Past Favorite - nintendo superfan

I've always wanted to be in a next-gen console launch line. It's not really about getting a game system before anybody else or playing the latest games before anybody else. It's all about the atmosphere... the group of people you'll encounter. I liken it to the midnight openings of Star Wars or The Lord of the Rings. Fanboys of any genre are people unlike any other, and fan obsession extends itself pretty well to the video game world. It doesn't matter that these guys pre-ordered their sytems months in advance, they still show up.

I think I can imagine what goes on in some of these launch lines... talking about the upcoming games, talking about some classic games, talking about past launch lines, playing handheld games, playing card games, singing songs. Okay, maybe not exactly singing songs, but if you're going to be in a line for over two days, some crazy stuff will probably happen. I always think I know what kind of characters might be at the front of the line, and this YouTube video pretty much confirmed my suspicions:



At first sight, you might think that this guy makes gamers look bad. He's been up for five days, he has that classic nerd lisp, and he looks like a bum. Even his "friends" are laughing at him. But if you parse his words, he's not one of those overly zealous fanboys who thinks his favorite game system is superior above all others. He's quite diplomatic towards other systems and towards other gamers who aren't early adopters like him. Despite his disheveled appearance, he's quite rational and would probably be fun to hang around with. Laugh at him if you want, but at least he has his 15 minutes of fame.