Bayonetta 2 Exposes Gamers as Terrible Fanboys - Article

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Before we get into the actual reactions here, let’s get through the facts. Bayonetta 2 has been announced, by Nintendo, as a Wii U exclusive. It is being published and financed by Nintendo. SEGA, who directed Platinum to Nintendo if they wanted to get the game funded, is acting as an advisor, but is not the publisher nor the owner of this game. This game would not exist without this funding. SEGA was not willing to pay for its development. You can blame SEGA for this situation, but Nintendo are the only reason the game exists at all.

This is a Nintendo game. This is not the same as companies paying for Western publishing of games that were paid for and developed by a third party in Japan (Ninja Gaiden II and Tales of Symphonia). For the same reason you will never see Gears of War on PS3 despite being made by a third party (Epic Games), [b]you will never see Bayonetta 2 on any non-Nintendo platform. Period.[/b]

So this announcement has created some of the most terrible behavior I’ve ever seen from gamers, and if anyone has ever claimed to not be a fanboy, you need only read their reaction to this announcement to test the truth of that statement. Let me be clear, I mean both the pro and anti Nintendo fanboys. You’re all terrible, utterly revolting, people. I’m not sure I’ve ever felt so bad about being a gamer, or identifying myself as part of gamer culture.

[b]The Good[/b]

There are four total reactions to this announcement on the internet. Let’s get the two appropriate ones out of the way first. These are, paraphrased “I’m really excited we’re getting a sequel!” and “I want to play this, but there aren’t enough games announced for the Wii U that meet my interests for me to consider purchasing the platform to play this game.” That’s it. Those are the two appropriate positive and negative ways to deal with this. If you reacted in any way other than that (or just “I’m not interested in the game”) you are more than likely a childish, angry fanboy who is more involved in platform loyalty than software enjoyment.

[b]The Bad[/b]

Things start to degrade immediately when we take a look at the third reaction here, which is gloating. Scan any video game forum on the internet and you’ll find at least three threads in the popular topic of Nintendo fans taunting PS360 owners with this information. There’s this pervasive feeling of schadenfreude around the Nintendo fans. “Haha, I bet you wish you can play this. I don’t even care but I can play this, cause I buy Nintendo systems.” Well bully for you, but that doesn’t remove the right of others to be disappointed.

Game systems aren’t a particularly cheap proposition. It’ll cost you as much as 5 games to buy into even the cheapest model of the WIi U. That’s more games than many gamers buy in a whole year on a platform. Of course most people want games on platforms they already own, so that they don’t need to go out and spend a fortune on a new one. People have every right to be disappointed, and express that disappointment reasonably, but then there’s the dark side of that as well.

[b]The Ugly[/b]

For every one of those gloating threads, there are four “F**K NIntendo/Platinum/SEGA/Life” threads. While the Nintendo fanboys certainly show the ugly side of their personalities above, the anti-Nintendo guys have come out on this one with ten times the force. The derogatory comments about the company and platform are so incredibly brutal and over-the-top it’s genuinely comical. This, of course, has only brought on more gloating from the Nintendo fans, creating a vicious cycle of douchebaggery. But what are these comments actually saying? That’s where it gets really scary, because the comments are saying that they aren’t disappointed that the game is on a new platform. They’re angry that the game is on a Nintendo platform. They’re saying that no matter what circumstance, they would never buy a Nintendo system.

Take a step back and consider this thought process for a bit. These (very vocal) people, who have constantly derided Nintendo for not publishing games that they’re interested in, are now even more angry that Nintendo is publishing a game they’re interested in. People tell Nintendo to make games for them, and their reaction to Nintendo doing exactly that is to blast the Wii U and Nintendo with every curse and insult they can think of. Now, some of you may be thinking “Well it’s not the same, cause they stole this game from the PS360!” No, they didn’t. We addressed this above. This game would not exist on PS360, and could not exist on PS360, because no one was going to pay to make it.

Bayonetta 2 exists because Nintendo looked at a cancelled game with many fans and said “Boy, I bet some of those guys want to play that game” and made that happen. Sure, it’s financially motivated. They want you to buy their system to play it, but they’re trying to convince you to buy their system through giving you games to play. What a shocking concept! This is really the crux of the problem. The “I’ll never ever touch this game and everyone involved in its inception can go to Hell” argument. This argument can only be made if you care far more about hardware than software, and that, gamers, is the absolute definition of being a fanboy. Your company loyalty is more important than the games you want to play. Congratulations, because if you fall into that category, you are the lowest scum of this industry.

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