This Game Sucks: A Guide to Giving New Games a Chance

It is difficult to break out of our favorite patterns of doing things, including playing new games or trying a new game system. However, it is important to remember that just because you are not used to the way a new game plays or the way a new system runs, it does not mean that there is something wrong with it. The following offers some advice on how to get over the hurdle of giving new games a chance.

1. Accept the errors of your ways. Nothing is perfect, including video games, the system that they play on, and, dare we say, even you! While trying a new game, you are bound to trip all over the place and make some of the goofiest mistakes that anyone could ever make. Try to remember that flaws are inevitable, and even the master of all masters (that's you) can blunder your way through a new game. Mistakes do not make you a terrible player. On the other hand, they do not make the game stupid or dumb. In fact, it is quite the opposite. If you find yourself making mistakes during a new game, it is time to slow down and give this game a second and more serious look. If something in the game tripped you up - you, the master of all masters - then the game could not be as bad as you first thought.

2. Play a new game when you are "in the mood". We live in a fast-paced world! So fast, that we mistakenly expect to understand a game within the first 5 minutes of putting it into the console. Then, when we are not sure of what to do, the game becomes confusing or just dumb. Never try a new game when you are not in the mood or when you are in a rush. New games require patience and a thorough read of their manual.

3. See the positive. There is something good about every video game, even the more violent ones (although we are not prepared to defend violent video games). While checking out a new game, think about what you like about the game as opposed to what you cannot quite figure out what to do yet. A positive attitude will carry on to other aspects of the game, and before you know it, you will be encouraged to carry on with it and make some real progress.

4. Do not be such a know-it-all. In other words, do not be blinded by your own conceit or skills in a particular genre of games that you close yourself off to new ways of accomplishing tasks. The biggest room is the room for improvement, and your room is no exception. Understand that the game you are playing may have something new to teach you about gaming as a whole. Then revel in it.

5. Continue to play. It is highly doubtful that anyone will like a new game in one day. Keep playing a new game until you are absolutely sure that you do not ever want to see it in your console again.

6. Play by yourself. It is quite possible that if you play a new game with a friend, you will be vulnerable to accepting your friend's feelings about the game as your own. Play a new game by yourself so that you can interpret your own feelings about the game and not anyone else's.