Call of Duty: Black Ops is currently in the process of being launched. This game, for the uninitiated, is going to be rather popular, and it’s expected to sell by the millions. Fair enough. It’s always good to see something enjoy so much success. (Unless it’s, say, a nuclear bomb or terrorist plot or something.)
It’s also something that I couldn’t give two shits about, but this blog post isn’t about why I don’t give two shits about it. This blog post is about why it doesn’t matter that I don’t give two shits about it, and why it doesn’t matter that you, the reader, might think it’s the best thing ever. All that really matters is your own personal opinion on the matter, and it’s this principle that the Internet at large (including, occasionally, yours truly) forgets sometimes.
Everyone has a right to their own opinion, of course. But who really has the right to say what is the “correct” opinion? No-one, of course. The only “correct” opinion is the one you hold. If your opinion doesn’t happen to gel with the majority, then that’s fine. If you hold an opinion that’s popular with the majority but unpopular with your circle of friends, that’s fine too.
In most cases, anyway. Opinions involving being a Nazi, a racist, enjoying raping and/or killing children and/or animals or reading the Daily Mail are generally agreed to be Bad Things. These are societal norms. They’re universally accepted. (Except by the racist Nazi child-raping animal-haters who read the Daily Mail, of course.)
But there are no societal norms on what you “should” think about Call of Duty. Sure, there’s a large number of people out there who really dig it. Some may point to sales figures or Raptr usage statistics and claim that Modern Warfare 2 is the “most popular game of all time” and therefore one of the most important that everyone should like and appreciate. But that’s not the case at all.
The simple fact is, all forms of media have, over time, broadened their appeal. No-one can be expected to be “into” everything. There’s no-one out there who’s read every book, seen every film, watches everything on TV. For one thing, there simply isn’t time to do that. And while it was once possible to play every game there was thanks to their short length or relatively limited availability, we’re now at a stage where there’s no need to play every game out there. In fact, it’s arguably undesirable to do so, because it would inevitably mean you’d miss out on some of the hidden depths of some titles. Consider the person who romps straight through Fallout: New Vegas’ main questline and beats it in, say, 20 hours, versus the person who fully explores the world and invests over 100 hours into that game. Who’s had the fuller experience and got better value for money? I guess there’s arguments for either, but personally speaking on reflection I’d much rather have a deeper experience with less titles than whore around with every game that’s available out there.
What that means, then, is that if you’re someone who isn’t interested in Black Ops, you don’t have to feel bad about all the fuss. But at the same time, there’s no need to be an ass to the people out there who are buzzed for that game. They probably wouldn’t be into the idea of playing Deadly Premonition, Aquaria or Super Meat Boy.
So, basically, do your thing, enjoy what you enjoy and don’t be hatin’ on those who like something you don’t. Similarly, if you like something and someone else doesn’t, don’t be hatin’ on them for not liking it, either.
And the world will be a happy place.
Who am I kidding? This is never going to happen. Call of Duty sucks and everyone buying it is a lame-ass fagbrain!*