Just curious.  Anyone who has hated a company every grown out of it?

To get things straight -

Fan = someone who really likes a company and praises it.

Fanboy = while liking a company, you also spend time hating another company and take good news from your non preferred company as a threat.

For me, there was a time when I really didn't like the Xbox.  I don't like console shooters at all, except a few.  I also don't really care for online multiplayer as I frankly don't like people online - as in I like to keep the racism and homphobia out of my gaming experience. 

Then I decided, I would be missing out on games like Lost Odyssey, Blue Dragon, Tales of Vesperia (English version), and Alan Wake. 

Can some of you put away ill feelings toward a console manufacturer to play the games you want?  In the grand scheme of things, they are pretty small investments compared to bills, house / apartment, cars, girlfriends (I went there), etc.

I never hated a company per se. I was mainly in my own little world of Nintendo and ignored for the most part the other consoles except for a couple snarky remarks when someone bashed Nintendo. Basically, I was a fanboy, but only when someone else was openly one.

But this gen, I grew more appreciation for the games that Sony and their third parties produce for their Playstation. And to a lesser extent, Microsoft's Xbox. 

If I had the money, I would gladly get more consoles and thus greater game variety.

I would say i did.

I think the internet turned me into a playstation fanboy after reading all the doomed PS3 predictions early in the generation. Hell I didn't even care about sales until I discovered this site and realized Sony was getting their ass kicked. I am glad to be a more informed consumer now and even though I prefer my PS3 barely and think it deserves to win every week I still am happy to see Microsoft have success. I still do not love Nintendo, but I still can get my wii back when ever they impress me with a game.

In all, now that Sony is doing better I do not have to worry they will drop out of the hardware side of the industry. And I feel that when people buy all the systems they can learn once again that for every gamer it is about having fun and not just supporting a big corporation that cares only about profit.

Between me and my friends we always had all the systems the last 2 generations, so we played great titles on all of them.  And we did a lot of multiplayer which can make any game experience enjoyable regardless of whether it is an amazing game or not.  Although I've always loved Nintendo as a result of getting started on Mario at an early age, I've been able to digest a healthy balance of good games from all platforms over the years.

The one platform that never served me well was PC.  And suprise suprise, I found myself hating on the PC and PC gamers.  A late discovers of, and slight addiction to, Age of Empires II changed all of that.  And Portal sealed the deal easily.  Nonetheless I still don't get much gaming out of my PC, but I don't disown it as a platform in any way now a days.

I was a blind PS3 fanboy three years back. I'll say that much.

As a kid, I loved Nintendo.  The Nes was my world and I was happy.  The Master System was out but it had no impact on my life.  Then it happened.  "Genesis does what Nintendon't."  That was an attack equal to Pearl Harbor!  I knew what hate was.  My cousin Damien and I were the biggest Sega Bashers the world had ever known.  Without even playing the Genesis, we made statements like "Mario can run faster than Sonic the Hedgehog" while playing Mario 3.  The Super Nes released.  We sent Fan Art to EGM of Mario in his Go Kart chasing after a scared Sonic.  -Mario stating, "Blast Processing can't save you now!"  Nothing could stop us. 

One day, my new neighbor and I traded consoles for a day.  I loaned him my Snes with Mario, Street Fighter, and Starfox.  He loaned me his Genesis with NBA Jam, Streets of Rage 2, and Sonic 2.  The next day, he brought my console back.  I had a blast with those games and I was actually a little sad to see them go.  I still wouldn't admit that the Genesis was a good console.  This went on for years.  I'd cream my pants when the Snes version of Super Street Fighter would get a 98% and the Genesis version would get a 96% (PSM Magazine).  I'd smile when Sega's attempts at upgrading would fail.  I felt like I won.  But, I didn't win.  I denied myself a lot of great games when they were still fresh and new.  I didn't actually buy a Genesis until around the year 2001.

The system that ended my bias was the PS1.  Some of the best gaming I ever had in my life was with that console.  My neighbor/best friend had come home from the Army and he showed it to me.  Before that, I was already bashing the PS1 for not being as good as the Snes with Donkey Kong Country and had just gotten my N64.  Tekken 2 was so beyond what the N64 was doing that I had to admit defeat.  I wound up buying PS1 games before I even had the console, I was so impressed.  As a matter of fact, when I moved to Atlanta, it was my N64 I sold.  I got out of that Taxi with $2000 in the bank, a duffle bag full of clothes, a PS1 under my arm (with no TV) and a sign on my back that said "Please rob and/or kill me."

But my fanboyism didn't stop there.  I still liked Nintendo but I was a Sony Fanboy, now.  How bad was I?  In 2001, my girlfriend's nephew got an Xbox for Christmas.  Little guy just wanted to impress me because I was sort of his hero.  What did I do?  I bashed the console and Halo so badly that he wound up trading it TO GAMESTOP for a Gameboy Advance.  I still feel bad about that.

Somewhere along the way, I bought a Dreamcast.  While it wasn't the best system, it was a great system.  The only reason I bought it was because I couldn't find a PS2 (impossible to find for MONTHS after launch).  Later on, I bought an Xbox 360 because I couldn't find a PS3 on day 1 (impossible to find for DAYS after launch :p).  And somewhere along the way, it just went away.  I quit hating.  Now, my only crusade is against the overly self righteous.

So, if you see me bashing the PS3, the 360, or the Wii, it's not because I'm a fanboy or a hater.  It's just my personal mission to make someone see things a little differently or to show them that every console except the Jaguar(--even though I've never played one, I know it's a shitty.....sorry.  Little relapse, there!) is great in its own way and that it all comes down to personal preference.  I'm just trying to bring balance to the force.

--So MikeB, Osamanobama, and anybody else I may target from time to time:  No hard feelings.  I'm just doing my job as a lover of games.  I'm far from perfect, too.  Thanks for listening to the ramblings of an old man.

I was a Nintendo Fanboy, am I still a fanboy? I don't think so but I still dislike Sony.

For me I grew up on Nintendo consoles and never bought a competitors console. When I went into foster care my foster family had a PSOne that I could play and I enjoyed Spyro and Crash. However I never spent a dollar on any competitors product I was an extremely loyal fan.

I ended up buy a DreamCast when Sega officially left the hardware buisness. My justification was Sega is no longer a competitor against Nintendo so I can now buy a DC.

However when the Wii launched Iwata and Reggie and Miyamoto all claimed that Nintendo was no longer competing with Microsoft or Sony. I hesitated for awhile but then a Nintendo exec told Nintendo fans to buy a 360, next thing I know Microsoft is telling their fan base to purchase a Wii.

So I listened to Nintendo and Microsoft. I went out and purchased a 360. Honestly I didn't like the 3rd party content on the Wii and was relieved to get all those quality titles on the 360. After a few years I decided I wanted an HD TV so I went out and bought one, after that I wanted a BluRay player and guess what the PS3 was a perfect BluRay player so I bought one of those too. Going back a bit Nintendo said the DS wasn't competing with PSP. So I bought a PSP as well.

Now today I am a Nintendo/Microsoft fan with alittle love for Sony but not much. If next gen Nintendo recant's and claims to be competing with Microsoft and Sony I will not go back, unless the Nintendo console offers me everything the X-Box one does I will buy an X-Box.

I am a true gamer now, not a fanboy. Sure Nintendo remains my favorite company but now I love Microsoft too. I am no longer loyal to one company and their for don't consider myself a fanboy!

The biggest irony was that I spent much of my life hating Sega.  I finally bought a Dreamcast and realized that they were a pretty good company.  Almost exactly ONE WEEK later, Sega announced on CNN that they were going out of business.  I had learned to love but I had learned too late.

How's that for melodramatic?

added bonus--http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9TgMX4JIOLQ

Awesome Post!

I see all this love and hate for the company pointless, what's the point, really? It's not like their PR guys are trawling the web looking for potential groupies. Really, if anything people should love the product rather than a company, hating another product just because a company makes them is just silly and stupid in my honest opinion. I find the whole "I won't buy 360 cos MS makes it" stance really stupid as I find the whole "I won't buy Wii cos Nintendo makes it" etc for PS3 too. If I like the product, I buy it. What company makes it has no relevance to me whatsoever.