The LATE F-Bomb: E3 2008 Aftermath
*ahem*
Fanboys.
The term alone is enough to make most gamers roll their eyes in disgust.
Yes, it’s perfectly understandable that people support the things they enjoy in the industry, but some people develop such an obsessive loyalty towards a certain franchise/console/developer that it borders on insanity.
Case in point, this dumbass.
Of course, the story in question could very well be fake. That particular mental illness is a running gag among the forum goons at Something Awful. But the sad part about it is that Fanboy behavior is, most of the time, so extreme that that particular post seems almost plausible.
Need an example? Since we’re talking about Final Fantasy in this case, go to any FF fansite and start a forum topic stating that you think Final Fantasy VIII is the best game in the series and see what kind of a response you get.
Did you get flamed? Well, then there you go.
To put things into some kind of perspective, most gamers that troll the intertwebz are young kids who’s parents make only a decent amount of money. Therefore, chances are they aren’t going to own all three of the major consoles at one time. They’re going to have to settle for a Playstation 3, an Xbox 360 or a Nintendo Wii. As a result, they will vehemently defend their position among the other kids who think they’re console is so cool and point out all of the pros of their platform of choice.
One of the arguments that the Sony fanboys hold against the 360 owners, in terms of available titles, is that they will always have way better exclusive JRPG titles then the 360 guys ever will. And the franchise that dominates the hell out of all other JRPGs is, of course, FINAL FANTASY. So you can imagine the sort of impact it had on these guys when they found out at this year’s E3 that their cherished exclusive title suddenly became not so exclusive anymore.
It’s this sort of schoolyard bullshit that I don’t miss. Though I must say I liked it better when it was just down to Mario and Sonic.
I will admit that there are certain developers and franchises that I am a fan of. I put my faith in them but I’m hardly what most would consider a rabid fanboy. Yes, I love the hell out of Nintendo but that didn’t stop me from getting a Playstation; a console that I have more games for than my PS2 and Gamecube libraries combined. And as much I love Sony, I’m too pissed off at the PS3’s price as well some of the decisions on Sony’s part that I’m settling for a 360 instead (at least, until God of War III comes out).
The ironic thing about all of this is that Final Fantasy was, for the first six entries in the series, a Nintendo exclusive franchise. By that logic, you think the idiot in question would have killed himself because of the series’ shift from Nintendo to Sony after Final Fantasy VI (one of the biggest holes in his argument). Plus, it’s not as if the game still won’t be available for PS3. I fail to see how a particular franchise going from an exclusive to becoming multi-platform could possibly ruin anyone’s life.
There are so many great titles for all of the major platforms at the moment that I don’t see the point in all this bickering. But, then again, I have my own place and work two jobs. Unlike most of the people on the GameFAQs boards who, if not teenagers, probably still live with their mom.
———
While the “major” announcements of the THE BIG THREE may not have been all we hoped for, that isn’t to say their weren’t any decent third party titles on the show room floor (hell Konami, Capcom and High Voltage did a better job at representing the Wii than the Big N did).
Castlevania Judgment
I was a bit skeptical at first about the idea of a Castlevania fighting game, but the footage of the same game actually looks pretty good. Only four playable characters have been revealed so far: Simon Belmont, Alucard, Maria Renard and, of course, Dracula himself.
The gameplay looks very different from most fighting games. Of course, it includes many of the iconic elements of the series; such as those whatthefuck heartz and chances are we’ll here some variation (remix) of this song in there.
Megaman 9
What can I say? It’s old school Megaman. And, in my opinion, that’s the best kind of Megaman. Well, except Megaman Legends. BTW, Inafune, we ever gonna get a sequel to that?
Mirror’s Edge
Oh, hey! It’s that innovative FPS I won’t shut the fuck up about!
Seriously, it’s shaping up to look pretty good and the news that it isn’t a PS3 exclusive (unlike what I had originally heard) adds a plus one to my decision to get 360. I’d prefer to play this on PC but I seriously doubt my computer would even run it. Hopefully, the console version will have some kind of keyboard/mouse support.
The Conduit
Probably the best looking Wii game ever and a welcome addition among the constant wave of crap titles that plague the console. High Voltage is being pretty ambitious with this title, especially considering that the Wii is considered a more “casual friendly” console than the others. Hell, some publishers have even questioned why they’re making a title like this in the first place.
Um, gee. Maybe because not all of us are interested in party/mini-games and would rather blow the heads off of some fucking Aliens. Y’know, the sort of thing most of us who bought the Wii were expecting to do in the first place.
———
Tomorrow’s Top Ten will be the “no shows” of E3. Some good titles were shown off but there are still some games that were missing in action at the event. And no, I’m not talking about Duke Nukem Forever.
Speaking of, check this out.
Best game of E3 without a doubt. It’s so fucking bad-ass, they couldn’t even show any of the actual game. It’s that good.
(honestly, I shouldn’t even have to tell you that I’m being sarcastic)
