Vocab #11

affinity - a natural liking for or attraction to a person, thing, idea, etc.
Psychologically, you develop an affinity for an object even if you think otherwise (see: commercials).
bilious - peevish, irritable, crank; extremely unpleasant or distasteful
Bobby Kotick and John Ricticiello are bilious, yet successful CEOs of their respective companies.
cognate - allied or similar in nature or quality
Some people believe that video game PR and video game journalism is cognate.
corollary - an immediate consequence or easily drawn conclusion; a natural consequence or result.
Rab Florence's article and the subsequent fallout with Lauren Wainwright was corollary considering the damning evidence.
cul-de-sac - any situation in which further progress is impossible.
Lauren Wainwright's subsequent Fallout after Florence's article has left her at a cul-de-sac, with no legitimate way out.
derring-do - daring deeds; heroic daring.
Some people consider Robert's article a derring-do.
divination - the practice of attempting to foretell future events or discover hidden knowledge by occult or supernatural means.
Some people attempt divination in the hopes that they can better predict the games industry (Michael Pachter) but more often than not, they are wrong.
elixir - the quintessence or absolute embodiment of anything.
Some people hold Half-Life as the elixir of first-person shooters, but I tend to disagree.
folderol - a showy but worthless trifle
The Collector's Edition of games are, at the end, folderol; no one really cares one way or another.
gamut - the entire scale or range
The gamut of Nintendo games range from pure classics (Mario 64) to downright disgraces (Wii Music).
hoi polloi - the common people; the masses
Rob Florence's article on the corruption of the journalistic integrity in the video game industry created an uproar among the hoi polloi.
ineffable - incapable of being expressed or described in words; inexpressible
The amount of vitriol and hatred that spews out of the Internet is simply ineffable.
lucubration - to work, write, or study laboriously,
Some people believe one of the problems of the video game industry is the lack of lucubration among game journalists.
mnemonic - assisting or intended to assist the memory.
Video game companies send gifts to reviewers as a mnemonic device for when they inevitably review the game.
obloquy - censure, blame, or abusive language aimed at a person or thing, especially by numerous persons or by the general public.
EA has been the subject of obloquy due to the rushed Mass Effect 3 ending, and Medal of Honor: Warfighter.
parameter - characteristic or factor; aspect; element
Metacritic has influenced game reviews so much that any game under the parameters of 80-100 is automatically considered garbage.
pundit - a  learned person, expert, or authority
Geoff Keighley was considered the pundit for journalistic integrity, but after Robert Florence's article, that has been questioned more frequently.
risible - causing or capable of causing laughter; laughable; ludicrous.
The movie The Hangover is known for its risible events.
symptomatic - having the characteristics of a particular disease but arising from another cause
Some people believe that EA's buyout of BioWare has corrupted the company, but I believe it's much more symptomatic than they make it out to be.
volte-face - a turnabout, especially a reversal of opinion or policy.
Stephen Totilo had a volte-face, originally he wasn't going to post about Florence's article, but he had a change of heart over Kotaku backlash.