As much as I despise fanboyism the two things I hate about it are fanboyism within fanboyism and when the media behaves as badly as the fans.
This is very common among Nintendo fans. Ever since the casual debacle of 2006 the Nintendo fandom has been divided into three:
-The fan that is so outraged by Nintendo that they created a capsule of hate and feel as if Nintendo has wronged them.
-The extremely fanatical player that sees no wrong in anything Nintendo does, to the point where they defend the lack of a storage device and friend codes.
-And finally, the level headed Nintendo fan that gives credit when credit is due and criticizes when there's need for it.
Now, I know that people will see Nintendo through their own eyes and the feeling will always be different. But lately, you can't even talk about a game without some kind of angst or rabid fandom behind it, and at times it sucks and its annoying as hell.
To the angsty fans I say...GET OVER IT! Yes, Nintendo's E3 2008 conference sucked big time, and Animal Crossing City Folk looks barely like an update and Wii Music will either be good or bad. However, that doesn't mean you must bring that issue out whenever we are talking about "Wario Land Shake it" and ruining the experience for those that just want to talk about a game.
And the overly fanatical, Nintendo is a company. Companies are run by humans. Humans mess up a lot of times. Which means that Nintendo can make mistakes, and if they are apparent we will call them out. That doesn't mean we are angry or are disrespecting Nintendo. While some of us will take it too far (see the angsty fanboy above) some of us will politely criticize it and likely move on. Nintendo's a great company, yes, but not a perfect one. Accept that and we should all be happy.
Now regarding fanboyism in the media, to an extend its understandable. Like Karl said in the Radio Free Nintendo thread many game journalists are really just fans with no real preparation and knowledge of the field. That's fine.
But the problem is that many of the most well known people in the industry behave just as bad as the fans, or at times even worst.
OK, OK. No matter who we are, all of us are deep down fans. Whether its little Timmy or even Miyamoto the industry wouldn't exist today if the people behind it didn't have a love for gaming. However, there are certain actions and attitudes that do more harm that good and I think its time for it to stop.
I am talking about game journalists who have a fandom so stubborn that they publicly bash a game simply because it not what they wanted, or comes from a company they don't like. Or they review a game that is so, so hyped that they are afraid of being honest and instead review it like it was a masterpiece, even if it wasn't perfect.
Yes, I am talking about the GTA IV reviews and the time in which EGM refused to review "Endless Ocean" because it was a casual title different from the typical hardcore FPS fare.
People will burn alive any media outlet that shows blatantly obvious preference and questions its integrity as a news source. Even the movie and music industry have these standards to follow and not even critics (whose sole job is to criticize and pick apart anything in the medium) get away easily with it.
Yet, the videogame industry gets away with blatant fanboyism and its understandable why people don't give it the credit it deserves for being a legit entertainment medium.
Fanboyism within the fans is something expected and will never change. But fanboyism within a medium that claims to inform the player in the fairest way possible is dangerous because it sends an image to non gamers about those that truly enjoy their hobby without letting extreme personal feelings take over the fun.