Alright, people. Let's do this.
This is a challenge for anyone interested, and I hope alot of people accept.
Everyone has games, or genres, which they have no fondness for. Which they aren't interested in, don't have time for, and somehow, those genres and games get alot of attention and are widely respected in gaming culture. Classic gamers aren't very interested in more modern experiences, and vice versa. People who go through big story-based games aren't interested in the yearly sports game, and vice-versa. People who like JRPGs, don't like WRPGs, and vice versa. We all know the stereotypes, and we all have a little bit of gaming prejudice in our closets, which comes out when we want to scoff at the people who like games that are inferior to our MASTER RACE GENRE.
What I'm proposing, is this. You apply for the challenge, give a quick description of your favoured genres. What you like, and what you don't like. And here's the kicker... you have to be TRUTHFUL about this: You're not gonna play a game you assumedly don't like because of your own experience. So you're gonna play a game which you admittedly haven't given a real chance. (EVERYONE has games like these. Yes, EVERYONE) Then when you play it, you'll take a few screenshots or pictures, or whatever's at hand, and relay your experience with the game to the people. The important thing is to relay the experience as you go, while you enjoy the game yourself. We're not trying to make Let's Plays here, just what's your whole experience is being like, and what you're up to in the game.
There are a few rules we have to set up here, though. To make this a fun experience (apologies for the overuse of this word).
1- Whatever game you choose, it'll have to be a game that you haven't really given a real chance to. No playing a game you actually experienced enough to the point of disliking it outright.
2- No picking games which are widely considered to be weak examples of the genre. Whatever you pick, no matter how many underground fans a crappy thing has, it has to be widely regarded as a good game.
3- You don't have to finish the game. But you do have to at least experience it as much as you can, suck in alot of the genre magic, alot of what makes the game fun. If you play it for hours and still have yet to have any fun at all, you're welcome to finish your experience.
4- NO QUITTERS. And I do mean that in the sense of "tutorial's not being fun. Can I go now?" Play the game at your own pace, take breaks of how much time you want, but at least make the effort to play it.
5- No multiplayer stuff, at least if you can help it. We'll be focusing on campaign-only games (single player for youse peoples) for now. If a game is multiplayer-only, or the experience is made much better in multiplayer, whether it's versus or co-op, play with good friends and not random net griefers. And play with someone who knows the game, so they can try and make you have a good experience.
6- Don't go hating. Give the game a chance. Comment on other people's experience as well. Don't spoil. Help others enjoy their own experience. Just... the obvious things that don't need saying.
7- I don't want people to waste a fortune in a game they might not end up enjoying. But I don't want a plethora of "emulateable classics only" here either. Both old and new experiences, please. But try to choose games which are either cheap, or can be illegally obtained without alot of guilt on the way. If you need any game yourself, approach me by PM and I'll see what I can do about anything you choose.
I dunno if this'll be successful, but I hope it is. The main point of all of this, is to get you to try out entirely new experiences, and put simply, to have fun with them. To try out completely new experiences you haven't really given a shot, and to make it so there's less scoffing between genres and games.
I'll enter this myself, but I want to see how much attention this gets, and how many takers. I'll edit the post later so I can put in a list of whoever is doing this. Hope to see plenty of open minds here!