I am a man of passions. I mostly love things more than life itself or hate them with a fury that borders on the wrong side of psychotic. But even I am taken aback by the wrath that seems to regularly appear from gamers on the Internet. Perhaps it just that the Internet has given these people a voice. Or perhaps gamers are the biggest bunch of babies this world has ever seen.
Cel-da. One made-up word and I can send a disturbance in the Force that would melt the tattoos on Darth Maul’s face. In 2002, when The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker was unveiled before the gaming masses, two things happened.
Nintendo fanboys, never known for their love of mature content, suddenly became pissed at the thought of playing such a childish-looking game and they got amnesia. See, people were disgusted at the cartoonish look of the game and they claimed Nintendo was trying to make the game more “kid friendly”.
This is absurd, since the GameCube was known for games like Animal Crossing and Pikmin, two highly cartoony games in their own right. Also, the amnesia on display was staggering, as all these “die-hard” Zelda fans clearly did not remember A Link to the Past, in which Link turns into A PINK BUNNY RABBIT.
Nothing mature about that, is there? And for all this outrage, guess what? The Wind Waker ended up being one of the best games in the series, 3rd in my mind behind Ocarina and Link to the Past. I hold it up higher than Twilight Princess, which gave the gamers what they wanted, a more realistic Link.
Speaking of cartoony controversy, anyone heard of Diablo 3? This is another game where the graphical style seems to be a problem for people. They want dull and boring, like their personalities. Heaven forbid that the people who make the game (including the one they love so much) try something new and different. After all, what do they know? They only created the very thing that was so beloved in the first place. Are gamers so resistant to change that they can’t handle something as small as this? And besides, graphics were never really the appeal of Diablo in the first place.
Consider the outcry when Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty arrived and gamers discovered that Raiden was the main character and not Snake. They controlled the same and were essentially a palette-swap. The only time it mattered was during cut-scenes. People whined because Raiden was whiny and not macho like Snake. In short, he reminded gamers of themselves. Now, Raiden was annoying, but when actually playing the game, it really didn’t matter. I like to think Kojima was giving those whiny bitches a taste of their own rations.
And by the way: Snake has a mullet, so he can’t be a bad ass. Ever. And his voice isn’t cool, it sounds like David Hayter is struggling to maintain its gravely-ness during certain lines. So it comes off as laughable. Please leave hate mail in the form of comments below.
Now what about things that affect the actual gameplay? Consider the sudden ignorance that strikes when a big blockbuster game comes out, like Grand Theft Auto IV. And said game has an online component. So everyone who buys the game jumps on at the same time and (understandably) the servers crash and malfunction for a bit. Might as well call in the National Guard because this is a state of emergency for some. It is easy to understand how this happens, but people jump on the boards and cry and whine and I kid you not, leave messages like this: “Thanks for nothing, Rockstar”. Indeed. This happens every year and every year, like Alzheimer’s sufferers, these games endure the same tragedy.
These are just a few of the dozens of examples of gamers crying their little hearts out over the smallest things. God forbid someone should get mad about or passionate about something that matters, like rubber-band AI in Mario Kart.
Do you guys think gamers overreact to things like this? Do you ever feel the same as they do and if so, why? Is their rage genuine or feigned? What has pissed you off in the past like this and what controversies did I fail to mention that you think are significant?
I can see you are trying to piss us off and it almost worked… well it worked a little bit… snake is a badass. But come one you have to admit that Diablo 3’s graphics are a ripoff of WoW. Besides some games need a specific art direction would RE or Silent hill be scary if they were bright and shiny?
First of all, Snake’s mullet rules. It could break you in half.
Second,I don’t know if it’s so much as gamers that can be whiners, as it is nerds in general. Nerds tend to be pretty anal about the things they love (myself included), and we like things in a very particular way.
Besides, nothing’s worse than waiting a couple of years for your favorite game only to find out that the developers changed it all up just for the heck of it (Splinter Cell, anyone?).
That being said, the amount of whining with gamers has gone up exponentially, and I think it is in part due to the Internet giving rise to their voices.
I think I’m kind of the opposite: I find some game and totally love it despite what changes it may or may not have. Either that or I play a little, think it sucks, then burry away its memory deep within my soul to cause cancer later. Sure there can always be improvements to games, but I think most people have to realise what this is: it is a game, not simulation.
Enjoy it for what it is, not what you think it should be.
[quote comment=”4581″]First of all, Snake’s mullet rules. It could break you in half.
quote]
Truth. You’ve lost some popularity there Anthony đ
Anyhoo, very valid points there (not about snake though). Cel-da didn’t really bother me as I liked the unique look at the time and still do to this day. FTR TP is my fave zelda followed by ocarinia then WW. Also, I never cared about Raiden when I played it as I was only, 9 I think? A recent incident could be Edge’s scoring of KZ2. I mean it’s not going to affect the sales is it? Killer ap is like a magic word. Edge’s reviews are never important as they (in my game-designing-uncle’s words) have their heads stuck too far up their asses, but he probably says that as they scored some of the things he worked on low.
These arguments only reinforce the truth that 90% of the world isnt mentaly or emotionaly fit and should just die. (yes, i suffer from god complex).
As a musician and producer, I have seen many times that there are two outcomes to any organized group: When a new product comes out, they cry either a) “You havent changed, this is just like your last (insert:game, album, movie)” or b) “You’ve totaly changed and betrayed your fan base!”..
Many people appreciate art, few people actualy understand it. I believe video games are a form of art; and thus must suffer the same consequences of human nature as the rest of the forms.
Sony fanboys and their jealousness toward Gears and Halo are probably the biggest crybaby thing right now. It’s terrible.
Gamers are overly passionate, a couple days ago I had to get a new xbox, it came with Sega Superstars Tennis… I was playing it for kicks and my friend walks in and starts ripping on it. He was relentless and even though I didnt like the game I felt I needed to protect it. I flipped out and asked what game he had that was better… of all the games he owns for the PS3, witch is quite a few, he says Dynasty Warriors: Gundam… I was stunned for a little but once I recovered from the fact that my friend might be retarded for spending money on that POS, we argued… for days
Gamers are hardheaded always were, always will be
As for the Mullet Debate… 2 words… Jared Allen
Like you said^^ Enjoy the game for what it came out to be, not what you wanted it to be. Though I was a little disappointed with LBP because there are a lot of features missing. Like those counters that tells you your share score and such, but eventually they will get everything running like it was supposed to and probably even more.
Well if there’s a game that can’t disappoint gamers, its Noby Noby Boy. You can’t expect to much from that game because so far it looks totally random, but I’m gonna get it because its only $5 and it kinda looks fun to mess around with. Make your guy super long and wrap around everything in sight.
Snake’s American voice is really lame. I mean, it’s just pathetic the way he tries to maintain a gravely voice. Why not just get an American with a deep sexy voice and not have him synthesize a gravely voice! The Japanese voice for Snake is much, much better.
Now, about gamers. I just don’t understand how so many people can be so idiotic. It – it blows my mind!
I think it might be somewhat about the fact that gamers can be a bit… Lets say blind from the real world? I’m not calling them stupid or anything, im just more thinking along the lines that gamers get mad at “OMG THIS GAME ISNT EXACTLY WHAT I WANTED, I HATE IT NOW”, but they arent thinking about the process of making a game, and how expensive it can be, so to some effect, there has to be a ploy to get more people to buy the game, which tends to not be what the more hardcore gamers want.
Look at the Wii, its still selling faster than the other consoles, but you dont hear a lot about all the amazing games coming out. Its about the ploy to get more people to buy it, and it worked.
I do agree with Eddy about the internet getting people to speak up more. You didnt hear this when the older systems were out unless you were talking to one of your friends.
[quote comment=”4580″]I can see you are trying to piss us off and it almost worked… well it worked a little bit… snake is a badass. But come one you have to admit that Diablo 3’s graphics are a ripoff of WoW. Besides some games need a specific art direction would RE or Silent hill be scary if they were bright and shiny?[/quote]
Yeah, but who cares if the art style is like WoW? At least giv it chance.
And Diablo was never really like a survival horror game, so I don’t know if the bright graphics will affect it like
that.
But Eddy is right, nerds are anal about a great many things.
As for Sony fanboys, the 360 fanboys must be worried else why does Killzone 2 (an unreleased game) have such a low user rating on metacitic?
Both sides are full of fanboys and they need to get over it.
It’s pretty simple, I think. Gaming is in pretty good shape right now, and gamers like the way things work. When they see things changing, it’s natural to resist.
…especially since the most outspoken are usually the younger gamers talking about what’s ‘fair’.
I think gamers are just whiny in general. I will use COD W@W as the example, everyone bitched about it! “waaah WWII, Where is my M16 and flashbangs waaaaah!!” Then I see it as gamers whine when they loose AT games too. I wont lie, Iv done it too, even if its to myself. How many time have I bitched about halo 3 matches and such, quite a bit. I find myself doing it in W@W too.
I think its more the fact that on the net, they can. They bitch because they can, even if no one listens and it gets nothing done. Saying you dont like a games style gets nothing changed, at least not until years later in the sequel. And me bihotching about loosing a match doesn’t make me win it. I think gamers do only becasue they can and it perhaps makes us feel better as we justify something in our own eyes.
Maybe its because the outspoken younger gamers cant find any friends in the ârealâ world because they are so opinionated, so they bitch about a game and find a group of other adolescent âwhinersâ to make theme feel excepted. Just my opinion đ
I 100% agree with you, Anthony. We gamers are whiny and annoying. Especially that Eddy guy. Have you SEEN how much he whines? He’s like, whine x100.
[quote comment=”4599″]I 100% agree with you, Anthony. We gamers are whiny and annoying. Especially that Eddy guy. Have you SEEN how much he whines? He’s like, whine x100.[/quote]
ZING!
Oh, we are going to have words, Anthony! Snake`s voice is awesome because it`s poorly delivered and cheesy! No one can get away with asking that many questions about completely obvious things except Snake.
As for why gamers are so whiny, well, it`s pretty simple. Everyone like to have their opinion heard, especially people who claim to be experts on a certain subject. The internet has given these loquacious folk the opportunity to vent their spleen on everything from whether Assassin`s Creed sucks or not to the lack of thighs in the new Chun-Li movie.
Don`t feed the trolls, and they go away. Attention is their sustenance.
I don’t think it is about having an opinion.
These people seem to think they have rights over anything they decide.
THEY get to decide the graphics in a game. It’s THEIR beloved game, not anyone else’s.
Honestly, im not going to lie i whine like a bitch on XBL sometimes like when I lose a game I just thought I was going to win. But, the reason I think gamers whine about games is because they dont understand the complexities of video game making. The developers cant meet the demands of all the fans, and they got to change the formula sometime, because if they dont then the fans will complain “its too much of the same.” Now the gamers can whine all they want thanks to the internet, the best thing to do is to ignore it.
And come on Snake IS BADASS, true he has a mullet but he makes it work!
PS3 fanboys give too much faith in unreleased games and all of a sudden care about graphics when the last 2 consels were last place in that department.
360 fanboys are mostly 12 yr olds with no friends and abusive parents, that bitch on Xbox Live.
Wii…the fansboys for the most part gave up. they know Nintendo screwed them over last year.
in short, fanboys suck. and need to shut up.
Oh yeah, and PC fanboys care about the technical aspects so much that they forget you’re suposed to have fun playing a game.
Well Spartan; i dont mean to start a fight ; but thats what this is all about; crying. PC fanboys dont care about technical aspects; we care about the fact that we can install something and control every aspect, instead of having to deal with shitty conrols/setups. Never mind all the bonuses of pc such inovations like MODS and technical achievements (to say the LEAST) such as Steam.
PC will always rule because even the console games are developed using PC’s. .. Consoles will always win with Racing/(driving) or Platform games… Anyone who argues an FPS is better played on a controler rather than Keys/Mouse is truly lost.
P.S. – ps2 kicked ass compared to xbox, im not even 3% of a console gamer, but I know when one beats the other. PlayStation forever.
Coming from what most kids would call a “pc fanboy”, you’d probably expect me to support microsoft ; but f$#* that, Microsoft makes Windows, not PC.
people are eternaly confused. right answers = false hope.
Well Julez, (you are) trying to argue.
I’m a PC gamer 2.
I SAID FANBOYS!!! Not the avereage gamer. Look me up on CSS under the same name.
and yes PS2 did kick xbox’s ass, I didn’t say other wise. It’s now been reversed however with the 360 and PS3.
P.S. your last line was weird. lol
I actually stopped reading the comments about half way through and I think its pretty safe to say that this is the most controversial artical on gamer sushi to date.But its a good thing because it does everything that your What is Gamer shushi? page says that you wanted to achieve, heated discussion about games and mullets.
Il go through the artical in points
1. Wind Waker
At the time of Wind waker’s release(March 24, 2003) violent video games were starting to become more popular, Fans of the Zelda series saw the fact that the game’s were progressionaly getting more and more mature and Wind Waker was a step backwards.
Oracain of time and Majoras mask both had cartoonie parts, but also could scare you and somewhat create emotians. People thought wind waker would be all cartoonie and no scary serious stuff and thus unrest.
2.Diablo 3
Fans being mad about diablo 3 is outragous and they should just be glad blizzard is making it considering they probobly could make alot more for a lot less effort by making another warcraft expansion
3.Metal gear
a.I liked raiden, because it was like he started out as a total newb and you had to build him up so he progressed with your skill level
b.I disprove your theroy of mullet = no badass by the fact that solid snake IS a badass
4.Things affecting actual gameplay
All very true exept for the fact that a truly good game should have both good gameplay and immersion so things like a reskin or a different art style can be very devistating to some
but not having online for 2 days is not a big deal and anyone who whines about that is a Bitch
Yeah. No bullet points for this. Uh, I really do have to disagree with the snake thing like everyone else but basically, people these days have one of two misconceptions. One, that people actually always care about their feelings/opinions, and two, that they always have to speak their mind. People can’t shut up these days and let the moment be. They always have stick their piece in. I guess that this discussion is kind of like that, no offense, but it really is an epidemic these days in society. Sad thing is, we may not be able to do it, and the generation that grew up with the computer may also be the generation that never shuts up & stays the old grandpa when they get older, & has to be part of the new generation after us.