Editor's Note: Editor's Choice

[MGlBlaze]

I have to admit, the Northern Ireland comment is painfully true; a man was shot in my middle-of-nowhere town just last weekend for no better reason that he was catholic and was a member of the PSNI (Police Service of Northern Ireland, in case any of you don't know that. If you didn't know I also suggest you crawl out from under your rock and scrape all the moss off your skin, you out-of-touch pleb.)

However, I guess I'd like to consider myself one of those gamers that are far more reasonable about things; I 'love to love' I suppose, but I don't have any qualms about hating, as my general opinion of the entire damn human race and all the religious, scientific and logical fallacy that plagues them isn't a good enough indication of that.

I only get drawn into an argument when someone ELSE is a narrow-minded tosser about things. Yes, I am easily drawn into things, I'll admit that. I guess people like that just get on my nerves far more easily than most things.

Personally, I could care less about all the console x vs console y and PCs versus Consoles debate, because ultimately what you should choose depends on what you want, and there isn't some rule that says "You may not choose more than one." I'm primarily a PC gamer, but I use the Wii occasionally (Megaman 9 KICKS ASS.), I've gotten a fair bit of use out of the 360 as well, and there are games out that really make me wish I had a PS3. Although university work has seriously limited the flow of new games for me somewhat, but still.

Also, I'm one of the 18 people that are boycotting MW2 (At least for now; I'll get it eventually, but I'm not paying full price for what I personally view as half a game.) and have NOT already bought it, and are NOT pirating it.

Of course, humans in general are far too complicated to totally generalise without getting something wrong for someone, but your article does seem to describe an alarming majority of our gaming 'community', so I can hardly fault people who say the truth.

I'll admit I'm not above my own petty, impressionable human tendencies sometimes though. I hated the halo series for so long because everyone else I asked made the Halo series out to be absolutely nothing special. Then out of boredom, I sat down with Halo 3 one day, completed it, and realised that allowing my own opinion to become biased before I'd even formed my own lead me astray. I had fun with the game.

That probably sounds tangential, but my point is, that people change their behaviour based on everyone else around them; and with the gaming community, a good example of this is the mindless hatred and fanboyism you mentioned in your very article. I'm not sure how it all started (Although I think the Sega Vs Nintendo marketing campaigns certainly had at least a hand in it...) but it will be next to impossible to halt, unfortunately. It'll all depend in people acting as individuals more rather than as part of a group and allowing themselves to be swayed... something I have found that human beings are notoriously incapable of doing.

Isn't the human race grand...

 

[Giest118]

Did this article have a central subject? It felt like a series of loosely related ideas.

 

[Fire Daemon]

One can only infer that there is a subset of gamer culture that does not, in fact, want gaming to be mainstream.

No, I think that every gamer wants their hobby to become standard in today's culture but on their terms.

When the Wii releases started to show that they were catering to their casual audience more than the typical Nintendo hardcore, after SSBB came out I think, there was a genuine fear that the casualization (not a word) of gaming will eventually replace games that the hardcore want and enjoy to reach a greater audience. Gamers don't want their hobby destroyed and any popular game that goes against what is considered 'correct gaming' or is popular with a group of people considered 'incorrect gamers' is considered a threat. The easiest and most common target of this is the frat-boy demographic whom is believed to be dumbining (Wait, that's not how you spell 'dumbining'! Wait, that's not even a word!) down gaming by supporting supposedly less intelligent games. The ironic thing is that this attitude was around before Halo and those that do say a demographic is destroying gaming have probably had the same thing said of them. You never complaints concerning an influx of too many like minded people though. Nobody ever says that there are too many hardcore gamers who act just like me and I don't think anybody ever will.

No, what a lot of people want is for more future gamers, for gaming to be mainstream, but for those gamers to be like them. Heck, I'm probably like this to a degree even though I've never really cared about the casual demographic. It'll never happen though, people would game upon their own accord be it five days a week or five days a year and they will play the games that they enjoy or possible the only games they have the skill to play.

 

[Dr. Gorgenflex]

I have not bought Modern Warfare 2, I hate it, and it is because of the short campaign, and the lack of dedicated servers. I don't feel a need to spend money on something I already bought, except worse. This is why I hate, and did not buy Modern Warfare 2.

 

[PsiMatrix]

The gaming population is growing broader by the day. So why aren't gamers becoming any less narrow-minded?

Because we know what we like and don't feel a need to change because eleventy-billion people bought the same game.


I don't have any inclination to buy MW2 because it's a modern (read:real-life) shooter, it's pretentious in that they think gunning down a bunch of computer-generated hostages somehow makes it 'controversial' and it has a fanbase just as rabid about defending it as any other title that has hit the 'best game ever!!' mark.

The more press something gets, the less I want to actually play it because it sets up a lot of false expectations and diminishes the experience for me. It took me two years to get past the Final Fantasy 7 hype to actually be able to enjoy it and even then it was because I'd heard that it was good from a friend. Seeing the commercials going on and on about 'five stars' and 'game of the year' (in summer, June/July time, six months left, thanks) is tiresome.

 

[baconfist]

MW2 is a game that is a sequel of a sequel that offers less then the games that predated it. With a very short single player and extremely nerfed multiplayer (less players,no modding, no dedicated servers, less cheating protection). Let's be completely honest. If you bought this for a PC you are a tool, MW2 is a console game now Infinity Ward managed to take away anything good about the PC version.

MW2 is now a whore in a back alley trying to service as many clients as possible in as little time as possible. What really pisses me off is they will probably end up with their hands in my pants soon enough, with their sticky fingers on my thick hard wallet.

 

[Tequila Shot]

The structure and tone in this article is wonderful. Great job Russ, your a great editor!

I know I might be flamed for this, but i enjoy TF2 much more than MW2 and I play it on the crippled PS3 version! Assassin Creed 2 is in my console right now; it's so detailed and beautiful (the Latin and Spanish accents in the game are a shining example of voice acting, Yahtzee better not tip pick at all with the voices!), and I revisiting Resident Evil 2 from the PSN store.

In summary, I'm not going to let Metacritic and sales record tell me what to play.

 

[Tequila Shot]

I completely agree my fellow gamer.

 

[Niska]

I have yet to purchase this game and probably won't for quiet awhile. I would much rather play Dragon Age: Origins which is one of the best RPGs I have ever played.

 

[clairedelune]

I haven't played the game, and while I agree that gamers love to rip on the more successful games (World of Warcraft should be hitting you in the face as an obvious target right about now) I have never liked the argument "You don't like the game because it pushes boundaries!" Most complaints I've read about it seem to be legitimate game play issues with the single player part of the game. The storyline people call ridiculous, but I haven't seen someone call it offensive yet (though probably someone has, come to think of it).

I guess it always bothers me when people who haven't played WoW rip on it, but as someone who played it from open-beta on and off until a few months ago, I can say that the real gaming community (whatever that means) has rights to attack it for "selling out" at this point and just making it ridiculously easy. However, i still think in its first two years it was a really great game.

on a semi unrelated note, I am fully willing to admit my love for DA:O. It's beautiful.

 

[ThisNewGuy]

Game sales DO NOT REFLECT QUALITY. That is to say that MW2 is the most bought piece of entertainment in history doesn't mean that it's the best piece of entertainment in history. The article raised a fair point about how gamers don't buy games that we don't like. However, the hype of the game, the promise of its premise, the glorified perfection that is the first MW, more than justify this sequel to be easily like-able. So it's the hype, the hope that sold the game, NOT QUALITY. At least, not for me or for most of the haters, if I can speak on their behalf.

The simple fact of opinion is that for me, I hate MW2's single player because it just sucks. I know that this is a weird concept, to hate a game for its quality since the game journalists of our day factor advertisement and sponsorship into the consideration, but coming from Uncharted 2 and just finished Modern Warfare's single player, MW2's single player simply sucks. It's shock and awe comes merely from the immediate imagery of the opening of each level, after that initial shock, it's just a very mundane shooter. It's almost as if the developers simply reskinned the opening training obstacle course for each level.

The story was more convoluted than if Yahtzee was commissioned to explain the entire Metal Gears story in a 5 minutes episode of Zero Punctuation. The shooting mechanics is very impressive, but that's simply copy and pasting the original Modern Warfare. The set pieces had a 5 second shock moment, then it's just boring. And the levels and mission objectives are repetitive and boring. It almost boils down to two things, defend this spot or follow a guy.

No, gamers don't love to hate and gamers don't hate to love. As a gamer, I hate MW2's single player because it simply sucks.

 

[Razer_uk]

I have not and do not intend to purchase MW2. No I don't hate it. it just holds no interest for me.

Games like this, that seem to have the potential to be big sellers, tend to get over-hyped to the point where they get fanatical followings before people buy the game or even hear reviews from people who have.

If, then, it turns out to be complete rubbish; a lot of people yell even louder about how good it actually is to drown out the little voice inside their head that says "I was wrong to buy this game."

I actually place some of the blame onto demos. Either they are rubbish which hurts the sale of a decent game, or they are too good and people expect the whole game to be like that or better. Whereas most of the time it ends up being more of the same, but suffering from repetitiveness. Of course, occasionally you get no demo at all - something everyone should see as a warning sign.

Some good examples are:

Gangsters 1 (Cast your mind back) an old PC game from the 90s. The demo was complete rubbish; it basically left you with no idea what to do. This was because they decided to put the tutorial text into the manual of the game. A mistake. But a few years after release I bought a pack of 12 games and it was one of them. Waded through the tutorial and found a decent game.

Stolen, on the other hand, was a game that took the no demo route. Another PC game, though not too old, I liked the sound of it before release: I am a big fan of the Thief games. I awaited a demo. A month after release there still was no demo. I decided I couldn't be bothered waiting any longer and bought the game anyway.

First, there was no auto-run on the disc and when opened, the Readme file had "Insert readme text here" in it and nothing else. But that was quite good quality compared to game itself. The graphics weren't too bad admitidley, but the interface was clunky, the controls unresponsive, the stealth mechanics finiky and just generally bad all over.

A good demo that produced a Meh game? F.E.A.R.. I just wasn't that impressed with Fear to be honest. Standard shooter with a freaky girl in a red coat. That seemed to be everything to it; I had already gotten bored with bullet time from Max Payne. To the point where I hardley ever used it in any of those games.

There's a lot I could say on the proliferation of the popular over the innovative, but I think this post has gone on long enough.

 

[Rack]

When a totally average shooter that stands out only because of what it does not include makes so much money for a company vocally dedicated to "taking the fun out of games" it's bound to attract a certain level of ire. Gamers are perhaps too vocal and too pasionate a group but it's plain to see from where this hatred stems.

 

[Azure-Supernova]

Imma gonna openly admit that I am that kind of 'nerd gamer' with an encyclopedic knowledge on MGS and RE. I don't see it as being a problem, after all what really is the difference between us 'hardcore gamers' who worship video games like a religion and football (soccer for non-Brits) hooligans, well aside from the fact that gamers don't trash football grounds and towns.

I find myself despising the mainstream more and more and it probably is because I'm just that kind of person. As a teenager (17) I'm still struggling for individuality (at least according to Erikson and Vygotsky ) and that's probably why alot of us act the way we do, dissing popular things because they're popular.

However I won't deny that I genuinely dislike MW2 for the same reason I dislike CoD4, I just don't get my moneys worth because I don't spend so much time online. Also I can honestly say, playing the Moscow Airport mission I was rendered completely indifferent. I took a brutal approach to everything and it didn't bother me in the slightest, it's fiction and not even good fiction.

 

[Doug]

So cars have been streamlined and mainstreamed. You don't need an engineering degree these days to start one (although you damned near need one to repair a modern car), but would anybody argue that the "soft", "dumbed down", "your mother could do it", "mainstream" Porsche 997 of our days, hell, even a bog standard VW, was a WORSE car than something from the dawn of motoring?

Actually, as someone with an engineering degree, I'd say you need one AND to work at the designing company, OR have the in-depth repair manual and access to the non-standard spare parts (especially the PCBs).

Edit: As for the metaphor about cars, I'd have to say that in most cases, making the controls of a car easier doesn't reduce the 'performance factors' (i.e. speed/reliablity/capacity - whatever it is that you look for in a car).

With gaming, however, we've seen gameplay and game stories/story telling drop in quality with simplifying of gaming. Expections exist, of course - I'm not saying simpler gaming == must be a lower quality game; Half-life 2, for example, has simple controls, but good story telling - what I'm saying is thats the expection rather than the rule.

That said, the dip seems to be reserving now, and *hopefully* we'll see gaming reach further than ever before. I doubt it, of course, with money tight and most big studios so anti-risk they barely allow new IPs out of the studio for 8 seconds.

 

[Tequila Shot]

Wow, I'm not the only one who thinks the first modern warfare is better than 2.
Didn't those millions of commercials sway your opinion? (sarcasm)

 

[zamble]

I really enjoyed the article> I was thinking something alongside this last week, about how some people like to be "alternative", we know those people in our daily life, the indie music fans who happen to dress like hippies and such, who love a very strange and unknown band or songo, untill it reaches fame, then it becomes S**t to them. I guess some of the gamers have minds like those too, and don't want our hobby to become popular at all, because then a new alternative hobby would have to be created. And that relates a lot to gamers turning their noses on Wii and it's games, making gaming popular, how dare you, Nintendo! We liked you a lot more when you were some unknow japanese company, and back when japanese companies where unknown and mysterious.

Really, we gotta open our minds and remember the ultimate goal of "our" hobby (the quotes are there because we don't really own the hobby, as some people think) is to have fun.

 

[Vanguard_Ex]

http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/uncyclopedia/images/8/88/Boom_headshot.jpg

This article is right on the money. Always, always trust a member of The Escapist staff to force people into the right way of thinking with the sheer power of words and correctivity.

 

[Pipotchi]

I dont know, I laughed my way though the No Russian level, I could not take it seriously when I realised that the civilians only had three types of shirt between them and the same pre-scripted routines.

Modern Warfare two is the Michael bay of the gaming industry. lots of spectacle no substance

 

[Weaver]

Not everyone who was on the MW2 boycott bought it. I did not buy the game and I never will.