About a year ago, the ratio of vocal fanboys per console manufacturer was about equal for Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. At least on this site. Lately I haven't really checked out how it is with the Nintendo people, so let's forget about them for now.

What I want to talk about is how the vocal/visible Xbox fanboys, or Xbots, have diminished on this site over the past year. It's like it's not really needed to post stuff about how the 360 actually IS a good machine, etc, etc. You know the usual BS when it comes to fanboys. Check out the 360 forum, hardly any posts at all about how people try to rationalize why they bought a 360.

However, if you step on over to the PS3 forum, there are still quite a bit of threads where people try to justify purchasing a PS3, or simply talking down the 360 in comparisons, often with a very smug attitude emanating from the posts. Why is that? Is it really needed? Most people don't resort to fanboyism anyway, so it's really about a minority of people, but the PS3 minority is clearly more vocal these days on this site. Is it because of an inferiority complex? Because the PS3 didn't outsell the 360 this year that was supposed to be the PS3's awesome year?

That's what I see. Thankfully, those posts aren't as common in the 360 forum anymore, but anytime I see them I cringe a little because they are really unnecessary, regardless of what console you have. All three consoles have their merit and if gamers can afford it, they usually get at least two of them. I know I'm going to get a PS3 as soon as I have the money to spare.

I just never made that connection until now, but it seems pretty obvious to me: Fanboyism = the need to rationalize your purchase just in case it turned out to be the inferior choice. Which of course is a completely ridiculous way to reason regardless of what you bought.

I don't know, I just wanted to vent a little...

Hmm...I find myself rationalizing my purchase more when I *regret* the purchase (HDDVD anyone?) When I enjoy the purchase, such as the 360, I proselytize, in an effort to share the joy.
I think fanboyism is more when a rabid fan refuses to acknowledge the good things about a competing product, or refuses to acknowledge the negatives in the product he supports. As much as I enjoy my 360, I will be more than happy to acknowledge its faults, and as much as I have decided the PS3 isn't for me at this point, I will definitely offer praise where praise is due.
I don't think any of the three consoles is "inferior", I think they all have great things to offer certain portions of the consumer base, and they each have their strengths and weaknesses.
That said, the general elitist and superior attitude of some megafanboys is incredibly annoying and adds absolutely nothing to any conversation.

If the attitude that we all know as fanboyism could even remotely be regarded as mature/reasonable etc. they would have called it fanmanism.
But the word itself says it all. It's for whiny boys that are in love with their toys.

most of the people on this site that have PS3s either have 360's as well, or want one. there are still plenty of xbox fanboys here.... they all just post in the PS3 section now for some reason. :lol:

there are people (including myself) here who think that the PS3 is a better system, and when someone comes into the PS3 section saying it's a crappy console, you can expect some retorts. i'm assuming you came here often before joining and just browsed the forums, as it says you didn't join until this past september, so i'm assuming you saw all of the flame wars in the 360 section and the multiplatform section. that generally doesn't happen any more. come to think of it, i don't know when the last time an argument about either system happened in the 360 section, yet there's a new one in the PS3 section almost daily.

what i think it is, is that more people are interested in the PS3 because of the 2009 line-up. before, nobody except exclusive PS3 owners bothered to check the PS3 section, but now it seems like lots of people are active in that section. People are always going to justify a purchase, especially if they feel they've made the wrong one. i think the reason you're only seeing it in the PS3 section now is because most of the PS3 owners just stopped looking at the Xbox360 section, so they had to venture over to the PS3 section.

:lol:

that sounds really confusing.

SOME people are always going to justify a crappy purchase.

Ala Douche: Yeah, I was lurking for a pretty long time before I signed up. Those old flamewars were just nasty and silly at the same time. I think you might be on to something about that 2009 lineup thing, but it still doesn't explain threads like this one: http://sarcasticgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15406

That one just screams an anxious "hey guys, our box didn't sell the most, but we're okay, right?" while some of the replies are almost disgustingly smug "of course, we're the best, most valuable console". No Xbots starting arguments or anything like that.

But on the whole the fanboyism on this site has really gone down, which is a huge relief. It's probably because a lot of people are playing on "both" systems (I generally don't count the Wii to the next gen systems, for some reason), either because they own both or because they have friends with access to the box they don't own.

Regardless, I'd say that there is still an obvious need for a vocal minority of the PS3 people here to say that the PS3 is better, or rather, convince themselves or other people that the PS3 is NOT inferior, just like dtcarson writes. I just think that's a shame, because it's so pointless, especially after it seems like so much of the fanboyism has disappeared. Why can't that last bit of it disappear too? :) All the consoles have merit and there are absolutely great games on each system. Personally, I can't wait until I get a PS3. I'll need a boatload of time to plow through that back catalog of games that will be available to me by then :)

that thread had no fanboyism at all until someone came in trying to prove why the 360 is better (and that wasn't until the 2nd page)... and that's a pretty tame thread. :p

i don't see much fanboyism in that one, just differing opinions.

I think it does have fanboyism, but then again it's started by Sony and their lame attempt to target the 360.

what about this one?

http://www.sarcasticgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15456

exact same thing... right under your thread, no less... i don't think the fanboyism here leaning towards one side or the other anymore, but i do agree that it's decreased a ton since a year ago.

Fanboyism is slowly dying away, on this site anyway.

If you want to have a good chuckle, head over to N4G and look through the comments on articles about Sony or Microsoft, they make me laugh all the time. Almost everyday there is an article on the front page saying something like 'Blu-Ray is dead and so is the PS3!' or '360 has better games than the 360'

I must admit, I do like making the arguments kick off more. It's hilarious to see some peoples replies as they take this sh*t so seriously, its pathetic.

I must admit, I do like making the arguments kick off more. It's hilarious to see some peoples replies as they take this sh*t so seriously, its pathetic.

oh so very true.....

i am a fanboy of the console i got, when i am getting another console i will be fanboying that one too, i think it lies in our nature. it is our property and when some one else is dis respecting our property we wants to defend it.

and little bit of topic, this is a gr8 text btw, don't se allot of these now days :)