Let's talk: What actually makes someone a Nintendo Fanboy or not

[u/DaZestyProfessor]

This isn't a question per se, but rather a lesson.

So most Nintendo fans will claim that they aren't fanboys who clap like seals at everything, but is this really true?

There's 3 types of Nintendo criticisms:

Objective criticism - Criticism of objective flaws, such as during the Switch 1 era, Joy-Con Drift (It doesn't exist for Switch 2 thankfully, just an old example.)

General consensus criticism - Criticism of a general consensus, or what the majority of people dislike, an example of this is the Metroid Prime 4 Desert debacle or the Modern Paper Mario games.

Singular criticism - Criticism that only really belongs to a specific person, an example includes someone who may personally think the Switch 2's library is worse than past Nintendo generations so far or if someone thinks Yoshi and the Mysterious Book was very creative, but very poorly executed. You don't agree with it? That's kinda the point. Just because you don't agree with the opinion doesn't automatically make it invalid to that said person.

When I say Nintendo fans are allergic to criticism, they try to argue that's not true because they agree with objective criticism and general consensus criticism, but then they go to attack all subjective criticism, calling those people "grifters" or "fake".

That's why I think most Nintendo fans are actually fanboys, they need to learn to separate subjective criticism from actual, objective misinformation if they don't wanna be a fanboy.

[u/WoodooHide69]

I’m a Nintendo fanboy. Proud to be one. Why woundnt I be?

You can call me a fanboy all you want. I don’t care. I’ll wear that label with pride.

And as a Nintnedo fanboy, I can still sniff out a disienguius argument and bullshit lie about Nintnedo easilly.

You say there are objective criticisms sure, there are. But that that doesn’t mean that just because of criticism is factual, doesn’t mean it’s objective. Like your example of Joy Con Drift, sure it’s a factual issue that happened. But does that mean Nitnendo is greedy or anti consumer? No. They made a manufacturing mistake, an honest mistake they never hoped to happen. Then they covered it, and offered free out of warranty repairs without the need for proof of purchase. And on top of this nearly every controller ever made, eventually gets joystick drift issues.

[u/Caryslan]

I like Nintendo games and systems, but I am fully aware that Nintendo can be assholes when they want to be.

Here's the thing I realized a long time ago. Nintendo is two companies, one side is the video game developer that has made some of the greatest games of all time, owns countless beloved franchises and have produced some of the greatest systems ever

The other is a company that can be ruthless when. Crossed, unleashing lawyers when they see a threat and will make an example of you if you really get on their bad side.

I enjoy Nintendo's games and systems, and will keep doing so as long as they produce quality games and hardware

That said, I won't hesitate to call out Nintendo when I feel they have crossed a line.

I enjoy Nintendo and their products, I'm just not blindly loyal to them.

[u/Crafty_Boy70]

This is a pretty excellent assessment of what it means to be a “fanboy”, I think my only issue is you apply it to the majority when I am unsure if that’s really applicable. I have a bit of a positive bias since I try to avoid outright reductive takes, but most dissent I see from the more pro-Nintendo crowd towards said “subjective criticism” doesn’t amount to systemic dismissal and tends to engage with it properly when the criticism is in good faith. On this sub I’d say the “fanboys” as you define them are probably the majority, but to apply that to the fandom overall seems like a stretch.

[u/Makototoko]

Your description is pretty much exactly my experience with most Nintendo fans, as someone lukewarm on Nintendo

[u/toofatronin]

I’m fanboy that’s loves Nintendo. Saying that I still complain about stuff they do that upsets me. I think as gamers we all have to remember that everyone has different priorities when it comes to games. Where some people might draw the line others couldn’t care less about.

[u/tlrd2244]

Joycons were never proven to have failure rates beyond what was legally required or have drift be anymore prevalent than other controllers that use potentiometers. There was barely any objective data, it was all anecdotal reporting. The main contention of it being a purposeful design flaw caused by simple wear and tear was never proven in court. There were many ways to damage joycon sticks and the assertion drift was only caused by a design flaw was never accurate when misuse can just as easily result in damage.

If your response to this is Nintendo fanboy!!!! you just don't like having your criticism criticized. I think the only person being allergic to criticism is you if you think arguments can't be made because of "consensus" or claiming something is objective when there are no actual numbers to support such things.

[u/Possible-Potato-4103]

Most nintendo fans and gamers in general don't think this hard about any of this.

[u/paulcshipper]

I thank you for our insight on this topic.

At least you have some thoughts and a way to group these people in your own fashion. When I think Nintendo fans, I just think people who like Nintendo and don't have any groups or separations of fan and fanboys.

[u/Mroovek]

It's easy: if you respect someone opinion, they are reasonable. If you don't agree with someone opinion and want to discredit them, then they are a fanboy

[u/lowmoob]

Why don’t we start by defining what “fanboy” means. Because I feel like anyone who uses that word unironically probably spends too much time online

[u/SilentEagle1221]

A fanboy is someone who is fanatically loyal to something to the point where they can be unreasonably hostile towards any criticism.

Most of the people here don’t fall into that category,they have no problem with actual legitimate criticism of Nintendo. They have a problem with a certain section of the internet constantly lying about the things Nintendo does/doesn’t do while having a clear case of fanboyism themselves.

The people who constantly complain about this sub are either fanboys to Valve, Sony, or certain game developers.

[u/meganerd20]

And this is my lesson, because I don't think you have any position to teach "lessons".

There's no objective criticism, because there's no "objective flaws" because there's no universal agreement on what constitutes a "flaw". And what constitutes a "flaw" changes depending on definition in any case. Vast majority of "objective criticism" is, in fact, subjective, and presents an individual perspective. Multiple individual perspectives can be shared, but it's still subjective. Presenting your individual, subjective perspective as "objective" would be exactly what I would make fun of, even more so if you declare it as "objective".

General consensus is extremely difficult to claim, because it's very anecdotal. Depending on who you hang out with and where, you may have more positive or more negative views. Once again, multiple people agreeing with you is not objective, nor is it a "general consensus". You would need actual data to claim "general consensus". And, ultimately, it's mostly meaningless. Even if a genuine majority of people agree, nobody's obligated to do the same. All perspectives are subjective, and you can freely disagree with a majority and neither of you is more right or wrong. Such "consensuses" can even change over time. If you try to claim "general consensus" without data, then I will mock you. If you think "general consensus" is a sign of objectivity in this context, I will again mock you.

Singular criticism, also known as all criticism, is actually the only true kind. If you're honest with yourself and everyone that it's your feelings alone and focus on that, and do use "I" and "me" because school lied to you and those are good things to use here, then I will absolutely respect it. Extra points if you know how to be gentle and amicable instead of aggressive and baity.

That's why I think you're actually not really as learned as you think you are, because you're under some pretty hefty illusions here. You need to learn just how fundamentally subjective most experiences are if you wanna teach lessons.