Right, Let me get a few things out there first of all, this isn't a dig aimed at any one particular fan boy nor is it at a certain group of Fan Boy Wars, whatever there siding, and this definitely isn't a futile attempt of which I can only see as an impossible task of making everyone "nice" on the internet. Its simply an observation from someone who, until now, has taken a back seat really in the online gaming community.

I personally use Gamespot as a gateway to the information I really need to know to stay ahead of the game (no pun intended) in what I can only describe as a major passion of mine. I use it so I don't go out and spend anything from £15 to £50 on a game that, when I get it home, fire up the console/computer/whatever, strap myself in for the ride of my life while I stare at a loading screen, only to be shot down finding that actually the game is nothing like it is described or set out to be (You all know what I mean, we've all been there, right?!).

So far I can pretty safely say that so far I haven't been let down by Gamespot and as far as I can recall, at least 90% of my purchases made since its discovery have been based on the facts and opinions shown on the site. Perfect, but that leaves on thing exposed, for opinions shown, opinions need to be given, for opinions to be given, you need people, I.e. user generated content, Ah! If theirs one thing that we say about the world, its that through-out history, for every million people that love something and couldn't be more happy, theirs always 1 who will stop nothing to get rid of it. Freedom fighters tortured for living up to their title, Revolutionary Leaders assassinated for trying to bring around change, Inventors torched because they are witches (Please don't get me wrong I'm not glorifying nor am I pointing any fingers, its just a statement). There will always be someone out there ready to shoot you down at moments notice. Back to the point, this is where Gamespot, much like other online communities, loose their grip on what actually matter, in this case, The Games!

Now, I don't know about you but whenever I look game reviews or the latest news on the site, I have a quick look at what the people of the world are saying about this article/item at hand. More and more now a days the first thing you see is a reply from someone, starting with a quote from another user making a statement, whatever it may be. Followed by a statement from the poster with a comment like "Seriously, are you retarded or something?!" or "What are you? 8?". Lol ok, I will concede that sometimes that kinda statement is totally necessary as the previous comment made is completely ridiculous, but 9 times out of 10 it really has nothing to do with anything at all.

I tend to follow the conversation back through the comments and see where about it stemmed from and usually it's a simple statement either relating it to another game of the same kind of genre or again simply someone say "tbh I would rather play" etc etc. Now this is where your stereo-typical fan boy springs to life and comes back with "Your only saying that coz its on *insert platform here* such a fan boy". Now I'm no social scientist (although I didn't drop out of A-Level Sociology ;) ) but my evaluation of the "Fan Boy" tells me that they usually the ones looking for the chance to defend there corner of the argument, even if that means going out and looking for the fight. My instant recognition of the "fan boy" is just that, the one who goes and starts the whole argument, and much like any kind of gang warfare people start grouping together and before you know it you have an all out street brawl between the clans. I guess at least, for now anyways, the war hasn't hit the streets as and, as far as I know, no one has taken a beating for liking the PS3 over the 360.

The Whole mind set of it completely baffles me. At the end of the day we are all here for one reason, and that's the love of games. Why does it actually matter which console is better? How does it get to the point in which the general public are pitting a list of games that are coming out on each console over a certain period to determine superiority over one another? What good comes actually comes out of someone saying "Your only saying you don't like the game because its on the Wii, if it was on the PS3 you would love it?"

Its funny as I've been writing this out, its become more and more apparent of how much of a metaphor this could be for the way the world works, huh, strange that :|

I Would just like to point out though that I am very impartial, I'm very lucky in the sense that I do own all three Next-Gen Consoles, both Major portables and pretty good Pc to boot, that's not to say I didn't work a bunch of extra hours to afford though so don't go down that root ;)

Any thoughts?

James