I have always enjoyed discussions, no matter the topic of discussion, because it gives an exchange of ideas, opinions, and thoughts that oneself may not have considered before. So naturally, I like to engage in discussions about video games as well, both specific games and consoles. But I suppose there's an art to everything, and as I do know there's an art to make a discussion work out smoothly, there also seems to be an artform in picking who to discuss whatever topic you want to discuss with.
Video games seem to be one of those areas where some people simply cant engage in a subjective yet objective discussion. Reading a lot of the game (or console) specific boards, any criticism is met with blind defensive replies. People simply are not accepting criticism. It doesn't seem to matter how constructive the criticism is, people will pretty much deal with it on deaf ears. Saying whoever is posting the criticism should just avoid the game/system instead and not bother those who like it. Why this need for blind following?
Maybe people need to justify their own purchases so they will be this defensive to prove to themselves that they're right, I don't know. I remember several years back, a friend of mine bought a really horrible game called 'The Note' from developer Sunsoft. When he showed the game to us, we cringed and made a lot of remarks about the quality of the game. I barely remember the game today, but I still remember my friend's reaction: he defended the game with everything he had. He has since then agreed with us in retrospect that the game was in fact rather horrible.
There will always be grayzones with games where there may not be a trouble with the game but just a difference of preference in said game, but that's when a level headed discussion usually pays off. People can explain in-depth as to why they like or dislike something, and if both parties hear each other out, maybe they'll come to an understanding. Of course, there's moments when a game issue (such as bad framerate) will bother some more than others. I remember playing the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter demo on PC some while ago, I thought it looked pretty good and ran pretty decently too. I later found though using Fraps that I was running the game at 15 frames per second, tops. It hadn't bothered me at all, but it certainly would have bothered someone more seasoned with catching bad framrates.
Nevertheless, my advice to the people out there is simply this; next time someone is criticizing your game of choice, hear them out instead of flaming them, calling them idiots, etcetera without even considering their point of view first. Maybe they're saying some truths you're not ready to hear, and that's why you're so annoyed. In any case, why treat a form of entertainment with the same blind following as some crazy folks do with religion and politics? I thought games were supposed to be meant for amusement, not something worth fighting over.
