“This week, Laura still has no name, and Switch makes a frienemy.”
WARNING: EXPLICIT (that means we say bad words sometimes)
Kids in this episode: Switch, Tayo, Tombstone, Laura (name still TBD)
“This week, Laura still has no name, and Switch makes a frienemy.”
WARNING: EXPLICIT (that means we say bad words sometimes)
Kids in this episode: Switch, Tayo, Tombstone, Laura (name still TBD)
Many of the good or better people working at the various video game websites, don’t like being called journalists, and don’t consider themselves to be journalists. You brought up the Gerstmann Gate debacle, and after that Jeff went on to make a new website (Giantbomb.com) with another Gamespot employee Ryan Davis. One of their founding principles was that they don’t want to allow any video game advertising unless they are actually sure of the game, as they didn’t want any publisher to break them, by pulling advertising, or have the need to pull advertising.
I know the 1UP and old EGM dudes weren’t (and 1UP people still aren’t) allowed to take any handouts. The 360 S consoles that they received from Microsoft they weren’t allowed to keep, and when a developer offers to fly them to an event, they have to turn it down.
If you look over at Bitmob.com, ran by some ex EGM dudes, they try to write some deeper articles that you’re used to seeing on most video game websites.
So while most of the video game press is exactly as you say, trade press, some try write with a little more journalistic thought. Leigh Alexander is a good example of someone who tries to write about issues surrounding gaming culture. She recently wrote about why Activision doesn’t want any female leads.
Lastly, you have the assembled Symposium from a couple years ago that wrote a great conversation about, “Review Policy, Practice, and Ethics.”
So while for the most part, you guys were right, and games “journalism” is a joke, there are those out there who will attempt to take a more journalistic approach, when possible, and look at gaming, and the things around it, with deeper thought.
You make a great point, and I’m actually a huge fan of Leigh Alexander, Jeff Gerstmann, and all the guys at EGM. The thing is though, for every one of those, there’s 30 or 40 other sites with competitive traffic numbers publishing half-thought, fanboy bullshit and “top ten lists” and calling it journalism.
I can’t speak for the rest of the DK crew, but when I start getting critical of journalism in the gaming industry, I’m not talking about the few great exceptions out there. What I’m talking about is every idiot out there flooding aggregate sites like Digg and N4G with pages of industry-dick sucking in the hopes of scoring a free review copy.
Steve Haske — who’s currently writing features at Ars Technica — and I are friends first and foremost because we respect each other as colleagues. His apartment is borderline disgusting with how much software is littered about (seriously, Steve, get a girlfriend …), but he’s never sacrificed the integrity of a review, and he never will. He spent years in school working on his skills and style as a real reporter, and for the internet to so callously level the playing field between him and every 13-year-old with a computer is disgusting to those of us that have paid real dues.
That’s not to say I or any of my crew don’t have more dues to pay in this business, but we’re not new at this either, so you’ll have to forgive us if our disdain isn’t so easily curbed by the few good professionals in a sea of amateurs.
Yeah, exactly–there are those few good ones, and then a bunch of trash.
Many of the people currently doing games writing got the job by happenstance, or because they knew somebody. They haven’t had much if any journalism experience, so they have to learn it all on the job–from others who also rarely have journalism experience.
Look at your Kotaku’s and Destructoids. To them, journalism is writing a title that will make the reader think it’s something they want to read/see, when most of the time you’ll click the link and realize you didn’t actually get the information you though you would receive.
There are those in the industry who have had some sort of journalism training, be a class, or that they worked on a school newspaper, they know something. Those are the people that you can really tell care about what they do, and try to do it with that training they received. One class can really make a difference.
In the future, I hope (and think) that people who try to break into games writing, are actually going for some sort of journalism degree. They’re going to need it to compete with the vast amount of people also applying for the same jobs. Games writing is still really young, and many of the writers sort of fell into the job, and they will eventually be replaced by those with better credentials. As many people as I hear write in to the various podcasts I listen to, asking how they can break into the industry (be it writing or design) that there are, I think the competition is going to be pretty stiff.
Also, it’s hard not to (barring writing skill) be an infinitely better journalist by taking just one journalism course, than the guy who hasn’t even taken one.
I totally get that the games writers as a whole are pretty bad. I get the disdain, just wanted to make sure those who were good at what they do, get their props as well. You can just call me the Fairness Doctrine. =p
Anyway, I have hope. And as long as we have critics of the industry, we have people who truly care about the industry.
Well said, man.
I like to think that all — or at least most — of our listeners are as invested in this culture we call “gaming” as you and I are … it helps me feel like what my friends and I have to say is actually worth something, and that helps me sleep at night.
Please feel free to write often.