Everyone is a Critic...

[Postbiological]

ed

 

[ImpulsE69]

No offense, but you seem kind of naive.

Didn't you mention in another thread how thrilled you were to be taking screenshots on your new computer, because you've never done that before, and you "just got back into gaming recently".

That's fine and all, but for the folks who have been with the hobby for longer, or at least who have been playing games consistently longer, they're likely to be much more jaded by games in general, and therefore critical of them, because they've seen and played the same basic game for years. Whereas someone new to the hobby will be much more impressed because, well, it's mostly new to them.
That doesn't make them "snobby" per se.

It comes with the territory. The more you have done, the more you see, play etc, the more you have to compare it to, and the more expectations you have. Some people can't get past that. Sometimes you do have to just take things with low expectations and you will enjoy them more.

 

[Dekasa]

It comes with the territory. The more you have done, the more you see, play etc, the more you have to compare it to, and the more expectations you have. Some people can't get past that. Sometimes you do have to just take things with low expectations and you will enjoy them more.

Analyzing and critiquing things is fun, too.

 

[KaOTiK]

A lot of things are simple principal issues too. Why should we spend more or at the least equal amount for an inferior product then what we have been enjoying for quite sometime already.

 

[manimal]

sucks that people have opinions...

 

[bentheman939]

Its just like any other mature industry really. When PC gaming first started, it was run by passionate nerds who made their own dream games for others to enjoy, often with no guarantee of success. Today, it is an "industry", dominated by MBAs looking to take care of their shareholders. Ingenuity and a love of gaming has been largely removed as potential liabilities.

Consolitus makes this even worse; it is no longer engaged, informed people who need to know SOMETHING about computers in order to game on them. Instead, it is a lowest-common-denominator industry for people with no attention spans or technical knowledge (aka "casual" gamers). Games designed this way are obviously going to be worse is some ways (ie gameplay) and perhaps better in others (ie accessibly, graphics).

 

[Anomaly1964]

I'm not some "pie in the sky FANBOY" but these two games in particular don't suck as bad as some would have you believe...

 

[bentheman939]

I'm not some "pie in the sky FANBOY" but these two games in particular don't suck as bad as some would have you believe...

Meh, they're both basically like playing Michael Bay movies. Great scripted action sequences, explosions everywhere, unambiguous good/bad guys. I liked em too actually, for a little while. Homefront got 70, and MW2 got 86 on metacritic, and I agree the user scores are reactionary and are not representative of the game's quality. They still aren't great though...

Compare the visuals these games offer to a "thoughtful" FPS like Halflife 2. Halflife is a better game in almost every measurable way, except maybe "how it looks". Say you give halflife 2 100%, implying it could not be improved in any way (which is BS). What should something like MW2 get? I'd give it ~65%... is that too low?

 

[zerocool84]

I'm not some "pie in the sky FANBOY" but these two games in particular don't suck as bad as some would have you believe...

Ok so only your opinion matters then. Don't read reviews or read other people's opinions of games. Simple as that.

 

[obidamnkenobi]

I guess I'm a snob then, and I don't really have a problem with that. I'm stingy with my money, and even more so with my time. Between working long days and spending time with my wife I might only have an hour or two every now and then to play games so when I do I want to enjoy it and not just be "decent" or "could be worse".. If you have tons of spare time I understand you might not mind as much, but I reserve the right to be a snob.

 

[wuliheron]

I guess I'm a snob then, and I don't really have a problem with that. I'm stingy with my money, and even more so with my time. Between working long days and spending time with my wife I might only have an hour or two every now and then to play games so when I do I want to enjoy it and not just be "decent" or "could be worse".. If you have tons of spare time I understand you might not mind as much, but I reserve the right to be a snob.

Good for you. There are as many as 450 video games produced every year and maybe half a dozen that make the big bucks. Obviously good games can be created, but the market is glutted with bad ones and run by unscrupulous marketers pushing crap. If more video gamers demanded higher standards we might actually see more great games.

People here can debate whether it is fair to be so picky about this one AAA game, but the truth is it affects sales. Games like COD Modern Warfare that put out consistently good products sell out almost immediately for good reason.

 

[Anomaly1964]

Have you guys seen Serious Sam HD? If they gave games like Half-Life the same "face-lift" I'm sure people would pay to play it...

Again, in my mind, sure games could be better, almost every game could be better, but I don't let the imperfections keep me from enjoying the rest of the game...

 

[zerocool84]

Have you guys seen Serious Sam HD? If they gave games like Half-Life the same "face-lift" I'm sure people would pay to play it...

Again, in my mind, sure games could be better, almost every game could be better, but I don't let the imperfections keep me from enjoying the rest of the game...

So you'll play any game no matter how crappy it is? Well I guess someone has to.

 

[wuliheron]

Have you guys seen Serious Sam HD? If they gave games like Half-Life the same "face-lift" I'm sure people would pay to play it...

Again, in my mind, sure games could be better, almost every game could be better, but I don't let the imperfections keep me from enjoying the rest of the game...

The original half life is already being given a complete face lift for free by fans using the source engine. It should be ready sometime this year and be available as "Black mesa". You can also get a complete face lift for half life 2 for free by downloading the cinematic mod.

This tradition goes back to the original Doom which developers deliberately made easy to modify. Then they took the best mods from among hundreds of thousands and combined them into Ultimate Doom. However, Crysis 2 has taken even the ability to make mods away from PC gamers in their quest for the almighty console dollars.

Serious Sam looks like fun and I'm all for having fun, but some people consider Tic Tac Toe fun. That's a more subjective measure of a game and, for the most part, is not what people are criticizing here.

 

[OmegaShadow]

I've sampled Crysis 2 and HomeFront and they both seem pretty fun...

Are either perfect? No, but what game is?

-star craft brood war

 

[PieIsAwesome]

I've sampled Crysis 2 and HomeFront and they both seem pretty fun...

Are either perfect? No, but what game is?

These are SHITTY GAMES, not real life documentaries. For me at least, they are mostly mindless escapes FROM reality...

Fixed.

Shitty games don't provide a good escape from reality because they are not enjoyable. Charming and good games, like Chrono Trigger and Aquaria, do because they are simply awesome. Or actually, they don't even need to be charming, as long as the games are fun, like Battlefield 2. I've forced myself through several lame, generic, and uninspired shooters before and it was a waste of time, so I don't do it anymore.

Sometimes I think that maybe I've become jaded or bored after playing so many games or getting older, but then I play a game that is awesome with all the same feelings of awesomeness of previous awesome games I have played, and I realize that no, I'm not jaded, most game are just garbage.

/snob

 

[JoshGuru7]

There's certainly nothing wrong with being critical based on your own preferences. If you didn't like Homefront then it was a bad game (for you) to purchase.

The funny bit is when you extrapolate that to make general assumptions about everybody else - I don't like MW2, therefore MW2 is a bad game, therefore the company is a sellout for making a bad game that millions like instead of a good game that I would like.

 

[Anomaly1964]

there's certainly nothing wrong with being critical based on your own preferences. If you didn't like homefront then it was a bad game (for you) to purchase.

the funny bit is when you extrapolate that to make general assumptions about everybody else - i don't like mw2, therefore mw2 is a bad game, therefore the company is a sellout for making a bad game that millions like instead of a good game that i would like.

exactly...

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

This is all stemming from the recent flood of negativity about Crysis 2 from PC gamers. I for one did not buy MW2 because I am a PC gaming snob.

Being a PC gaming snob I can tell you that Crysis 2 is a great game.

No I'm a pc gaming snob. Didn't buy either one. You've just Supported crytek (by buying the game) in their efforts to pass off console ports to the pc gaming community.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Sorry OP I didn't spend $2500 on my gaming rig to play console ports. So yeah I'm a little pissed when crytek releases a DX9 game that looks worse than the original that was released in '07.

 

[Anomaly1964]

No I'm a pc gaming snob. Didn't buy either one. You've just Supported crytek (by buying the game) in their efforts to pass off console ports to the pc gaming community.

I am NOT condoning "bad console ports," but again, were it YOUR company, would you produce a product that would sell 50 million copies or a product that would sell 10 million copies?

I know we all at Anandtech are "enthusiasts" but from the developer's view, we may not be their target market any longer?

So other than complaining, what IS the solution?

HOW do we get PC games BACK to the level we as enthusiasts want them?

 

[dpodblood]

Sorry OP I didn't spend $2500 on my gaming rig to play console ports. So yeah I'm a little pissed when crytek releases a DX9 game that looks worse than the original that was released in '07.

Have you actually played it? Because I have, and even in DX9 it surpasses the original in terms of graphics. And even if it is a console port it's still a hell-of-a-lot better on PC.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I am NOT condoning "bad console ports," but again, were it YOUR company, would you produce a product that would sell 50 million copies or a product that would sell 10 million copies?

I know we all at Anandtech are "enthusiasts" but from the developer's view, we may not be their target market any longer?

So other than complaining, what IS the solution?

HOW do we get PC games BACK to the level we as enthusiasts want them?

I understand that consoles are where the money is at. You'd be foolish to ignore the tween console fanboys ready to hand over their allowance money from mommy and daddy. Crytek was a pc gaming company first. There is no excuse to just blow us off like we are nothing. I've seen pics where the title screen says press start and there are three options for graphics. I mean come on now. I'll be surprised if the next crysis even supports kb and mouse. At least put a little effort into the pc side. I was hoping the pc gaming community wouldn't support this type of bs and would not buy it. I believe there are a number of people just like me though and refuse to support this bs.


The friggin game is in DX9 people!!!!

 

[Absolution75]

The friggin game is in DX9 people!!!!

Why does it matter what API the game is written in if it still looks better than 95% of what else is out there?

 

[JoshGuru7]

Crytek was a pc gaming company first. There is no excuse to just blow us off like we are nothing.

Consumers and supplies have the same rights. It's a two way street and certainly neither the supplier nor the consumer owe each other anything. Yet this makes it sound like you do feel that Crytek owes you something.. why?

The only reason a single copy is ever sold is if both the developer and the consumer feel they are better off for making the trade. If you feel that you are better off not purchasing Crysis 2, how is that any different from Crytek deciding they are better off for making Crysis 2 in whatever form they want?