I have today read what has to be one of THE most disgusting things I have ever read, and that includes that time when that autistic kid tried to use his disability to excuse himself out of editing Wikipedia...
Y'see, it all started with this;

A leaked magazine cover revealing a new Sonic game. 'K, fair enough, Sonic's gone all Medieval all of a sudden, but the website (The Sonic Stadium) that reported the leak had
this to say (also note the web address). Now, the website is run by a 'professional' journalist, so when I see a 'professional' write their opinion down in such a scathing, childish manner, it makes me wonder whether he's 'pulling our legs' when he claims himself to be said occupation.
Seems others thought that way too, so when the complaints started rolling in, he
had this to say (OK, so the first complaint is from a n00b, but it does contribute to the point). Stupid, eh? Makes me sick to the stomach.
I just about regret ever being a Sonic fan, because I know that I'm in the same filthy league as these drones. So they don't like the look of it, big freakin' whoop. It's the way these idiots are acting that gets me all fired up. Is it
that hard to say '
in our opinion, we aren't impressed' or is it some kind of law that Sonic fans just
have to overact whenever they see something they don't (or in 'Sonic Unleashed's case,
do) like and to cruelly mock all those with different opinions? Is THIS what being a so-called 'true Sonic fan' is all about? In that case, then sod Sonic.
Wanna know what I think of 'Sonic and the Black Knight'? I think it looks fantastic. It's something new, and unlike 'Unleashed', it actually looks like it's got the potential to be quite a thrill.
Wanna know what I think of 'Sonic Unleashed'? I think it looks and sounds great, but I sincerely doubt it will live up to the hype and therefore I 'bash' it.
Wanna know what I think of 'Sonic Chronicles'? I think it looks fripping awesome, for the same reasons as 'Sonic and the Black Knight'.
But I'm in the wrong too. I understand that every one of these upcoming titles, even 'Sonic Chronicles' (which is being developed by the legendary Bioware), may turn out to be another truck-load of tripe. In reality, I can't make an opinion out of any of these games until I've played them for myself, and if that's the case, then these losers who bash those whose opinions differ from theirs shouldn't be foaming in the mouth or hopping happily up and down either. If Sonic fans were smart, we'd all be speculating and making theories about the upcoming title rather than forming an opinion there and then. But nope, they ain't. They see one glimpse of something that looks even remotely 'un-Sonicy' or imperfect and they carpet-bomb it and all those who dare to defy them.
I remember when I was in the MFZ (Mystical Forest Zone) and TSS (The Sonic Stadium, the website above) forums, around about the time those car-crashes of a game 'Sonic '06' and 'Sonic and the Secret Rings' were well into development. The Sonic fan community were going about hyping them up as if they were the second coming of the Messiah. I dared to say '
I think these two games look like smeg' (in a rather childish way) and lo and behold, I was banned from both forums, MFZ for 'disturbing the peace' (bull) and TSS for 'not being a true Sonic fan'. I was still ridiculed when the two games eventually came out and turned out not to be the Messiah but 'two very naughty boys' (a piece of toast for those who got that reference). I'll admit that my complaints were a little nonsensical, but I blame that on the immature influence the fans had given me back then.
History looks to be repeating itself. 'Sonic Unleashed' is getting all hyped up while the RPG ('Chronicles'), the latest 'Black Knight' and their followers are getting repeatedly critisized. Now, if someone doesn't like the game, I'll only respect their opinion if it's being made by respectable people (for example, if Truro doesn't like Sonic Rush Adventure, I wouldn't mind, 'cos he's cool and doesn't b**** and complain about every single out-of-place pixel). Unfortunately, unlike Truro, there isn't a lot of resepctable people when it comes to Sonic fans, and the few that do have a brain-cell are the ones getting pummeled to the ground.
I learned from my mistakes and have since approached every Sonic game with a healthy balance of optimism and caution, so why can't these so-called 'professionals' do the same? If they don't like the look of a game, at least admit that they'll have to play it first before making such outlandish songs and dances. Until then, they can study what they like and don't like without going overboard on either.
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You know, I would just
love to go up to someone in the street one day and say, '
you think YOUR life sucks, try being a Sonic fan'...