The Fanboy Within

If you’ve ever met me and talked with me about games, or have been following the site for a few years, then you’ll know that I’m something of a super fan of the GTA series. To me, there’s something about GTA games that other free roaming GTA-alikes just don’t quite get, like a special itch that only Rockstar can scratch.

So, as you’ll imagine, I was somewhat excited by the latest video released by Rockstar, showing GTA V in game footage. Well, if by “somewhat” you mean “very” and by “excited” you mean “tumescent”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N-xHcvug3WI[/youtube]

Oh yeah, Rockstar, right there, that’s the spot.

That video made me want to pay a doctor to put me into a coma until September 17 just to pass the time to launch quicker. I absolutely cannot wait for this. I’d sell my Granny to get this now. The five seconds of multiplayer footage at the end excited me more than almost every gaming video I’ve seen this year, The Last Of Us trailer excluded. Not everyone sees it my way, though. Shortly after the video came out, my nemesis (Ready Up’s own Johnny) posted online that he couldn’t see what everyone was getting excited about. What? How dare he? How can he not see the greatest game of all time shining through in four minutes, fifty one seconds of solid gaming gold? What a fool.

How can he not see the greatest game of all time shining through in four minutes, fifty one seconds of solid gaming gold?

It actually made me a tiny bit angry, which is quite ludicrous. Opinions are like arseholes, everybody’s got one, and he is, of course, entitled to his, no matter what it may be. I was annoyed at myself for being angry, even briefly, and that made me even more annoyed. Why should I care what he, or anyone else thinks about GTA V? I’ve never contributed to a GTA game, it wasn’t a personal attack on me, and I have no shares in Rockstar or any other reason to be personally involved. It won’t affect my enjoyment of the game when it comes out, and yet, it niggled me.

It’s exactly this kind of feeling, of wanting people to agree with you, to conform to your opinion, that leads to epic fanboy console wars on comment boards all across the internet. Gaming, like any hobby, is an emotional thing as much as anything. I’m frequently staggered by the (to my mind, terrible) games that some people call their favourites, as no doubt they are by mine. Emotion comes into every little part of it – like how I prefer the Triangle button to the Y button. Not the physical shape, or the switching mechanism or even the feel of the button, but the actual name. And that feeling can come from inside all of us, although some hide it far better than others.

As for Johnny’s comments, well, I’m a 35 year old man. An actual grown up, with a job and a mortgage. I’m above this petty shit. I read his comment, fumed silently, and decided to take the moral high ground, to rise above it, and be the bigger man. I took a deep breath, and didn’t post a childish, retaliatory comment.

For about ten seconds.