If you’re a fan of anything…. film, music, comics…. what’s the one thing that you crave the most, aside from the actual thing? Information of course; among many other things, you want to know what’s going on in its world, about the folks and events relating to it, and (often most importantly) what out there is good or bad. The same holds true for video games, but unfortunately, finding reliable and accurate information can be an impossibility the vast majority of times.
I myself am a video game journalist, and that term is pretty much a joke among the hardcore game aficionados. So what does that exactly say? That those in “the know” are well aware that what they read and hear is pretty much crap, which is pretty much the truth (though I personally am more concerned with the fact that those who aren’t in the know don’t realize that what they are being told is often worthless).
There’s many reasons why the journalism side of gaming is the way it is one could suppose…. for one thing, given that video games itself is a relatively new thing, its no surprise that the journalism component is as well, and therefore hasn’t found a real voice yet. But those paving the way are not doing a stellar job of it (more on that in just a sec).
But the bigger issue is the relationship that game publishers and magazine publishers have; game companies don’t want negative press for a game that’s in mid-production since poor word of mouth can have more of an impact that even positive buzz. A game that’s in progress is like a movie that’s still in the editing phase: just one or two seemingly minor changes can have a profound impact. But given the inherent participatory nature of video games, more so than any other media, its very difficult to shake off the negative feelings relating to game once a bad play experience has been had, or if it doesn’t look or move right. Which is why folks who write about them… at least on the print side… have to be very delicate when discussing a game that still in production. And often this can lead to an over cautious overview of a title. Hence why when some magazine are overly generous when previewing a game which obviously looks bad, and ends up getting poor scores anyhow, folks begin to wonder. But is it that easy to place blame on the magazine?
EGM gave much attention to the now infamous Enter the Matrix a few summers ago and it looked like crap. I was pretty clear at that point that it would not be able to deliver all its promises, and no surprise, the game scored poorly. But I always wondered why couldn’t EGM figured this out ahread of time as well? Were they just being as objective as possible? Maybe. Or was it that they didn’t want to risk damaging a relationship with the publisher and lose out on future stories?
Each video game magazine is in a constant battle over the next big story, which they all rush to get on their covers to then win over a person’s $5 at the magazine rack. It’s always been the case since day one, but these days their biggest foe is not among themselves but the internet. The lead-time for a magazine is usually two months, and some website can deliver that same exact content in just a few hours. So due to this constant battle over time, “mistakes” can and will happen, mostly on the review side of things.
One of the biggest dirty secrets in the industry is the fact that many reviewers simply never finish the games that they rate. Some say that it’s impossible nowadays since many games can range between 60-80+ hours in length. Other feel that there’s no excuse; its like a film reviewer watching the first half of the movie and basing his or her verdict from just that. Sometimes a reviewer will base judgment upon a game that’s no finished or which hasn’t been finalized. It can be a necessary dirty trick to get bragging rights of having the first review of such and such title, and its always painful to read some astute reader expose this tactic.
I fall into both camps actually… I know that it can be super difficult to finish certain games, especially with a looming deadline. But that’s the way it is, and when I first started reviewing games for GMR, I took the job very seriously and made damn sure to beat every single game I was given, no matter how difficult (or spiritually draining-ly bad) it might be. But things didn’t always work out no matter how hard you try… there’s one game I reviewed that I never actually finished, which it was a title which had about 100+ hours of gameplay and was in a genre which I flat out am horrible at. Thankfully it was a franchise title that has a strong legion of fans that were going to buy the next game in the series no matter what I said, but it still bothered me. And that there is main problem here, with all of game journalism, and it’s that no one really cares.
People chuckle when I say that I’m a video game journalist, but when I say that I take it seriously, folks flat out call me an idiot. Can I blame them? There’s virtually zero qualifications when it comes to writing about games other than being good at games I guess. Hey, is a guy who really, really like Sly Stallone automatically qualified to write about movies? Not really, but there’s no adherence to common sense in the game writing biz. And what perturbs me the most is how holier than though many people act. As seriously as I take things, some take it way too seriously. I can’t tell you many times I’ve spoken with a fellow writer who went off on how hard and difficult it is to play games for reviews, how its such a chore and how jaded he’s become. My response is always “Hey asshole, you get paid to play video games. That shitty game you had to play? You got $300 for it. That’s like every teenager’s wet dream. So please shut the fuck up.”
Back to the seemingly un-winnable war that print magazine wage against the web; since its almost impossible to directly compete, then why doesn’t the print mags do something different? Why concentrate on reviews that will almost always be outdated and do something different, like more special interest or even investigative? Because the audience is not there, at least not yet. So its interesting that web writers are the ones taking the initiative and doing just that, something different. And in doing so, they’ve created quite a fuss, and their movement even has a name, “new games journalism”, which was the hot topic (or joke) a few months ago. I chose not to much about it back then (I just didn’t want to get involved), but will say now that I loved the old guard’s reaction. They know the current means of business is simply not working; just barely scraping by is not good enough, but till someone or something has the guts to really shake things up, business as usual will continue to commence. And those who rely on that aren’t going to take too kindly to those who are eager to point out the flaws.
But the thing is, most of the complaints were totally spot on. The whole new approach of writing, which is primarily from a first person’s point of view, which actually makes sense since playing games is such a singularly experience, is one of those things that looks great on paper, but is often excruciating in execution. There’s a fine line between exploration and narcism and much of what’s out there is pretty bad. But it almost has to be done, for things to evolve and improve.
Hey, I at least appreciate off the beaten path game writing for the web as opposed to the mainstream fare, in which there are two main outlets for the time being, Gamespot and IGN, and which is why I’m rambling on about game writing in the first place. Take everything annoying and flawed about game writing for magazines and take away all associated excuses relating to creating a magazine, like deadlines, up the poor grammar and spelling, increase the made up bullshit ten-fold, plus add a dash of internet driven ego-boosting, and you get Gamespot and IGN.
Yesterday I came across this: a story that states that the new Harry Potter book’s first day sales numbers might eclipse that set by Halo 2, which shattered and created new records. Okay, so, what’s the point? One’s a book and another is a video game. It could be argued that both are major forms of entertainment that appeal to young folks, and that ultimately at least one book, the most popular one out there right now, is more so than the most popular game (which btw, is good news to me). But seriously, what does one thing have to do with another? Nothing. And that’s my point; the writers of Gamespot (and IGN) seriously have nothing better to do than just make up stories. And this is a very light example. Otherwise they just report rumors or half-truths as fact and enjoy all the calamity ensue, as folks battle it out on the message boards. The editors of both sites know that what they say is bullshit, but they also know that perhaps 25% of what they say is true, and they’re willing to lie or make up stuff in hopes of getting that 25%.
Misinformation is without a doubt the single most crippling thing in the video game industry today. I still believe without a doubt that one of the reasons why the Dreamcast died a premature death in the states is due to idiotic game store clerks from Gamestops and EBs who told folks that they were eager to buy a DC system that Sony’s new system was on it way and that the PS2 would have “photo-realistic graphics” and “blow the DC out of the water” and basically make the customer feel stupid for wanting what they came in for. Hell, how many times have you heard from some Best Buy goon that the upcoming Xbox 360 would play all Xbox games out of the box or that the PSP would play all PS2 games and DVDs? We know better, but most of the buying audience doesn’t. And most folks who read Gamespot and IGN don’t know that they’re being taken for a ride either. IGN takes the prize for the worst writing period. Take a look at any of their reviews and its total cluster-fuck of the English language. Granted I have poor spelling and grammar from time to time, but at least I’m just one guy and not some army of supposed writers and editors (and I sure as hell don’t charge you money for my site either). But another thing that I find some troublesome is IGN’s recent foray into the world of the opposite sex…
IGN has made news as of late thanks to their latest contributor. Her name is Jessica Chobot and she has a new feature called “WTF”. First off, how did she get her job? Well, and I’m not joking here, because of a photo of her liking a PSP. And that’s it. Or at least that’s as much as anyone’s been told…
What IGN is doing is simply cashing in on yet another popular thing these days, the “grrrl gamer”, which is a whole different can of worms. I know I’m going to get a lot of flack for saying this, but I find a good deal of grrrl gamers out there extremely annoying and infuriating.
Now let me just state for the record that I have absolutely no problems with women playing video games. For starters, my girlfriend plays games and if anything, I would like her to play more. And one cannot ignore the role of gender in video games; the main reason why so many women have been so turned off by games is that its such a male dominated industry and pursuit. Hence why I’m so pleased that more and more girls and women are openly admitting their interest in video games almost every day; the more women who play (and especially make) them, the better it is for everyone. And it goes without saying that I would love to hear what women have to say about games.
But I do have a problem with the female bloggers who seem to have made names (and practically careers) out of being super sexy and cute and that also happen to like games, and absolutely nothing else. Maybe I’m just a guy and am just missing the whole “girl power” aspect, but what exactly is so liberating and empowering about some 25 year old Barbie doll that uses internet/gaming lingo when writing and likes talking about how guys suck and other 10th grade level mumbo-jumbo? I don’t know… I think if I was a girl I’d find such shit pretty condescending, pandering, and all around annoying. It seems that to be accepted into anything, especially if it’s dominated by “boys”, you have to be “hot”, which is such a horrible message out there.
Then again, why can’t women who like games also happen to be attractive? It’s every person’s right to represent themselves in any way they want, and its not like I’m asking anyone to act like a martyr, but if you’re whole gimmick is sexual independence and breaking down the barriers, yet you’re constantly parading yourself around in tight outfits for the sake of fan service, well then…
Worse are the folks who are stumbling over themselves to capitalize on such a craze, such as IGN. Back to Chobot, who the hell is her article suppose to appeal to? First off there’s plenty of talk about manga, which makes sense and is even cool since that’s what’s popular with girls right now… but then there’s pics of her just lying around in bathing suits or on a motorbike. WTF indeed. It’s suppose to appeal to horny guys, that’s who of course, the ones that will instantly pay attention to the ramblings of a hot chick who has nothing to say, as opposed to a woman who has real opinions on something that they actually care about, but this other female doesn’t happen to flaunt hard nipples exposed to her Nintendo shirt which was purchased at Hot Topic.
There are some great female writers out there, some of them writing about video games. But considering how things are, their voices are not just being not hear, but are simply not wanted.
Anyhow, I’m embarrassed to admit that I am a subscriber to IGN’s subscription based Insider service, which allows me access to Chobot’s article, as well as others. I’ve always known the quality of writing to abysmal, but have stuck around only for the access to quirky Japanese commercials that are also made available. But its about time I put my money where my mouth is and cancel my account.
