I don't really have any guilty pleasures in gaming. I don't owe anyone an explanation or justification for the things I like. I used to think that me enjoying the Dynasty Warrior franchise was a "guilty pleasure", similar the the Destiny example Heather used. The series is sort of known for being hated by most reviewers, who also seem to be infinitely perplexed by the existence of it's fanbase. So at the time, I sort of just figured, well I guess I'm just weird for liking these games. Even then, however, I never actually felt "guilt" for enjoying Dynasty Warriors... and why would I? The reality is that I always knew the flaws of the series, but I also knew its strengths and potential. Ultimately, my own feelings on the games simply outweigh whatever some reviewer felt about them.
The far more interesting, and far less cut and dry form of "guilty pleasure" in games is the nature of the content that makes them. I've noticed that a lot of the discussion hovers around some form of sexuality. I think this category of guilty pleasure is where a lot of the "shaming" occurs, and it doesn't surprise me.
While I'm not personally attracted to video game characters, I know that there are people who can be. It's hard for me to say that there lies ZERO judgement within my consciousness for this phenomenon, but I definitely don't go out of my way to shame somebody who thinks Quiet is sexy. Just like I don't shame someone who thinks Quiet is offensive. The tricky part lies within both camps choosing to, or not to express their feelings on said character. I have to imagine that there are people who are afraid to openly admit that they are attracted to Quiet for fear of being labeled as some sort of sophomoric pervert. Similarly, I would bet that there are people afraid of voicing their discomfort with the character for fear of being attacked as a "Social Justice Warrior" or something. The former example being that societal norms call for the shunning of such attraction, and the latter stemming from the ease in which you could point to numerous examples in which this conflict occurs.
In my opinion, we often tend to favor judging or shaming the other camp because the internet makes it so easy to find and stick with like minded people. It emboldens the figurative lines in the sand that we draw. "Whatever, they just don't get it...they're them and we're us." This way of thinking is something I really despise in all of it's manifestations. I believe it makes those line deeper and harder to cross to the point where people are contemptuously gazing at each other across a canyon of differing perspectives, completely out of earshot of each other, and thus totally unable to properly communicate WHY it is they feel the way they do.
I could go on about all this for ages, but it would be far too long for the comment section. Maybe I'll think about writing blog on the site.
No. My problem with Jeff's theory is that as long as publishers and developers pull this "around but not in E3" thing, you can't really argue that the conference isn't relevant anymore. These companies are feeding off the excitement or zeitgeist of the event. If EA were to hold their event with no similar timing to E3, I'd say that would be a larger indicator than what's been actually happening. E3 is certainly changing, however, but that's been true for many years now.
My belief is that it is still beneficial to pool the industries upcoming projects into some kind of event in a short time period (a week) to attract attention from fans and press. If game announcements were just scattered throughout the year, I don't think there would be nearly as much attention brought to them individually as there would be as a group. Personally, I pay a lot of attention to E3. I tend to miss announcements that just sort eek out. Obviously companies are always afraid that their games will get lost in the shuffle of the event, but that's why they surround the conference with their own releases events.
Looks great, but I have a ton of games to play right now and waiting will only make this a better deal down the road. I highly doubt I will end the year without playing the witness.
Rocket League and the Witcher 3 are better than MGS5, but I suppose not all lists that aren't my own will be perfect. Also good to see Nuclear Throne get some love. It's a prime example of why GOTY discussions should be moved to the start of the year.
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