Should You Criticize a Console You Haven't Played?

[8bitgamer]

NEW VIDEO -- Should You Criticize a Gaming Console You Haven't Played? Watch here:

 

Edited April 25, 2020 by 8bitgamer

[Rev]

Depends.   I’m looking at you Mattel Hyperscan!   

[IMBerzerk]

No... you definitely shouldn't.   How can you form such a defined opinion when you haven't gathered the experience of actually playing/owning the system.

 

This goes for anything.   MANY Youtubers are quick to spit out videos because of the requirement to do so.  Making a snap judgement is super easy... no thought or skill required.

[spacecadet]

Blanket statements and generalizations are rarely helpful. In other words, "no you shouldn't" isn't any better of an answer than "yes you should". That's just telling someone they shouldn't have an opinion on something, which is kinda just what humans do. We're not robots or Vulcans. We can't help it; it's how are brains are wired.

 

So people are going to form opinions one way or the other regardless. The question then is whether they should share those opinions. Like any other opinion, that comes down to whether or not they have anything interesting to say. Someone with an uninformed opinion probably will not. Somebody who has all the available info and has thought a lot about it might.

 

Anyway, usually these kinds of arguments come down to "people shouldn't share opinions I don't agree with", rather than really talking about being objective. I'm sure if someone posts a video praising something you think you'll also like, you wouldn't be telling them to hold off on sharing their opinion, or forming one.

[IMBerzerk]

What you said makes no sense.  How do you form a definate opinion on something  you never did.

 

That's like me saying "I love fishing.. it looks so cool... I love the open sea"... I go out on the boat.. and barf my head off.. then I come back and say "I think fishing sucks".

 

Try it first.. then see what you think.

 

And yes... I would say just that.

[wolfy62]

1 hour ago, IMBerzerk said:

No... you definitely shouldn't.   How can you form such a defined opinion when you haven't gathered the experience of actually playing/owning the system.

 

This goes for anything.   MANY Youtubers are quick to spit out videos because of the requirement to do so.  Making a snap judgement is super easy... no thought or skill required.

Well said,exactly!?

[RevEng]

I think you should try criticising a game console you haven't played, if you haven't done it before. After all, if you haven't criticised a game console you haven't played, how could you possibly have an opinion on people criticising consoles they haven't played?

[krslam]

7 minutes ago, RevEng said:

I think you should try criticising a game console you haven't played, if you haven't done it before. After all, if you haven't criticised a game console you haven't played, how could you possibly have an opinion on people criticising consoles they haven't played?

Mind.Blown.

[phoenixdownita]

2 hours ago, IMBerzerk said:

What you said makes no sense.  How do you form a definate opinion on something  you never did.

 

....

OK, but that's only half a sentence .... you can't have a definite opinion on something that doesn't exist, but you can still have an opinion based on the ephemeral effects of marketing (if there was no hype machine/marketing at play there would be no need to even have an opinion as all of it would be revealed only the day of launch, no earlier bs in an attempt to stop potential customers from buying something else [or delaying it at the least] and so have "some" money left/earmarked the day of the launch).

 

About the "try it" ... not sure it generalizes the way you think, I don't need to try to crack my "nuts" with a nutcracker to have the opinion that it may not be a good thing to do ... and no amount of "you should try before you form your opinion" would convince me otherwise.

[Blarneo]

I don't know how many times I've heard the stupid line "But how do you know you don't like girls if you never had sex with one?"

I also don't need to shave my ass and sit in a bowl of gin to figure out it would be painful.

 

So there's my answer. 

[Magmavision2000]

You can criticize a console but not try it. Just don't expect people to take your opinion as fact.

 

I can say Once Upon a Time In Hollywood is a good movie even though I've never seen it. But I expect you to take my opinion with a grain of salt.

[IMBerzerk]

whatever...

 

I thought skydiving would be a blast... until I did it.  Never did it again.

I thought snowboarding would be hard... been running my board for 25 years

I thought rebuilding/restoring a car would be too hard for me... I've done 4 already....and looking for #5

I thought building a MAME machine would be too complicated.. I've built/own 3 and built 2 others for friends...

I thought becoming a Firefighter at 41 was pure insanity (and so did my wife)... crushed the academy and all tests and have been active for 8 years.

 

On and on... see.. my OPINION that I formed before I actually "tried" to do all these things was wrong.   But... once I actually stepped up, put some effort in and TRIED them,  I had something to actually base fail/success on.

 

So now I live by the premises of "giving it go"... rather stand there with my thumb implanted in my rectal area and giving just an unfounded opinion.

 

Do a little research, give it a try... then form the opinion whether you can or cannot do something.  You'd be surprised how much you can actually accomplish if you put in a little effort.

 

Same goes for bashing a game console when you don't even own it... own it first.  Buy it first... if it sucks... well... now you know it really does.

 

If you want to crack your nuts with a nutcracker... be my guest.  Not on my list. 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by IMBerzerk

[phoenixdownita]

14 minutes ago, Magmavision2000 said:

You can criticize a console but not try it. Just don't expect people to take your opinion as fact.

 

....

You kind of can, especially wrt to some notable classic ones.

You can literally just have a relatively close to reality opinion wrt the CDi, Amiga CD32, and even 3DO and Jaguar by just looking around YT, they were all bad systems (or if you prefer systems with a lot of bad games) with maybe a couple of "not terrible" moments .... as to something mainstream with a more varied set of productions it's a little more complex but take NES, SNES, MD, SMS, PCE, PSX, Saturn, N64 ... a starting opinion of "it ain't bad" is actually quite acceptable.

 

I hope when you state your opinions on movies you've never seen you have at least read around about someone else's reactions (like checking the seller feedback so to speak) and formed an indirect opinion by checking enough reputable sources ....

[phoenixdownita]

1 hour ago, IMBerzerk said:

.....

If you want to crack your nuts with a nutcracker... be my guest.  Not on my list. 

Why not? You don't know if it's gonna be the bee's knees because you have not tried it.

Give it a fair try, use both hands for that tight grip of death and then you can have an opinion ... no?

All your stories are about how you started with preconceived notions that you proved wrong by trying .... why not this one? 

 

PS: NO, DO NOT TRY IT, I am obviously being sarcastic, just to prove a silly point.

[IMBerzerk]

so... hold on... you're saying this now... or are you saying this when you first bought the unit and ran home with eyes bugging out of your skull in pure excitement, only to be left in total disappointment.  IE... the Atari Jaguar.   Seemed the world thought that was to be the next best thing to sliced bread.  Didn't happen.

 

Again... someone bought it... it sucked.  

 

Commodore 64.  I never knew anything about it.  My best-friend had one.  We played Telengard for hours.  I loved it.  So I went out and bought one as well. 

NES - I never knew anything about it... a College roommate had one... played Super Mario and MT Punh-out! for hours.  Never liked it.  Never bought one.

PC - I never knew anything about it... another College friend had one... showed me Dynamix's Red Baron.  My jaw hit the floor... So I went out and bought one as well.

 

[IMBerzerk]

I don't have balls anymore... they're in a jar on a shelf...

 

My point is I tried it first... instead of bashing the shit out of it... I didn't walk around saying I can't do this or that.. or tell others this sucked or that sucked. 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by IMBerzerk

[phoenixdownita]

5 minutes ago, IMBerzerk said:

I don't have balls anymore... they're in a jar on a shelf...

C'mon you ruined my punchline here .... well played sir! (reminds me of that attorney/coroner joke)

 

I formed the wrong opinion you would have said something like "thanks but no thanks" to which I would have offered a full rebuttal on how "modern nutcracking" has been gaining momentum in current times and how good it is wrt population control and in general testosterone regulation.

[RevEng]

You guys should probably take this nutcracking pro/con conversation into the nutcracking forum. This is where we debate hating consoles without playing them.

[phoenixdownita]

1 hour ago, IMBerzerk said:

My point is I tried it first... instead of bashing the shit out of it... I didn't walk around saying I can't do this or that.. or tell others this sucked or that sucked. 

 

...but that's true even if you replace "suck" with "awesome" .... positive or negative stances on a yet to be released product are mostly untenable (aside rare exceptions) ... I understand the owning company of said product trying to hype the positives but at the same time of all gimmicky/unconventional control based consoles we had so far only 1.5 kind of made it ... the Wii with an unexpected 100M+ sold units and then the Switch (I count this as .5 only as it's a tablet in disguise with finally decent integrated gamer controls ... fuxxing hallelujah).

 

As far as I understands it the Amico is relying a lot on the control wow factor .... so it's all speculative on both sides if it would suck or if there are enough interesting games that can make it worthwhile/fresh ... and inasmuch as the owning company needs to trumpet the awesome factor I understand the skeptics army too. If you take out the controls I am not sure what's unique about the Amico (unfortunately these days everything is so uniform one way or another), if you put them back in it's impossible to say if the Amico is going to be a Wii level kind of success or not.

 

I still remember when gamester81 stated on YT that the upcoming RetroVGS would be awesome without it even existing .... we know how that story ended, I don't know if the Amico is gonna be a buy or a bust ... Tommy doesn't know, the naysayers don't know either and personally I think both are wrong to try to sway one way or another ... the product and games should speak for themselves, I understand why Tommy has to put the most positive spin possible on it (he's got a lot rolling on this concept and I appreciate the attempt for sure even if I think it looks like a scale ... in the end it's probably irrelevant) and at the same time I have no problem with naysayers bashing it before it even releases ... if this was a perfect world we wouldn't need hype machines before the product is ready so there would be neither attempt to promote or demote anything before it even hits the market.

 

My personal opinion is that the Amico was announced too soon, the final product should have been just a couple of months away from shipping the day of the announcement so that any doubts would have been cleared out soon enough to avoid all the drama but instead we need to have companies go through this multi-year hype cycles for whatever reason (I really don't know what's the driving factor for the current modus operandi ... for sure Tommy is not alone in following that trajectory so it may have something to do with how the industry works, I'd love to know why that is for sure).

[IMBerzerk]

I do share that concern.  The hyper hype before the release.  Sometimes it's best to not go really hot on the expectation and allow the product to speak for itself.  

 

It's a wait and see still for me.  So far, just from the videos, it all seems great.  Again... Preconceived opinion based on visuals.  But I can't say anything else.  I want to play it, own it... See how long it lasts...etc.  

 

Remember the dreaded Xbox red light of death... Wow did that shock the world.  I want to know what the quality is before I comment on the construction.  I want to know that if I accidentally leave it on, it will still work when I come back to it.  If I drop the controller on the floor...will the screen shatter... Etc.  

 

I have repaired several Inty and Atari units...so I know the quality and construction of these.  I can tell you the Atari 2600 ( not the VCS Heavy Six) is a piece of crap.  It works great, longevity is there, but it's made like crap unlike the inner workings of the Intellivision.  BUT... They are both amazing considering the electronics are 40 years old now and still work.  The Heavy Sixers now well over forty.. that's great stuff!

 

So believe it or not....we actually agree, but from two different angles.  

 

That was fun.   As for the balls ... You're talking to a native New Yorker ... I'm good at this.  Hahaha... Talk to you again soon.

 

 

Edited April 26, 2020 by IMBerzerk

[SanicSpeed]

who knows bro, ask all the people here criticizing the Atari VCS or the Calico Khamelon/Retro VGS, etc.

[+Black_Tiger]

The problem is that these kinds of youtube characters are using the same formula to generate views/likes/subs. It doesn't matter if  their theme is gaming, makeup or "reaction" videos. They act like teenagers faking shock and awe to sustain their drama channels.

 

You can have an opinion about a console you haven't played. We've been doing it here.

 

You simply calmly talk about what does and does not appeal to you. Unscripted, without a rough plan for an improv.

 

You qualify the kinds of things about gaming that do and do not appeal to you and don't assume that everyone watching must know you. You balance how and why you do and do not like misc aspects while commenting on how much media is even available to draw opinions from.

 

You don't make it all about you. You talk about the types of people you believe this product may and may not appeal to. You talk about the potential of unique aspects, how much that potential has been demonstarted to be taken advantage of, how it sets the console apart from what's currently available and/or what's come before.

 

One of the most important things is to make the viewer feel your passion for gaming and how you're hoping we get something worthwhile. What you should never do is come off as pessimistic and reveling in the what you see as a "failure" that is going to "bomb". That is only demostrating a passion for hating gaming.

[SegaSnatcher]

I think just about everyone is guilty of this.  I mean you are going to form some kind of opinion anytime new information comes out about a new console, regardless of who's making it.  I don't think its a bad thing, just as long as you are open to have your mind changed when new information is put out and finding a way to play it when it actually comes out.   

No lie, but I wasn't all that impressed when Switch was first announced.  I just thought something would have to be sacrificed because it was trying to be two things at once (Both home console and portable), but once I tried it at my friend's house I instantly "got it" and really loved the table top mode.  Lots of fun playing Mario Kart 8.

I mean when we watch movie trailers we form some kind of opinion based on the minute or so footage we see "That looks kinda interesting."  "That looks straight up terrible".   I don't see why this can't be applied to game consoles and video games too.

Edited April 27, 2020 by SegaSnatcher

[IMBerzerk]

I would say it's different than a movie opinion because a movie is purely viusal, which acts on emotions good and bad.  

 

A game console, aside from trailers are tangible as well as visual.  So you get a physical and mental experience.  

 

You're right if you're basing your opinion solely on trailers for a game... But once you buy it, plug it in and play it, only then do you really form a solid opinion based on true hands-on experience.  If you play a few games and note all the attention paid to quality and player experience, you can make a sensible judgement based on what you learned.  

 

A very good example for me was the AtGames Intellivision throwback.  Looked great in the box, high expectations... Plugged it in.. played 2 games... Threw it back in the box, and stuffed it into the back of the closet.  Never to be played again.  

 

Visual vs tangible.  It looked great, played like poop... In my opinion. 

[SegaSnatcher]

2 hours ago, IMBerzerk said:

I would say it's different than a movie opinion because a movie is purely viusal, which acts on emotions good and bad.  

 

A game console, aside from trailers are tangible as well as visual.  So you get a physical and mental experience.  

 

You're right if you're basing your opinion solely on trailers for a game... But once you buy it, plug it in and play it, only then do you really form a solid opinion based on true hands-on experience.  If you play a few games and note all the attention paid to quality and player experience, you can make a sensible judgement based on what you learned.  

 

A very good example for me was the AtGames Intellivision throwback.  Looked great in the box, high expectations... Plugged it in.. played 2 games... Threw it back in the box, and stuffed it into the back of the closet.  Never to be played again.  

 

Visual vs tangible.  It looked great, played like poop... In my opinion. 

For sure, you couldn't give an honest review on a game or movie based on just a trailer, but you could get a rough idea if its something for you or not.