I've tried. I've really tried to contain the anger that wells up inside me every time someone utters the word "overrated" about a publicly loved game. Every time I try to deny its place in gaming culture, I either get no answer at all or an answer that seems like a recurrence of the same weak argument: Some didn't like (insert game here) as much as others, and therefore, it is overrated. It grows irksome really fast. And I'm here to talk about why I think this is a cancer on the gaming society that ceases to disappear.

When you think about it, the origin of the term in psychological terms is easy to see. When you buy a game that you have heard is great for a bargain price in the nearest video game store, you will most likely get into the game in two disparate ways. One is with sky high hopes, and the other is with a general attitude of "this game can't be that good". Both approaches can be quite risky, as both can lead to disappointment, i.e. in the first situation, the game turns out to be not as fun to you as to others, and in the second, the disappointment is that your preconceived opinion is actually true (at least in the person's own opinion). I can name myself as an example. When I bought CoD4: Modern Warfare, I was full of hopes that the game would just blow me away. After playing through it, I couldn't help feeling disappointed. It's a pretty good game, but it was no game of the year for me. I wouldn't go around calling it overrated, however. Bottom line, disappointment will knock on your door at some point.What happens is that then, when you feel the game didn't live up to its reputation, which might even have overshadowed some of your own favorite games, calling the game overrated becomes an easy way out of the "gaming depression". So, in fact, it is just a sign of weakness in the most extreme of cases, an escape from the cold reality, and a simple misunderstanding in the most simple ones.

-It's never fun, is it?

The misunderstanding is mainly how the word "overrated" is to be interpreted. Some think it simply means that, in that person's opinion, the game isn't worthy of the lofty praise. This is only half-true. Indeed, it implies that the person doesn't think as highly (though still might like it) of the game as everyone else, but what fewer people realize is what they are doing in the process, namely implicating that everyone who DOES think highly of the game are, in some way, wrong in their subjective opinion. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is where the term falls apart. More and more people are starting to use this phrase, unaware of its hidden meaning, and think it is a justifiable term. It is not so in any way.

Another development in the gaming society that seems to help this term to blossom is the growing disrespect for, you guessed it, opinions. If you don't like a certain game on certain threads or forums, you are branded a liar and fanboy, forever lost in the uncertainty that is the chasm between subjectivity and objectivity. I myself believe in objective quality, that some games are simply better made than others. That doesn't mean that a game can't be boring to someone. For instance, I'm not a fan of sports games in general, and find them to be quite wearisome, but I recognize the extreme work put into some of them, and how they can appeal to others. So there is indeed a difference between thinking a game is boring, and that a game is bad. Some might accidentally mix up those two points, and be drowned in flame and brimstone. Rather than disregarding their opinion, ask why they think so, and maybe the misunderstanding will be solved by itself.

Seeing as the complete invalidity of this word is so painfully obvious, I am shocked to see how many people use it, and how few ever rebuke it. The more surprising thing is, however, that I've met many people who defend the right of a different opinion, but then go on to use the word "overrated" in later threads. Sounds like double standards to me, personally. And therein lies the beautiful word that is so often missing in scornful posts, most of the time knowingly. The mostaggravating of posters are those that state some games ARE the best games in the world, that this game IRREFUTABLY sucks, without even adding a shred of personal flavor or simple reasoning behind their words. Most importantly, those philosophies, that it is possible to simply state such things without explanation,is what the term "overrated" actually builds its foundations on. And that is why my current sig says: "Truly, the only thing overrated in this world is the word itself". I stand by that, and always will.

-Calvinsora