Why the gaming media have to nitpick and complain

Some games used to suck. And I don't mean they had some screen-tearing or "slightly floaty" jump mechanics. I mean they were boring, catastrophically glitched, or just plain unplayable for any number of reasons.

This problem scarcely exists anymore. Like the film industry in the late 70's, gaming has been changed by the phenomenon of the big-budget blockbuster. Retail games simply can't afford to suck at the same level as older games used to suck. Complaints about games like Final Fantasy XIII or more recently Castlevania are so nitpicky and ridiculous that I'm surprised any thinking person could take them seriously. Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction gets a 7.5 on Gamespot for having too much variety?...WHAT?

Why do the gaming media do this? Because they have to, and there are a couple reasons why. One, because games are technology-based, gamers immediately become acclimatized to--and therefore expect--constant improvements in technology, production values, etc. That makes sense. Plenty of games that were considered outstanding 10 years ago now seem run-of-the mill or downright lousy compared to current "average" games. That's just the nature of the beast, whether the beast be the gaming industry, technology, or humanity itself.

The other reason is far more problematic. Like television news networks that must fill a 24-hour news cycle, the gaming media are under tremendous pressure to keep their readers coming back hour after hour, day after day. We gamers, as an audience, are truly insatiable, and you could argue that the constant flood of information and opinions coming from gaming sites only makes us hungrier. For example, Tetsuya Nomura tweets that FFVXIII has a new hair-rendering system that allows for 6% more waviness? Every gaming news outlet in the world rushes to repost this "story" and suddenly N4G has 20 new Top-Tens about the best/worst haircuts in video games.

And you know what? WE CLICK THE LINKS. Because we are insatiable. Also like television news, positive information is a hard sell. All of these new games that five years ago would have been game-of-the-year contenders are now "too linear," only have 2x AA instead of 4x, or suffer from occasional online lag (usually prior to launch, so the complaint is even more meaninless). The gaming media MUST complain about these things because we gamers would quit reading reviews if every single one read, "Well, doggone it, THIS game is great too. What a golden age of bounty we live in when every game works and is pretty fun right out of the box. See you tomorrow!"

Gaming has been my favorite hobby for over 20 years now, and I continue to be relentlessly positive about it. I can't afford to buy every new game that comes out, but the ones I do buy I consistently enjoy. Which is more than I could have said even ten years ago. It's just too bad that being positive doesn't generate more hits.