I think a lot of the moral criticisms are quite shallow, as well. But the right response to this is to offer a rebuttal to the critique. Don't just say "You shouldn't critique this on a moral basis." Tell them why the critique is wrong, don't just dismiss it from the equation entirely.

I think that a lot of criticisms could be more substantial and well-thought-out, certainly. For example, I thought it was kind of thin how people chalked up the Dragon's Crown character models as inherently exploitative of sexuality (when they are actually quite fantastical and grotesque in ways, and stand in stark…

All things that we consume are already imbued with ideology because they are made in a world that is permeated by political concerns and the like. A game developer need not intend to build those things in, because they're already there. Simple example: GTA 5 assumes, from the get-go, that I'm of a generally capitalist…

Politics or, more accurately, ideology, is already a part of anything we consume. It's not something that needs to be built intentionally into a video game or whatever else. The critic, in observing these things, is so far away from being the actor inserting them into picture, and yet, that's what so many of the…

That kid in 30 years.

That's pure speculation at this point. Players cannot simply be expected to take it on faith that good Kinect controls are on the way. Microsoft and game developers have to take a leap and show us something.

The key question, I think, is why I'm spending $100 more for an XB1 than a PS4, specifically because it must include this device which, so far, only seems to exist to pander to TV networks, advertisers, and other corporate partners. Where are the brilliant in-game uses of Kinect that we should have seen by now from…

Yeah. To be honest, I think the time to show off Kinect as a "cool" device that can do all these neat, but not quite necessary for gaming, things, was in the current generation. Kinect could get by, for a while, on just being this futuristic toy for the industry to experiment with. But now that they're packaging it…

No, I never said that Sony executives didn't discuss cynical ways to profit, or that those things were never on the table at any point during the development of the PS4. To be perfectly honest, I have no clue what they discussed. I assume that bad ideas were probably floated alongside good ones, as would be the case…

I'd imagine quite a lot of people completed GTA 5. I never completed IV, and am horrible about completing videos games in general (especially ones that let you run around doing anything that you want), but I was absolutely driven to reach the end of both the main storyline and the Strangers & Freaks side missions.

Yeah, Sony may appear to "provide better value for gamers" But I guarantee you that in their board meetings they were saying things like "Well we should include the camera. We should have DRM. We should charge for Netflix. We should do all the things that Microsoft has done with the Xbox 360 and will be doing with the…

But what you're not allowing is that one strategy can provide better value for gamers than the other. You're saying that all strategies are equal merely because they have the same ultimate goal, to make money. Care to take us through your reasoning in detail?

So you'll buy a Playstation? Because they only cater to gamer wishes and not to the almighty dollar. If that's the case, I'd also like to talk to you about Volcano Insurance.

That Xbox One wanted to make money? Like every other console ever made?

Is it interesting to anybody else that perhaps the biggest feature reveal of the Kinect 2 so far has been made to fucking advertisers and not gamers? Microsoft hasn't shown us any significantly cool uses of the new Kinect hardware in games that are actually being developed right now. How long can they expect us to…

I still think it deserves the perfect scores. Setting aside the raw numerical value itself for a moment, if you're asking "does GTA 5 stand toe-to-toe, and then some, with other games that have received similar acclaim?" then the answer is most certainly yes. Looking at the Metacritic all time top scores, I'd put it…

Really? I haven't had much trouble at all initiating missions and getting people to join them.

I actually haven't run into a lot of that. Most of my free mode deaths happened very near to launch. I keep my guard up, for sure, but I think that, eventually, the "bad sports" will weeded out and segregated into their own little communities.

There is simply no way to get an online game "running online 100%" before you release it. There are so many unforeseen issues that pop up when you open the floodgates and actual users, with all of their different issues, and all of the unique errors they encounter, come pouring in. And at the same time, Rockstar has…

It's not even the multiplayer component of GTA 5. It's a separate thing that Rockstar is giving players, for free, above and beyond the ample, nearly universally heralded single-player experience.