Michael “Red Pen of Doom” Futter
When we originally discussed this topic, we had no idea how timely it would be. Between the uproar over Duke Nukem and the subsequent PR response and then the Battlefield 3 graphics furor, we’re seeing the worst of gamer mentality all at once.
If you needed evidence of snobbery in gaming, Duke Nukem Forever is enough to base a doctoral dissertation on. Immediately after the game was announced (for real this time) and before anyone got to play it, the gaming community was split into three camps: those that were definitely going to play it, no matter what; those that were going to hate it, no matter what; and those that simply stopped caring a decade ago.
Fast-forward to the game’s release and one of those camps intensified its rhetoric. The voice of the Duke haters became so loud that it spawned a cottage industry of writing reviews that catered to that people who were never going to play the game anyway. The only reason that some of our peers were compelled to write venomous reviews about the game was because they knew that there was a segment of the audience that would delight in them. Those reviews were re-tweeted, shared, and discussed to the point where the newsmen became the news. The situation spiraled so far out of control that 2K’s PR representation lashed out with legitimate emotion, but a regrettable lapse in professionalism. If gamers were mature enough to simply say, “It’s not for me, but if you like it, that’s great,” we wouldn’t have media outlets participating in sensationalism. Gamers feed the fire. It’s time to put the matches down.
Immediately following the Duke debacle, Battlefield 3 was finally shown on consoles. Anyone that was surprised that it doesn’t look as good on consoles as it does on PC needs to have their heads examined. This is not a new development. People don’t play on consoles for the best graphics available. We play console games because we don’t want to upgrade our hardware every 3 months or spend hours finding the newest drivers, tweaking settings, and praying to silicon deities when a new game comes out. We want to put the disk in the tray (sometimes download a Day 0 patch-) and play without the hoops of PC gaming. It’s a tradeoff and it’s always been this way.
Is this re-emerging because consoles have become so much more powerful that our expectations are skewed? If so, why is this game the target?
Part of the answer is, “because it’s Battlefield 3.” The other part, though, is, “because it’s NOT Modern Warfare 3.” Do you want to know what these two games have in common? They are both military shooters. That’s it. The single player campaigns? Completely different in their approach. The multiplayer? Completely different in their approach. Despite these facts, and especially following Bobby Kotick’s failed attempt to get hands-on time with Battlefield 3 at E3, these games have been positioned as the exact same game for the same audience. Worse, people have it in their heads that they have to choose one or the other.
This is your wake up call, guys. They are very different games. You don’t have to choose. They will both be great experiences. They will both look stunning on console or, if you really want to play them on PC, they will both look beyond stunning. Or, if you really just prefer one series to the other, play that one. Both are going to have substantial communities. The success of one does not sound the death knell of the other.
Why should you choose to play on a console (and which one, for that matter)? Choose the platform that most of your friends will be playing on. Talk to them. Find out which of the games your friends will be picking up and which platform they’ll be playing on. The two things that should drive this choice are control scheme and community. Oh, despite what “PC gamers” will tell you, it’s ok to use a gamepad when playing a PC game. Don’t let that type of snobbery influence your decision either.
It’s about time we get over the hate, play the games that make us happy, and let others enjoy the gaming experiences that are most important to them.
MK24ever
Interesting read all around…
But I don’t think hating on haters/fanboys will lead us to any conclusion or explain anything, hating makes part of any human being, some hate other races, some hate different soccer teams, others hate gamers, other hate politics, etc etc etc…
We can’t expect people to stop hating, I’m no saint, I didn’t liked at all the way Microsoft handed their marketing when PS3 launched on Europe, they were plain rude and uncivilized, I didn’t liked the way many many US sites criticized the PS3 Sony console in the first years, there was no professionalism, there was just a trend to bash Sony, journalist were pure haters, I hated them for not being professional and in consequence I hated Microsoft and their console because it seemed obvious US community was just pushing for their US made console at the time , when I was young a NES costed SO much in the Portuguese coin that it was impossible for me to buy one, same thing about the games, we had similar consoles at half the price, I hated on Nintendo because I believed at the time they were just to greedy and didn’t care for the people who had less money like me.
My point is, when something goes against what we believe is correct/fair or against our ideals, we answer that with critics, you guys just hated on fanboys because the way they think goes against your way you think. So are you fanboys of anti-fanboysm?
Another point is age, and I think many times fanboysm/hating/preferences is mixed with pure simple childish, we can’t expect from most kids between 8 and 16 to be reasonable, they are kids, they love everything and they hate everything for no apparent reason, makes part of their age, they want to feel grown up so they believe that having a strong opinion makes them more “man” and less “kid”. They won’t want to understand, they don’t accept being wrong and they have the “internet” to go crazy and to make their “macho performance”.
Concluding, we all hate (despite the literal translation of this word to Portuguese is something I don’t really tend to use since it’s a really strong word, I don’t really HATE anything), I only own a PS3 not because I hate the other consoles, I just relate more to that brand philosophy overall and to Sony franchises, that didn’t stopped me from buying a DS or using Windows OS. Do I still prefer SONY? yes! Am I a fanboy? Depends on what you see as a fanboy, do you have a preference for Pepsi or Coca-Cola? Do you prefer MAC or PC? Do you have a favorite football team? If you have to explain on why you prefer something you must probably say what you feel is wrong with the opposite thing, if you feel yore preferred thing is being bashed with no justifiable reason you feel motivated to defend it. On that regard I’m a fanboy, on that regard you are a fanboy, if you still say you’re not, you should check your pulse, you’re probably dead!
Being childish (un-depending on your age really) is the real problem with gamers, I don’t think hating on haters and childish attitudes will help, if we can realize how stupid and moronic these people can be… we should be thankful for understanding something they can’t!
MK!
MK24ever
* PS English isn’t my first language and I already spotted some typos and bad syntax, and there’s no edit button so…. nothing I can do there. I hope people can understand.