Ok, this has been bugging me for weeks now, so I thought I would rant about it.

Ever sense GTA4 came out, we have been having these bitch sessions about what the best game is, what the best console is, and what the best way to review a game is.

I will tell you right now what the best game is, the best console is, and the best review system is:

The best game: The one you like the best.

The best console: The one you enjoy the most.

The best review system: The one that helps you know what to buy the clearest.

Nothing more.

I own a 2001 Porsche 911. That model is a lot different then the one before it, and the ones after it.  When I go to Porsche forums, to talk about my car, I get support from everyone who owns or wants to own one. It's not one big bitch session about how my year model is better then your year model, or how I am not a "real enthusiast" because I don't own this or that.

I have a boat as well, and when I go to boat forums, everyone is very pleased to help, no matter what kind of boat you have.

I want to come here and talk about gaming, with gamers. But 9 out of 10 threads are nothing but a bunch of bitch sessions trying to tell other people how they should enjoy gaming, and why there choices are better then your choices.

It gets old. I wish this community would just grow up, and talk about things that are fun, like... oh... I don't know... gaming maybe?

/rant over 

I would love to talk about gaming in general, but everywhere I go it seems like everyone is bitching about ppl bitching in gaming forums. Not to mention bragging about their Porsches. Gets on my nerves. Man, if I was on Porsche site I would so be talking shit about how much cooler and better Aston-Martins are. But alright, let's talk about gaming. Gaming ROCKS!!! So uh yeah. There, you go.

I own a 60GB PS3. That model is a lot different then the one before it, and the ones after it.  When I go to PS3 forums, to talk about my PS3, I get support from everyone who owns or wants to own one. It's not one big bitch session about how my SKU is better then your SKU, or how I am not a "real enthusiast" because I don't own this or that. However,all of us are in complete agreement that Wii sucks and Xbox 360 fails. It's self-evident.

I guess some people must justify their system purchases. Others are just biased. Not really much I can say.

It was in my sig a while ago... but:
"Fanboyism is used to counter the effects of buyer's remorse"

They want to validate every purchase they make, some feel they do that by going to random internet forums and saying how much better their game/console is to another and if they manage to convince just one person of that, they'll know they made the right choice.

@SaviorX: Is your avatar teknoman? (Interestingly enough it was one of my favourite morning cartoons, years later after rewatching it I realised how inappropriate it was for kids :) ).

I agree wholeheartedly. While I believe it's cool for stats and numbers junkies to be interested in sales and the market in general, most people here seem too emotionally invested in whether their plastic box is doing better than someone else's. Gaming is supposed to be fun, not the zero-sum, us-versus-them idiocy it has devolved into on the net. Instead of coming together Voltron-style to hit back the forces of censorship, the community seems much more content bashing each other over the head about 2 tenths of a point on a stupid gamerankings score. Nice post, by the way.....and happy gaming!

It's really not worth it to get worked up over it. You see the same sort of elitism in most forums; your experiences in those car and boat forums are the oddities, sadly. In the case of the video game market, it's the vast difference between systems (even though it's not really so vast) which leads to the conflict.

That, and this misguided desire to see a system of choice "win", a strange fascination if ever I've seen one. Nobody really "wins" in any market; each product gets a share of the overall market, relative to the size of the demographic it appeals to and its success in appealing to that demographic. The broader and more successful the appeal, the higher overall market share ends up being. And of course, this has zero impact on one's ability to actually enjoy a system they've bought, at least in the case of the rationally sane. Yet something about sales numbers turns certain people irrational and (dare I say it?) even a bit insane...

@Starmistkarmic
Thanks, happy gaming to you too!

@Sky Render
I don't really get worked up over it, I just hate that even if a thread gets started with good intent, 10-20 posts into it, it becomes a flame becomes someone stepped in to take a shot at the people talking about whatever.

A thread gets started about MK, and someone will say it's a kiddy game. A thread gets started about GTA4 being fun, and someone comes in and states "OoT is the best game ever". If you don't have anything constructive to add the the conversation, then don't.

(in this thread, it only took 1 post)

Oh, and great synopsis on the state of things Sky Render.

Fanboyism has nothing with wanting to validate your purchase.

Example:

I prefer Q-Milk to Tine Milk. Tine Milk has a close to monopoly (97% market share) so I encourage my friends to buy Q-Milk, to prevent Tine from monopolizing. Do I want to justift the fact that I bought Q-Milk?

That's not being a fanboy, that's bing a fan.

Becuse you like Q-Milk more then Tine Milk, do you then think people who enjoy Tine Milk somhow have it all wrong, or that your version is the version everyone should play?

Do you badmouth Tine Milk?

If the answer is no, then your a fan. If the answer is yes, then you are a Fanboy.

Off topic: What the hell is Q-Milk and Tine Milk? :)