Go onto any games forum and you’ll encounter them. People who believe that they’re right, never wrong, that their say is the most important, and that everyone else is an idiot. An owner of a rival console is, in their eyes, a moron. These people are the champions of Xbox, PlayStation and Wii. These people are fanboys and their consoles are always best.

Whenever someone inexperienced in games forums ventures onto a forum website, they’re usually subjected to mouthfuls of abuse by people who think that they know better. Sarcastic comments are commonplace, with people just hurling abuse while thinking they’re funny. I’ve witnessed people new to forums apologising for asking a supposedly stupid question, simply because someone has mouthed off at them. I’ve seen comments that have been hurtful to someone else that needn’t have been said when a simple answer would have been sufficient. But this is nothing to what the fanboys say to each other. People being foul-mouthed and resorting to name calling just because their console is better than someone else’s. These people spend their time playing games and trawling the internet, oblivious to the world around them, being vicious and nasty to each other. While this is up to them, when I read a comment that’s offensive, it embarrasses me. It makes me ashamed to be a gamer. I see these comments and think that while they think they’re making a good point for their choice of console, it would make me want to go the other way, and pick the console that they haven’t got. It ends up being a fascinating read, showing that humanity can reach new lows of stupidity. It can’t be just me that thinks this. Are these people idiotic or psychotic? Who knows? Are they employed by Nintendo, MS or Sony? Not a chance!

Downloadable content. The way to extend the life of a game…or a brilliant way to milk more money from a loyal fan? As the proverb goes; “A fool and his money are soon parted”. But is this really the case? Do only foolish people buy downloadable content?

When I go onto SEN or XBL, I do so mainly for purposes of research. For each article I write, I always do a lot of research. As much as it might not show in my writing all the time, I do lots of research on my subject. In order to champion something, or complain at length, I need to look at facts to back up my argument. This inevitably leads me to game forums and more often than not, Xbox marketplace and PlayStation store. While on there, I see the price of games and additional content, and it truly shocks me. In these dark days of recession, the price of some content is appalling. Take the download content for Fallout 3. Each one costs £7.99 on PSN store, and there’s five of them. That’s a grand total of £39.95. Plus the price of the game in the first place. You can get all the additional content with the game in the “Game of the Year” edition for less than £15.

In the gaming world, I’m a little behind a lot of people in the games I’m playing. Everywhere I look, there’s comments and features on Mass Effect 3. Me, I’ve just started playing ME2. I’m on a mission to recruit allies, and I’ve just crossed a bridge and talked to someone called Archangel. After that bit, I’ve got to escape with Archangel. This is where I’ve stopped. In the game, a health bar appeared for Archangel and it filled me with dread. Because I think it leads to my most hated aspect of any game. An escort mission.

Having played a lot of games, I’ve encountered many different opponents and enemies. I’ve played thousands of missions, involving thousands of different goals. Some of these have been complex missions, with many different steps needing to be completed, and some have been simple fetch and carry missions, go to point A, collect an item, then proceed to point B. But when that item changes into a person, it enrages me. I can cope with pretty much anything that a game throws at me, but not that.