The assault on Katzenberg... or Why are gamers so defensive?

Why can't gamers take a compliment?

Specifically, I'm fascinated by the really hostile response across the Web to my post last week that Jeffrey Katzenberg blamed videogames in part for lower-than-expected sales of the "Shrek the Third" DVD.

The bitbag said somebody should call Katzenberg a "wah-mbulance." Good Gamer, Bad Gamer determined that DreamWorks needed "someone to blame" and picked the game industry since it's "used to tak[ing] shit from everybody." Joystiq wrote "Shrek the Third's DVD sales are easily blamed on it being a mediocre film -- but nowadays blaming video games is so much sexier." Kotaku indignantly responded, "When you have no one else to blame, take the easy way out and just point the finger at video games." Comments on The Cut Scene and other blogs were similarly snippy.

I find this bizarre. In my opinion, Katzenberg was complimenting the videogame industry by accepting reality. Sure, maybe "Shrek the Third" wasn't very good and that's the main reason it didn't sell spectacularly. But it sure makes sense to me that since a lot of animated movie DVDs are sold as Christmas gifts for kids and this holiday season was the biggest one ever for videogames, some parents who in the past bought their kid "Shrek" or "Shrek 2" for Christmas spent that money on a Wii or "Guitar Hero 3."

Would gamers prefer that Katzenberg deny reality and say "Videogames aren't competition for us at all"? I think that's way more insulting. Maybe gamers are just so used to being treated like the turd on the heel of the entertainment industry that they are immediately suspicious of whatever a film executive says about them. Which is understandable. But in this case, I think gamers are being way too defensive when they should be celebrating another little victory on the road to respectability.