Take pride in your video game console. It’s only human.

MyArcadePlanet’s David Keating writes an interesting article trying to explain the psychology behind gamers and their (our) fanatic pride for one console or another. He says, simply, owners of Xbox 360s will love the 360 but trash the PS3 and vice versa simply because he or she owns one. Not owning one makes the other bad.

“Psychologist Kurt Lewin theorized that when people are faced with a choice between two equally positive items, (for example, the choice between a PS3 and a 360) they experience stress. Lewin went on to posit that after making their decision people alleviate this stress by immediately viewing their choice as being vastly superior. So all of the sudden, the two previously similar things now appear very different in the consumer’s mind. This suggests that when a gamer is in the store trying to figure out which console is for him, he is secretly afraid of making the wrong choice. So much so that once the decision is made and the credit card has been scanned, his mind goes into overdrive as he rapidly accentuates that console’s positives while mentally eliminating the negatives. In a matter of seconds, the other console under consideration just moments ago becomes, ‘a piece of crap that only a loser would buy.’ “

Source: Anatomy of a Fanboy: A Psychological Analysis of Console Gaming’s Super Fans

Keating’s theory has wider affect. Console fanboy fanatism is probably not limited expensive purchases but also comic companies (Marvel vs. DC), franchises (Star Wars vs. Lord of the Rings) and gadgets (iPod vs. everything else). So just remember the next time you make fun of your friend for buying that Dreamcast or Gamecube. They love them for the same reason you still think the Jaguar was the bees knees: because you bought one.