Hopefully this article won't sound like a grammar lesson and if it does it will be greatest grammar lesson you've ever read. That my friends is an opinion*. The most misunderstood titbit known to the internet. Opinions are your's and your's alone and if they are used as a fact then they become misinformation. We already have a lot of misinformation floating around such as "The PS3 has no good games!", "The Xbox 360 will overheat constantly!" and "The Wii is only for little kids and old women!"

This misinformation causes more misinformation to spread and unfortunately misinformation is the number one fuel for flame wars. The last two phrases above aren't however opinions but theories which can become just as bad as opinions. A theory starts when let's say Sonny McSonyson likes to play the PS3 and his opinion is the Xbox is terrible. He hears a fact that the Xbox has broken down quite frequently in the past. His low opinion of the Xbox now creates bias in which he takes the information and chooses to not repeat any thing that could possibly make the Xbox look better and go against his opinion.

He has now gotten a theory but unfortunately this theory is abortion gone horribly wrong as it's formed on that most unfriendly little prick of communication you guessed it! Misinformation!

Does that mean we should stop giving our opinions and theories? No everyone should have the right to say whatever but we should always keep the facts and opinions separate but if there's a fact that you don't completely agree with you can't ignore the parts you don't like. Does this mean that all theories and opinions should be ignored? No as some of them are backed up by good evidence even some of the less friendly ones such as:

A majority of Xboxes will fail.

A majority of developers will find the PS3 harder to develop for than the Xbox.

A majority of Wii games will be rated lower than Xbox and PS3 games.

The problem isn't them being said but the immediate reaction of some to censor what was said. No one will thank you for spreading lies or blindly defending your company of choice. Unless you're Gamespot or Sean Malstrom. Now our final question before I actually start getting to the point. Should I stop saying information? Yes. Seven times or rather eight is quite enough I apologise for my absurd lack of a thesaurus and as of now I will avoid the use of that word like Valve avoids the PS3.



There are trolls,fanboys and flamers on the internet. FACT.

Trolls,fanboys and flamers are common on the internet. THEORY.

Sony/Microsoft/Nintendo trolls,fanboys and flamers are the most annoying. OPINION.

It's a foreign concept to some but not everything someone says is meant as a fact. Part of the reasons Destructoid readers can discuss so well is because most of us can realise that an opinion is meant to be just that. Opinions. Each of our editors have opinions and make them absolutely clear but no one tries to state them as fact and they'll continue to do so till David Jaffe gets hired. This can get confusing for some people as they expect everything on news sites to be written as a fact rather than news with a bit of personality but maybe that's what we should expect.

A common ground for internet stupidity is review scores as people like to use them as facts to why a game is good or bad. Using the same process as above let's look at why that way of thinking is completely wrong.*:

GRAPHICS/SOUND

... is a game with visuals and music. FACT. DUH!

You will be amazed at ...'s graphics and music. THEORY.

... is the most beautiful game I have ever seen or heard. OPINION.

Graphical scores depend on how good a TV you have or even what your standards are. Some people will say Wii games look terrible but others are so used to them they don't mind. Some people are so used to 1080 dpi that they'll refuse to touch anything lower than that. Some people believe that graphics don't matter at all if the environment isn't colourful and others believe that games should look realistic even if that means a little more bland. Don't even get me started on the differences in people's taste in music!

Then there's the dreaded Final Score. I've guided you through this WALL O' TEXT assuming that all of the people reading this are dumb enough to need the differences of Facts, theories and opinions explained to them. Even the person who finds all my babblings to be new and exciting infor- data - will be smart enough to know that arguing over a Final Score is one of the dumbest things you can ever do. Telling the reviewer that they missed out the best part isn't suddenly going to make the horrible experience they endured playing the game the first time go away.

Neither is telling them how much fun you had with the game, or claiming they are so biased that they would willing let a game they secretly loved go unnoticed because Nintendo told them to. They rated the game low because they thought it was a waste of time and megabytes. If you've argued against a review then there may still be hope for you.. Unless you were arguing the .5/6/whatever. If you're arguing the .something then you should just go hang yourself right now.



A common reason flame wars start is because of either the original poster or the reader mistaking a theory or opinion as a fact. The original poster or next reader then takes their opinion as a fact or misinfor- false evidence - then "POOF!" instant flame war. What people on the internet seem to forget is that even if they're sitting facing a mechanical screen the things they're reading are written by humans and unfortunately humans cannot be unbiased about something they care about.

I am a Gamecube fanboy. If you were to diss the cube I would want to slit your damn throat. If you make fun of its games I would probably feel like getting some cement and forcefully shutting your whore mouth. How do I keep away my homicidal tendencies and stop myself performing a jihad on your house? The closest we get to unbias is when we can look at both sides of the argument and seeing whose talking with facts and whose just saying their opinion.

"The PS2 could be considered the best console out of the last generation" THEORY.

"STFU the GameCube was the awesome!" OPINION.

"But the PS2 had more games, more sales and had a library that was so critically acclaimed that they are still producing the PS2, PS2 games and porting over several PS2 games to newer systems." FACT

That cannot be argued with as it would be stupid to argue with cold, hard facts. the most excellent things about facts is that you don't need to argue with them. This example simply states that the PS2 was a more likeable and better system than the GameCube but here's the kicker! Does that mean that my opinion of the GameCube should change? Most certainly not! Does that mean that my opinion is wrong? Now look here good sir or madam! Here's where the problems start.

Yes it is fact that the PS2 was and is considered a better system but it is also fact that I enjoy the GameCube more. Do these two things affect each other at all? No. Do these two things prevent me from enjoying both systems? Not at all! Although to everyone else your opinion is just that to yourself your opinion is a fact in it's own right and no random fact can change that. No one can say it's wrong to like or dislike the better choice even when the facts are right in front of you because they're not you and they can't decide your opinion for you.

Alas my friend we are done with this fiesta of learning, mildly reasoned with gaming references then left to cook for half my freaking day. I can't quite bring myself to lie and claim that this experience was somehow fun as the very thought of all your greasy faces reading this slowly draining away at my sanctuary of marvellous words only to respond.

TL;RD

You people make me sick! But of course that's only my opinion!