For a former niche activity that was itself relentless sneered at, gaming sure has a lot of bigots. If you read the comments under any review, the chances are that someone, somewhere, is going to tell someone else (who is in all likelihood also a 'troll' or a 'moron'), to go back to playing Call of Duty.
"You cannot possibly appreciate the beauty of this game!" they scream! "This is because you play Call of Duty! Probably. I describe myself as an atheist and ridicule religions, but the burden of proof is not a concept I agree with!"
And before Call of Duty became one of the most successful shooter series ever seen, the railing was against casual gaming:
"Of course you don't like this game! You probably like Farmville! Go back to Farmville and farm like the bitch you are!"
And before that, when World of Warcraft was the new hot stuff, there were gamers using it as an excuse to slam other gamers. To stigmatise them as inferior, because they did not like what the abuser liked.
"You do not believe in God. Why. I bet you believe in Allah, who is completely different and obviously inferior to God, because who in their right mind would like Allah?"
Homophobia, racism, and everything else, all follows much the same logic.
It's an annoying and silly trend, and I don't think anyone believes that it helps anything. Systematic abuse of any group, has only ever resulted in that group become stronger, more resilient and unified, even until extinction. You perpetuate the thing you hate by the very act of hating on it.
Of course, there are those who would say that casual gaming, Call of Duty, or World of Warcraft have brought down 'proper' gaming. It causes dumbing down, as developers attempt to appeal to mass markets tapped by the latest big thing. And true, success spawns imitators - the modern shooter has until recently been almost entirely dominated by imitations of CoD. Fair enough, Modern Warfare was almost ridiculous in its excellence, whether you like the clones or not.
The thing is, no matter how much some dislike them, these hits bring in masses of players, many of them new. They help to expand and legitimise the industry as part of mainstream culture. More money enters the system, until the games industry is worth more than former titans of culture like film and music. And that money attracts people into the industry - quality programmers and artists.
What's more, the technology needed to develop games is enhanced further and further, as developers seek to improve graphics, streamline distribution methods, anything to strenghten their claim to a section of the market.
And all that technology and expertise eventually filters down to the hardcore, niche games, which simply do not have the fanbase to support sustained technological development on the scale which CoD, or WoW permit. We ought to encourage people, especially non-gamers, to go out and buy these titles. It'll make for better games for us in the long run.
Besides, while most won't admit it, or simply can't see it through their rose tinted specs, even proper gamers played shit when they first started out. Anyone remember Cool Spot Goes To Hollywood? Or early FIFAs? Don't expect the toddler to get onto Tolstoy without going through Meyers. They're learning, and they'll learn, and in the meantime, they're paying to improve our games. We don't have to.
And God it makes us smug :)
