Gamers! Stop it!

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Eight things gamers should all stop doing, now

Stop buying the same games
This goes out to the mainstream gamers - people who buy only what they recognize, but also to hardcore players who know what they like and stick with it. Just once, fellow pad-graspers, mouse-pushers and button-tappers, try something different. Drink from a different tap. Check the bargain buckets or the second hand shelf. Pick up something you've heard good things about, but never once thought about playing.

By trying something different, we can help improve the commercial viability of great games that end up being commercial failures; like Okami, which sold terribly, despite being one of the most magical PS2 games ever. Of course, we're not saying don't buy Halo 3 or GTA IV as well. That would be madness.

Stop that obsession with the "next big thing"
As videogame journalists we can often be the worst offenders here, constantly peering over the horizon, hunting out another game, console or announcement to get excited about. The effect is that when that "big thing" comes around it's been hyped to the point that it can only be an anti-climax. So we'll target this one straight at the media: What's so wrong with the present? It's time we all learn to step back from the RSS feed once in a while and try to make something interesting out of what we've got now, at our fingertips. PlayStation 4? Xbox 720? They can wait.

Stop trying to use techno-speak in arguments
In the world of videogame consoles, techno terms like "tetraflops," "emotion engines" and "floating point performance" should only be used by people writing press releases about graphics cards. Even we, as career geeks, glaze over when yet another developer tries to explain why their game is better because it can shake around more floaty pointy things than the competition. After all, in 90% of cases it's just doublespeak for "shinier graphics."

Anyone using this sort of tech-babble in an argument about one game being better than another is a show off. It's made even worse if they have no understanding of its meaning. If you want to argue a case for a game, speak a language we all understand: like a nice screenshot or video comparison. Or, if you must, a good old-fashioned (but cleverly-worded, mind) fanboy put down.

Ben_Richardson

Ben Richardson is a former Staff Writer for Official PlayStation 2 magazine and a former Content Editor of GamesRadar+. In the years since Ben left GR, he has worked as a columnist, communications officer, charity coach, and podcast host – but we still look back to his news stories from time to time, they are a window into a different era of video games.