Fan-boys: Keeping the Faith

Hop into any message board or forums with regards to console gaming and it would be not uncommon to find people expounding the virtues of the consoles manufactured by the companies that they practically worship (e.g. the big three: Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo) and the irony being that some of these consoles are not even out in the market yet.

So what makes these "fan-boys" tick and behave the way they do, which can be way beyond civilized conversation (example: "Sony suxor, Nintendo rawks, Microsoft can s*** my b****")?

Is it because of the pleasure obtained when gloating about the features of a particular console or the honor of becoming the spokesperson for a. a well know game developer, b. a console manufacturer or c. the boss of a huge video games publisher?

I offer you a better explanation. Blind faith. These fanatics have absolute faith that their console manufacturer "gods" can come up with something that will totally blow their minds. This is a fact that makes civilized conversation totally useless when it comes to them as nothing else matters (or has any relevance) except their faith in their "god".

As for me, I am just a bystander having a good laugh. It is amazing how much rubbish can be produced when a forum thread titled "Console X beats Console Y in feature Z?" Instead of the normal intellectual discourse that should take place, the forum becomes a battlefield. Get a laugh or two out of this.