Over the past year or so I've noticed an increasingly large amount of people (here and other websites) use game linearity as a negative thing. But are linear games really that bad or are people just looking for reasons to complain? Of course, there are good and bad ways to do a linear game and perhaps more recent games don't do it as well as others. Maybe certain genres work better linear than others?

So VGChartz, are linear games inherently bad or are newer [linear] games just not doing it right? If so, can you name a good and bad example of a linear game? 

Personally, I've never had a problem with game linearity and have found quite a few enjoyable. But then again that's just me XD

nope

Not really... If Linear games are considered bad games, that means we have been playing many horrible games for 7+ generations

It depends on the genre/implementation.

I found it hard to get into FFXIII for its linearity. An RPG like that worked better in the FFVII-FFIX days with more open exploration and only a few guided corridor sections for storyline purposes.

I don't think there's any direct correlation between a game being linear, and a game being flat out bad.

Can someone give me an example of linear game? Are we talking about "Walking simulators" or overly simplistic games without much depth? Either way I don't find either being bad. Everything depends on execution and same goes for the opposite side of the spectrum.

Like you said, it just depends on the genre or if the creator(s) were trying to imply a message.

A linear game can almost be looked at like the natural ebolution to a movie - I think the word "art" could be skillfully applied here. They may not be everyone's cup of tea but they definitely have their place in modern gaming.

It was in the sense that you can only go in a linear path :P

zelda linear? nope

corridor linear? fuck them