Lemme just say that I'm actually liking what I'm seeing with Dance Central. There. I said it.
Also, Child of Eden. Both look like good times, one for playing with friends, another excuse to act a fool and be totally sociable doing it.
Then there's the other that totally speaks to my tastes. I <3 Q Entertainment games!
In Microsoft's defense, self-described "hardcore gamers" piss me off. I'm not talking about people that call themselves "hardcore" just because they happen to play a lot of games, and figure they fall under that category by default, I'm talking about the [derogatory expletives are discouraged here]s that boo and hiss at the gaming industry's attempts to introduce changes that aren't targeted directly towards their very specific demographic, and are condescending towards people that don't actually care about their KDR. I spend about two to three hours a day playing video games (because I have my life together and a strong sense of priorities); while I consider myself to be someone who plays games a lot more than the average person, I don't call myself a "hardcore gamer", I'm not an elitist, and I make an honest effort not to be a douche about anything gaming-related, period. I enjoy weaning casuals onto more advanced games, nor do I mind if they choose to stick to their simpler ones. Lastly, I certainly don't scoff at the gaming industry's attempts to move forward, even if I don't really see it as being in the direction I'd like it to. Do you know why that is? Two reasons:
1. I haven't lost sight of the fact that video games are meant to be a form of entertainment. To take entertainment seriously enough to call yourself "hardcore" is pretty much the pasty nerd equivalent of painting yourself up in the colors of your favorite football team, tailgating, starting fights with rival fans and shouting "WOO" all the time. It's objectively obnoxious; no matter how genuinely passionate you are about it, there's no need to be a [derogatory term] to people that are comfortable watching football at home with their friends, a bowl of crisps, and a few beers. You don't know some amazing secret about why your hobby is absolutely magical, it just happens to appeal to you.
2. Being an elitist towards the gaming industry is pretty damned pointless. I can understand people who sneer/cringe whenever someone mentions a shitty band, because a certain degree* of musical elitism is a perfectly understandable reaction to being surrounded by idiots that listen to bands that have a cumulative total of a month of instrumental training and a lead singer that speaks funny, then hail it as the greatest thing around just because that particular band has a great image. You can objectively call that shit terrible. I can even forgive moderate* movie-centric elitists for very similar reasons. That's what acceptable elitism is: backlash against absolute garbage that is considered excellent by the mainstream crowd. But with video games, I can't forgive even mild elitism. Do you know why that is? Because if a game is bad, even "the casuals" won't want it. Whether it's Halo or Final Fantasy VII, MW2 or Red Dead Redemption, R-Type Final or Peggle, Madden: Third Week of January of '09 or Mass Effect, if it's unplayable, nobody very few people will want end up liking it. While music and movies are largely subjective experiences, video games are put on a constant test of quality control the entire time they're being played. Behind every competent game is a team of very talented programmers that anticipated every way you could possibly break their game, and assured that everything within the parameters they allow you to operate in will be completely functional...
...now, I know the first comparison an elitist would try to refute claim #2 with is "but what about the technical staff on movies and games? How come the sound engineers and cameramen don't get the same credit as programmers?" Well, that's a pretty fucking terrible analogy, because the programmers are as important to the games as the rockstars are to the music or actors are to the movie. They provide the very core of the experience (with the only exceptions being supposedly "artistic" games, which get a hand-wave from pretentious asshats because of the supposed message. Unfortunately for you video game elitists, this trend is far too mild and small-scale to be your casus belli), and by and large, they can't skate by on sub-par work like their equivalents in other industries can, because they're judged solely on their work, not on how cool they look by doing it.
You can ***** about how uninspired Halo is, or how MW2 is just an upgraded version of COD4, but all you're really doing is taking a shit on a perfectly competent game of indisputable quality just to be different. I know it's pretty common to think that in order to be taken seriously, you have to be a royally opinionated prick about something you're at least semi-knowledgeable on, but when it comes to dismissing things as crap when they're the objectively good product of a ton of effort, just so people will think you know what you're talking about? That doesn't make you an expert, just a [fiercely derogatory term]. When the public starts to laud shitty, horribly glitchy games as being wonderful and neglecting competent ones, then I'll start to warm up to the idea of videogame elitism. Until then, you and I cannot be friends, elitists.
If you're wondering what I mean by "a certain degree of elitism" or "moderate elitism", I'll use my own musical elitism as an example. I consider Slayer to be one of the greatest bands of all time, and consider My Chemical Romance to be utter shit. This would still be the case if I were judging the two solely based on personal preference, but right now, I'm speaking objectively. While Slayer is loaded with incredible technical precision and musical skill, MCR (and every band like them, which, considering how the "emo" genre is a bunch of effeminate bands doing the exact same thing, makes for a metric FUCKTON of others) is completely burdened with a lack of skill. Three goddamn chords, talking loudly in varying pitches instead of actual singing, a barely audible bassline that has as many notes as I have testicles (for the record, I have two), and drum rhythms that can be replicated by slapping a single pen flatly on a desk? That's not talent, and it should never, ever be mistaken for such.
However, it quite often is. If you want to say it's because of stylistic choice, I'd say you're full of shit. Mainstream "musicians" (especially image-based ones like MCR) are shameless attention whores, and if they had talent to show off, they'd be displaying it. Similarly, I'd say that a Dragonforce is better than the Jonas Brothers, even though I hate both of them pretty much equally. Now, objective judgment isn't enough to justify elitism on its own, but when the majority of people say that their favorite simplistic band is "better" than a philharmonic orchestra, and run around attributing such qualities as artistic ability and talent to bland music that just happens to appeal to them, that does give you some wiggle room to be dickish about music.
Christ, does the phrase "your own opinion" mean anything?
I see what the guy's getting at, and however this turns out, the end result of Kinect is probably going to be a yacht filled with hundred dollar bills for Microsoft. Which is fine. I think avatars seem a little stupid, but I see no reason to care about how others are spending their money if it isn't clearly immoral.
Toulouse seems like a dooooooooooooouuuuuuucccchhheeebbaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggg.
1. His argument is generally invalid, since a bazillion hardcore gamers are on PC and PS3 as well, not just 360. He's talking like every gamer in the world has a 360.
2. Either way, last time I checked, none of my friends (who are all hardcore gamers) have even batted an eyelid at Kinect, Move or Wii. It may come as a surprise to Toulouse, but there are people in this world who aren't 'hardcore' gamers like most of us in this thread, and they are indeed the ones who have been buying up the Wii.
Casual gamers playing casual games!?!? ZOMG!!
3. His crap about 'gamers not believing in the future of things like ehternet cables'? It's called moving with the fuckin' times Toulouse. Of course all gamers have to make concessions for the sake of moving forward with the medium they love, not because it's a gimmickey tech demo.
4. Paying for gaming is a bit retarded in my opinion. I've already payed for my console of choice (in my case a PC or PS3), the game and my internet connection, why the hell should I keep being drained of my cash on a monthly basis? True there are people who pay for Xbox Live, but I've never been able to really understand why, or get a cohesive answer out of my friend, who has an X360 and XBL.
I don't mean to turn this into a console war tho, since I do have fun on my friends 360, but all the games he plays I have on PS3 or on my PC.
Anyway to the point at hand, Toulouse is a dooooooooooooouuuuuuuuuuccccccccccchhhhhhhhheeeeeeebaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggg.
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