‘Fanboy’ makes it in to dictionary – PS3, Xbox & Wii fans argue about it
Gamer.Blorge is a place for news, views, reviews, console war stories, and commentary on the games industry. But it’s also a place for fanboys of each of the current-gen consoles to have their say, and argue with each other over the finer points of gaming and the merits of each system. And now the word ‘fanboy’ has made it in to the dictionary. Oh dear.
This year’s edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary does have, as always, new additions, and some are tech-related, and from the cyber-culture of online forums, and websites. Leslie has listed a few of the additions over on Tech.Blorge.
So ‘fanboy’ isn’t the only new word to have made it into the dictionary this year, but it is the one which probably deserved to be included a long time ago, as the term is used massively all across the Internet. Our readers will obviously know it from the use in the games industry, where it applies to anyone who only supports one company or console. And we here at Gamer have a selection of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft fanboys, as well as Wii, PS3, and Xbox fanboys.
There are also industries which have their own fanboys, with Apple being a particularly heavy-fanboy-populated company. Then there were the Blu-ray and HD DVD fanboys, who saw fit to talk up the high definition format they had chosen to adopt early.
What’s odd though is that according to Gamepro, the official definition in the new Merriam-Webster dictionary, ignores all of the current usage, and instead refers back to an earlier era:
Fanboy n. (1919): [a] boy who is an enthusiastic devotee, such as of comics or movies.
And just look at the year that the word has been traced back to! 1919. And there was us lot thinking we had somehow invented the word a few years ago.
If proof were needed of the current flavour of fanboy, though, you need look no further than the comments section of that Gamepro article, where the whole issue becomes an excuse for an argument between the various factions. Which just goes to show that you can’t keep a fanboy quiet for long, even by writing articles which have nothing to do with Wii Vs Xbox Vs Playstation 3.
Personally, I love fanboys — well, except maybe for kev. And no, I’m not one myself, even though I have been accused of favouring all three current-gen consoles in my time. Actually, scrub that, I’m a Dreamcast fanboy. Now there was a console.
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20 Responses to “‘Fanboy’ makes it in to dictionary – PS3, Xbox & Wii fans argue about it”
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July 11th, 2008
Dave i resent the fact that Kevin has been used as an example/diagram in your article, i hope he gives you an earful
July 11th, 2008
He would have given me an earful anyway, so I thought why not!
July 11th, 2008
yeah thats very true, but the scary thing is that at least SOME of those points c
an be attributed to Kev… Sorry kev but its true “tuned ears…capable of tuning out facts and others opinions”
…someones been watching Kev and his comments…
LOL just as my browser was posting this, i saw your reference to Kev LOL. He had it coming though.
July 11th, 2008
I can’t understand what everyone’s obsession with fanboyism is.
PS3 rules all.
LOL
PS Fanboy for life
July 11th, 2008
The 360 and Wii sucks dick
July 12th, 2008
Kev will find something -ve about 360 in there somewhere …. and find that this article was biased towards the PS3.
Long live the Atari 2600, now that was a system……
July 12th, 2008
For those who are new, please hang around to find out who exactly ‘kev’ is. I think I can hear his stamping feet now.
July 12th, 2008
Pretty much my anatomy… but I haven’t had Mountain Dew in years…
July 13th, 2008
Whoa, it’s a picture of kev/kevin/harry, (they are the same person)
July 13th, 2008
I’m not Kevin, idiot.
July 13th, 2008
sure harry, sure. i believe you *rolls eyes*
July 13th, 2008
Roll your eyes as much as you want, it’s making you look even more of a tool.
July 14th, 2008
bourne, ivan, spidey and dwh finally have a meaning on this earth. congrats… fanboys…
July 14th, 2008
davep- wow…i must’ve hit a nerve to be included in your article. truth hurts sometimes.. and yes, dave.. you are a HUGE fanboy…
it’s GLARING…no…really…
July 14th, 2008
Kev- I think you disappointed us all. We were waiting for the big rant, the rant of all rants.
July 14th, 2008
Harry- your name alone makes you look like a tool. It sounds like something a 12 yr old came up with. Maybe if your name wasn’t so immature we could take you seriously, well maybe not but aleast you wouldn’t look so immature!
July 14th, 2008
Did the maker of that diagram also discover that “arrogancy” has been added to the dictionary this year?
-Arvis
July 15th, 2008
wylie – what’s to rant about? davep is a joke, you already heard that. spidey/dwh/bourne/you have no idea of the gaming industry past last year, you already heard that. this site is on sony’s leg so hard sony’s lost all feeling in it, you already heard that. the “writers” here are not writers at all, but adolescent fanboys skewing every “article” to say what they want it to say, you already heard that. the “writers” here put words into the mouths of people giving quotes, you already heard that. and finally, the ps3 is in last place, has a smaller libraray, and an inferior online gaming “service”. so really, what’s to rant about?
July 15th, 2008
Kev- that’s what I was looking for, great rant. You just took an article that wasn’t about the PS3 or Sony and went off on them anyway. That is why your the definition of fanboy. Maybe you could get your name in websters!
December 31st, 2008
I am going to partially agree with kev here in saying that the site seemed to be leaning heavily towards the PS3 in the majority of it’s articles (let alone included pictures) earlier in the year, but the tide is turning and you can see much more objectivity in the articles and comments now.
Though there is still some signs (”PS3 sells more RPG’s than 360″ is the latest example, and even this was toned down, while other articles say it with pictures- I think some of those were removed) of the PS3/anti-360 slant, overall I would have to say that the site’s authors and commenters have improved in gaining objectivity, though neither will ever be perfect or please everybody.
I think a new head count would do some good for a background perspective… which current gen console do you own and what game(s) are you playing now? How long have you been gaming and what consoles have you owned? (site authors welcome, please!) I’ll start it off:
I have been a gamer since the Magnavox Odyssey2 in 1978 enjoying “UFO!” as a 5 year old. Since then I have owned and enjoyed the Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega CD, NES, Super Nintendo, Atari 7800, Sega 32x, Atari Jaguar, PS1, Sega Saturn, PS2, Sega Dreamcast, GameBoy Color, GBA, Sega GameGear, NeoGeo Pocket, DS, and PSP.
I have owned a very expensive Alienware in the past and my current rig out here is a Dell XPS 1330.
DS Lite, PSP3000, XBox 360 and PC are my current gaming platforms.
Because of rough shipping and power problems being renowned for both the PS3 and 360 (it is not very “clean” power here in Iraq), I decided not to have my 360 shipped out here to Iraq, and opted instead to utilize the DS Lite and PSP3000. I wore these out for the first few months, but I actually put down Final Fantasy Tactics and I am currently playing Shining in the Darkness on PC emulation (DGen). Fallout 3 is the first game I plan on playing on the 360 when I get back to the states next year.