I Have a Love/Hate Relationship With Spoilers

This update is going to be another short one.  I promise they'll get longer again tomorrow.

Spoilers are interesting to me.  Whenever a new one comes out for a game that I'm anticipating, I have an inner struggle.  They're like the apple in the Garden of Eden; part of me says don't look at the spoilers and the game will be even better when you first play it, while another part of me tells me that spoiling games hasn't ruined any of my gaming experiences in the past, so go right ahead.  I usually end up listening to the part of me that tells me to look at them, but I still feel like I shouldn't.

Even though I usually end up looking at spoilers, it's only for one game at a time.  When multiple games that I want come out within a month of each other, I usually end up focusing on a single game while ignoring the rest of them, so I've only spoiled one out of four or five games.  Take, for example, this fall.  I'm eagerly anticipating Uncharted 3, Kirby's Return to Dreamland, Skyward Sword, and Super Mario 3D Land, but I've only looked at Skyward Sword spoilers.  It's a lot easier to forget about the other three games when one game has had my undivided attention since E3.  I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but I try to be positive and think it's a good thing.  Sure, I may know every detail of Skyward Sword before it comes out, but hey, at least I'll be shocked by everything in the other three.  It's a fair trade off in my eyes.

Come on, you know you want to highlight them.

But enough about me, tell me about yourself.  How do you guys view spoilers?  Do you think they're okay to look at, or do you feel like they ruin your experience the first time around?  And if you guys don't look at spoilers, how do you avoid them?  I always find it difficult not to click links to videos or screenshots when someone posts them online.  I know of media blackouts where you completely avoid websites or topics on forums, but for me it's always there in the back of my mind.  I tried to not spoil myself of Pokemon Black and White, but I failed miserably.  I knew every single Pokemon in Unova before the games were even released in Japan.  I don't think it ruined the enjoyment I got out of Black and White, but at the same time, I think of how great it would have been to stumble across a Pokemon I had never seen before.

Well, there I go talking about myself again.  Anyway, leave your comments below, and if you don't look at spoilers, share your tips on how you avoid them.