In my eyes, gamers are the most ungrateful consumers compared to that of any other media. As a gamer myself, I find it rather pathetic that others who share my passion for the hobby can be so ridiculously demanding, always insisting on hoarding all the good stuff for themselves, then throw a fit when the outcome favors more than just a few select die-hard fans. I can see people getting pissed because a great game isn't being made for all platforms, or one version is inferior to the other(which is a gray area for me, personally...how are we going to know one version of a game is bad without actually reading a review or playing both versions...if not for that, then we'd just assume it's ordinary and will be patched soon, much less have no choice if we want to play it if we only own one system), but to actually become angry over former-exclusive titles being made available to others is just downright pitiful.

But you know what gets on my nerves? When a game comes out that was so great on one platform, and the studios decide to share the love and let everyone, regardless of what system they own, to play this game. Then you see how ugly gamers can become...if a game doesn't look on par with the best PC hardware, it's "consolized." If it's just simply a disappointing sequel, no one seems to care that it wasn't that far off from the original's rating, no...you hear some of the best studios in the business being lashed, faith of their quality is gone, and they act as if a city's hero just turned to the Dark Side. Kind of makes me wonder if they actually PLAYED the game, or just basing this off what they hear :?.

Most recently, it's Dragon Age 2 getting some serious flak. I'll admit that the game is disappointing compared to the first, which was a perfect masterpiece in my eyes. I mean, the story isn't as captivating or desperate as Origins was, and there's a few flaws that really stick out (some really calm acting over tragic moments, the combat has been seriously simplified, and there's really not much in terms of bonding with your teammates like previous Bioware games were praised for). Still, it's a great game. I can look past this, because DA2 delivers in every other aspect. It's not perfect, and I doubt I'll be giving the game a solid 10 after I finish it, but I'm still having a lot of fun with it.

Now, my point is, gamers are impossible to please. You make a sequel to a great game, the reactions are split: you keep the core game as it is, and alter very little of it, people will complain and call it a rehash. If you go to the drawing board and create a game that at least tries to do things differently, longtime fans will balk, and throw a fit and assume that it alienates its original userbase (all the while, without even playing the game :roll:.). I'll admit that I've played a lot of the best games that never did stick with me (could never get into the Killzone or Resistance series, much less Starcraft or any other RTS), but at least I can say without s***ing anyone that I've experienced these games, and don't even bother giving these games my personal score (I don't think it'd be fair to judge a game that I couldn't get into, much less didn't finish). But I do find it a sad day when a game is a complete failure just because it didn't live up the the massive hype that no one but gamers decided to create. I mean, with that mindset, a college student should automatically fail his course if his second paper wasn't as captivating as his first one, or a respected boxer should be forced into retirement if he didn't win the championship bout :|.

I'm not saying that ALL gamers are like this. It's perfectly fine to be vocal about things you don't like about a game, because it leaves room for improvement in the future. But when you deny yourself a good game, assuming you enjoyed the previous ones, solely because of what you hear about it, then what kind of gamer is that guy? I mean to condemn an entire company just because of a fluke that wasn't even that horrible to beging with...I'm not just talking about one game either. It happens all the time. People hype a game to impossible odds, then don't even try the game when it fails to meet such fantasy standards. I do believe that studios can rush a game, cash in on previous success...I mean, they aren't exactly saints, and there are times that a lot of hard working top quality game developers decide to take the easy way out. I do believe in flawed games, but I'm willing to look past flaws if I enjoy what they offer. Some will say my words hold very little weight because I have pretty low standards for the most part. But I'll say that I mean every rating I give a game, and if I enjoyed a game that much, then in my eyes, these studios did their job.