How about we all gang up on all of these "hardcore" gamers? The ones that tout Halo and Metal Gear Solid as if they were Gods sent down from Mt. Olympus? Now, not to say these games are terrible by any stretch of the imagination, but what happened to the days when games were just played and not debated over? When games had a very simple storyline, games weren't denounced because they didn't have voice acting and they didn't have to be gigantic and epic and life-like to be a great game?

And no, before anyone starts, I'm not talking about Nintendo games exclusively. Games like Earthworm Jim, Toe Jam & Earl, Ecco the Dolphin, Sonic, and even milestone games like Adventure on the Atari were all great games that I imagine someone whose first game system was disc-based won't be able to appreciate. I can imagine one such person looking at a game like Toe Jam and automatically dismissing it for it's vibrant colors and funky theme.

I even hear such things at my work place that frighten and worry me about how games are perceived either by kids or by other adults. I heard someone suggest SSX Tricky on PS2 for someone, one of the highest scored games on Gamespot, and the response I heard was, not word for word, but pretty much: "It's rated 'E', it can't be good." Has this seriously become what games are seen as? That it must have something even slightly inappropriate to be a good game? Now I don't think inappropriate things should be removed from all games, some games use such themes to tell stories that can't easily be told in other mediums, but it worries me that some people think a game must be violent to be good. Take as an example, Rayman Raving Rabbids for about every platform under the sun. It may not have scored very high on any system or website, but it was noted for having the unique Rabbids characters and even was nominated for such an award here at Gamespot.

Point is, I think people need to get over wether a game needs guns to be good, or wether a console is for kids or wether it must involve drugs, whatever it is, people need to remember that the point of any game is to have fun. If you can't even do that without flaming someone else who enjoys such and such game, then do me a favor and take up something new.