What the fanboy?!

If you would have asked me just 4 years ago what the be all end all video game system was, I would have told you without even thinking about it the Nintendo Wii. I was fresh off my first couple playthroughs of Twilight Princess, and still having friends over every weekend for a Wii Sports Tennis tournament. Then something happened. I purchased my first non-Nintendo console….ever.

Now before all the pitchforks come out, I LOVE LOVE me some Nintendo. If I could only own one console it would most definitely be one that has an Italian plumber for a mascot. That still doesn’t mean that stepping outside the box was a bad thing.

Before my first ever console purchase that didn’t have the Nintendo logo, I swore off everything non-Nintendo and turned a cold shoulder to anyone whom wanted to tell me any different. I was a fanboy, a Nintendo fanboy to be precise. Nintendo hadn’t let me down yet, so why should I consider another console? Sure, I may have gone over to a friend’s house to see him playing a Sonic title on his shinny Genesis console. Was I a bit jealous? Of course. But at the end of the day I wanted my video games to have Mario and Link so I felt alright letting Sega do what Nintendidn’t. I was just fine with my SNES thank you. But what games did I miss out on because of this fanboyism? Was I so blinded that I could have missed out on incredible titles on other consoles?

This, my friends is why I converted….the games. Why did I have to choose between Mario and Sonic? What if I wanted to play Metroid and Halo? There are so many different game experiences on each console that it seems silly to side yourself with one or the other. I want it all!

So why is it that we defend our beloved Nintendo so vehemently? I for one do so because they have never rarely let me down. For the most part, when I play a Nintendo published title I know I’m getting a highly polished game that plays just right. I know that the game has been tested and tested and tested some more until it was baked up just right into a delicious Nintendo pie. That doesn’t mean that Microsoft cake and Sony pudding isn’t sweet also, just different.

So what’s the moral of the story? Well, the point I am trying to make here folks to not knock it until you try it. How many people do you know that completely dismiss anything Nintendo because it’s “kiddy”? Those unfortunate souls will have missed out on some of the best games the industry has to offer. The same is also true in reverse. For me, I missed out on awesome titles like Gunstar Heroes, Shining Force and Shinobi all because of my blind hatred of all companies not named Nintendo. It’s ok to pick favorites, just be sure to check out the grass on the other side of that there fence as well.

Eugene lives in New Mexico and has been a life long gamer since getting his hands on an NES. Always partial to Nintendo, Eugene has made it a point to keep informed on all things Mario.