I like this idea. I wouldn't otherwise find articles like those you linked to so I think I'd appreciate some sort of semi-regular feature linking to stuff you guys have found interesting.
I agree with the main arguments of both those articles although what Michael Abbott meant when he said 'easy' was perhaps a little unclear at times. I do think that games these days require a certain skill set that can be hard for newcomers. This is true across genres. For example, I'm fairly confident that I could pick up most any RPG and be at least competent from the get-go, however, I could certainly not say the same for FPSs and RTSs. This is somewhat off-putting since, whilst I have other reasons for not buying a CoD game, I'm not willing to invest the amount of time it would take for me to not suck. Gaming terminology, from any genre, can also be a little dense and difficult to grasp.
As for the second article, I think that nowadays people are very quick to completely dismiss a story that isn't exactly what they're looking for, or has one element that they don't like. I don't think that I can come up with any one narrative, from a video game or otherwise, that is devoid of at least one thing that I consider a flaw. Still, I recognise that the issue with stories is that they are supposed to resonate with you at an emotional level and if they just don't, then it is difficult to explain exactly why. People shouldn't talk in absolutes about anything but especially not any form of entertainment or media, is basically what I'm trying to say.
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