It really sounds like you're trying to say I'm using my personal experience as fact while clearly using your own as examples.  We can go back and forth trying to show each other up with 'examples' but I'm not really interested in that.  I was just stating that everything I've seen from media to the people I've known (who really do or have played competative Starcraft or Counter Strike) describe the games in this way.  And if I wanted to describe the games myself, I would agree.  Sure, there's a certain amount of skill to be had in Counter strike.  But when it comes down to it, it mostly comes down to a lot of repetition, memorization and timing.  And people who have played the same levels over years and done the same actions hundreds of thousands of times that they can shoot someone in the head in their sleep.  And is that really skill...or memorization?

However, I do not think there are a lot of people running around hopping from one genre to another and becoming the 'best' at each of those games.  In fact, I find its quite the opposite, with a lot of people playing the same genres because they're comfortable in those genres.  People jumping from one MMO to the other.  People playing one FPS to the other.  People playing one RTS and going onto another.  You don't see the top players in Counter Strike suddenly jumping over to Starcraft and blowing away all the Koreans.  They're still on Counter Strike or playing games like Battlefield 2 or MW2.

I think you should go back and play MK64.  At least it was playable and you could finish the game.  I could stay in the lead easily and finish every race in 1st. And the game wasn't harsh as the computer still utilized the 'selection' system for items, meaning it had a better chance of getting items based on what place it was in line.  It would only get a star or red turtle shell if it was farther back in line.

In Mario Kart Wii or Mario Kart DS, I can play the game and consistently be hit by the AI with blue turtle shells and POW blocks, like clockwork, on the third lap.  Or being hit by three red turtle shells in a row.  Even by people in third place.  Many times when I'm over gaps or right before the goal line.  Its not a matter of 'skill' when you're being targetted by items you cannot dodge and they always come whenever you get a certain distance ahead of the computer.  The only way to avoid it is to purposefully stay in 3rd or 4th place (where you have the chance to get red turtle shells or a pow block) and use items on the third lap right at the end.  Which is totally counter-productive to the point of the game.  You know, trying to be first.

The games that have the true unforgiving AI is Mario Kart DS and Wii.  And its not unforgiving AI so much as they just aren't programmed well and single you out.

Yes see, even in the random pubs of CS I can't pull off shit like that. I can't just pick up the rocket launcher or flak cannon and end up near the top right off the bat the way you can do in CS.

Also I am sorry but UT is the definitive skill yardstick, specifically UT2004 where everything is retardedly fast. Q3 was close second, and the CS a far far third. And all of those 3 are a speck in the horizon compared to shooters post-Xbox.

I agree. MK 64 was flawed. But it was on the 64, so it was allowed to have flaws like that. I have played the game for I don't know how long, and experienced the unbalanced items, but that was OK, because then you could gamble a little. Let yourself be passed by someone to get better items on that one item box. That was part of the tactics, Try take an early lead and hold it, or push from behind with better items. You had to mix your tactics up a little. Yes the shortcuts were game breaking, but c'mon, you played with your friends, everyone respected the "no shortcuts" rule. Now, you play online, so it is much worse, you can't tell people to play like this or this. N64 and MK64 did not have that problem. The AI in MK64 was really shitty yes, and N64 is the MK game that introduced the horrendous catch-up mode. That's why I wrote SNES/64 so you could choose if you liked MK with or without catch up. I say MK64 because of the memories from it and the multiplayer. It was my first N64 game after all.

So at that time, for me, MK64 was a good game, and so was Double Dash (decent), but for me, MK Wii is total trash and a ruined experience. You can imagine I am let down when I buy the Wii 2 days before launch (lucky me) only to be disappointed with Zelda (GC version is better imo), MK Wii AND Brawl. The 3 franchises I have been playing for as long as I can remember (Zelda = NES+, MK = SNES+ and SSB = N64+, but ofc you know this, hehe ^^)

I'm not going to argue why Q3 > UT, or why CS > UT. I don't need to, popularity of these games and onoing progaming community shown the "finger" to Unreal Tournament years ago. It might be news for you, but in Q3 you could set up the speed of the game to pretty much anything you wanted. Even Painkiller was better than UT and it was a poor spinoff.

CS only remains because it's noob friendly. Just like any modern game. However saying that Q3 somehow exists more than UT is just laughable. The community around UT has created so much more than the community for Q that is clearly shows support for UT. UT basically far outpaces Q in absolutely anything. I also know you can set the speed to anything, you can do so in UT as well, but I am talking about the default speed.

Blue shells were worse for player 1 in double dash, and about the same in N64. In DD, they only hit player 1, not an area of effect. In N64 they had a chance to hit others because they went along the ground. Besides, a skilled player will be far enough ahead that they will still be in first after the blue shells and pow.

Also, the pow and lightning arguments are brought up every time, and shut down every time. A pow effects everyone in the front half of the race (everyone infront of the user) it does not help 2nd get into 1st. That said, once you learn to dodge pows, you can use them to shortcut over rough terrain, so they don't even adversely effect anyone except the noobs anyway. Lightning is similar, but it does effect 1st for slightly longer than 2nd, which it effects for slightly longer than 1st etc. However this is balanced by the fact that the further back you are, the more valuable the item you will likely be carrying and thus loose when you get lightninged. You should challenge Rol to a game of MK because it is quite apparent you've never actually seen anyone good race.

Yeah what ever... You are so delusional that trying to argue with you is complete waste of time. In the end, noob friendly game is alive and kicking after 10 years and is the only FPS to hold interest of both progamers and media, becoming a unchallanged legend of it's genre, while UT2004 was in the spotlight only in the year of it's release, forgoten one year later with whitdrawal from all major progaming events.

You seem to be delusional. First of all Quake has not been mentioned in the media for many many years while UT2004 still makes mentiones. Second, there are far more modders for UT than there are for Quake with more content being released as well. The only reason Quake got a small boost was because of Quake Live last year, and that's it. UT2004 tournaments are still upheld in LAN parties, not Quake 3. SO i don't know which rock you have been living under, but you need to stop deluding yourself.

Apparently I must not have seen anyone good.  Or I've just seen too many as I've been playing people online while in first place with a substantial lead and hit by 2 blue shells and a POW block without any momentum.  In effect, you can't do anything when you're constantly being hit with items repeatedly from a dead stop, even in first place.  Not to mention you get stunned for WAY too long whenever you get bumped or knocked into a wall.

Hence why I am saying Mario Kart Wii has flaws.  Its not about being 'good'.  There's some skill to be had.  But even after you learn the levels and how to control your characters, you can still lose many matches to stupid things like being hit by two red turtle shells in a row or being bumped multiple times from a dead stop and going from being 2nd to 12th place.

You are aware, I hope, that online mario Kart has hackers who can fire blue shells whenever they want? It sounds like this has happened to you. Here's a hint, if they do that, drop back to about 8th, get a good item, stay back until near the end then catch up to him without using the item and then use it to get over the finish line. Cheap tactics but hackers deserve it

The complaint "you get stunned for way too long whenever you get bumped or knocked into a wall" definitely makes it sound like the game is too hard for you.

If you get hit by a red shell, you are doing it wrong. Trail items behind you. Only drop/fire backwards when the next item is ready. If the next item is an upside down box wait until you're almost at some item boxes then fire both backwards.