I’ve been called a Nintendo Fanboy (hence the name of the blog), but the word I would choose is Nintendork. Ever since they emerged as a dominant force in the mid-80’s, I have bought and played Nintendo products and games almost exclusively. The name was originally meant as a pejorative, and I fit the definition pretty well, but I’d like to think that I have evolved a little since my childhood days.
With the wisdom of adulthood and the benefit of hindsight I admit that there didn’t need to be such an antagonistic relationship between me and people who had other consoles, just as I didn’t have to take sides in a corporate battle between two similar companies. It has become apparent to me that the manufacturers themselves were battling each other for the consumer’s dollar, but I don’t think that it necessarily had to be that way from the player’s viewpoint.
Now I realize that part of it was tribalism/team spirit - I had picked a side and now had to defend my choice. Part of it is the elephant’s rider (see
Jonathan Haidt’s books for more on this analogy) serving to justify spending the time/money on this choice, and part of it is that I didn’t have the resources to be on both teams at once.
Cost
Part of it is also the cost of investment. I don’t feel the need to declare if I will only drink Coke or Pepsi from here on out because a bottle is only $1. But If I had to spend $300 on something you bet I’m gonna do research and think that what I chose was the right thing to do - especially if that amount represents months of saving up when I was younger. Between the cost of the console itself and the games, it’s not exactly chump change to a kid/teenager and I really couldn’t have afforded to play/actively collect stuff from both companies.
Hypothetically speaking, if I 1) had $2,000 gifted to me every month and earmarked for game stuff, 2) had the room to do set everything up, and 3) had the time to play games to my heart’s content, then I would actively purchase and collect stuff for multiple game systems and set up my own little museum with all systems that I could and wouldn't feel the need to take sides (of course, had that actually happened I wouldn’t appreciate them nearly as much - just like my friend Jake) and then I wouldn’t feel constrained to choose a side. Many serious gamers these days own both a PS and X-Box, or maybe have one of those and a Switch or something.
Identity
There are only a few things to which I felt such brand loyalty. I used to be very much on the “Wars” side of the Star Trek/Star Wars debate, but these days I’m pretty ambivalent due to Disney Star Wars being mostly trash and the fact that it feels more like I should be on the same team as other ‘nerdy/geeky’ things like Dr. Who to fight against the Social Justice invasion of our favorite hobbies. I was also very much in the Marvel camp of the Marvel vs DC (and later Image) comics, but like the Star Wars thing, I now see that it didn’t need to be that way and what both companies are producing these days is mostly trash after an SJW infusion following their being acquired by Disney (strange, isn’t it?). Both of these things emerged at a time in my life where I was searching for identity and a way of defining myself (early teens).
I think the only other brand that shaped my identity growing up was my previous religious affiliation, but having since distanced myself from it I no longer think of myself in that way. So now the only thing really left is Nintendo. Other than them, I don't know of a company where I have taken sides so strongly to the point where I actively campaign against the competition - not even when it comes to, say, politics. I have, however, taken up being a Boise State Broncos Football fan as a replacement of sorts for some of those past identity losses.
But in any case, I had staked my claim with Nintendo and let part of my identity be defined as being on Team Nintendo. So whenever someone praised Nintendo I was also praised, and when someone denigrated or complained about them I felt that I had to defend Nintendo’s honor (and by extension my own). So when some of the Sega ads started getting a little aggressive , I felt personally targeted by them. Later Sony jumped in and had an ad with Crash calling out the “plumber boy” on the outskirts of Nintendo HQ.
Circumstance
So with Nintendo I not only made a choice and firmly planted my flag in their camp but I also almost exclusively bought only their products and actively eschewed the competition. I now recognize that my choice was partially affected by where and when I grew up; had I called somewhere in Europe home then I might have ended up a Sega fanboy, and had I been born 8 years later I might have been more of a PlayStation guy. But I also think some of my loyalty stems from the fact that Nintendo (more or less) single handedly rescued the entire NA video game market from the 1983 crash and they should be given credit for it.
Concessions
I also now have to contend with the fact that Nintendo has had some poor decisions (the Virtual Boy, for one) and bad business behavior (like requiring exclusivity from 3rd party developers) in certain sense but at the time I didn't know all those behind-the-scenes details. In some cases there is a little bit of justification that I can do, like pointing out that the policy limiting companies to 5 games a year helped stave off a second video game crash. I can also express legitimate criticisms like their sub-standard online offerings, some poor marketing choices (the naming of the New 3DS and WiiU, for example), and other cost-cutting measures (like not paying Dolby for the sound output license).
However, I also feel that I have to come to Nintendo’s defense on a few issues because most Westerners expect Nintendo to act/behave like a US-based company would act, when in reality some of their decisions make perfect sense as long as you realize they aim to serve the Japanese population (and culture) first and foremost, and that the older (and presumably more out of touch with today's standards) executives aren't contradicted by newer employees. Decisions like these include not releasing GBA games on 3DS (even though the system can do it, it’s not perfect and not up to Nintendo’s standards) or having certain games available for a limited time (e.g., Four Swords: AE, SuperMario All Stars 3D), sticking with cartridges instead of CDs on the N64, and how proud they are of some of their earlier games. And some of their cost cutting measures do translate to lower prices but it comes with slower server speeds or whatever.
Conclusion
So because I can only have time and money for one, I feel like I have to justify my choice, and do things to make me feel better about my decisions after the fact. Like for example, when I looked at sales figures how the Wii outsold the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 or how much more the NES sold than the Sega Master System, it tickled me pink to no end because it was evidence that I had chosen wisely (aka, the bandwagon fallacy). But during the PS1/N64/Saturn generation, I have to show how much better (read: quality) certain games were because the sales figures aren’t on my side. (I do have to concede the fact that Sega sold better in some other regions). It’s very much like the story in James Rolf’s video on the Sega Genesis vs. SNES when he and his friend are arguing over whose chocolate milk was better, or like the old saying that, “if the facts are on your side then you pound the facts, and if the law is on your side you pound the law, and if neither the facts nor the law are on your side you pound the table.”
Ultimately, my brand-loyalty to Nintendo comes from a healthy dose of nostalgia and the fact that they have (almost) always provided high quality products at decent prices. They tend to have fewer software quality control issues than a lot of other studios, and they’re always trying to innovate with new things (newer control styles, 3D, microphones, AR, Labo, etc.). The fact that they’re mostly family friendly also meant that I didn’t have to worry about my parents limiting my game choice as a kid (other than the one Mega Man 2 story), and that I can also play with my kids today. But if I absolutely had to whittle the list down to one reason, it would be that Nintendo systems are the only place to play Zelda (Philips CD-i notwithstanding).
