In the recent years people have become more and more obsessed with game reviews and consumer reaction, but this was not always the case for the general gamer. once upon a time we would simply buy a game because it sounded interesting, not spending our money or time on magazines that gave us their own opinion of each game, but we bought a game because we wanted to have some fun, and we wanted to try out something new.

Today all we want are the games that we have come to expect so much from, popular IP's that always deliver an experience that does not surprise us, but almost never disappoints us because we know what we are getting. But in our younger days we didn't seem to care that much about the media's opinion of the games we bought, when a friend recommended a game to us it seemed natural to purchase the same product, not because our friends played the same thing, but because we trusted the judgment of our friends and believed that if it was good enough for them then it would be good enough for us. Now we wait for the reviews to come in from all the biggest and most popular magazines and websites, where as in the good old days we would simply go buy the games we thought sounded cool, without caring if the critics would only give it a 6/10 score, but this changed at some point when we started listening to much to the media, and for some reason we let them dictate what was good enough for us. Because of this many games never get the attention they deserve, because we only go for the IP's we know of and let the predictions of the media convince us that a product is either good or bad.

After the gaming year 2012 and all of it's debacles regarding: Lack of innovation, bad game endings, higher demands to hardware and the anger towards publishers, I have had about enough!

I want to be able to enjoy games again, like I did before the age af cynical Reviews, continuing IP's and Gamers raging out at the developers and publishers for not giving them what they want, but when finally a game comes out that gives the entire gaming community what they have been asking for, suddenly no one seems to care about it. Good games are being left in the dark because people have become afraid to try new IP's, and some for a good reason. Having a good games series with a good plot and good gameplay, and then releasing an ending chapter that seems rushed and leaves the consumers very dissatisfied with the overall series, just because the final chapter did not deliver up to their expectations. Now if we can't even trust the existing IP's then why should we trust the new one? This is a very good and valid question!

In august, 2012 i pre-ordered Sleeping Dogs, despite most people not paying attention to it, and critics had gotten thier hands on a demo of the product, and already at this point said that it was not anything special. But when the game was released, and after completing this game I had the best surprise of the year, this was officially he best new game I had played so far, and this was just a game I took a chance on, not caring weather the critics or gaming community had any interest in it. This time it was all about what I wanted, and also the first time I pre-ordered a game on STEAM, without having to high hopes for this product and it turned out to bbethe best gaming experience I had had all year. This is excactly what I want to go back to, the era of gaming where it was all about ME, and not about a community or reviews that often puts good games in a bad light and the other way as well.

So what does this mean, should we all start taking a chance on games we are not sure of? Shoukd we all stop expecting to much of the games we buy?

Well, consider this, you buy a game without reading a review and without listening to the angry ranting of the gaming community, you play the game and you might be surprised because you did not have to high expectations, or you might be a bit disappointed because you expected more, but none the lessyou gave it a chance. Meanwhile the new Call of Duty has just been released and now you dont have the money for that game, and because of this Activision will not be making any money off of you, leaving them to think that perhaps their game was not as goodas it could have been, since more and more people are buying the games that only get a 6-7 out of 10, so Activision finally starts to give us something other than just FPS games. What we can learn from this is that you may have spent 60 dollars on a gme that was not the most popular game in the world, but you have just invested in the future, and maybe that is what we as gamers should be doing, instead of just eaving this to the Publishers/Investors who's money are dictating the future of the games industry.

There are many arguments for and against this, but none the less it is a good point that I personally will be taking in to consideration next time I purchase a game.