Hypocrisy in action: My life as a fanboy.
By Infernocow 19 Comments
It was November 2006 and I was in my second year at the Memorial University School of Music. Ripe was my thirst for adventure, flamed by the expansion of my creative sensibilities, I was all set to live vicariously through another generation of game consoles. I had already written off the Xbox 360, using the dismal hardware failure rate as an excuse for my prejudice. My hate for Sony was eclipsed only by my hate for the New York Yankees, and my mind was set on one goal...
...Play...Twilight...Princess...
While I was not one of those who so unfairly brushed the previous console iteration of the Zelda franchise aside like a non-EON James Bond film, I was still looking forward to a darker Zelda game. So eager was I that I played through Ocarina of Time several times while I waited...which I believe constitutes some sort of disorder.
At any rate, November 18th arrived. I had considered waiting in line for the Wii launch the next day, and did so for an hour...but I was not feeling well and I figured I'd be able to track one down anyway. I was wrong, but I did eventually manage to get my hands on one by Christmas. So began the adventure, and almost 70 hours later, my Twilight Princess experience came to an end. I had managed to milk every second I could out of that game, and it was well worth it. Such an experience had I that I immediately wanted more. The problem, however, was that there was no more to be had. I refused to consider the other consoles...they were too expensive, I HATED Sony and everything they do, and I was still baffled by the 360 hardware issues.
I'll now take you back to 1997.
I lied...this is before 1997, but we'll get there in just a second. I was jipped as a child. I blame it on my brother, who was so influential on me in so many positive ways, with this as the exception. He was, for whatever reason, convinced to buy a Sega Genesis in lieu of a Super NES. Yes, that's right. No Super Mario World. No Donkey Kong Country. Those came later, after I had seen the light and was compelled to fill in what I had missed. The result of this purchase was that I became a Sega fanboy, in the worst way. Sonic and Tails became my heroes, and Mario was actually, for a brief few years, my enemy. Hard to believe for anyone who knows me. (back to 1997) I rented the Sega Saturn a few times. It was dismal. A complete waste of time. It was so bad that even my blue and white sonic-ridden young brain could see that it was a sinking ship. I went to my friend's house, and it was then that I first played Super Mario 64. The next month, I had an N64, and the following November, I was utterly convinced. Nintendo was my company. It only took the greatest game ever created to convince me. Ocarina of Time changed my life, as dramatic as it may sound, but not all for good. It was almost ten years before I realized that life existed beyond Nintendo.
November 2007
I caved. $500 later I had an Xbox 360 and Call of Duty 4. Xbox Live was more than I thought it would be. The growth continued. Ushered by my disgust at the lack of a substantial game for my estranged white Nintendo box, lost derelict among a sea of chords and wires. Defeated by my new purchase, it remained unplayed for months and months. I had found a new home, for the time being at least. But I left with a promise of returning with the next coming of Link. That has yet to occur. With the exception of the week I spent playing Mario Galaxy, I haven't returned. That was fantastic, but brief.
August 2009
With the recent revelations coming from Gamescom, I find myself at another junction. I think this may be the final transformation. I think I'm going to buy a PS3. Despite my loathing of the company, Sony's console holds several keys to my heart, notably the MLB The Show series, as I'm a die-hard baseball fan, and MLB 2k blows. We'll see if I do it, but if I do it marks an end to an era of stagnant, brooding bias toward consoles.
Let the living begin, hence.
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