Z - Zealots

They are everywhere.  People who flock to and worship something.  It's almost sickening.

Apple has them.  MW3 has them.  WoW has them.  We mostly call them fanboys, but some of them go far beyond that.  They are fucking zealots.  They don't even believe in anything else.  This type of thinking is keeping gaming from moving forward.

For years we have seen Apple time and time again release something so easy and simple and pretty much like other stuff that we already have and make billions.  The hardware isn't great, the experience is closed and lacking and that people who mindlessly follow the product are unbearable.  What makes them do it?  Conditioning.

They see cool people doing it and they want to be cool.  Nerd is the new trend.  We have been dealing with shitty fashion sense for more than a decade now, but this is a new high.... or low.  Who knew that such awkward behavior could so easily become the next cool thing.  It isn't about be buff or wearing something nice, it's about looking like you took a shit in Mr. Rodger's closet and then rolled around in to get dressed.  The new is not to be cool.  We have this entire generation full of English and Philosophy majors who are educated, but can't find jobs is relevant fields.  They want to be nerds and feel like unique snowflakes, but they end up just being idiots.  Go figure.

But enough about hipsters....

The cult of Apple is one of the largest.  That doesn't mean there aren't more.  The Modern Warfare games have a bro-following that is pretty crazy.  If I hadn't seen it, I wouldn't believe it.  How many times can you buy the same game?  Seriously.  SERIOUSLY?!  Disgusting.  However, they eat it up.  Every single game, they go and buy it and feel like it is the new console messiah.  This is the new shit, the best shit!  The same rehashed garbage and they eat it up.  If you try to bring up other games that are better on different levels, they can't hear it.  Drunken brawls have been started just for mentioning that BF3 has sweet vehicles.  Try to convince them that World at War wasn't the first WW2 shooter and you are in for some real fireworks.... bros.

In the end we need fans, good fans, but we don't need these kind of blind cultists.  We don't need people following just for the sake of following.  We need informed consumers that are buying a product they believe in because it is the best one for them, not because they feel comfortable with the logo on it.  We need people making a conscious effort to decide on a product.  The products should ALL be good and strive to be original. Making the same game over and over does not fall into that category.  Coming out with a new smartphone that is already a year behind the technology available is another one.

The only way to stop this kind of thing is to hope that society will wake up.  Your 19 year old daughter doesn't need an iPhone.  That flip phone works just fine.  She doesn't need a camera phone to take more duckface pictures of herself.  She can't possibly put to use the capabilities of that phone.  It is a status symbol.  Bros, put down the Call of Duty.  Embrace something else.  There are great games that you are missing out on because you can't let it go.