I'm a mild-mannered person. I rarely get angry. But there is one thing in this world that makes me more angry than anything and that is ignorance. While at home, I am usually in a constant state of looking for podcasts to listen to while playing video games or doing other things. While watching the latest episode of GameTrailer's "Invisible Walls" podcast, I was almost shouting at my laptop in frustration.

This episode focusses mainly on the news of Sony's new PlayStation 3 model and price cut and how that will affect the industry. At around 10 minutes into the podcast, the Invisible Walls crew start to discuss the fact that Sony is no longer pursuing backwards compatibility with the PS2. Shane Satterfield remarks "I think I've honestly used the backwards compatibility on my PS3 like four times... I mean, it totally makes sense if Sony eliminated it because if I'm a hardcore gamer and I've only used it a handful of times then imagine the casual gamer".

I understand that Satterfield has been in games journalism for many years - he probably grew up playing the NES and possibly the SNES. He has had a chance to play all the games from the last generation as he has been reviewing many of them for GameSpot and then later GameTrailers. However, I am 14. I have been seriously gaming for about 5 years now and have only recently realized in the past couple of years how many amazing games I have missed out on, quite a lot of them on the PS2. Since then I have been buying many PS2 games and I still have many more I would like to buy - the Onimusha series, Zone of the Enders, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus and so many more.

While over the past couple of years I have bought a Wii, an Xbox 360 and a PS3 (in that order), I have honestly bought more games for my PS2 and played it more than all of those consoles put together. Furthermore, surely casual gamers, who play less games in general and would want to play their old favourites from the previous generation, would still want backwards compatibility? It is stupid to assume everyone - or even ANYONE - would be fine with the lack of backwards compatibility.

When talking about using the backwards compatibility of his Xbox 360, Marcus says that the thing that stuck out most was "Oh my god these games look f***ing awful". Graphics whores in general annoy me, and when a games journalist insults games that are five, six years old commenting on how the graphics look poor... it does no justice towards the games. Of course they do not look as good as more recent games on more recent hardware, but the graphics of a game should be compared to that of other games on the hardware or other games at the time, as well as comparing the artistic design.

Games Journalists (I'm considering using air quotes because the term is so loose) usually over-exaggerate when it comes to graphics and this also grinds my gears. In the recent IGN video review of the G.I. Joe video game, Hilary Goldstein remarks "You just look at it and think it's a last-gen game, yes, you even think it's an N64 game". When was the last time Goldstein played an N64? As someone who played Goldeneye last month and sent quite a lot of time playing his N64 last year, I shall say that G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra does NOT look like an N64 game. The 360 and PS3 builds do not even look like last generation games.

1Up's Retronauts Podcast, hosted by Jeremy Parish, is also full of early 3D graphic-bashing. I have tremendous respect for Jeremy Parish (although he is insane to think Final Fantasy V is the best Final Fantasy. More like the 8th! And that's just in the main series), but I recall a lot of negative comments about a lot of PlayStation/N64 games' graphics. If I recall correctly, there were a few things said about The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.

Let me say this. Ocarina of Time STILL looks mighty fine for an N64 game. The way the game is designed and the way the graphics are stylized... it all combines together to create a very visually appealing package which still holds up. It frustrates me that the PlayStation and N64 are used as examples of bad 3D graphics when there are games like Vagrant Story and Ocarina of Time on them - sure, they do not push as many polygons and pixel shaders as more recent games do but the art design and consistency is fantastic.

Now, to get to what frustrated me enough to write this hate-fuelled blog.

Further into Invisible Walls episode 71, the crew begin "Wii-bashing". While I am not happy with how the Wii has turned out and the majority of people who play its view of video games, I appreciate the console. My favourite entries in the Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Super Mario and Resident Evil franchises have all appeared on the Wii. I love the Virtual Console and hope to download a LOT more games from there when I have more time/money.

Overall, I do not think game journalists appreciate how much it costs to buy video games when they come out. I almost always buy pre-owned (unless it is a new entry in one of my favourite franchises) because I simply cannot afford to buy the games new when they come out. While people criticize how few games there are worth playing on the Wii, there are still many titles on it I want to buy and play. And the same goes for all consoles.

However, when it is your job to play and review video games, I suppose you cannot help but become jaded and more uninterested. I love jumping into the world of a single game and exploring it completely - enjoying the story, the characters, the world... drawing fan art, discussing the game with friends... That is the kind of emotional experience and connection with a game that games journalists cannot experience, because once one game is done, they must move onto the next game to play that and review that. Which is sad, because I believe that shows a lack of appreciation for the older classics that helped shape the industry - something many people growing up playing games today lack.

I would love than anything to write about video games and follow the industry. However, if doing that makes me turn out like THESE people... well, no thank you. Now I must re-think my career path. *Sigh*

Thank you to everyone who has read any of my blogs and thanks for the comments! Please leave some! And add me as a friend, too! I need more friends.

Dim.