Silliest/Dumbest Reasons For Hating A Game

[Twintix]

Now, how do I explain this? I don't mean this title in a ""YOUR OPINIONS ARE SHIT, SCRUBLORD!!!!!" way, but rather in a "What kind of logic is that?" way. I mean, people have their tastes and can like whatever they want, but some reasons for disliking things just kinda make me raise my eyebrows.

Backstory time: At the university I went to before I dropped out last winter, there was a guy in my class who always insisted on hanging out with me and my friend. Well, mostly my friend. Actually, I think he somewhat hated me for some weird reason, because he kept being all contrarian to everything I said, was condescending to me whenever I had different tastes from him and even not-so-subtly called me a "fucking idiot" for using my mouse left-handedly because I'm, you know, left-handed. (Apparently, the only correct way to use a computer mouse is with the right hand...Huh.)
I don't know what I did to draw his ire... Maybe he was just jealous that I was so close with my friend, whom I'd known since secondary school.

But that's not the main point. We were talking about video games one day and started talking about Zelda. Out of the blue, the guy says that Majora's Mask is objectively a bad game... because it uses the same game engine as Ocarina of Time.

...I'm sorry, what? Dislike the game or, heck, the entire franchise if you want. Different strokes and all that. But saying that all games that use the same game engine as another game make them objectively bad games? I don't understand the reasoning. I am incapable of seeing the logic here. If somebody could explain why he said that, I'd be happy to listen and learn from it.[footnote]Not to mention, I heard somewhere that Majora's Mask had to be completed in only a year. Perhaps they used the same game engine to save time?[/footnote]

So, what about you? What reasons for disliking/hating a game have made you raise your eyebrows and/or cringe in complete confusion?

On a side note, it's not a game so much as a game character, but I was always a bit puzzled that people hated Rochelle from L4D2 because she was "not hot enough to replace Zoey" and "ugly". Different preferences and all that, but hating her because of that?
I'm not really comfortable with the concept of hating people that you don't find attractive just because you don't find them attractive... But that's just me, I guess.

 

[tippy2k2]

Well as The Escapist residential "SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS!!!" dudebro gamer, I have to say that some of the reasons people hate sport games boggles my brain.

You don't like sports in real life? Fair enough. Video game and real sports are very different but if you can't get into because of that, that's fine. You don't like that they're "The same game" every year? That's a stupid argument because as someone who plays each year, I could tell you the differences between each game but if you don't feel it changes ENOUGH, that's fair.

However, the one that I've heard that boggles my mind is this...

"If I wanted to play a sport, I'd go outside and play it".

...seriously? THAT's your reasoning? You might as well tell me that Call of Duty is stupid because if you wanted to shoot guns, you'd join the military or that if you wanted to play Dragon Age, you'd go LARPing.

 

[SlumlordThanatos]

I don't like Final Fantasy IX because of the art style.

I have heard nothing but good things about that game, and I know I'm being completely unfair to what is probably the best entry in the series since FF VI. But I just really, really don't like the way it looks, and I can't quite put my finger on exactly why. I mean, Final Fantasy's art style has never been particularly good, but this one did something different that I just can't stand.

It kinda irks me.

 

[Spakko]

Since the dawn of time, my brother doesn't play games with dwarves in them. Why, you may ask? Well, because they are dwarves and shorter than humans. What a racist oppressive shitlord!

 

[Evonisia]

Basically the second part of tippy2k2's post. I think it's frankly absurd to hate a game (or its franchise) because "it's just the same everytime". I will never grasp that logic.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

I dislike all games created/bought/hosted by Nexen.

Those games are bound to be corrupt. if they haven't already.

 

[Ambient_Malice]

Hating Banjo Kazooie Nuts and Bolts simply because it isn't the game featured in the trailers. Sheer, irrational hatred. Doesn't matter what the game IS - people hate it because of what it ISN'T.

Hating Eurocom's Goldeneye because it isn't like Rareware's Goldeneye and because it's "like Call of Duty" because it has optional regenerating health and a grenade warning icon. Nevermind that Eurocom had been developing their own Bond games (World is Not Enough, Nightfire) for a decade or so and Goldeneye was a movie before it was an excellent Rareware title.

Oh yes, and hating Call of Duty games you haven't played made by completely different developers to the ones you have played because "Call of Duty has sucked since CoD 4."

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Hard to top people hating a game they've never played because of its popularity.

Something along the lines of "I got sick of hearing about it" or "The fans love it so much, they annoy me" or "All the acclaim it was getting was making me sick". Similar phenomenon occurs with films. "Everyone loves this and claims it's excellent! I must avoid it, and heap scorn on it!".

I don't know if it's people being hipsters or misanthrophes or just willfully stupid. It's kind of astonishing.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Mine would be hating a game for being too colorful. It's rare to find someone say it, but I remember a few people on the Escapist forums saying they cannot like a game based on how colorful or cutesy it may be. If I recall, this was in regards to why they don't like Nintendo games in general. Not liking Nintendo games is fine, not liking them based on color and visuals alone is silly.

While I think it's also silly to hate a game for not having enough color, it's understandable that one may find that look bad. But, too much vibrant color? Those games usually wind up aging much better than gritty looking games from a visual perspective.

Another strange reason I've seen for hating certain games is ratings, a game not having a "mature" rating in particular. Like my other example, this is extremely rare, but I've encountered people who think less of a game for not having a mature rating. Why someone would deprive themselves of so many amazing games just because of their "younger" rating is beyond me.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

I guess GameFaqs reasons are the worst like FPS are PAAGGs (Play as a Gun Games) and games like The Last of Us are interactive movies.

---

Well as The Escapist residential "SPORTS SPORTS SPORTS!!!" dudebro gamer, I have to say that some of the reasons people hate sport games boggles my brain.

You don't like that they're "The same game" every year? That's a stupid argument because as someone who plays each year, I could tell you the differences between each game but if you don't feel it changes ENOUGH, that's fair.

Lots of sports have been around so long just because they are great games. Naturally many sports can translate very well into video games. Football is more strategic and complex than chess for example; although, I feel Madden is a poor recreation of football (which is why I don't play Madden).

Being a baseball fan, I can attest to at least the MLB The Show making small changes that do indeed have major effects on gameplay more so than many sequels to non-sports games.

Oh yes, and hating Call of Duty games you haven't played made by completely different developers to the ones you have played because "Call of Duty has sucked since CoD 4."

The only COD I've ever played is COD4 and that game has lots of problems that I feel have yet to be fixed so I haven't played any COD past COD4. I don't play online FPSs that don't at least have a lean or slide (you should have both really) and I think COD only very recently got a slide mechanic. Plus, I've heard the games have balance issues, which is a huge problem for any competitive game (even COD4 had balance issues). I have no confidence in Treyarch just due to how they stopped quickscoping and broke sniping in Blops; instead of just merely removing aim-assist from the game (or at least just from sniper rifles) to stop quickscopers exploiting the game's horrible aim-assist, they decided that you have to scope in for a couple seconds before the bullet went where you aimed. Quickscoping without aim-assist is very skillful. That tells me more than enough to avoid any competitive MP designed by them because they don't know what the fuck they are doing, much like Naughty Dog has no clue how to balance a multiplayer (or even make a mechanically sound 3rd-person shooter) so expecting Uncharted to ever have a good MP is just asinine.

 

[Ambient_Malice]

The only COD I've ever played is COD4 and that game has lots of problems that I feel have yet to be fixed so I haven't played any COD past COD4. I don't play online FPSs that don't at least have a lean or slide (you should have both really) and I think COD only very recently got a slide mechanic. Plus, I've heard the games have balance issues, which is a huge problem for any competitive game (even COD4 had balance issues). I have no confidence in Treyarch just due to how they stopped quickscoping and broke sniping in Blops; instead of just merely removing aim-assist from the game (or at least just from sniper rifles) to stop quickscopers exploiting the game's horrible aim-assist, they decided that you have to scope in for a couple seconds before the bullet went where you aimed. Quickscoping without aim-assist is very skillful. That tells me more than enough to avoid any competitive MP designed by them because they don't know what the fuck they are doing, much like Naughty Dog has no clue how to balance a multiplayer (or even make a mechanically sound 3rd-person shooter) so expecting Uncharted to ever have a good MP is just asinine.

That's kinda another problem in and of itself. People who play CoD games for the MP who don't appreciate that most of the game design innovation goes into the singleplayer. The multiplayer is a retread focused around giving their fanbase what they want - a lowest common denominator aim-assisted FPS experience with a Mario Kart-esque "even the worst player can get lucky" element. To elaborate, you've got people who don't like Call of Duty because they don't like the MP. That, to me, is akin to not liking Deus Ex because you played Deus Ex MP and thought it was crappy. "Play one and you've played them all" only really holds true when you look at CoD's multiplayer.

 

[WonkyWarmaiden]

I think people hating on Fallout 3 because they prefer 1 & 2 or New Vegas is incredibly silly. Just don't play 3 if you don't like it.

 

[FPLOON]

"The character you play as does not match my race/gender..." That was a fun first day back into the video game club that one year when I heard that statement come out of a new member's mouth...

Other than that, one of my friends used to not want to play the OG Final Fantasy XII because he hated the graphics... Good thing that only lasted 5 or so years...

 

[Casual Shinji]

There are no silly reasons for hating a game, unless that reason is... huh no, I still can't think of anything. Not even "You mean you have to use your hands..? That's like a baby's toy."

Not liking sports, or the art style, or the colour, or the fact that it's cinematic I find perfectly valid reasons for not liking a particular game. Heck, I hate Resident Evil: Code Veronica, because it doesn't use prerendered backgrounds. Might be silly to someone else, but certainly not to me.

 

[Ambient_Malice]

I think people hating on Fallout 3 because they prefer 1 & 2 or New Vegas is incredibly silly. Just don't play 3 if you don't like it.

I think the bigger problem is people hating Fallout 3 for "terrible writing and world building" when their criticisms don't quite hold up to scrutiny. For example, people angry that the Brotherhood of Steel are "good guys". "But they're a splinter group," Fallout 3 fans protest. "The Brotherhood Outcasts are the BoS faction true to the original group's beliefs in Fallout 3." Most of the time this won't be met with a sensible response -- rather, a bunch of "Shit Bethesda writing something, something black and white morality." Remember - the tiniest plot hole or even potential plot hole in Fallout 3 is IMMERSION SHATTERING, but humans leaving abandoned cars sitting in the middle of a busy street for decades in Fallout: New Vegas is nothing worth mentioning.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

On a side note, it's not a game so much as a game character, but I was always a bit puzzled that people hated Rochelle from L4D2 because she was "not hot enough to replace Zoey" and "ugly". Different preferences and all that, but hating her because of that?
I'm not really comfortable with the concept of hating people that you don't find attractive just because you don't find them attractive... But that's just me, I guess.

I haven't played it, but I just looked her up. I wouldn't say she was ugly, but in all but one picture she has a horrible scowl which makes her look like someone you wouldn't get on with. The only pic of her not scowling was one of her smirking, which wasn't any better.

Spoiler: Pics

She also doesn't appear to be the type of person who would usually enjoy the likes of Depeche Mode... but you never know.

OT: If I could find it I would link it, but there were many, many stupid reasons that people posted on this site against Skyrim. I get it. It's cool to hate something popular, and it's cool to ignore the fact that just because it's popular it doesn't mean that people who don't like the genre will like it. But some of the reasons were just downright daft.

My favourite was someone who said the graphics on Skyrim were really shit, and should have been on the PS2, because when he walked up to a plant on a wall, literally point blank, it was pixelated. ... :/

Someone else was moaning about frame rate issues when you play the game for 4-5 hours... You had to fix it by turning the system off for a few minutes and then start it up again. Apparently this made it 'unplayable'.

The best ones though were the people who 'didn't get it because they didn't like Fallout 3 and therefore it is bad.'
Seriously.

 

[WonkyWarmaiden]

I think people hating on Fallout 3 because they prefer 1 & 2 or New Vegas is incredibly silly. Just don't play 3 if you don't like it.

I think the bigger problem is people hating Fallout 3 for "terrible writing and world building" when their criticisms don't quite hold up to scrutiny. For example, people angry that the Brotherhood of Steel are "good guys". "But they're a splinter group," Fallout 3 fans protest. "The Brotherhood Outcasts are the BoS faction true to the original group's beliefs in Fallout 3." Most of the time this won't be met with a sensible response -- rather, a bunch of "Shit Bethesda writing something, something black and white morality." Remember - the tiniest plot hole or even potential plot hole in Fallout 3 is IMMERSION SHATTERING, but humans leaving abandoned cars sitting in the middle of a busy street for decades in Fallout: New Vegas is nothing worth mentioning.

Oh yeah, I've gotten into that argument as well. It's kinda ridiculous that some people put so much time and energy into trying to prove how wrong or stupid Fallout 3 fans are for enjoying the game.

 

[Phasmal]

One of the dumbest reasons by far is `I won't play this game because it's pandering` (meaning the protagonist is not white/straight/male). That's sooooooooo dumb. Of course, it's only pandering when they're pandering to people who aren't you.

Also `I must hate this because it's popular`, how big of a hipster do you need to be? It's okay to not like a popular thing, but not liking something because it's popular? I don't get it.

I haven't played it, but I just looked her up. I wouldn't say she was ugly, but in all but one picture she has a horrible scowl which makes her look like someone you wouldn't get on with. The only pic of her not scowling was one of her smirking, which wasn't any better.

To be fair, zombie apocalypse isn't exactly the kind of situation you run around in with a huge smile.

The most utterly retarded excuse I saw was not only from this site, but to this day I remember who it was clear as day.

They refused to play AC Unity because Arno was a male. After explaining how the co-op works and why there are 4 Arno's featured (which yes, still makes perfect sense. Just because you don't like it doesn't mean it's senseless). After pages of arguing, her response was literally, word for word "well, they should of just written Arno as a female in the first place".

Could they have? Sure. Did they have to? Fuck no. And if your feminist bullshit is that much of an issue to you for games...then you really shouldn't be playing.

I'm a white male. I still enjoyed the shit out of AC3, Tomb Raider, Infamous First Light, Sleeping Dogs and I'm beyond excited for Mafia 3. Just because it doesn't portray your specific race/made up sexuality doesn't make it a bad game.

While I don't remember seeing that comment, I certainly do remember the ridiculousness surrounding AC:U. I personally got called racist for not being able to tell the four Arnos apart, before it was announced that they are the same person.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker because, and I quote: 'It's a baby easy kiddie game.'
Kingdom Hearts (all of them): Because they have Disney characters, and Disney is evil (admittedly, they do stick to that logic in religiously not watching any films or shows created by Disney. Speaking of religion...).
God of War: Because it has you fighting and talking with multiple different Gods, and there is only one God, heathen!
Final Fantasy X: Because someone showed them the laughing scene out of context.

Not as comically absurd as the ones above me, but still...