The Petition to Remove An Unfavorable Uncharted 4 Score from Metacritic: Another Embarrassing Chapter for Gamers

Normally I ignore stupidity in the gaming industry and stuff from gamers. However, something has happened over the weekend that is so egregious that I couldn't stop from wanting to write about it.

In the latest chapter of the massive book known as "Us, Gamers: The State of Gamers AKA Laughter Turned Into Uncontrollable Sobbing", there is honest to goodness a real petition to remove a Washington Post review score from Metacritic. While it's easily arguable that the wrong score and review from the Post were contributed to Metacritic, that's not the problem here. The reaction, response, immaturity, and intent of this petition have to be satire, right? I mean, just take a look at some of the choice words in the petition text itself:

"[I'm] sorry but when having too much detail became a bad thing , this reviewer is out of his mind. I believe [Uncharted 4] is one of the greatest games ever created and it is my personal favorite for sure, although [I] can justify some reviewers giving it a 9 or an 8. But this is a utter disgrace. Gene, because you were the only respectable staff that responded to this nonsense, you should remove this review fro the [Metacritic], and post a new, sensible one that can justify its existence. Your Washington post for Christ's Sake, not a 12-year-old's diary. Treat the game with professionalism and respect."

Let's focus on this first. While it's hilarious that someone alluding the writer of the review is 12 years-old while lacking the total self-awareness to realize that they're behaving like someone of the same age with this immature position, it's really disconcerting that this isn't satire. Someone is actually upset that Metacritic has allowed a less-than-stellar review score, whether it's a horrible review (which is definitely arguable that it is) is just embarrassing. More embarrassing than how astronomically small-minded it is for famous voice actor Troy Baker to retweet said petition. Why does he even care?!

It's incredibly disappointing that a great talent like Troy Baker would lower himself like this.

Or how about this quote at the very end of the position text?

"A review is not about what you think a game is , its about what a game is. Objective measures are applied."

I... What? A review is a subjective opinion, and I seriously hope to God that this petition starter is part of some elaborate prank taking advantage of the most zealous of Uncharted 4 fans. What a game is varies from player to player. It's not something that is measured as objective fact. If that were true, every review would be the same score, since obviously reviews and their scores are objective, after all. But this is reality, and that's not how reviews work.

Let's get to my main point here, though: Why do a good segment of gamers get so worked up over Metacritic? The site has so many gamers by the balls. Does a lower review score or a lower Metacritic average literally ruin their enjoyment of a game like Uncharted 4? It shouldn't, but some gamers are so emotionally invested in games they like that they feel that the game they adore deserves a certain score. Why?

If you enjoy Uncharted 4, fantastic! Sing its praises, love it, enjoy it, tell other people it's awesome, but don't act like any game deserves a certain Metacritic average. One: who cares? A Metacritic average that goes from an impressive 95 to an impressive 94 shouldn't matter. The score itself shouldn't make you feel the game wasn't owed the score it "deserves". It's simply incredibly petty and pathetic, and it continues to show that gamers in a negative light-- unable to handle one low score in a sea of 9's and 10's.

Uncharted 4 is just the most popular and relevant game with a review controversy to talk about. It's essentially any big game, especially an exclusive, that gets this kind of ire from gamers. The fact that so many gamers let reviews, not really the opinions but the actual scores, paint how they perceive what a game should get is amazing and not in a good way. In any case, the point of reviews is to let reviewers give their own opinions about what games they cover. It isn't to give validity to your own opinions, which so many gamers want. Until this popular point of view is removed and we gamers learn to grow up, the industry will continue to be worse off because of this. 

I Don't Think Most Gamers Understand "Miitomo".

Nintendo's first mobile project, Miitomo, launched a couple of weeks ago here in North America. With it launched My Nintendo, a service that Nintendo wants 100 million accounts signed up to. Thus, one could say that Miitomo is a bit of a Trojan horse to get people to sign up to My Nintendo, this being the main point to Nintendo's mobile app in the first place.

Notice how I say mobile app and not game. Miitomo isn't meant to be played like a game. It's not really meant to be played at all. Instead, it should be used. Sure, there's Mii Drop, a mini-game within Miitomo that has users dropping Miis into a pachinko style board in hopes of gaining exclusive attire for their Miis, but that really is the limit to the area of play that Miitomo possesses.

Miifoto is magic. Miifoto is love. Miifoto is life.

The confusion that Miitomo is an app and not a game has been a point of contention with many games. Sort of like how gamers have the opinion of casual gamers not knowing a joystick from a d-pad, a lot of true and blue gamers really don't understand Miitomo. Not to say that even if they did understand Miitomo fully that they would enjoy it. It's definitely an app that isn't for everyone.

Firstly, Miitomo does have "gamification" in how users can earn MyNintendo points for doing in-app tasks, such as connecting one's Facebook and Twitter accounts to Miitomo, changing one's Mii attire on a daily basis, and answering a certain amount of questions per day, to name few. Many gamers use Miitomo as a means to quickly accumulate MyNintendo points. One such way this is done by adding as many people to their Miitomo friends list as possible.

I saw it was commonplace on sites like GameFAQs and NeoGAF, adding pretty much what amounts to be strangers to their Miitomo friends list. Then, after having about 400 strangers, these same people wonder why they don't care about what these people answer, not having the motivation to really interact with them, thus finding Miitomo to be a bore. 

Posting and reading off the wall answers
is part of what makes Miitomo fun.

While one can easily artificially build up their Miitomo friends list with strangers found on the net, that's really missing the point of the app. Miitomo is a social app, and it doesn't hide this fact at all. It's meant to be used with your circle of friends. I understand that not everyone has friends who use Facebook or Twitter, much more have them interested in using the same app as them. However, through gathering your real life friends, which fortunately I was able to do, I have really enjoyed myself with Miitomo.

Furthermore, Miitomo isn't meant for long stretches of use. It's perfect for answering a handful of questions per day, perhaps perusing your list of friends to see their answers, and maybe even commenting on their answers to start a fun discussion. I noticed some gamers were using Miitomo for hours at a time (which isn't good anyway as Miitomo confusingly sucks up battery life like the dickens), and then they wondered why they got tired of it so quickly. Again, Miitomo isn't a game. It's not meant to be used in long bursts. Instead, just hopping in while you wait for your order to ring up at Starbucks, while you ride the bus to school or work, or while you get ready for work or bed works wonderfully.

Lastly, a point that I think gets lost on many gamers, especially the traditionally catered to demographic of 18-35 year old men, is that Miitomo really isn't being marketed for them. It's also not really meant for them either. As this initial Miitomo spot on Nintendo Mobile's YouTube channel shows, it's really putting the spotlight on kids and young adults. I imagine that market would eat Miitomo up, if they aren't already. So, when xXx_PaperBoy69_xXx (pardon the awful example!) logs into Miitomo, wondering what the heck people see in this app, well, he shouldn't be surprised he doesn't get it. Heck, even some of the Nintendo faithful don't "get" Miitomo, and that's all right. There's nothing wrong with that. It's just not an app for everybody. Sometimes the greatest answers are the simplest ones.

If You Think Whining About Mario Kart 8 is the Way to Mature the Industry, You're Doing It Wrong.

Nowadays we're in an industry where apparently the idea is if we tackle issues that are deemed "mature", we can further advance our hobby and outsiders will take us seriously. In between the "lol Xbox 180 sux" and "lol Wii U is deader than disco" circle jerk threads and articles on many sites, there is content sandwiched in between which ironically wishes to start an "intelligent" discussion with the same subset of gamers and journalists making topics and articles to bait people to read them.

In general, it gets to the point where one finally grows tired of the excessive garbage that is the gaming industry. It doesn't matter whether you're looking at the press who are about as professional as peewee hockey players, journalists who are more than happy to be in bed with publishers for fear of losing ad revenue and review copies, publishers who release sequel after iterative sequel every year, developers who use social media in irresponsible ways, people who want gaming to become more like Hollywood with many cinematic gaming experiences rather than let gaming shine as its own entity, and gamers who carry on on message boards and comment sections like absolute toddlers.

I've been sick of the console war bullshit for a while now. In order for the industry to be taken more seriously, some want to tackle the tough issues that relate to gaming, whether they be worthwhile or not. For instance, let's just moan about the lack of diversity in Mario Kart, because why the heck not? It's nice to want to push the medium forward, but when one begins to stand up against everything, no matter how big, small, important, or trivial, their voice eventually gets drowned out. They become broken records, one trick ponies, and people you simply stop listening to because they're always crying foul and finding social injustice everywhere. This sucks because there are worthy social-related subjects to take to task and make a controversy out of, and these just become noise thanks to the constant clamoring of the champions of social justice in gaming.

Of all the games to pick on, why is Mario Kart 8 what we're focusing on? We're talking about a world where two Italian plumbers venture around for a humanoid princess, face off against an army of turtles and other creatures. Now, if you want to pick on Nintendo for not having diversity in other games where it would make sense to have various races represented, do it. I'm all for that. Animal Crossing is a great example. Why can't we have the ability to showcase a dark-skinned character to play as? That would make sense!

The first thing I thought of when I saw this
screen: "Where's the token black guy?"

Many other studios are so transparent when they throw in some kind of character other than a white male or female. For instance, adding a gay character into your game for no other reason than to make some frivolous statement with no depth to it at all does not help. Considering that video game stories have a hard time creating realistic characters in general, why the hell should we trust them to write a convincing gay character? I don't trust this industry to accurately portray a gay person without falling into offensive stereotypes.

Regardless, there needs to be a reason for such an inclusion, and does it really have to be in the game as if such a character were some item on a checklist? "Gay character? Check. Black guy? Check. Okay. We're good. Start writing a script!"

I think if we want the industry to be taken more seriously, how about we actually start behaving seriously and professionally? You know, let's start with the press. How about we stop the "Wii U isn't selling. We're going to write 101 articles about this over the course of the next month, varying our wording, but essentially saying the same thing." How about we not accept a smartphone, tablet, or whatever the hell Ubisoft gave journalists at a special Watch Dogs media event?

Let's look at developers. How about we show a little bit of professionalism? How? Well, I'm sure as hell not the best source to determine how, as I like to cuss people out on Twitter, but maybe you could rise above acting like typical fanboys airing out dirty laundry for the public to see?

Then there's gamers. That most likely encompasses everyone reading this site. How about we leave the "which console is going to sell the most" pissing contests to the console manufacturers and just enjoy the games being released? How about we not laugh when a company is doing poorly, as that will most likely affect the industry in a negative way? Why don't we not spend our days playing "console wars" more than we actually play games? It's my understanding that being someone who likes the hobby would want the industry to succeed. However, I see more folks happy with other companies' failures rather than everyone's successes. Personally, I find these people to be a disease to the industry, and even then, that's an insult to diseases. If you want this industry to grow up, then you shouldn't look at potential racism, sexism, altruism, organism, masochism, etc. to start a controversy over. You should look at yourself first. Are you contributing positively to the hobby? If not, fix your priorities.

The Wii "Won" Last Generation. Time to Deal With It.

A certain site that will not be named, but fashions itself as "a neutral ground where facts and evidence, presented within the confines of civil, inclusive discourse, prevail through careful moderation" recently brought to my attention something that I thought was an open and shut case. Something that was accepted a long time ago and everyone was finally over. Nope. That would mean gamers had grown up, and that's just crazy talk!

It was the idea that the Wii really didn't win the seventh generation of consoles. My first thought was "who gives a %$#%." Since we try to maintain some class on this site (and usually fail), I decided to censor myself. Then my second thought was "why does it even matter unless you're inside your room on your computer playing console wars instead of an actual game?"

It simply amazed me just how much the proverbial goal posts were being moved and how many mental gymnastics people on that site and in other places were participating in just to discredit the Wii. It all really boils down to semantics and careful wordplay, exceptions, and stipulations to revise history.

One such example: "The Wii might have sold more, but how many people played Wii Sports once and then kept it in their closets? Hardly a victory." That would be true if the system's attach rate didn't rival the PlayStation 3's and Xbox 360's attach rates.

How about the argument that Nintendo won the battle and lost the war? Somehow people are bringing up the Wii U to put a damper on the Wii's success. Apparently the Wii U is a direct failure thanks to Nintendo poisoning the well and burning bridges with the Wii. Forget all about mitigating factors like brand confusion, poor marketing, mixed messaging, long droughts with no notable games releasing in that period of time, the rise of mobile and tablet gaming, among other issues that made the Wii U arrive in its current state. It's obviously the Wii's fault. Right... I guess then the PlayStation 2 is also a failure, then, as the PS2 led way to the initially dismal selling PS3. It only put Sony deeply in the red trying to recover from their fall from grace. Of course, the PlayStation 2 isn't a failure, nor can I consider the Wii a failure either because both systems' successors made both companies' financials change in a bad way. They were both successes sales-wise and profit-wise for their respective manufacturers.

This excuse is my personal favorite, though. Since the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 were so close hardware-wise and shared a lot of titles, then obviously you can combine the sales of the so-called "HD twins" to reveal that they handily outsold the Wii. This leap in logic makes me literally laugh out loud. It's such a feat of mental gymnastics that shows that there are really some people who cannot handle the idea that Nintendo won a generation. Whether it's through the most consoles sold (which for over two decades was how "winning a generation" was determined, even though the idea is only for console warriors to cheer and whine about), or the idea that Nintendo easily made the most profit for the seventh generation, the Wii is the clear victor.

I guess my question regards to why gamers are trying so hard to discredit the Wii's success. Do some people seriously have such hatred for a gaming company that they have grudges towards some faceless entity and cannot ever accept something positive about them? Do they need to find solace in their favorite pieces of plastic hardware selling more than another piece of plastic hardware? It's amazing how close to children a vocal amount of gamers really are.

It's a popular misconception that Nintendo "abandoned" its audience with the Wii. You might say it did in 2008 with the less than horrible E3 presentation, featuring Wii Music as the "big" finale of the show. However, in 2010 Nintendo released not only one of the best games of the generation in Super Mario Galaxy 2, one of the greatest 2D platformers of all time in Donkey Kong Country Returns, showed off GoldenEye 007 at their press conference, as well as Metroid: Other M. This isn't even counting the other games released prior: new entries in the Fire Emblem, Punch-Out!!, Sin & Punishment, Battalion Wars, Wario Land, and Kirby franchises, among many others. While it is true that Nintendo did focus on non-gamers, to say that the company ignored or abandoned its base is preposterous.

Somehow, for some reason, certain gamers cannot admit that the Wii did the best last generation and "won" the console wars for the seventh generation. However important that is. There are a myriad amount of excuses and stipulations thrown around by people who seem so emotionally involved with their hatred towards a friggin' video game company that shoots out franchises that many love that they can't admit something that is fact. It's as if Nintendo was a person and beat the crap out of them and stole each gamers' lunch money throughout elementary school, and these gamers are still bitter and angry to this day.

Apparently the Wii is the incarnation of all things evil in gaming, despite having a worthwhile library of titles. It brought forth those filthy casuals into OUR hobby! How dare Nintendo try to expand gaming to more people!

The truth of all of this is that the Wii outsold the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 last generation, and unless the PS3 can sell approximately a fifth of its total sales to catch up to the Wii, it will remain that way. That's seeing as the PS3's sales have greatly slowed down since the PS4's launch, and that the PS3 is also probably not going to do a PS2-like performance where it admirably sells on and on for years.

You may not like the Wii, you may not think it has any games worth playing, and you might think that it was just a fad and not a real gaming system (whatever that means). That's just fine. Just understand that the only metric the "winners" of past generations have had is sales, and Nintendo and its Wii won with that metric in place. It's time for all gamers to finally accept and move on to another discussion that is meaningless as long as we get good games to play. Where will gamers move on to? Perhaps a heated discussion about the NPD numbers coming tomorrow. That's always good for a palm to the face in disbelief of how attached some gamers are to companies and their consoles-- so much so that they feel the irrational need to cheerlead them and bash others. Ah, gamers. Keep on keepin' on.

The Last of Us Was Robbed: Or The Problem With Gamers

Let's rewind time just a little bit. It was a few weeks ago that GameSpot named The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds as their game of 2013. This meant Zelda beat out games like BioShock Infinite, Grand Theft Auto V, and yes, The Last of Us, a game created by Naughty Dog, or as many of the studio's most ardent supporters affectionately call them, "Naughty Gods." (Just don't review one of the studio's games an 8.0 like Eurogamer did with Uncharted 3...)

Instantly, the YouTube video comment section of GameSpot's video was hammered with negativity and copious amounts of insults towards GameSpot and other gamers who didn't agree with their obviously objective facts that The Last of Us should be the game of the year everywhere, and if you don't agree, you're obviously didn't play through the entire game or something. It definitely had nothing to do with people having different tastes in gaming and what they view as most important in their gaming experiences.

GameSpot's Game of the Year for 2013 is...
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds.

For instance, I value gameplay over telling a captivating story or having big budget visuals. After all, these are video games we're playing. Meanwhile, there are others who prefer a nice narrative to their games, people who prefer mature content over content suitable for everybody, and so forth. There's nothing wrong with what I value most in gaming, and there's nothing wrong with what anyone else values most in gaming.

This incessant whining about what someone or some media outlet calls game of the year is rather ridiculous, and it reveals an underlying theme with many gamers. This theme is that many gamers cannot understand that a lot of people have opinions that differ from their own. It's hard to accept, I know, but once you do, you can finally stop making total asses of yourself and your hobby.

I have seen far too many comments and posts regarding Ken Levine's top ten games of 2013, or David Jaffe's own list. These comments and posts say things like "oh, so-and-so game is good, but it shouldn't be on that list." It's this chutzpah that's basically saying "I know your opinion better than you do. Your choices are objectively wrong." Seriously? Are some gamers this pathetic? Unfortunately, the answer is yes.

We see this all the time nowadays, especially with the advent of social networking services. If forums and comment sections weren't enough, now gamers can directly whine and moan about game of the year choices, review scores, and other content more directly and more easily to outlets and people within the industry.

The idea that a lot of gamers still can't comprehend that not everyone agrees with their thoughts and that their opinion isn't the be-all end-all is frightening to me. We can readily view otherwise rational adults turn into emotionally childish people who will fling insults and other rude, negative words at people who disagree with them. There's seldom legitimate discussion. Instead, there's just pure, unadulterated vitriol.

We as gamers can do better than this. Perhaps one could just say that it's only "internet culture" to be rude, but I've seen this behavior outside of technology's boundaries. It's just as sad, it's just as depressing, and it's just as much of a black eye on the industry and our hobby as everything else.

Hopefully some who have read what I've had to say have been nodding their heads in agreement throughout their whole read. Some might disagree, and that's all right, too. I'm just requesting that we somehow get to a point where we respect others' opinions without needing to deride them-- without needing to think that our opinion is somehow superior over someone else's just because we don't exactly agree with them. I just hope that some of the same people who have been indulging in the negative type of behavior I've spoken of accept the opinions of SuperPhillip Central when we select our choices for games of the year when our sixth annual awards ceremony begins tomorrow night.

How Super Mario 3D World's Poor Japanese Sales Shed Light On A Disturbing Industry Trend

Sales of the Wii U are at a historic low for any big time video game console manufacturer. We've really never seen a major console by one of the big three fail so spectacularly. Nintendo is hoping to turn its fortunes around with the release of Super Mario 3D World. However, in Japan, this did not work as of yet, with the game selling around 100,000 units and shifting a mere 20,000 or so Wii U consoles last week. This opinion piece isn't so much about the sales (which may become better, as Nintendo games tend to have legs) but rather than the reaction from certain "gamers" regarding the low numbers.

Quite frankly, I just don't understand the mindset of people who are happy with a game as critically acclaimed as Super Mario 3D World not selling to its potential. Not just that people are happy, but people are reveling and are elated in Nintendo failing right now. For some it's like all those years when the Wii was outselling their system of choice made them especially bitter and angry with Nintendo, and now that it is doing poorly, they're enjoying it. (And don't even get me started on the "Wii was a fluke" nonsense.) Perhaps some are even wanting to see Nintendo do so bad that it will eventually leave the hardware space and go third-party. Then it's a matter of having all those "rehashes" and "remakes" being available for them to play on their favorite company's systems, despite fooling themselves that they didn't care or like Nintendo's games when they would have otherwise been forced to buy Nintendo hardware to play Nintendo software.

It's not just console warrior-ism at work here, either. There are certain Nintendo fans who wish the company and its games to do so poorly that Nintendo will change its current course. Whether you agree or not that Nintendo needs to change, having Nintendo's flagship Wii U game for the holidays not do well sales-wise would most likely not send the right message to Nintendo.

Then there are some that argue that Super Mario 3D World isn't ambitious, thus it doesn't deserve sales. I've seen someone go as far as to say that all 3D World added to the series was the Cat Suit. The willful ignorance here astounds me. Some state that Super Mario 3D World isn't deserving of sales because it's not as ambitious as, say, Super Mario 64. Well, Super Mario 64 was only one of the most revolutionary games of all time by being one of the first truly 3D gaming experiences. Super Mario 3D World offers ambition in its level design and creativity, the former being of the utmost importance in creating a compelling platformer. It offers ambition in being one of the first truly great multiplayer 3D platformer experiences, having levels so well crafted that they're suitable for solo and cooperative play.

The fact of the matter is that Super Mario 3D World selling less than expected in Japan is not a good message for the industry. To me, it says that one of the most recognizable characters in the gaming world with one of the most critically acclaimed games of the year isn't deserving enough to receive sales. What does that say about this industry if that is the attitude of a good chunk of vocal gamers? Does it mean that we don't deserve special games like Super Mario 3D World and should be stuck with being "entertained" by yearly releases of Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed?

Nintendo is one of the few publishers who doesn't just market to the 18-35 year-old demographic, and seeing it struggle is disheartening to me. Some of us in our hobby don't want every game to be all guns and/or gore. That's not to say Sony, Microsoft, and others only churn out these types of games. However, Nintendo gives more to those gamers who prefer strong mechanics, interesting gameplay, and a pleasant aesthetic that can be marketed to everyone and not just a small microcosm of the industry. By only making and marketing your games to the 18-25/35 demographic, you leave out a whole slew of potential gamers that would expand the market, regardless of whether they're playing Call of Duty, Wii Sports, or Angry Birds.

Then, what is that "disturbing industry trend" I'm alluding to? Well, if it isn't already obvious, The trend I'm referring to is the enjoyment people get out of great games doing poorly in sales because they're so involved with console war politics or have their heads so far up their hind parts, or hate a game for all the wrong reasons. We should be rooting for excellent games to get excellent sales so our industry and hobby thrive and don't rely on annualized series. That is why the reaction to Super Mario 3D World's less than expected sales from certain gamers bums me out so badly.

SPC Soapbox - 7/8/13 Nintendo's Total Incompetence and Sociopathic Gamers

It is time for the return of the SPC Soapbox, where we take the opportunity to discuss issues that are important to us, and perhaps even important to you. These are usually topics that are hotly debated or relevant today. On today's edition of the SPC Soapbox, we have two topics to talk about: Nintendo's (mis)handling of the Wii U and a sect of gamer that is absolutely reprehensible.

Nintendo's Total Incompetence

The Wii U is currently a disaster of epic proportions. There is no hyperbole here with regard to sales and third-party relations that are somehow already close to Nintendo 64 levels. Not even Japan cares about the system. How Nintendo goes from selling upwards of 100 million consoles with the Wii and follows that up with the Wii U is mind-boggling. Never have we seen a system from Nintendo so early in its life have a future that looks absolutely frightening.

We've seen arguments that Nintendo's big games are not yet out, so until they are, the Wii U will continue selling poorly. However, that's all Nintendo's fault in the first place. Nintendo essentially killed off the Wii to pursue HD development, or so it would be logical to think. We mean, they basically let the Wii die off not in a blaze of glory but a pathetic whimper-- and for what?

Just what in the heck was Nintendo doing from the two years before the Wii's death (where they stopped releasing as many titles as before) and the launch of the Wii U? It was no secret unless Nintendo had its collective head in the sand like an ostrich that HD development required double (if not more) of the resources of standard definition development. A person could see that in 2005 and 2006. Yet somehow, Nintendo STILL wasn't prepared for working on HD games in 2011 and 2012, despite all of the warning signs. Is this the sign of a competent company? Heck no.

How does this happen? Is Nintendo really out of touch and living in their own bubble that they couldn't have been better prepared? Nintendo did itself no favor by ending the Wii with a whimper, putting many Wii owners in a bad state of mind because of it. They did itself no favor by releasing the Wii U, a console with laughable third party support, no enticing launch games (even though Nintendo Land IS awesome, in our eyes), and a hefty price tag. They knew what they were getting themselves involved with concerning moving to HD, yet they still weren't ready. We'd say it was hilarious if it weren't so remarkably sad and pitiful.

Don't get us started on the stupidity of naming the system the Wii U after what the company went through with the confusion of the Nintendo 3DS being thought of as a remodel of the DS line. How do you make the same mistake twice? It is said that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Well, it must mean that Nintendo is absolutely insane (and we don't mean that in our usual good way) because the Wii U is still being confused as a Wii accessory.

Please understand.

We just don't understand what the hell is going on at Nintendo HQ. We love president Satoru Iwata, but his mistakes and judgment have completely been questionable over the past few years. As much as we'd hate to see him go, his business views don't mesh well with what is needed to make the Wii U a success. He failed with the launch of the 3DS and now the Wii U. We don't want to see what happens when he gets strike three.

Sociopathic Gamers

There is something that just disturbs the hell out of us on gaming message boards and forums. That is that there is good portion of gamers who go far beyond the typical console warrior (aka fanboy) mentality. No, we have gamers (who we thought were supposed to encourage growth in the industry) honestly wanting companies to die. Sure, why not?Who cares how many jobs are lost? Who cares what that would do the industry? As long as anonymous internet gaming jerk gets to see his or her most hated faceless video game company perish, everything is all right!

We are gamers. We should want succeeding in the industry. It's fair not to agree with the philosophies of a company, developer or publisher. You need not support them. Just don't go out of your way to wish death on them. That is just sociopathic behavior, pathetic of not only someone on the internet but humanity in general. It's an embarrassment to the industry, and for all the folks that think Company A is a cancer to gaming, no, you are wrong. YOU, the sociopath that wants a company to die because you don't like the games they make, are the cancer to gaming instead. Funny how that irony works.

The Wii U Launch: Or How If You Find Pleasure in a Console Doing Poorly, Then Get Out of My Hobby.

The Wii U launched yesterday, and I don't know or care how well the sales are. That isn't the point of this article. The point of this article is to once again shake my head at the reaction and response of so-called gamers, and how so many of them appear to be an embarrassment to this hobby. Take this upcoming rant as a companion piece to my article talking about how if gamers want the video game industry to grow up, they need to grow up first, which funnily enough was another rant. Hopefully this upcoming rant is as welcomed to read as my other. No promises, though. As always, feel free to agree or disagree.

I have been perusing message boards and comment sections (yes, a folly of mine, I know) about the reaction towards the Wii U launch. Let's face it, the launch is one of the worst in recent memory. Not as bad as the Xbox 360's Red Ring of Death, where gullible fools bought 2-10 systems one after the other to replace their dead 360s, (Way to show Microsoft that we won't back their total negligence, fellow gamers!) but that happened after the launch and not day one. The Wii U's problems actually manifested themselves on launch day.

We've seen a plethora of third party ports that are god awful, either because Nintendo's system is too difficult to develop for or third parties are once again putting crap on a Nintendo console and expecting them to sell. (No, I'm not going to bring up the self-fulfilling prophecy on how third parties are setting themselves up for failure yet again on a Nintendo platform, as I don't think that's the issue.) There's also reports of bricking systems. Though if you turn off a system while it is updating its firmware, then you probably deserve to have your console bricked as that is how it works for most platforms, Nintendo or not. Additionally, there are long loading times, too, to worry about. It is an absolute travesty of a launch, and I'm just glad I'm not playing beta tester for Nintendo by having bought a Wii U day one. It's really hard to be apologetic about the launch, regardless of Nintendo being new to the HD scene and not being as technologically advanced or as well versed in OS and online as Microsoft/Sony.

Then we have the reviews of some games like ZombiU, with some people actually beside themselves with pleasure for saying the game would be bad. (I'd get an earful if I didn't note that the actual game has been getting polarizing reviews, both good and bad.) It's as if some gamers are saying, "Yes! This game sucks! It's one less game that people are unable to enjoy! Ah-ha-ha-ha! This makes my day!" Seriously, people?

This isn't just about the Wii U and some of its games reviewing in a fairly mediocre fashion either. Nor is it about the mess of a launch. No, it's about some gamers' reactions towards these things. I've seen multiple (i.e. dozens upon dozens to hundreds of hundreds) posts and comments on how some people are absolutely happy that the Wii U launch is going horribly and how "Nintendo deserves this", as if Nintendo beat these people up as schoolchildren and have never forgiven the company. They laugh at how thousands of Wii U owners are having problems with their systems. They giggle with delight as the third party games are horrible. They do naughty things to themselves as other Wii U caveats come up.

This isn't exclusive to those who dislike Nintendo at all. How about those who find happiness in Sony's PlayStation Vita doing less than stellar in sales? How about the adoration of EA's Medal of Honor: Warfighter not doing remarkably well in sales as well? How about when the Xbox 360 had all those aforementioned dying consoles, and how some fanboys loved every minute of it? It's a problem that spans all fanboys, all trolls, and a worrying amount of gamers online.

I sort of want to go back to my article called If We Want the Industry to Grow Up, We Need to Grow Up First and edit it to say "Tough Luck, Gamers. This Industry Is Never Going to Be Taken Seriously Because Most of You Have the Maturity of Freaking Five-Year-Olds" This Wii U fiasco and the humiliating reaction from so-called gamers once again hammers the point home that this industry is never going to grow up, and it's because of the people who inhabit it. Whether they are on message boards, comment sections, or having fanboy-laden discussions with some mouth-breathing GameStop employee, more gamers than I would like would rather see games fail to spite the companies, studios, and fanboys they hate for whatever reason(s) rather than see the industry thrive and do well. This isn't positive behavior for people who would like the industry to continue on. Believe it or not, most failures are not good.

All of this is not meant to say "Oh, we should be happy for every company no matter how anti-consumer they are" either. That isn't what I mean. However, in a lot of cases this isn't the reason for poor gamer behavior. On the contrary. The reason for a disturbing number of gamers is because of some deep-rooted hatred of a company or a total devotion to another (see trolls and fanboys -- or as I like to call them "system/studio/company zealots"). As gamers, we should WANT to see the industry and the companies, studios, and developers that inhabit it succeed. We should put aside petty fanboy squabbles and champion achievements more than we champion failures. I see more "I'm happy this failed" comments more than I see "I'm happy this game did well. Much deserved." Quite frankly, if you grow pleased or even sexually aroused as some message board posters come across as for something pivotal to the growth of the industry failing such as the Wii U or any other important platform, for that matter, it is my wish that you let the door hit you on the ass on the way out of this hobby. You obviously don't care about the future of the industry, and if you do, you're very much misguided in thinking that any company's failing is for the good of it. This stupid and indefensible behavior makes it exceptionally challenging to see the positives of this industry, and it makes gamers look even more immature to the mainstream than they do already.

This rant is what I like to refer to as a work in progress. As I see more stupidity, I will add to it. If you have something you'd like to contribute that makes sense for this piece, let me know in the comments section.

If We Want the Industry to Grow Up, We Need to Grow Up First

I always find it hard to talk about wanting the gaming industry to grow up because I'm not exactly a beacon of maturity myself. However, I have long since been over console wars, fanboy wars, and certain-man-part-waving contests on message boards and comment sections (for the most part, that is). It's a fact, however, that so many gamers have not gotten over this mindset. This is a young industry, and because of that, it is a very immature one. This piece is somewhat of a stream of consciousness. It's an oddity of opinion pieces here, but it's one that allows me to rant about how I think that before the industry can be taken seriously, the press, the gamers the press caters to, and industry insiders need to start acting with more maturity.

Allow me first to allude to Halo 4 and some outlying review scores for the game. I do not wish to talk about how NeoGAF got its collective feathers ruffled by a site's 7.0 review score and talk about how NeoGAF, the self-proclaimed "preeminent community for video game news and discussion", is no better than the sites they constantly make fun of. I've done the latter enough before to the point where regular readers of this site are bored by that by now. (And I am as well, no matter how easy it is to draw comparisons to other message boards.)

No, let's talk review scores in general. First of all, a 7 out of 10 is a good score. Perhaps it doesn't meet some people's thoughts of what a Halo 4 score should be. Perhaps many who complained about it should have waited to play the game. I'm sure that reviewer is very sorry for not allowing Halo 4 to be on top of the review aggregate sites' ranking lists of the best reviewed titles of all time. I know how important that is to some people. Even after the reviewer explained his position, people still (I'm not just talking NeoGAF, mind you) argued, bitched, and moaned. It is as if they couldn't understand that someone saw Halo 4 differently than them. We are in a young industry full of people who cannot stand it when someone has a different opinion than them. Don't believe me? Go on any gaming message board where it is especially bad. Yes, even the preeminent community NeoGAF.

Which might make you wonder why I even have review scores. I simply followed Game Informer's scale as I grew up on that and became comfortable with it. Nonetheless and thankfully so, those who read my reviews and regularly comment are smart and don't generally care about the score. I've seldom ever gotten sass or meltdowns in the comments section for writing a negative review or giving a low score to a hyped game (though I have for writing a controversial opinion one, two, or twenty times in the past). Perhaps that's because no one cares what some random college student with "Super" in front of his name has to say about their most anticipated games. I don't deny that that's a distinct possibility. Regardless, my readers care more about what is said rather than what is scored. I don't know how I developed that kind of community with the kind of crap I write. It's a mystery that will baffle even the most seasoned Professor Layton player.

Let's shift gears to the press that actually covers the industry? We should all know about the Wainwright, Doritos, Mountain Dew, Geoff Keighly nonsense by now. If you don't (don't worry, it's only another black eye on games journalism), just use a search engine and you'll find your answers.

In my opinion, gamers get the press they deserve. I watched over the weekend a segment on Gametrailers.com called "Bonus Round." It was essentially a roundtable with three guests and the host. It was an end-of-the-year type deal. Yes, an end-of-the-year type deal in early November. Screw the most important part of the gaming year, the holiday season, let's rush this sucker out because we have no shame. They hilariously talked about Nintendo -- y'know, the company that is kicking off the next gen with a new console in less than two weeks and were actually grading them before the system even came out. The sheer amount of willful ignorance displayed by the supposed experts Gametrailers assembled was astounding. One statement by a panelist wanted Nintendo to license their IPs out to developers working with mobile platforms. That certainly wouldn't cheapen the brands at all and cost Nintendo long-term at all! Way to go, panelist! In all honesty, if you wanted a better panel, you could have selected any three random GameFAQs members. No wonder Nintendo doesn't care about bending over backwards for the Western press anymore-- the press cannot even bother to look up simple things that it's their job to know.

It's the stupidity of the press that perfectly matches the stupidity of most gamers. Okay. I will admit this: I do not like a majority of gamers (I will now simply be referring to "most gamers" as "gamers"). I find them obnoxious, indecisive, immature entitled, selfish, and insatiable. The current press that we have that gives 9s and 10s to really hyped games, accepts swag so shamelessly, and appeals to the lowest common denominator is worthy of gamers. These are the types of gamers that go on sites like N4G, GameFAQs, NeoGAF, YouTube comment sections, and Twitter just to troll other fans and faceless companies. These are the types that hate Sony yet "like them" on Facebook just so they can troll every news story the company posts. Then there are the ones that so feverishly defend every little thing their favorite developer or console manufacturer does. How about those that happily applaud when a game or system bombs? Who cares if that game that bombed cost hundreds their jobs when we can laugh at some faceless company because we don't like their business practices?

Or how about the freaking hyperbole and overreactions that spread in myriad threads and topics? It's seemingly everywhere. Or news stories that aren't just news but are overly editorialized? I don't care if you think Nintendo Land sucks and looks stupid. Just tell me when the game is coming out, how much it costs, what it consists of, and be on your merry way. I also don't need news stories about fanboyism on GameFAQs or NeoGAF. That's not news. That's "no shit, Sherlock" territory, and a good reason why this industry is so laughable (whether you take that reason being those aforementioned news stories or fanboyism in the industry from gamers and the people that make the games that we play).

I bet some find it ironic that an opinion piece saying that everyone in the industry needs to grow up before the actual industry can grow up is basically a rant any 13-year-old could make. I don't blame you for finding the irony in that. I see it, too. Regardless, I don't want you to think that I believe every gamer or every press member is holding the industry back and keeping us into the realm of immaturity. Look at sites like Nintendo World Report or Digitally Downloaded. I don't mention both of these because I have ties to them. 1) I wouldn't have ties to them if I didn't like what they were doing, and 2) They are great examples of the positives of the press. (The gaming press CAN be good, people!) They are great examples because they are alternative gaming sites with little influence from gamers or publishers. They write what they want to write, they review and give games scores they want to review. They seldom, if ever, create controversy just for cheap hits like so many sites do. You will never see a review for Assassin's Creed III surrounded by three Assassin's Creed III ads, making you wonder if the ad money from Ubisoft somehow factored into that site giving the game a favorable review. How dirty are some sectors of the press?

As I stated in the opening paragraph, we're a young industry. Is it because we're so young that we're so immature, or is there another deeper reason? Could it be that most of us really just grown men and women playing with expensive toys who take our hobby too seriously? Maybe we don't take it seriously enough. Is it as simple as that? The sooner we start evolving mentally and do away with console war mentalities and earn a press that we can be proud of, the sooner the video game industry will start getting mainstream recognition as something great instead of just the martyr and butt of Western culture.

Agree? Disagree? Want to know what the heck you just read? Let me know in the comments section. Regardless, I thank you for reading the rantings from this exasperated gamer.

One of My Biggest Problems With Gaming: Gamers Themselves

That's a provocative editorial title. You may also refer to this editorial as "Phil Complains About Gamers for the 766th Time." While gamers are nowhere near as burdensome as on-disc DLC, season passes, nickel and diming players for every little thing, developers releasing broken ports of their popular games to other platforms, and a profusion of other problems, they are a perpetually annoying part and necessary evil of this hobby. This article discusses how gamers just irritate me to no end and more importantly, why. Call this a rant, something I don't generally do that often on this site (I've been due for one for a while now). Now, don't get me wrong -- I don't mean to generalize, so if I say "gamers," I am talking about some or a lot of gamers, and not all gamers as a whole.

First, let's talk about Nintendo's new ad campaign (video here) meant for non-gamers/more casual players. Now, regardless of the fact that the casual boat has sailed for Nintendo as that group constantly moves onto the next new, shiny thing, the commercial shows Olympic gold medalist Gabrielle Douglas playing New Super Mario Bros. 2 and saying that she isn't a gamer, she's a coin-collecting champion. In any other hobby, the message would be clear, but as I argue all the time --  a lot of gamers are super defensive, insecure morons -- at least the ones that frequent online. They took the message as Nintendo saying that the company is distancing itself from gamers when the commercial does not say such a thing at all. 1) The commercial isn't intended for them, and 2) Even if the ad said "I'm not just a gamer; I'm a coin-collecting champion," I'm sure we'd still have people complaining. Apparently, game companies have to spell things out as gamers must be simpletons.

One of the two ads in question.

I've seen many people say the commercial is insulting to them and longtime Nintendo fans. Talk about missing the point, overreacting, and looking stupid in the process (all three are common with gamers). Exactly how the commercial is insulting is beyond me.The idea that this new ad campaign by Nintendo is meant to be insulting to gamers and giving the middle finger to all of their fans blows my mind in negative ways. That would be fine if that was the point. It is not the point, however, to anyone with half a brain and the ability to think for themselves, which admittedly is not your typical gamer. The point is to convey that the celebrity isn't just identifying herself as a gamer, but identifying herself as something related to the game she's playing. It'd be like if Sony had an ad that said, "I'm not a gamer, I'm a professional racer," for a game like Gran Tursimo. The person is saying she is deeply a part of the game. It's not meant to say "gamer" is a naughty word, so no, Nintendo did not insult anybody, indirectly or not. If you want an actual insult, here's one for you: *deep breath* Gamers are childish, inconsolable man-babies who bitch and moan about everything even when they have all the attention and have more games than they can possibly play.

This is essentially just a very vocal group of gamers making mountains of mole hills, creating conflict where there shouldn't be any, and intentionally keeping their heads up their collective asses. Saying something is an indirect insult. How is it possible to be this obtuse? I have no idea. It makes the majority of gamers look awful.

I don't understand why people in our hobby feel the need to brand themselves with the term "gamer", as if it is some badge of honor. I don't see enthusiasts of books calling themselves bookworms in a sense as a means to be better than someone else. Do most of these people feel so inadequate that they have to brand themselves to feel superior to other people (casuals)? No wonder people are so damned pathetically defensive over this ad campaign. And yes, there is still a social stigma to play video games, and deservedly so. It routinely presents itself as an incredibly immature hobby, and one of the reasons is how gamers conduct themselves.

Hypothetically, let's say the ads were to distance Nintendo from gamers. Is it any wonder why someone would want to do that? Look at message boards, look at comments sections. Console zealotry is everywhere. It's common on GameFAQs, it's common on various gaming news sites like IGN, GameSpot, GameTrailers, etc, it's common on N4G, and it's even common on the site that pretends it's the greatest gift to gaming discussion when it's just as bad as the aforementioned sites, NeoGAF. All of these places have the same console and fanboy war debates, and the only thing that distinguishes them from one another is a different coat of paint. I constantly shake my head at posts and comments I read. We have Nintendo fans who feel betrayed by the ads, and we have the anti-Nintendo brigade using this as another attack point. The constant console wars are obnoxious -- it makes a plethora of people look bad, and it gives the industry's reputation a black eye. I would be ashamed to show the actions of many gamers to anyone outside of our hobby. I can see why (again, hypothetically) Nintendo would want to distance themselves from gamers if the commercials were intended to do that (which, again, they weren't). Hell, I don't want to be associated with gamers a lot of the time, and looking at what has transpired over the past month helps me with that ideology.

Let us not forget Bayonetta 2. Nintendo takes a game that was dead and in its grave, puts money into it to get it published, and now a lot of people are pissing their pants with rage about that. They'd rather the game be dead than have to shell out money for a Nintendo console. Seriously? The fanboyism by many gamers is that bad? Yes, it really is. Gamers are insatiable. They complain that Nintendo has no third-party support or exclusives worth buying, Nintendo gets a game that they would want, and now they're mad because of that! Nintendo is damned if they do and damned if they don't, but this isn't about that. This is about the severity of the reaction that happened after that. Nintendo and Platinum Games received a myriad of tweets, some even being death threats. Death threats. There are even petitions against the game now. Every time I say that gamers can't embarrass themselves more, they somehow pull through for me and make themselves look even worse.

Apologies for the foul language, but
that's the least of this pic's problems.

Then there is any time a game gets a review score that is lesser than what fans of the game or console it appears on expect. We saw this with Eurogamer's Uncharted 3 review ("oh, no, an 8/10! How dare you, Eurogamer! We were tight, but no longer!"), we saw this with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (8.8) -- one of the most embarrassing displays of hating on a great score ever, and we now see it with Resident Evil 6. We're in a young industry where many gamers just cannot handle someone else having a different opinion than them. By the way, how the %#% does anyone with an iota of professionalism make a post about the reaction of a bunch of fanboys and passes that off as news? Fanboys act irrationally -- faux news at 11. Someone who also proclaims himself to be a "gamer" writing several news pieces every time a fan group does something stupid and making that "news" is a good example of the childishness of this hobby. And these aforementioned message board gamers eat it right up. You get the content and journalistic reporting you deserve, and our industry's gamers certainly deserve what they get.

8.0 is still a great score, no?
Isn't the review text more important anyway?

You might be wondering why I wrote all of this. It's just that I've had my limit of this crap. I'm absolutely tired of making excuses as to why this hobby is so underdeveloped in maturity. Between people getting offended that they aren't being marketed to 100% of the time or purposefully misconstruing a message for their own agendas, people feeling threatened that casuals are entering THEIR hobby, people being overly defensive and sensitive about everything, people consistently entering console/fanboy wars with other like-minded individuals ("My faceless corporation is better than yours!"), game journalists also participating in such wars and/or adding fuel to the fire (you know who you are -- the 100+ of you), and the genuine obnoxiousness of this hobby and the gamers that it contains is all just maddening to me. I know many who no longer want to call themselves gamers because they feel humiliated to associate themselves with the select many that make the hobby appear so sophomoric. I can't help but empathize. Is there a reason that when I start a Google search for "Gamers are" I get results that say "Gamers are losers", "Gamers are entitled", "Gamers are embarrassing", "Gamers are idiots", among others? All of the search results shown are negative. Regardless, will gamers start acting their ages? Sadly, I don't see this happening any time soon when a score of 8.8 makes an entire fan group rage, when a developer receives death threats, and "the preeminent community for video game news and discussion" is just like every other gaming message board on the planet -- a haven for immaturity and console wars.

Thank you for reading my rant on gamers and the current state of affairs with this entertaining hobby. If you have your own thoughts on the matter, feel free to leave a comment. 

Top Five Annoying Types of Gamers

Okay, okay. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Phil. PHIL. You complain and lambast gamers on a constant basis. Why do I need to read another article of you whining about a group that really does no harm to you?" My answer would be, "Touche, worthy adversary." Actually, I have found that there are five types of the gamer subculture that I find most obnoxious. Perhaps you will agree with me on some of these choices, but probably not.

5) The Overly Competitive Gamer

Mad or constipated? You be the judge.

When I play a multiplayer game online, I hate it when I get teamed up with someone who takes the nature of the game way too seriously. Don't get me wrong, it's okay to be competitive, but when you get to the point where you are literally screaming at your teammates, opponents, and the TV and breaking controllers over less than satisfactory multiplayer scenarios, you've got problems. I used to have this issue with games when I was younger, but then I realized that nothing good could come out of getting angry over a game. I can get frustrated and go, "Come on, game..." but I don't go all The Shining Jack Nicholson on people anymore. Games are supposed to be fun, and there is nothing worse than having that fun spoiled by someone who is overly aggressive. I have had death threats from people I've beaten, kids calling me homophobic slurs, and being told to casually "get raped." That's sort of the reason I steer clear of online multiplayer usually unless its of the cooperative nature. Then there's that awkward moment when you are the same tangible (not virtual) room as the person getting upset. You feel for them and understand their frustration, but you still just want them to shut the hell up and cool the hell down. 

4) The Gamer Trapped Within Their Comfort Zone

This type of gamer irritates me. I mean, truly. One of their most popular buzzwords to say is "gimmick." This doesn't mean an innovative feature or gameplay element to them. No, it really means "something about this that I don't like." The November 2011 release of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword (SPC's GotY 2011, by the by) was one of the most egregious moments of this type of gamer's history. Rather than try to comprehend a new control scheme, a vocal minority argued that the game had horrible controls and all you did was waggle. For anyone who has invested some serious time into the imperfect title, you know that if all you are doing is shaking the Wii remote around like you're having convulsions to try to do delicate swordplay, you're doing it wrong. This gamer type just doesn't like trying stuff out of their comfort zone. Touch controls? Ha. Motion control? Keep dreaming! Tablet controller? Gimmick! It's a shame that this gamer won't allow him or herself to try different gaming experiences. If gaming was up to them, we'd be using dual analog on consoles for all time instead of evolving to better and more comfortable solutions.

Even Link hates when people try to "waggle" through his game.

3) The Gaming Snob

Well, at least he is a handsome devil.

You probably have met this type of gamer. They will turn up their nose at you for playing a game that they deem inferior to their tastes. And don't even get them started on casual gaming experiences. Not only do they call it all shovelware, but they feel insulted when "soccer moms and grandpas" enter their hobby. Far be it from anyone to allow new players to enter our hobby. No, this type of gamer wishes for his or her hobby to remain clean. What I find humorous about all of this is that the gaming snob acts all high and mighty on high tech toys, which video games and the consoles and handhelds that play them essentially are. I imagine this person wearing a top hat, monocle, and a fine suit, sipping their vermouth from a thin-lipped wine glass. So keep fighting the good fight, gaming snob, telling people that playing Wii Fit, LEGO games, and Just Dance makes them beneath you and your superior gaming tastes.

2) The Entitled Gamer

I don't want to delve too deeply into the Mass Effect 3 ending-gate, but it sort of goes along with what this type of gamer is all about. The developers essentially had to change their vision of the series just because of the cries of some entitled gamers. That isn't the way I see how art should work. Now, it is fine to not want to take garbage from developers and publishers. It is fine to want things. But when you cross the line into desire everything and immediately so, you become more annoying and come across as overly entitled.

Don't worry. We'll fix that ending right up for you guys!

Reggie Fils-Amie of Nintendo stated last month that gaming culture is insatiable (among other things). I agree because no matter what a company pushes out onto the market or reveals, the entitled gamer always wants more. There is never enough. Continuing with Nintendo, recently the Club Nintendo prizes for America were revealed. However, the entitled gamer once again moaned and groaned. Now, free stuff that doesn't have to be given to you is not enough? Seriously? I sort of would be interested to see the Club Nintendo program shut down. Then we would truly see some considerable whining and disappointed gamers.

1) The Console Warrior

We all have biases towards our gaming tastes. We prefer one platform over another, or we enjoy games from one company and not another. However, while this is normal and acceptable behavior, defending your console of choice to the death/attacking a console you dislike to extremes is most certainly not. In the Nintendo VS. SEGA days, playgrounds were filled with heated debates regarding which was better. This was one of the earliest and most prominent console wars. It basically came down to kids and families only being able to afford one home console, either the Super Nintendo or the SEGA Genesis. Essentially the root of all console wars for non-adults stems from not being bable to possess all platforms. With the advent of the Internet and for better or worse, it became easy peasy to get involved in intense conversations that are riddled with personal attacks and the like. But this time around you had anonymity on your side to hide behind. And we all know that anonymity + audience = total ****wad.

The sad part is that this guy is not joking.

Then there's trolling which is rampant on message boards. To troll is to illicit a response from someone in an incendiary way. "I used to like Nintendo, but I'm not ten anymore." "Halo is great if you are a racist, homophobic 12 year old who enjoys vast quantities of Mountain Dew." "Poor Vita. Like the rest of the world, even Sony doesn't care about you." And so forth. This is sort of reason why I don't like to frequent comment sections or message boards. This kind of material is standard form at these places.

===

Surely you have your own sets of gamer that you don't like. How about smart-mouthed blogger? Enlighten the SPC community with your insight below!

Gamers Don't Just Hate the Wii U-- They're Afraid Of It.

We all know Nintendo had a poor showing at E3, and this made it to the point that some gamers just want Nintendo to go away. Well, they're not going to do that, so I guess the popular Internet phrase is for these people who wish Nintendo would to cry more. After E3, it seemed like you couldn't get away from bad news regarding Nintendo's new console. From the paltry list of third-party games being developed for the system to heavy hitters like Call of Duty and Madden at the time being missing in action, the bad far outweighed the good.

Truly the antichrist in video game hardware form.

That would be fine and all, but even good news reported about the Wii U is quickly turned into a negative. "Oh, the system is at a minimum on par with the Xbox 360 and that's an accomplishment?" That obviously means it's not much stronger, right? Pfft. It's pathetic the jumps of logic being made by your typical message board gamers. "Xbox360 < =Wii-U < PS3 confirmed?" Yeah, because not mentioning the PlayStation 3 means that the Wii U is obviously weaker than it. Some gamers have such vitriol for a platform that's not even out yet, it's just despicable. I have never seen this much undeserved hatred for an unreleased system before. Case in point.

So why do a very angry and bitter group of gamers hate the Wii U? Well, I don't think it's just hatred. I think it's pure fear as well. The typical message board gamer-- y'know, the one who spends his or her life on forums complaining about games instead of actually playing them-- is known for not being able to step outside their comfort zones. Just look at the Wii and motion controls. "They suck. They're unresponsive. I'm too impatient to learn anything that doesn't allow me to sit on my rump 24/7 and score some achievements and trophies, bro." No, the Wii U Gamepad is a different and new controller type that is out of this sect's comfort zone. This is even though it's just a traditional controller with a huge touch screen-- that's all. So gamers have to fear this catching on like they feared motion controls catching on. (That's a reason why many were so quick to call the Wii "a fad" even though it lived a normal console's life cycle. Anything to make them rage, I guess.)

It's like some alien technology, man!

Then there's the matter of power. We already know that the current foundation of the industry is unsustainable with myriads of studios closing, companies in the red, and games needing to sell five million copies just to break even. So the Wii U is going its own way and not participating in the race to destroy the industry as we know it (I've posted my thoughts on this matter before, so don't fret if you don't follow). Apparently that isn't good for gamers even though it would be pointless to have three consoles that were practically identical. In an industry where some only consider "next gen" to equate to more power (this is an embarrassing stance, by the way), Wii U makes some get butterflies in their bellies because they dread a world where the other console manufacturers emulate Nintendo even more than they already arguably have and make less powerful systems. Screw the well being of the industry-- I want more power, higher framerates, bigger budgets, and more polys being pushed!

I was going to post a picture of what the world thinks a
typical gamer looks like, but I didn't want to throw up every
time I looked at this article. So here's an ostrich.

Now, don't get me wrong-- there are plenty of valid reasons to dislike the Wii U. However, the kind of gamer I'm talking about doesn't have time for facts or reality to base their opinion and distaste for the system on as well as jump to inane conclusions. I'm to the point now that reading message boards like NeoFAQs (you know, the site that wrongly pretends it is better than every other video game forum on the planet when it is just as bad and has just as many trolls and fan-things?) and GameFAQs is an impossibility. The stupidity and amount of rage towards an unreleased video game platform is just stupid. Even as someone who doesn't care if Nintendo succeeds, I sort of want the Wii U to do really well just to spite these horrible slobs. Could you imagine what the obnoxious message board gamer would do then? Oh, the glorious meltdowns, excuses as to why the Wii U is outselling their precious platform of choice, and tears! The typical message board gamer constantly humiliates itself, and their seething acrimony towards a little white or little black box is yet another black mark in the history of these loathsome creatures, a true shame to this industry.

For more articles, editorials, and special segments, check out the SPC Feature Catalog.