Some games have built-in fans who like to vent. And thats cool. Ive run into that a fair bit when Ive been critical of Playstation exclusives like Killzone 2 and Uncharted 2. Nintendo has its defenders, but they dont have that siege mentality. I wrote a negative review of Metal Gear Solid 4, but began with the premise that the game was mostly fan service, which might have deflected the death threats to your buddy who gave it an 8.
However, I think its important to look at that sort of anger as a sort of immaturity, a fundamental insecurity about your own opinion, about being unable to express it without simply being emphatic. Its a defensive measure more than anything else. If reviewers want to address this and I feel we should since it permeates the way people talk about videogames the best we can do is explain ourselves in such a way as to work around that defensiveness. Its important that were articulate, that we give context, that we talk specifics as much as we can, that we avoid lazy comments and clichés and hyperbole, that were willing to have conversations.
