CREDIT: ALICIA MAK

For a long time there was a stigma around gamers. They were thought of as weird, uneducated and generally disrespectful towards their peers or anyone else who dares to have a differing opinion. Fortunately for those who love games, the ever-growing popularity and relevance of the medium has seen that stigma largely washed away, now viewing the gaming environment as a more educated and welcoming place.

This view is largely true, at least until you attempt to discuss the topic online and have your faith in humanity thrown into question.

The Internet-based gaming community is toxic for so many reasons, a shame for those who desire to see the industry get the respect it deserves, but one of the more perplexing issues facing the industry is the utter disdain and contempt that gamers seem to have for each other.

One glance at any website, forum or comment section on the subject and the discussion at hand is being conducted with all the grace of a frat boy after his 17th keg stand. Xbox users hate PlayStation gamers, PlayStation fans look down on Nintendo fans and PC gamers have built themselves a pedestal so high that PCMasterRace has grown into one of the most obnoxious memes on net.

These are the fanboys – or girls – and they are one of the most infuriating diseases in gaming culture.

It seems to be a minor issue; a bunch of bored gamers bombarding each other with childish snipes, but the mentality behind these posts is as fascinating as it is troubling, especially for the effect it has on how gaming is viewed.

Any other entertainment form can be studied and debated, but always with the understanding that enjoyment of it is wholly subjective, and is respected as such. Not so with fanboys. No amount of facts, research or open discussion will sway them from the opinion they hold, and they hate nothing more than those who dare to hold a different one.

The wilful ignorance in these arguments is simply that; a conscious choice to ignore anything that counteracts whatever arbitrary title or system they have chosen to fanatically defend.

The worst part of it isn’t that the arguments are so ignorant. Poor arguments occur everywhere, but it’s the immature and overwhelmingly stupid comments found on these online sources that give the educated gamer such a bad name.

One doesn’t have to scroll too far down a thread before finding a chorus of “PSF*g,” a bevy of sexual propositions to other commenter’s mothers, and hundreds of other cringeworthy insults. It makes it nearly impossible to defend the integrity of those gamers who are willing to let the industry just be.

The overriding fact of the matter is that this divided culture is inherently damaging to the industry itself. As the tired cliché goes, competition breeds success, and this is perhaps more true in gaming than it is in any other industry. If it weren’t for multiple companies attempting to enter the market in the early days of Atari and Nintendo, then there would be no gaming industry as it exists today.

When looking at today’s gaming industry as a whole, one can clearly see the continued benefit of that competitive spirit, both in individual studios and between the big three console makers.

Games are only getting better with each year, and as long as they improve, every company will strive to outdo the other. It’s this desire to outdo the competitor that has given us the best titles in gaming history, and it’s the drive that will see gaming finally recognized as the art form that it could be.