Now it may seem that committing your loyalty to Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo is a world apart from committing to a political or religious stance – after all, the stakes of politics are the leadership and government of society and the world, and the stakes of metaphysical belief can seem even more serious to both atheists and theists. Why should videogame fanboys be so invested in their loyalty to one platform over another?

Remember that the parts of the brain activated in partisan response are those involved in assessing risk and reward, and cognitive dissonance is involved in protecting one’s prior decisions against disconfirming evidence. The reward in the context of videogame players is the enjoyment they will earn from playing the games on the various console systems, often in the form of fiero (triumph over adversity) – that hot and addictive emotional reward from overcoming immense challenge – but this is far from the only form of reward to be found in play. The decision each fanboy has made at some point in the past is which console will give them the greatest emotional reward from play – and for loyalists who stick with one console manufacturer from generation to generation, this decision was made a long time ago.

It's worth a look see; Bateman concludes that fanboyism will never go away, but it does give us a chance to look at an "unseen aspect of cognitive dissonance that we are all subject to but can rarely catch a glimpse of without exceptional circumstances."

On Fanboys [Only a Game]

Among the 10 signs:
• Any criticism of your chosen love is a result of bias
• Call everyone else a "fanboy" before they call you one
• Justify even the stupidest decisions/games

Well, I think we can all safely agree that none of these apply to any of us! And btw, I am toats not in the bag for Xbox 360, Rockstar sandboxers or any western-themed game.

Ten Golden Rules of Video Game Fanboyism [Destructoid]

"I fell in love with the idea of pitting older 'classic arcade era' gamers from the '80s against teenagers — the Atari 2600 generation vs. the Xbox 360 generation," Cline said.

'Fanboys' scribe's 'Thundercade' gets pickup [The Hollywood Reporter]

I would like you to briefly indulge me by participating in an exercise. Remove all of the mascots and familiar faces from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, and replace them with original constructs. Notice, if you will, the somewhat clumsy user interface, the high percentage of total content that must be unlocked to be enjoyed, the complete lack of usability of the Wii controls, and the lack of significant graphical or gameplay progression over the previous generation. It's true that even then, you'd have a good game. But would you have a 10 game?

What does it mean that I'm hesitant to even state my opinion that it'd be a 7 game? And what does that crap even mean, anymore?

Auto-Neurotic Asphyxiation

Ultimately, it's developers on a budget (be it time or money) that are making the PS3 unable to play ported Xbox 360 games as well as the Xbox 360. It's a development industry doing what they can to make money using development models from 10 years ago, when they clearly no longer apply. Could Sony have minimized such problems by designing a platform more like the PC or Xbox 360? Sure. Should they have? Who knows? But fanboys, please, please cool your jets. If no one calls out the bad ports, then companies will just keep sweeping them under the rug and you will keep buying them, helplessly trapped by your pocketbook or meaningless brand loyalties to own one console.

A true PS3/360/Wii fanboy should be complaining louder than anyone else when a bad game hits their console. Never be insulted by talk; be insulted by the guy stealing your money.

What's the fan rush look like at GC07? We risked life and limb to put you right in the action. Seriously, about 30 photographers are lined up in front of thousands of fanboys. It's scary. And this is just one of three entrances to the show floor.

So what big company is behind us? Sony.

Already the venue is filled with Fallout fans offering Bethesda in-depth tips on how to make a Fallout game for the fans instead of for the general public at large, which is something a developer should never do. Who wants to sell millions of copies and generate a new fan base anyway?

In an extremely long post entitled "The Fallout Fanbase and You, We aren't all rabid deathclaws...", poster Frank Horrigan explains the feelings of the fans.

And no, we are not pessimistic, we are apprehensive. We are worried this game won't be a Fallout game for the fans. We don't have any solid evidence to prove the game will not be a worthy Fallout game, but we've got plenty of circumstantial evidence that allows us to build an ominous case. It may be weak, but there is no evidence at all, yet, that this game will be a Fallout game for the fans.

Fallout 3 Forums [Bethesda via CVG]

While Game Revolution's Jesus versus Zelda fanboys is a genius idea, (the site reviewed both Twilight Princess and Eternal Forces and then collected the hate mail) it sounds like the Eternal Forces review may have been deliberately over the top.

Still kinda interesting concept.

In rapid succession, I posted my review of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (which I gave a B+), and then donned my Lightning Rod Hat and set out to break the world blaspheming record with my review of Left Behind: Eternal Forces (which I gave an F). I knew I was in for some serious hate mail in both cases. I received fan mail for both as well, but hate mail is what we're here for today, and a selection is, of course, provided.

So, as I see it, only one question remains: Who has the most hardcore zealots for fans: Jesus or Zelda? Let the competition begin....

The collection of emails they get are equally insane and rambly, though I believe, as does the site that this one takes the cake:

And The Winner Is... Subject: Hey, Duke? From: Alex <**********@hotmail.com>

You are a dumbass. Lets look at why you're a dumbass, shail we?

First off, address your attention to gamerankings.com. Now, find the overall review section for Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. You see your review? The one at the bottom? The one that's even lower than the disgrace of a review written by the dick of dicks, Gerstamann? That's why you're a dumbass.

Hey, I don't care whether you have some agenda that Twilight Princess is somehow NOT the greatest game of the year, nie on the greatest game of all time. Maybe you did the cop-out and chose to simply rate it very low to drum up a lot of traffic for your website. Or, maybe you're just completely retarded.

You'll probably get a lot of this, and it's for a good reason: you have no right to rate a game that low when that review actually matters to said games perception on gamerankings.com. You have just joined Gerstmann on a list of people I plan to kick in their balls. I'll probably carve the triforce in your chest and the rating you gave Twilight Princess on your forehead. You'd be surprised how nimble gamers get with a scalpel after playing Trauma Center.

If you value your life and website, let someone do a serious impartial review and not from some dickhead jaded asshole who's too busy felating his Xbox 360 for the most overrated game of the year, Gears of War. Then again, you just might be another Sony whore like many tools out there. You did buy a PS3... so that's probably proof enough right there.

Sincerely Yours

The Internet.

Sorry Jesus, turns out nobody is crazier than Zelda fans. Insults, direct threats of violence and torture, vulgarity and obscene suggestions - this mail has it all. Plus it's from the entire internet.

WINNER: ZELDA!

So there you have it Zelda fans are more hardcore than Jesus fans. Direct all hate mail to Game Revolution.

Jesus versus Zelda [Game Revolution]

We know that you, our lovely readers, may like one particular console more than another. And then whenever we badmouth your beloved game machine, you see red spots, feel slightly dizzy and write us an angry email. These tirades typically come written in all caps, peppered with bold face and displaying mangled spelling that even Crecente cannot match. We're talking about fanboys here, folks.

Game site Aeropause rounded up a group of diehards and asked them a series of questions, trying to get a look at what makes fanboys tick. And you know what, it's not much. They develop strong emotional attachment to a particular brand name or console. This breeds quotes like:

I could really give a crap about what others think. I know I am right and that is all I need to sleep at night.

There is a simple cure for this rabid favoritism: Buy all the consoles. Though, for most, that isn't possible anymore. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Aeropause]

Poor Sony fanboys. Times have been tough recently, with everyone picking on the company and knocking its upcoming console. Take heart, there are others out there going through the same pain. Some cope by sending us illegible emails, lambasting Florian for being lippy. Others drink large amounts of Mr. Pibb and call GameSpot, just as this caller did. Feel free to continue using GameSpot as your fanboy forum to vent. Brian Ashcraft

Listen Here [YTMND] Thanks, Alan!

Wow, people. This is one of those moments I'm embarrassed to own a PlayStation. Sure, I liked Final Fantasy VII well enough—never did finish it though—but there comes a time when one must take a long hard look in the mirror, reevaluate one's priorities, and put the controller down. Filmed at the Anime Expo 2006 in Anaheim, this anime nerd debate/shouting match is brief, but hard to stomach. The responses to this cosplayer's hot topic, "What video game of Nintendo has made you cry?" are also equally embarrassing. Michael McWhertor

We hope you like randomly picking your answers, because chances are that the answers to nearly half the questions won't apply to you. We also hope you have some IQ points you can afford to slough off, because whether or not the author of the test has a Harvard Med doctorate in diagnosing console fanboys, he certainly doesn't have even a first grader's grasp of remedial spelling.

Are You A Console Fanboy? [Nerd Tests] (via GG)