This is an opinion piece by Game Informer, which is drawing a lot of attention, so I'd like to get your thoughts http://www.gameinformer.com/b/features/archive/2013/10/28/opinion-shut-up-and-have-fun.aspx

I don't agree with it personally, as I feel this was the worst generation for games by far. Still an interesting read and look into the other side of the opinion though.

Opinions on the internet are often negative, and not just with gamers. Take a look at comments about articles on ESPN and any news service.

But this is the era of the privileged youth, so of course this was inevitable. People [censored] all the time, but they still buy their games, and you can easily avoid these people. I know I have. This article does nothing but complain about the complainers, and the only answer I can come up with to whoever wrote this is to shut up and stop caring what other people think. People play games for fun, but it's fun to complain about games too--especially if there are good reasons behind it.

Honestly, I think the negativity is somewhat justified. Not just in gaming, but in general, the recent 5-10 years have been very pervasive in attempting to integrate corporate 'eye on you' attitudes and it's very uncomforting. Look at the XBox One and all the press it got over the 'You'll never be alone again!' attitude they had about the camera being able to watch you and advertise based on your habits. Plus, the trends in heavy DRM and integration of micro-transactions and day one DLC is causing negativity. There's a very intrusive and 'PAY $5 TO PLAY THE NEXT LEVEL!' attitude in gaming today and I think it alienates the gamers in favour of those willing to $5 dollars to finish the game. I'd be more optimistic if the business model of gaming wasn't so proverbially claustrophobic.

That's very true as well. I follow some of the GI staff on twitter and for a few months now they've gotten more aggressive on the subject. I've seen them call out gamers repeatedly for being negative. It was only a matter of time until they published an article like this.

Maybe gamers have good reason to be disappointed with recent releases being dumbed down, shortened, full of bugs and not worth the money shelled out for them, then you can throw in the micro charging, the DRM, the spying on players collecting sellable data....but then I suppose the customer is always to blame. *sigh*

True, but you'll always have people argue on the balance between legit negativity and entitlement.

It's a bit of Herd Mentality really. If your happy, you will tell someone, if your mad, you will tell everyone. People see these posts and repeat them to the point that they take on a life of their own. So, negative news gets amplified out all of context. Couple this with the empowerment of the Internet, where people do not have to stand by and justify what they say, so they can say anything without having to back it up.

Me, I just play a game and decide if I like it or not. Then, I keep that opinion mostly to myself. Not completely, but mostly. As far as the platform goes, if it plays the game that I want to play, then what is there to complain about?

Yes, there were plenty of things to complain about with the Xbox1 release news, but it looks like that worked. And, that scares me for the future. Where a small group of rabid haters can get something changed that most of us don't care about enough to offer an opinion. Now, we may have to vehemently defend the mundane.

The majority of people do precisely what he says they should, just "shut up and have fun". The silence among the content just makes the discontent sound louder and larger than they really are. Only a slight minority of gamers are passionate enough to participate in online discussions about games. I think this is very important to keep in mind when gauging public opinion.