A little known fact, not all gamers are complete basement living, minimal wage working, pimpled and pale faced people and another fact, not all are extreme zealous fanboys (or girls). We do live in a world filled with extremes (i.e. extreme sports, extreme WoW gamers and extreme Bed-Wetters), but the game industry's consumer base are amongst the most devoted I have ever seen.

For the uninitiated, a fanboy (or girl) is a gamer "juiced" by the "superiority" of his or her preferred platform, usually dwells on many internet forums and/or chat-rooms, spewing rhetoric about how his or her platform of choice is better and will engage you in verbal flames if you dare form an opinion outside of theirs. These gamers know developers by name, sleep on video game themed bed sheets they made from scratch, could recall from memory their favorite platform's third quarter fiscal earnings from three years ago and think the Nintendo Wii is for the elderly. There is not much that can stop a Fanboy once you have gotten him started, not even the idea of being banned (they don't care; the site wasn't that cool anyway). So how do you stop them?

The internet appears to give a web surfer a notion of complete anonymity, this notion contributes greatly to the large number of fanboys and fangirls that stalk the web. This perceived anonymity gives fanboys the ability to act like jerks, shout racial remarks and other obscurities without consequences. Besides doing the unthinkable (finding the fanboy and beating the crap out of him), the one way to stop fanboys is prevention. Everyone has an opinion about something and the fact of the matter, fanboys, often are people that feel others don't value their opinions and thus force (or try) their beliefs onto others.

Even the wisest can be wrong and that is the inherent cause of a gamer becoming a fanboy. No one wants to be wrong and even proven wrong, some will still debate how they are right. This may sound crazy, but someone might disagree with your opinions and you don't have to flame them because they do. Some games are perfect in the eyes of some and crap in the eyes of others. The following are five ways that can help you become a true gamer and even more so, a better person.

1.) Opinions vary like people vary. More often than not, you won't agree with the Original Poster (OP). Feel free to voice your opinions, but do it in an intelligent and civil manner. If the OP is a jerk, just ignore him/her, they'll stop posting when no one replies to their threads.

2.) Keep your focus on the subject at hand. If everyone is talking about a particular game or console, don't belittle the opinions of others and change the subject to why a certain game or console is better. You won't change anyone's opinion, most likely, you'll validate the person's opinion that you are a jerk.

3.) Don't join if you won't behave. Don't join the Xbox forums if you are a hardcore Sony freak or vice versa if you're an "Xbot". You already know beforehand that 95% of the people on that message board is devoted to the opposite of your favorite console and going around saying that Killzone 2 is better than Halo 3 (especially when you haven't even played it) isn't going to make anyone value your opinions/views.

4.) Online gaming is for online gaming. No one wants to discuss other games, platforms, and/or your opinions when they are playing online, especially when they get double-teamed by the opposing team because you weren't watching their back. You will be avoided or blacklisted by many and you don't want that do you?

5.) Play game for enjoyment. Sony, Microsoft, or Nintendo are not going pay you anything because you are "spreading the word" about their respected consoles. Bill Gates is not coming to your house and giving you a million dollars, since you were a devoted fan since the release of the original Xbox. There companies don't want your opinions but the money in your pocket.

Video games are an interactive experience unlike any other and should be enjoyed for what they are. Just because you cannot afford every console and/or game, you don't have to make yourself feel good about your purchase at the cost of others and their opinions. I play games, not the console...you should too.

RaGeSet

P.S. I know this blog post is going to go over the heads of many fanboys, but I had to write it.

Note: Contrary to popular belief, most fanboys are not 13 year olds. Most of the fanboys I have encountered are over the age of 18.

Two (Or More) Times the Charm



Remember when you first grabbed the Longshot in Gears of War and delivered a lasting haircut to a Locust? The time you purchased (insert your favorite car) in Gran Turismo and had the field eating your dust? The first game is the opening opus, which more often than not, will grant you fond memories for years to come, but what about the sequels? The sequel to any great game usually never delivers on a secret unspoken promise. Inside your mind, you already know that promise and you hope that the sequel to the game you will buy will deliver on that promise. Why then, are sequels not as good as the first game?


Forget the blitzing hype the marketing teams of publishers push inside your mind. Forget even your own wishes and reassurances that the sequel should be as good as the first game. The first game of any game series, especially those of the high quality long development cycles, is simply a fresh breath of air. The game-play mechanics are new or have a fresh take upon an old game-play feature, the beginning of the story is great, the audio is cool and most importantly, the developers care a lot about creating a great game. The first game has NO guarantee to be great and the developers are experimenting with everything in the game. That is when innovations are made, and that is what makes the first game great!


When the first game is released and sells millions of units, everyone is happy until is time to make the inevitable sequel. Most developers will not mess with success and you just get MORE of everything that was in the first game. More weapons, more cars, more characters, more story, and more, more, more. What you don't get is more innovation, more risks, and more experimenting. The second game will sell regardless, but the gamers will know in their mind that the secret unspoken promise went unfulfilled. By the third game release, most of the core audience that loved the series will, accept that the sequels will never reach the greatness of the first game, complain that sequel(s) aren't good enough or stop playing altogether.


You can blame the developers, the publishers, even the hardware makers for the reasons sequels are never as good as or better than the first game. The blame doesn't reside with them, it is on us, the gamers. We ask for too much or is it that we expect too much out of sequels, either way we are the reason why companies "just stick closely to the original formula." When developers do try to push beyond the original formula, we complain they are messing up the game we love so much. I, for one, believe we should shut up and put faith into the developer.


May be that is why Halo 3 isn't as great as the first game, or (insert game sequel here) isn't either. Think about it, some companies really do want to push the boundaries of the first game, but they have to worry about upsetting the core gamer. For example, look at Bioware's KOTOR and then at Jade Empire. Most gamers loved the first KOTOR but only like Jade Empire. Jade Empire, essentially, is the true sequel to KOTOR, but they expanded a lot of the game-play and the story. Therefore, instead of experimenting with the sequel of KOTOR, Bioware abandon everything and started fresh, to release a sequel without the confining limits of the KOTOR brand. Did Jade Empire do as great as KOTOR in terms of sales, no. Did Jade Empire play better than KOTOR, I think so but that is subject to the arguments of many.


Sequels are only lacking because we are gamers want the same type of game as the first but with more innovation added. With many games, how do developers make fresh of a game they already put out without completing rebuilding and innovating? Next time you knock the sequel for a beloved game for being too different, take a step back and look at it from all angles, it might just be for the better.

The War on GOMD
The War on Games of Mass Discussion®
Part One
Written By Frank Reese

There is a war going on and it isn't the war you are probably thinking. The battlefield is your living room (or whatever you keep your consoles/PC) and you are a raw recruit fresh out of video game basic training. Ready your rifle soldier, this war is going to be messy.


We all know the issues that are, violent video games, which politicians want to "protect" you from, but these politicians have a few allies you wouldn't believe. I am a 24 year old game lover and I enjoy mature content. I decide whether something is too gory, mature or plainly not my style and I do not need a crafty politician to tell me what is right for me. Wait, politicians don't want to ban my ability to enjoy mature games, only children under 17. One law always equals another and if we have a law banning the sell of violent video games to children, how long do you think it will take for them to realize that even I, a 24 year old male, should not have access to violent video games? Even if they decide not to go that far, they will have to power to determine what is violent and what is not; thus creating fear in developers and content creators everywhere.


Who's to say, that a violent game to a dubious politician isn't the next Pokemon game? I am beating the crap out a seemingly harmless animal-like creature that looks like a mouse in order to cram it into a ball the size of a baseball, only to complete that process over again for more Pokemon. All I know, I can be the next Mike Vick defending myself for playing a video game that is promoting animal abuse. Where will the line be drawn? How will I know that if I ever decided to make a mature game that my freedom of expression will be celebrated instead labeled illegal because I decide to include blood in my game? Do we really want our industry to end up like the comic book industry of old? Do we want an old fart to tell us what is fun and what isn't? They probably think a fun game would be walking a stick figure to a virtual store to pick up prune juice and get back house safely without our dentures falling out of our mouths.


Who are those allies I spoke of in a previous paragraph; I point my finger at the hardware makers that don't allow Adult Only (AO) games to be made for their consoles and retailers that don't allow AO games on their shelves. Why are these huge companies afraid of an AO game? Especially, when compared to R-rated movies, they are the same. Walk the DVD section of any major retail store and you will see R-rated movies predominately advertised as a great movie to buy. Even though, it is much easier for a child to buy Saw III, than pick up a copy of Gears of War, the game industry is the scapegoat for all society's ills. "Hey, Oldman Mr. Joe just shot up the neighborhood, it must have been that copy of Doom buried beneath all those violent movies, emptied BenGay tubes and dust. " "Wow, Little Timmy fell down the well, it has to be that game Tomb Raider that caused him to be stupid and jump in."


I know the game industry is still young compared to other mainstream industries, but why must I sacrifice my love of gaming so a politician or wacky lawyer (he knows who he is) can look good? I won't stand for this and neither should you!


Frank.