Games Journalism 2011: It Sunk Lower

Jason_Townsend · 2011-10-28T08:00:22.000Z

So will RPS introduce “Ask Qt3” or will there be some kind of bracket with GwJ and other grown-up sites?

Matt_Bowyer · 2011-10-28T08:06:59.000Z

Rock Paper Shotgun announces “Ask A Screaming Child,” their grab for the same NeoGAF demographic.

footmunch · 2011-10-28T08:15:17.000Z

Adam B:

Kotaku reprinting NeoGAF threads is sort of poetic, is it not?

So are Kotaku paying NeoGAF a freelancing fee?

Or contributing the revenue from the ad clicks to a charity?

bluemax · 2011-10-28T09:56:38.000Z

Adam B:

Kotaku reprinting NeoGAF threads is sort of poetic, is it not?

Especially considering NeoGAF has banned posting Kotaku links multiple times, yes.

Jeff_Green · 2011-10-28T10:06:08.000Z

sluggo:

In 12 years of reviewing games, I’ve never “forgotten” what difficulty level I played a game on. That’s because I generally just play on normal, unless it’s something like Guitar Hero or Madden, where people more commonly play on multiple difficulty levels.

So this guy says he played on Normal, and then someone suggested he was lying, and then the review gets ninja-edited without an editor’s note? That’s not sinister? It screams that the guy flat-out lied, got caught and tried to cover it up.

Yeah, the real error here was the ninja edit. I mean, shit, even THIS FORUM has a “reasons for edit” line when we correct our posts. Updating/changing stories to fix errors is a completely normal, par-for-the-course activity in journalism. The New York Times does it every single day. Had he just gone in and said, “Yeah, I messed up, and here’s why, and here’s what I’m fixing”…this would have played out differently.

inactive_user · 2011-10-28T13:21:48.000Z

I thought about making a new thread for this, but it loosely fits here as people who care about Game Journalism will probably find it amusing and this way I don’t shit up the Games board any more than it already is.

Anyway, it’s the holidays, and that means that the valve that controls the flow on the turd pipeline to my inbox is wide open. Share my pain.

Hello,

Next Monday G4’s X-Play will air a video game parody of HBO’s Game of Thrones, based on the bestselling fantasy book series “A Song of Ice and Fire,” by George R.R. Martin. Video Game of Thrones follows an Assassin and Space Marine, Hot Archeologist and Angry Bird, Plumber and a Princess as they vie for power in their quest to be the biggest game of the Holiday Season. Morgan Stark (Morgan Webb), Yoshi Khalessi (Jessica Chobot) and Link Lannister will all be a part of the show as well.

If this was a book, I dunno if even Angie would read it.

Jason_McMaster · 2011-10-28T13:24:33.000Z

Tim James:

I pooped on Jim Sterling’s doorstep when he gave The Witcher 2 a 6/10. True story.

He deserves it.

Jason_McMaster · 2011-10-28T13:28:01.000Z

Adam B:

I thought about making a new thread for this, but it loosely fits here as people who care about Game Journalism will probably find it amusing and this way I don’t shit up the Games board any more than it already is.

Anyway, it’s the holidays, and that means that the valve that controls the flow on the turd pipeline to my inbox is wide open. Share my pain.

If this was a book, I dunno if even Angie would read it.

Jesus Christ, Adam. I get a lot of shitty PR emails, but if I received this one I would have fucking jump kicked my PC into the fucking sun. Reminds me of this pile of shit. Oh, if you had anything to do with that Tiny Entourage thing, please kill yourself immediately.

inactive_user · 2011-10-28T13:54:23.000Z

Jason McMaster:

Jesus Christ, Adam. I get a lot of shitty PR emails, but if I received this one I would have fucking jump kicked my PC into the fucking sun. Reminds me of this pile of shit. Oh, if you had anything to do with that Tiny Entourage thing, please kill yourself immediately.

what is this i don’t even

Anyway yeah, you have no idea what an apocalyptic wasteland my inbox is. You keep the same email and publish it to all and sundry for eight plus years and see how you like it :p

Brad_Grenz · 2011-10-28T23:42:37.000Z

X-Play has always done goofy game parody sketches. I’m not sure what there is to get worked up about.

Budvar · 2011-10-29T01:16:46.000Z

Telefrog:

Have you looked at the comments section of online movie reviews? Amazon book reviews?

There certainly are rabid fanboys, but I have yet to see something to rival the histrionics on display in gaming.

I haven’t seen IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes erupt in similar ways over say a Roger Ebert review. Sure, there are controversial reviews and reviewers, but criticism in other creative domains seems to have a firmer status.

The arguments about the juvenile focus of the industry make a lot of sense though.

ZekeDMS · 2011-10-29T02:02:56.000Z

I blame the costs. A movie, brand new, will run you $20-$30, generally. A game’s going to be $60, not to mention the much higher buy-in costs of consoles and high-end PC components versus just a TV and a dvd or blu-ray player.

People are a lot more emotional about things that cost a hell of a lot more.

Adam_Eayrs · 2011-10-29T08:21:39.000Z

I blame the fans. Young, insecure men engage in ritualized conflict in online games discussions to assert their masculinity.

MattKeil · 2011-10-30T11:04:15.000Z

Brad Grenz:

X-Play has always done goofy game parody sketches. I’m not sure what there is to get worked up about.

Yeah, this is a fake trailer, not a new series, if that’s what Adam was thinking.

Toohoo · 2011-10-31T04:21:42.000Z

Telefrog:

Have you looked at the comments section of online movie reviews? Amazon book reviews?

Yeah, the NYTimes film review comments are surprisingly arrogant. I stopped counting how many of them have derailed the critic for no other reason than they disagree. I always though the Nytimes readers were supposed to have a higher levels of maturity, but apparently not.

Adam Eayrs:

I blame the fans. Young, insecure men engage in ritualized conflict in online games discussions to assert their masculinity.

That sounds like a psychologist quote you’d bring up in the middle of court.

quatoria · 2011-10-31T07:19:32.000Z

Adam B:

what is this i don’t even

Anyway yeah, you have no idea what an apocalyptic wasteland my inbox is. You keep the same email and publish it to all and sundry for eight plus years and see how you like it :p

Man, I feel you there. I’ve been using the same professional address for five years, and it’s already 90% spam. I’m including many of the press releases in that spam total. :P

MattKeil · 2011-10-31T10:17:39.000Z

kerzain · 2011-10-31T10:19:51.000Z

I’m glad you withheld the cock shots.

Jason_Townsend · 2011-10-31T10:22:38.000Z

After much perplexity during the loading process, I lolled.

Bill_Dungsroman · 2011-11-01T10:26:08.000Z

Scott Jones, still terrified of testosterone, whines about Uncharted 3 and gives it a C.

Sk0rt Jerms:

Uncharted 3 shows more people and more places, but tells players less. Gamers felt like they knew Nathan Drake at the end of Uncharted 2, at least a little. But by the closing moments of Uncharted 3, after spending 12 or so hours in his shoes, players somehow wind up knowing even less about him than they did at the game’s beginning.

WUT