevent my money from going to waste and getting some other games on 360 like the Gears of War series and Mass Effect series. I all of sudden stopped caring what system a gme as on. Hell, when I play a game, the platform it's on does not even cross my mind because the experience is so immersive and enthralling that concerning myself with such trivialities is a waste of time.

I am a fanboy no more. I went through the depths of hell and earned my status as a true gamer. Fanboys are sad, pathetic people. Going to no end to defend whatever they like even if deep down they know it sucks is quite disheartening. It shows a lack of common sense. Anybody that labels themselves as a gamer, but is a fanboy of any of the 3 companies should probably have their G-card taken away. A true gamer plays any and all types of games. A true gamer opens his/her mind to any experience. Fanboys always limit themselves to the games they can enjoy. If I was still a fanboy, I never would have discovered Mass Effect(Which I still think is much better than its immediate sequel), Alan Wake, Gears of War 3(The first 2 are overrated to me), and The Witcher 2. Games like Alan Wake, Mass Effect, and The Witcher 2 expanded my appreciation of gaming narrative/artistry and my appreciation of said aspect of gaming would be limited compared to now. I also would not have discovered the 3DS hidden Gem, Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon:Shadow Wars.

I myself am glad to be able to experience various different games and pity anyone that limits themselves to what they play. Fanboys need to die off because they also in many cases influence developers either slightly or significantly. Like, for example, the people that sent death threats to Ninja Theory about Dante's character design need to grow up. We as a community must move past fanboys in order to have hobby filled with complete peace. How wonderful would it be to live in a world where people didn't vandalize stores by writing ----------SUCKS in that aisle of the game store or a wold where people arent refusing to buy an exclusive game even though it may deserve more than it gets.

My next entry into this series will likely either be about graphics whores or greedy developers.