For my first community blog post... ever, as well as a part of this month's Monthly Musing Feature, I will attempt to explain what a gaming snob is, and why we (yes I include myself in this group) are the way we are.

The other day, me and a few of my chums were taking a pleasant stroll across the school yard when I decided to begin a debate on the flaws of Fallout 2. I started by stating that it a dreadfully slow, archaic combat system, although, I had to concede the point that the game is nearly a decade old at this point and that I might be a bit biased. Shortly after that, another of my dear pals walked up and began raving about the Forge system in Halo 3. I launched a salvo after salvo of verbal assaults on the title, complaining about everything from the idiots who play it (not everyone of course, just 99% of XBL users) to its uninspired, hackneyed story. When I stopped to take a breath, Shayne said that I needed to let stuff go and just enjoy the game for what it was. He called me a gaming snob.

It took me a few fully understand what that meant. What was a gaming snob? What makes me one? How did I become one?

My first challenge was to define a gaming snob. The best definition I have come up with so far is that a gaming snob is a fanboy. We do not attach ourselves to systems however, we simply separate ourselves from the mainstream; from the “casuals”. Games like the Guitar Hero series, and Grand Theft Auto, simply aren't “hardcore” enough for us. We attach ourselves to a mix of obscure and middle-of-the-road titles such as Killer7 and KOTOR respectively. We are well versed in the history of gaming and happenings in the industry. We view ourselves as enlightened and above the mainstream, we seek depth in our games, we seek meaning and for some arbitrary reason only obscure titles can deliver that.



Once I had defined the term I realized that, indeed, Shayne was right, and I was guilty of gaming snobbery. As many of you will know from reading a few of my forum posts I consistently rail against Halo, I did not enjoy much of the Final Fantasy series, I was not crazy about Rock Band or Guitar Hero; the list goes on and on. For whatever reason I have subconsciously deemed these games to have no value, either artistic or entertainment, whatsoever. I may try and hide behind arguments for games like Halo, but I can really think of no defense for hating Guitar Hero. I love the music, I don't mind most rhythm games, but I believe the fact that Guitar Hero is overwhelmingly popular has triggered an automatic response of hatred for it.

I still cannot say exactly how or why I am a gaming snob, but I can state it seems to be rooted in a need for attention. I have noticed in myself, and indeed in most other gaming snobs, that we are traditionally shy people that wish we could be more outgoing, and when the subject turns to games we see a chance to voice an opinion that counters the majority in a hope of gaining attention and approval from those who are casual or “intermediate”, as BFeld13 put it in his blog. Why we crave attention specifically I cannot say, and I believe that point to be somewhat irrelevant, what matters is that the gaming public recognizes that there are those who simply wish to tell everyone what they think.

I understand that, given my argument that gaming snobs simply seek attention that this posting is, in and of itself a ploy for attention. I suppose on some level that's probably true, but my primary motivation for writing this is to help people understand us snobs. We aren't trying to be assholes, we simply seek recognition and I hope you can forgive us.