Introduction to thread:
This topic was inspired by watching YouTube, and I find it's a fairly precise name for a variety of topics I've spent time thinking about that fit into this category.
I realize that any time you make a claim that "A"(in media) leads to "B"(in life) there are always exceptions, but hopefully this discussion won't get out of hand and no one will take this personally.
I won't limit the discussion to video games, but it's a place to start.
Let's start this thread:
One of the most popular aspects of YouTube is videos about gaming. Stuff like the AVGN and the countless others who do what he does. AVGN is not James Rolfe. AVGN is a character, and while part of the show is honest critique and review, the other part of the show is comically exaggerating and blowing things out of proportion to humorous effect. Sometimes one quirky glitch in an otherwise good game can become a major part of the video because it's funny.
The weird thing is, this type of video has become so popular that some people are taking these half-review, half-comic skit videos literally. It's common to see someone doing a playthrough on a game I've enjoyed a lot and see comments completely dismissing the whole game because all they've heard about the game is the downsides on a variety of videos where the joke is getting ridiculously angry over every little thing. Almost every game has flaws, some minor, some major. Some games with flaws are still a lot of fun, while others are unplayable.
It bothers me when people dismiss a mostly great game because they only know about minor flaws from watching rage-head comedy videos, and then they think the game's not worth anyone's time. I think Zelda II is a good example of this. Is the game perfect? No. Is it a playable quality title? Heck yes. Is it for everyone? No. Is it too hard? For some people maybe, but for others it isn't. Is it as bad as the worst crap on the NES? Absolutely, definitely not.
Now I know, I know, people who would walk right past a good game without giving it a fair chance aren't people anyone should spend time worrying about. But the point is that some people are easily influenced and because of that, their life is imitating what they see in the media (in this case YouTube) rather than basing their thoughts on their own real life experiences. They aren't A) trying the game first, or B) reserving judgement until they do and leaving their mind open to the possibility that the negative review they saw may have been a comic performance rather than an actual legitimate review.
The same goes for movies, and I'd like to talk about specific movies, and more specific games in future posts. I hope other people will bring up stuff to talk about as well.
I think that, for me, the main point of this thread is to talk about some praise-worthy, enjoyable creations that you like a lot, but that don't get much appreciation, because most things we enjoy do have flaws in them, but that doesn't make them unplayable, unwatchable, unlistenable, etc. And I think that, for me, the second point of this thread is that sometimes people get ideas stuck in their head that don't apply to reality at all. I mean we've all come across factoids about animals in online posts that later turned out to be factually incorrect. Those are just my initial thoughts though, I'm sure there are other points and discussion topics worth exploring that will pop up.