As I was once more roaming the net looking for stuff to do in my perpetual faux-boredom, I took notice of something almost uniform for any site dedicated to popular media; that is the general naievity and ignorance that surrounds people and their opinions. We've all encountered this, people using terms like "overrated", "trash", "idiot", "fanboy", "weeaboo" and the like for all the wrong situations. Why do we do this? Why do we try so hard to make our opinions into something hostile, and deny the existence (or shine a spotlight on) differing opinions? It's most certainly human nature to be sad when our viewpoints are resisted, but it transcends idiocy how far some are willing to go to be a raving five-year-old with issues of self-control.

I'll come forth with a real-life example. In a recent news articlediscussing Keiji Inafune's views on the Japanese gaming industry, I left a comment explaining my PoV. Needless to say, I won't be going deep into my response, you can read it by going to the first two pages. To put it simply, I respectfully, but firmly, disagree with Inafune's assessment of the industry in the East. I didn't voice it in a hostile way, I never do such a thing over the internet (or real life, but that's irrelevant), but very quickly, I got the pleasant response which went like this: "ARE YOU AN IDIOT OR SOMETHING!?" To be honest, this was a lv. 3 user with probably no social skills, but it wasn't particularly nice. A quick moderation later, and retribution was served cold. It crystalizes my point quite nicely, since the gaming sites as a whole are already taken way too seriously every day. Just got to ANY video review here on Gamespot to see a league of juvenile fans that can't take people thinking differently than them.

This got me to thinking about unpopular opinions as a whole. Overall, it's a rather stupid concept. In actuality, there should be no such thing as an "unpopular" opinion, seeing how everything is subjective in entertainment. However, that's the situation, and I most certainly have my own unpopular viewpoints.

One opinion that no-one seems to understand is my opinion on innovation. I find it to be completely and utterly useless. Yes, U-S-E-L-E-S-S. Innovation bears neither a negative or postive meaning, it literally means something that is new, nothing more, nothing less. Yet, hundreds upon thousands of people tout it as a major virtue of the industry. They harp on about the need for new IPs, bemoaning the well-known and established ideas built up since the release of Pong. It almost seems like everyone has confused the word "innovative" with the word "creative". Creative is a positive term, it signifies that a developer made something meaningful with the tools he was given, no matter how restrictive or slim they may have been. Super Mario Galaxy 2, Dragon Age: Origins, New Super Mario Bros. Wii; none of those games are innovative in the slightest. They're endlessly creative, however, and that's the point. Creativity is what makes an experience worthwhile, memorable, entertaining. What does something innovative do? Yes, experiencing something new can be thrilling, but if it's executed poorly, it's useless. If it's performed well, then it's performed well, but not because of it being innovative. So when someone says that they want more new IPs, more innovation, I kindly ignore them and keep on focusing on actual fun, not whether something is new or not.

Then there's my views on values in gaming. Basically, only gameplay truly matters. This is a rather tough definition, because the gameplay's importance doesn't outshadow the potential importance of other factors. What I mean to say is that the lack of postivie attributes in fields such as story, graphics and the like is not a negative, but rather their inclusion is a bonus of sorts. The exception to this already rather complex definition of concepts is if something like a bad story or horrid graphics actually affect the gameplay, though that is rather rare.

The above-mentioned opinions are not of the ordinary, though, and by unpopular opinions, people usually mean unpopular as in a difference in how much you like a game in comparison to others. I of course have different opinions. There are first the games I do like, but just not nearly as much as others. Examples of that are LoZ: Ocarina of Time, Fallout 3, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Shadow of the Colossus, Link to the Past, God of War 1 and 2 and a few more. Then there are the games that are in some way well-received but I just don't like. Examples of this are rare, but a few are Ico, Prince of Persia 2008 and in some way Mirror's Edge (though I really do enjoy some aspects).

What bewilders me the most, however, is that liking certain games can prove to be unpopular. This is the apex of ridiculousness here on the internet, it is so mind-boggingly silly that it in one go exemplifies all that is wrong with human nature as a whole. Instead of just not liking a game and moving on to better things, these people actively seek out threads, videos and discussions regarding a given game and see it as their job to make it very clear that they don't like the game. They might even go with the most childish accusation and say that the game is "overrated". The futility of that statement is clear, yet people keep on using it. Color me confused. Examples of games that you aren't "supposed" to like are Metal Gear Solid 4, Final Fantasy VII and Super Mario Galaxy 2. I'll say here and now that I love those games, and for good reason too.

The point I'm really trying to make is that people should stop caring what others think about certain gaming phenomena in relation to how it compares to YOUR opinions. Instead, focus on that opinion on its own. If you start an argument about a trivial matter such as how good a game is, then you've alredy lost the battle. It's alright to debate, to talk seriously about games for procreative purposes. But to stoop down to personal insults and inconceivable arugments about how a person is wrong? Ridiculous. Gaming is about fun, community and invoking positive emotions. Which is why I encourage you to present your "unpopular" opinions here in the comments section to clear the air. Shoot away at everything you don't like, but keep it on a civil level. That way, we might all understand each other a bit better.

-Calvinsora