Editorial: Fanboyism. Gaming's common nuisance?

For many of us, the choice we make when buying a game or console is simple: it all comes down to personal preference. And then there’s the ‘fanboy’, a devout individual who pledges his/her allegiance to but a single console/franchise, whichever it may be. Defined as “a passionate fan of various elements of geek culture, but who lets his passion over-ride social graces” by Urban Dictionary; the common fanboy is snide, ruthless and cunning, prowling message boards with fervent menace, ready to spread callous lies and cast false aspersions at a moment's notice.

The futile battle between Battlefield 3 and Modern Warfare 3 aims particularly high on my newly-coined 'Irritant Scale'. It's now at a point where the two respective companies' stoke the fanboy fire with oft-implausible statements, shameless ridicule and bizarre attempts of one-upmanship (the whole 30 v 60fps malarkey), rather than, you know, publicising their own game(s). Is this really how far gaming has come - an endless back-and-forth led by who has the most pixels per square inch? After all, you'll still end up buying both.