Having recently studied religon as part of my A levels it's no suprise that we covered the topic of Fundamentalism.

Upon reading what the common features of Fundamentalist groups were something dawned upon me.

Could it be possible that fanboys are the Fundamentalists of gaming? Like Fund. Groups, fanboys useually tend to have a dogmatic or 'black and white view' of things, viewing themselves as following the only 'correct' or 'right'. Fund. are also supposedly 'pro tradition' and in favor of older, more socially acceptible ways, fanboys in comparison also seem to show signs of this with the most publicised of them obsessing over older, well established series like Zelda, Metroid and Mario.

I'm curious to know what everyone thinks about this...let's call it a 'theory'.

I don't see them (Fanboys)as fundamentalists.
I see them as fascists that cannot accept someone else's opinion and taste.

Fundamentalists are the ones not capable of enjoying a game for what it really is and shouting loud for reforms.

Yes, they are two similar groups but by no means are fanboys retro gamers or traditional, every bestselling game has it's fanboys from every gen.

I totally agree with the point they always think they are right.

fanboys are just narrow minded and insult you

fundamentalists are narrow minded and want to kill you (normally)

i do

Hell, at least fundamentalists believe in a higher purpose beyond consumerism, no matter how flawed. Say what you want about the principles of religious intolerance but at least it's an ethos. Fanboys? A group of people dedicated to worshiping and extolling the virtues of a corporation and their products? Not even 'Brave New World' predicted something that pathetic.

L.B. Jeffries:
Hell, at least fundamentalists believe in a higher purpose beyond consumerism, no matter how flawed. Say what you want about the principles of religious intolerance but at least it's an ethos. Fanboys? A group of people dedicated to worshiping and extolling the virtues of a corporation and their products? Not even 'Brave New World' predicted something that pathetic.

They're not so much worshipping a corporate product as much as they are simply going to war against all who dares make a different choice than the one they have.

kanada514:

L.B. Jeffries:
Hell, at least fundamentalists believe in a higher purpose beyond consumerism, no matter how flawed. Say what you want about the principles of religious intolerance but at least it's an ethos. Fanboys? A group of people dedicated to worshiping and extolling the virtues of a corporation and their products? Not even 'Brave New World' predicted something that pathetic.

They're not so much worshipping a corporate product as much as they are simply going to war against all who dares make a different choice than the one they have.

What's the difference?

carsenere:
fundamentalists are narrow minded and want to kill you (normally)

The irony...it...it burns!

I'd agree with iron Mal and remind everyone what his exact theory was. He said that Fanboys are the fundamentalists of gaming, not actual fundamentalists. Meaning, Fundamentalists are to Religion as fanboys are to gaming. Fanboys hate those who don't agree that game X is the best game EVAR, just as Fundamentalists believe all those who do not accept their religion as the greatest are going to burn for eternity.

There are plenty more parallels between fanboys and fundamentalists but my point is that Iron was saying they are similar in their roles in their respective cultures.

Interesting question! If we adhere to the dictionary (and Wiktionary) definition, fundamentalism can be described as

Strict adherence to any set of basic ideas or principles.

Using that language it's difficult to define a "fundamentalist" gamer. I agree that fanboys are a close fit in many respects, inasumch as their behavior is very similar to that of religious fundamentalists. The refusal to consider other viewpoints or to entertain the thought that their values are not the "correct" values, for instance... That's familiar to anyone who's spent time around fanboys, or around fundamentalist religious types. The hate is there, too. I'm sure there are others around here to went to school with Southern Baptists, for instance. It's hard to describe how insular and self-righteous they could be.

I'm a fundamentalist AND a fanboy. Take that.

I'm not sure "hate" is the correct word to describe fanboys or fundamentalists. It all comes down to the individual people in both groups. In both cases, fanboys and fundamentalists do tend to exhibit strong emotional reaction to various triggers (such as Halo and Obama, respectively,) but I'm not really sure how any of this matters one way or the other. I guess it depends what the person is a fanboy of. The only games I'm really a diehard fanboy of are Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy Tactics.

To clarify for people in extension to Rufus above:
The word fundamentalism is not linked with religion persé, it just denotes an utter belief that you are right in your ideas and abiding by them by the letter.

I'd say yes, fanboys are fundamentalists by definition. Their platform/developer/game is the greatest and anyone else is just deluded/stupid/blind/ignorant whatever. That's a very fundamentalist point of view right there.

You've also got your genre fundamentalists, they're also known as elitists. The rpg elitist is a common one. You know one of these I wager. The one who persists with saying that any action oriented game doesn't have a deep system or such wide avenues of exploration or a good enough story and that rpg's (or in some cases specifically jrpg's) are the epitome of gaming. The other way around is the kid who is condescending about any game where you can't shoot people every ten seconds.

Kanada:
Fascism is another beast entirely.
In fact Fascism is a fundamentalist form of government.

Aside:
Fundamentalism is also an awesome form of government in Civilization 2.
50% science is annoying, but NO unhappy people simply rocks.

Fanboys put the Fun in Fundamentalist Dogma!

Vortigar:

Aside:
Fundamentalism is also an awesome form of government in Civilization 2.
50% science is annoying, but NO unhappy people simply rocks.

I prefer Communism. Hell, it works so well it makes me think Sid Meier was a Marxist.

Back on track: One thing bugging me. Namely, to be Fundamentalist, don't you need to adhere to a set dogma? Otherwise you're just coming up with your own, which is something else entirely. What it actually IS, I'm not sure.

Maybe I'm just arguing semantics. In all other aspects, they certainly act like your stereotypical Fundamentalist.

Vortigar:
Fundamentalism is also an awesome form of government in Civilization 2.
50% science is annoying, but NO unhappy people simply rocks.

It's kind of funny that Fundamentalism gives you no unhappiness.

I wonder if it's because it bans all things that make people happy, and if there are no peaks, there are no valleys.

Altorin:
Fanboys put the Fun in Fundamentalist Dogma!

Of course, where would we be today without our fundamentalist dogma?

Seriously though, it's actually relieving that quite a few people actually agree (I was partially afraid that this thread would have been locked by now).

Iron Mal:
Having recently studied religon

It's not like we've got more important things to do.....

New York Times:

1 adult American in five believes that the Sun revolves around Earth

Iron Mal:

I'm curious to know what everyone thinks about this...let's call it a 'theory'.

I think it is an overstretching of the term. Like how people sometimes claim science is just another "religion" based on their personally over broad concept of the word.

But in terms of a direct comparison, I think fanboys lack the consistency to lay any claim to fundamentalist status. Or perhaps should I say the winds of fanboyish swift too rapidly to ever nail them down to any set of positions that can be regarded as traditionalist.
For instance, I'd wager Halo 3 has legions of fanboys who will eventually dump it and move on to Prime Buttsex 5 in 5 years.

L.B. Jeffries:

kanada514:

L.B. Jeffries:
Hell, at least fundamentalists believe in a higher purpose beyond consumerism, no matter how flawed. Say what you want about the principles of religious intolerance but at least it's an ethos. Fanboys? A group of people dedicated to worshiping and extolling the virtues of a corporation and their products? Not even 'Brave New World' predicted something that pathetic.

They're not so much worshipping a corporate product as much as they are simply going to war against all who dares make a different choice than the one they have.

What's the difference?

I may worship Buddha, Allah, God and not go to war with you because you chose to worship another deity.

Iron Mal:

Altorin:
Fanboys put the Fun in Fundamentalist Dogma!

Of course, where would we be today without our fundamentalist dogma?

Seriously though, it's actually relieving that quite a few people actually agree (I was partially afraid that this thread would have been locked by now).

We don't so much agree as we see your point and agree to some parts of it.

If gaming has Fundamentalists, it's the fanboys.

Most of us however do not agree that gaming has Fundamentalists.

kanada514:

L.B. Jeffries:

What's the difference?

I may worship Buddha, Allah, God and not go to war with you because you chose to worship another deity.

Both Islam and Christianity actively support converting others to the faith. It depends on which Buddhist you ask as far as their ideals of conversion go. How is demanding someone acknowledge your console is good and has great games any different than demanding you accept my religion? No, it isn't on the same scale, but fundamentally it is the same set of human mannerisms and actions except in support of a trademarked box.

That, in my opinion, is what makes a religious fundamentalist better than a fanboy. At least they are dedicating that behavior to a higher power or belief about life. A fanboy is worshipping a brand name, a corporation, or even just the mere idea of a game and defending it as if it just rolled off Mt. Sinai.

I know more about Fanboys than I do about Fundamentalism, but I think there are parallels. A fundamentalist tends to push their message in a public place, and then become offended when someone disagrees with them. That kind of hypocrisy is definitely a shared attribute.

A religious fundamentalist may stand out in the street a soap box and say "The End is Coming, Repent!", but he'll probably take it badly if I set up my soap box with a sign that says "Everything Cool, Buy American"

A Fanboy will post "Halozorz is the bestest pimp game for realz yo!!!" and then be genuinely upset when someone says "Nah, I prefer MGS4".

If you're going to present an idea publicly, expect a lot of people to disagree with you.
Are they the same? I'm not qualified to say, but they are very similar

It could be argued that fanboyism is fundamentalism in microcosm. Perhaps the reason gaming fanboys don't end up killing each other is because the arbitrary basis for their belief is tangible.

L.B. Jeffries:

Both Islam and Christianity actively support converting others to the faith. It depends on which Buddhist you ask as far as their ideals of conversion go. How is demanding someone acknowledge your console is good and has great games any different than demanding you accept my religion? No, it isn't on the same scale, but fundamentally it is the same set of human mannerisms and actions except in support of a trademarked box.

That, in my opinion, is what makes a religious fundamentalist better than a fanboy. At least they are dedicating that behavior to a higher power or belief about life. A fanboy is worshipping a brand name, a corporation, or even just the mere idea of a game and defending it as if it just rolled off Mt. Sinai.

I should probably clarify the fact that I was suggesting a simmilarity between the two groups, not a direct link/relation or otherwise saying that they are precisely the same thing. Obviously, fanboys are going to be no-where near as extreme as fundamentalists in their beliefs, and gaming is clearly on a much smaller scale than world religion.

I am not definitively saying that gaming has Fundamentalists, I was merely suggesting that fanboys share quite a few traits and could be refered to as 'gaming's Fundamentalists' (I'm trying to have a satirical sense of humor here people, work with me).

kanada514:
I don't see them (Fanboys)as fundamentalists.
I see them as fascists that cannot accept someone else's opinion and taste.

Fundamentalists are the ones not capable of enjoying a game for what it really is and shouting loud for reforms.

I'd have to agree with you here. Though some fanboys can be classified as both.

Vortigar:
Fundamentalism is also an awesome form of government in Civilization 2.
50% science is annoying, but NO unhappy people simply rocks.

I'd tend to think the scientists would be unhappy...