Quote Originally Posted by Particle View Post
I don't think that's a universal feeling. I know that I enjoy games less when I buy them versus playing someone else's copy. I used to do a lot of the latter when I was a penniless kid. Now that I work I just buy my own outright. I feel like there's a lot more pressure when there's $50 at stake, that if I don't enjoy the game then I've made a terrible mistake. Back in the old days, it was instead just a matter of if I didn't enjoy it I'd go play something else. The worry of having wasted so much money is a serious damper I have to contend with. I've got a whole stack of games I've bought and never really played. Many of those are even A-list titles.
It's not entirely what I meant to say.

The idea is that if you pay money for a bad game there's a congitive dissonance: 'I spend money' and 'this game is bad'. To reduce the dissonance, you force yourself to believe the game wasn't that bad after all (!= "it was great"). In order to do that, you try to find the positive aspects of the game and are more balanced in your discussions about the game. It doesn't mean you liked the game more.

It's the same with people who will try to defend the hardware they bought as being the best choice simply because they don't want to face the fact that there was a better choice.

Because there's an easy access to games to be downloaded, there is no cognitive dissonance. As there's no justification required, they can just be as negative as possible about it.