I've been in this industry for a few years now, and I have to tell you something: We as a collective are ready to hate anything quicker than we are to show even an ounce of support for it. I'm not talking about game sequels—those we are ready to fold over backwards and then into a full-on pretzel to show support for—no, I am talking about new IPs, new consoles, new handhelds; anything that is not previously established. The Internet drama that unfolds around the announcement of anything new is like watching a soap opera, and there's enough content there to fill up a year's worth of telenovelas.

Let's start by looking at the PS Vita. Everything I've read concerning the handheld as of late has been practically prophesying the coming apocalypse. "Sony's end is nigh!" "The PS Vita crashes in Japan!" "It's a sinking ship for Sony!" It goes on and on and on. But seriously, why the hell would you base anything off of how well something is doing in Japan, especially if it's not released worldwide yet? If we're going to look at Japan as a standard, then the Xbox 360 is dead as a doornail. We all know isn't true here in the States; just ask any twelve-year-old.

Sure, you have websites and magazines the world over reporting how the PS Vita is underwhelming. But consider this: A few months ago, the entire populace was ready to castrate Nintendo for giving us a new set of headaches and nosebleeds with the 3DS, but now the flag of triumph is being raised. Was the gaming community as a whole just waiting for the PS Vita's launch date to get close before giving any praise to the technology Nintendo has done some incredible things with? Or is it simply cool to hate on this until we move onto hating something else? No matter the reason, I would dare say that if Nintendo had not pulled the trigger on getting a new 3D Mario game, Mario Kart 7, or any of the various Nintendo powerhouse titles, we'd still be hating on them for poor execution in launch titles alone.

This hate mentality doesn't just reside in the handheld arena. So many IPs have fallen to the hate mongers that it's a miracle we have anything coming out that is not a sequel, spin-off, or remake. Hell, the attitudes have even trickled into sequels on an occasion.

For example, last year's inFAMOUS 2 suffered an early blow due to a creative choice for the character design. "OMG! They gave him hair!" Seriously, this was a complaint I heard far too often about Cole MacGrath's new look. Nothing else made people angry, just the fact that he had hair. Hair! Come on people, can't we find something else more constructive to do? More recent complaints have revolved around DmC: Devil May Cry. What about, you ask? Hair. "Dante has to have white hair! OMG! They hate the fans!"

Seriously? What if the creators had a fantastic narrative for you to experience, and now, due to the complaints, we end up getting a game like DMC4? DMC4 felt half-assed because they had to go back and create specific content so that players would get to play as Dante. Who knows what kind of game that could have been without all the negativity from naysayers and hipster vagabond douches?

The minds behind gaming used to be trusted to take us away with epic storylines and fantastic characters. Companies were permitted to take chances with hardware to show a new vision for how people play their games and experience the ever-evolving media. There was even a time when something as contrived and money-driven as the Virtual Boy was the most exciting thing out. Granted, that thing sucked, but you didn't know that until you had checked it out for yourself. Maybe that more innocent, childlike mentality is what we need to embrace once more as a community of gamers. Rely on the voices you trust to help you make your decisions on what games to play. Let yourself be open to what developers and publishers want to show you instead of pissing on the fires of creativity before you even know what is happening. Don't join bandwagons because you think they are fun; don't jump off a bridge just because that one guy thought it was cool. Be an individual and make up your own mind. If you need guidance in doing so, trust me, we have you covered there.

By Matt Walker
CCC Editor-In-Chief

*The views expressed within this article are solely the opinion of the author and do not express the views held by Cheat Code Central. This week's is also purely a work of fiction*