It's no secret that videogame journalism has been thought of as a joke, for quite some time now. Low quality opinion pieces, off base rumors, and poorly written reviews, complete with spelling and grammar errors, have been commonplace in our industry for as long as I remember. Apparently, videogame "journalism" doesn't require the credentials one would have to have, in order to break into the news industry. So, to close off my "What's Happening to..." mini-series, I've decided to take a jab at the quality of videogame journalism.
For every well written piece, it seems like there are a dozen poorly thought out, flamebait pieces. If that doesn't suit your fancy, how about rumor articles contemplating the announcement of some game, based on the factual, and credible authority, of a small retailer in a remote country, who happened to list said game on their website.
Many often wonder why videogames are not regarded in the same way as other media, like movies, or books, or virtually anything else. It's unlikely that the problem can be attributed to one thing, but I'm sure the quality of journalism in this industry, does not help. Of course people want that all to change, or, at least, that's what they say. However, what I'm about to say, might be evidence to the contrary.
Recently, I wrote an article, contemplating Nintendo's end game, after their decision not to hold an E3 conference, for the second year in a row. My original plan, was to stop at that.
But, then I thought, I might as well write an article about Sony and Microsoft, to show that I can, and because, I have to write an article everyday, to keep this blog going, so anything I can do to fend off writer's block, is a good thing. Such obvious filler required little planning, and the whole thought process behind those pieces was lazy. Actually, I didn't think much of either piece, when I wrote them.
Someone advised me to post those articles as opinion pieces on N4G, and the response shocked me. You would think that such pieces wouldn't get any attention, because I'm not even sure they were worth the time I put in to write them, and can't imagine why so many people would want to read them.
But, read them, they did. A picture's worth a thousand words, and I have two of them. Oh, most of the responses were negative. People claim not to like articles I'm not particularly fond of myself. But, their actions say otherwise. I've never had so much traffic on this site. Welcome, to all of you. I'm flattered that you would even give me the time of day.
I've tried my hand at posting legit news pieces, but they have gone virtually unnoticed, while the trash I posted recently, was off the charts. Though my data may be insufficient, it seems reasonable to conclude that trashy opinion pieces are what people enjoy reading. Perhaps videogame journalism is the way it is, because that's the way people like it. If so, nothing is going to change, so we had better get used to it.
What are your thoughts on videogame journalism? Have you checked out my masterpieces from the last couple of days? Of course you have, why would I even bother asking? Regardless, leave your comments below.
Cubed3's Lee Mehr: " 'A cold-case detective thriller without genuine detecting' sounds more like a strange joke than proper description for this game. Combine that alongside poor storytelling and shoddy presentation, and it’s sad to say John Morley’s final case ends with a pitiful whimper rather than a bang."
Console Creatures writes, "Super Bomberman Collection takes the four-decades-old hero into the future in a way that could hardly be any better."
1C Game Studios revealed the development and post-launch roadmap for the Korean War flight simulator Korea: IL-2 Series.
Trolling works on this site. There is no doubt about that. I've seen teriffic "Extra Credits" and "Game Theorists" content go ignored consistently on this site in favor of trolling crap. Even this guy does a weird but funny blog series http://n4g.com/user/blogpos... that is actually good but nobody seems to care. They would much rather read this nonsense for the 100th time http://n4g.com/user/blogpos...
This site gets the content it deserves.
"It's no secret that videogame journalism has been thought of as a joke, for quite some time now."
Only by the cynics. There's a good amount of writers and sites out that I personally enjoy to read.
"Low quality opinion pieces, off base rumors, and poorly written reviews, complete with spelling and grammar errors, have been commonplace in our industry for as long as I remember."
They're only commonplace because readers would rather flock to articles that they hate in lieu of actually searching out authors and sites that produce quality content.
"Apparently, videogame "journalism" doesn't require the credentials one would have to have, in order to break into the news industry."
It does, actually. Like every form of journalism, you need to write constantly, network, and get your voice out there. There's also a little luck involved.
"For every well written piece, it seems like there are a dozen poorly thought out, flamebait pieces."
They only exist because the readers flock to them. If the readers did the right thing and ignored these sites and their articles, they would eventually go away.
"If that doesn't suit your fancy, how about rumor articles contemplating the announcement of some game, based on the factual, and credible authority, of a small retailer in a remote country, who happened to list said game on their website."
This happened with games like Mirror Edge 2 and Call of Duty, and they turned out to be correct. And rumors should be taken as such. Most sites I know are very clear in the title that it's a rumor/speculation. If you don't like that type of news, then don't read it, and maybe the site will think differently about posting it once they see their numbers drop.
"Many often wonder why videogames are not regarded in the same way as other media, like movies, or books, or virtually anything else."
Film, TV, and books have been around for much longer than video games. TV in a particular is a more universal medium. Everyone watches TV, but not everyone plays video games.
"It's unlikely that the problem can be attributed to one thing, but I'm sure the quality of journalism in this industry, does not help."
It begins and ends with the readers. All it takes is for people to stop feeding into flamebait articles and other sub-standard content, and these sites will disappear.
There is a lot of leftist gibberish that goes into game journalism, but it hasn't come close to infecting the majority.
I'd say for every one propaganda article i read on here, there are a hundred or so regular articles that aren't conjured up and loaded with leftist fantasy.
I don't really care how many trashy opinion pieces, clickbait articles and rumours there are, don't like them? Don't read them!
The real issue of why videogame journalism is a joke is the reviews.
Some/most? Sites and reviewers being paid or accepting gifts to give good reviews.
It's always in the back of your mind "are they being honest? ".
How many games are just sub standard, have glaring bugs, terrible framerate and/or tearing that don't get a mention in any reviews whatsover.
Some sites scoring seems to be between 7 - 10,afraid to give a low score for fear of advertising revenue being cut off.
Only one site still has my respect and that’s been a bit suspect lately, Eurogamer.
Not afraid to give 1/10, articles are interesting and well written and they also delve deep into the technical side of things with their famous face - offs.
When i finish a game i will score it in my head then check games sites reviews and nine times out of ten Eurogamer will match what i thought.
If sites/reviewers gave honest scores what would happen?
Advertising and future games withheld? Tell us "x" has not given us a review copy and we would know why.
Revenue would fall.
But, once word gets around that this is the site to come to for honest, no BS reviews then all the companies will soon be wanting to be associated with it.
For a short term fall in revenue, the long term benefits far outweigh it, also they'd have the respect of the gamers, and that's something money can't buy!
PS, excuse the writing, I'm no journalist.
The problem with gaming journalism is the problem with non-gaming journalism. You make more money the more sensationalist you are. Everyone loves good news, but they gravitate more to bad news or gossip than good news.
Obviously we would all love to have nothing but articles announcing games, showcasing their development progress, and showing us trailers, but that isn't possible. And the result is "Top 10 Sexiest Cosplays" or 5 articles breaking down the sentences from one interview.
There is also a HUGE problem with gaming journalism in that it is heavily PR based and favours specific groups. You could work your butt off trying to get stories done but you'll never get the kind of access IGN or Kotaku does because their access is set in stone. It's an elitist group filled with bought opinions and marketing deals.
Honestly, anyone's best bet in doing well in gaming journalism these days is to reach out to the indie devs. They always need more exposure and welcome it.