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Tainted can be best described using the pizza method.
Let's say two people order a half pepperoni and half
anchovy pizza. Neither person likes the other topping
but where the half's of the pizza meet there is inevitable
contamination. Sometimes an anchovy will even find
it's way onto the pepperoni side much to the chagrin
of the consumer. Even with the removal of the anchovy
the taste can remain causing that area of the pizza
to be tainted. I'm not going to eat a piece of pepperoni
pizza that had an anchovy on it and because I've refused
to eat all of my pizza I'm left hungry. I get the
same feeling where video games are concerned.
Lets say you hear about a new pizza making simulation
video game. If you are intrigued by the game there
are a number of ways to find out more information.
For more information you go to the "Media Pizza" parlor
to bring news of this new game to you. Unfortunately
Media Pizza makes every pizza with anchovies and instead
of placing Anchovies on the pizza they throw them
on and inevitably land all around the pizza. Some
anchovies are covered with cheese while others remain
out in the open. There are now some choices after
receiving the pizza.
The easiest thing to do would be send the pizza back
because everything about it is so appalling that you
couldn't even look at it. I've wanted to return many
games upon purchase or rent that fall into this category.
I'm sure most people can relate to this so I'll just
ask: Mr.
Mosquito, anyone?
Maybe you could eat the pizza the way it is and experience
the taste, texture, feeling, and smell of Anchovy.
You might actually like anchovies and want more. Just
like I learned that Metal Gear Solid was going to
be THE game to play on the Playstation in the 90's.
I "ate" MGS and I liked it. I ate more and more and
more. I ate so much that when it finally arrived I
had saturated myself with everything MGS. As a result
of my gluttony I ended up knowing the entire story
and all of its surprises through the first half of
the game. It was like I knew that Darth Vader was
Luke's father before I even saw The Empire Strikes
Back. Because I took everything that was given to
me I ended up ruining some of the best parts of a
great game.
Another choice for the pizza would be not eat any
of it. The bad thing about not eating it is that it's
already paid for. Seeing and smelling the anchovies
is disgusting and if it smells like dead fish, looks
like dead fish, acts like dead fish, it most likely
IS dead fish. However after inspecting the dead fish
I found out that it wasn't dead fish at all. It was
(GAME NAME HERE). How can one of the dumbest looking
games wind up being a load of fun? I'm sure the phrase
"Never judge a book by its cover" certainly holds
true here. If I had just snubbed my nose at the game
I would never have experienced everything it had to
offer.
You may want to remove the offending anchovies and
eat the rest of the pepperoni pizza anyway. Unfortunately
the offensive taste of the Anchovy was baked into
the pizza, which can inhibit the enjoyment. Everything
I read about Devil May Cry 2 told me that it would
be an awesome game but I'm still wary of new things.
I consulted a game review about DMC2 that basically
said it was a big disappointment. Going against this
opinion I played the game anyway. I found out that
everything in the review I read was true. In fact
it was SO true that I felt I didn't even have my own
opinion about the game. Since I was expecting the
bosses to be lame, they were lame. I remembered everything
the reviewer wrote and let it dominate my thoughts
as I played through the game. In essence I was experiencing
the game through their eyes instead of my own. In
all honesty I would have enjoyed DMC2 even if I purchased
it, especially going through the game on all the difficulty
levels and earning all the secrets. The opinions of
another person about DMC2 remained much like the taste
of an offending anchovy remains on a pizza.
When presented with a Media Pizza you don't need
to eat the portions of the pizza that contain an anchovy.
You will be left with less food after the loss and
might even be hungry later but the sight and smell
of the anchovies have only tainted you a little. My
experience with Metal Gear Solid prompted me to avoid
anything and everything relating to the sequel when
all the hype started. The look and smell of artwork,
pictures, spoilers, bulletin boards, and friends telling
me what they though about the game was like the sight
and smell of anchovies. The anticipation was killing
me and I was very hungry for information about it.
It turned out that my resistance paid off. When a
copy MGS2 finally found its way to my PS2 I spent
the next week enjoying myself surprises and all. Much
to my dismay I found out later that not many other
people liked anchovies as much as I did. However,
in this case, I did like them and was rewarded with
an Anchovy buffet.
If you want to know about video games "Media Pizza"
will constantly serve pizzas to your table. What you
choose to do with them is for you to decide but I
doubt avoiding them is a reasonable choice. While
it's very easy to "tune out" the Anchovy makers screaming:
"Anchovies are good, these will be the best anchovies
you've ever tasted", the more subtle opinions are
difficult to avoid. Reading the basics and avoiding
the details is one method. As an individual you'll
need to experiment with different amounts of media
exposure before a comfort zone can be established.
Like an Anchovy hidden under cheese the Media is a
great way to find out information about games but
also presents you with a risk of being TAINTED.
-wileee
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