By all means be a fanboy, but don’t be a troll

Although it goes against received wisdom and supposed common sense, I don’t go in for the platform agnosticism which seems to be the opinion popularly expressed in polite company nowadays. People who play games on all platforms extensively either have a lot more spare money than me, a lot more spare time than me, are game journalists, or all three.

Undoubtedly each platform has its merits and games that I may well enjoy, but I find it more than reasonable to partake in a little fanboyism to a certain extent.

I, like many others have invested a not insignificant sum on my platform of choice (in my case the PS4). I did this in the knowledge that I could buy into the key tenets of the brand, and the major deciding factor was what first party games, and other console exclusives, I could expect to be playing on that platform. Although third party games are more than worthy of attention, I truly believe that it takes a Naughty Dog or the ilk to get the very best out of a system, designing the game without having to make compromises that are necessary to bring the game to multiple platforms, and having an intimate understanding of how to squeeze every last drop of power out of the platform to reach the greatest heights.

I’m no Sony evangelist, yet at the same time it is understandable that one may wish to bask in the knowledge that their investment of choice was a smart move for them. It is understandable that they would wish to champion their system, share their experiences and recommend certain games.

It is, however, not at all understandable how someone would deny that anyone could ever derive any enjoyment from a system other than their own, and engage in flame wars on games forums to defend the honour of their selected corporation, and to project the feaces that they spew onto the internet. For those that fit this description dwell under bridges in fairytales, in teenage bedrooms, and their mothers’ basements well into their 40s.

So while it is clear that gamers tend to identify with and invest in the brand to a much greater degree than say their brand of toilet paper, and it is ok to express certain fanboy tendencies, it is never ok to be a troll.