Games Journalism 2014: The Wherever-the-hell-this-has-gone

[CLWheeljack]

Is this a joke?

I don’t think this crowd is going to be especially receptive to that particular view of criticism.

[Teiman]

… Where’s my information on the supported resolutions? Aspect ratio issues? FPS locks? Being able to rebind keys? Stutters? Physics being tied to fps instead of delta time? Length? Replayability? Overall performance? FOV locks? Mouse acceleration? Gamepad support?

You probably go to a different reviewer?

Something funny I do sometimes, is to google for “Name of movie” + “subtext”. I had good laught with prententious critics of movies. Why not? in variety we grown strong!

Edit:
I got ninjaed by CLWheeljack

[Telefrog]

I don’t know who or what Brietbart is but the first two sentences are what many of us feel did happen. I’ve read game ‘reviews’ where the author didn’t even mention the genre of the game he or she was reviewing and instead went for the philosophical/sociological angle that I, as someone who primarily plays games for the gameplay, don’t really care about. Where’s my information on the supported resolutions? Aspect ratio issues? FPS locks? Being able to rebind keys? Stutters? Physics being tied to fps instead of delta time? Length? Replayability? Overall performance? FOV locks? Mouse acceleration? Gamepad support? The list goes on. I used to be able to find this information in the printed pc magazines back in the early 90s and at the turn of the millennium but today, apart from TB and a few other youtubers, I don’t know of anyone in the gaming journalism who focuses on the technical aspect of games in their videos or articles.

So please, mention that women are being objectified in the game you’re reviewing if you feel that’s the case, but can we, for the love of god, get some actual fucking information that’s relevant to the product that we’re buying to go along with it? Preferrably have the article split into sections so I can skip to the parts I’m actually interested in.

Welcome to a maturing media. This is what happens when gaming graduates from being a hobby for mainly technically savvy folks to something the mainstream culture can and should be interested in. It’s a multi-billion dollar industry that influences pop culture, youth, and people from all walks of life. Most of them don’t care about tech specs. They want to know how a game will make them feel.

It’s the difference between a consumer review like something Car & Driver puts out and the way Jeremy Clarkson waxes poetic about how a sports car makes him long for his youth.

[charmtrap]

You probably go to a different reviewer?

Something funny I do sometimes, is to google for “Name of movie” + “subtext”. I had good laught with prententious critics of movies. Why not? in variety we grown strong!

Yeah, subtext. So pretentious.

You’re not in a creative field I hope.

[Teiman]

Yeah, subtext. So pretentious.

You’re not in a creative field I hope.

I am writter. But my public is computers.

[Bateau]

Is this a joke?

I don’t think this crowd is going to be especially receptive to that particular view of criticism.

I don’t know why you edited your post, there was nothing wrong with it. It’s true that there are dozens of reviews for any given game as you pointed out but unfortunately I don’t have the time to follow hundreds or even thousands of sites that cover games so I limit myself to the well known ones. Or at least I used to, until I realised they don’t meet my needs so I started looking for information elsewhere, mostly on the forums. Hell, even the forums owned by these same sites often offer way more information that I’m interested in than the reviews themselves.

[Desslock]

I was curious and so I read this article and it’s dreadful, lying, cliched garbage.

You’re a tad too invested if an article written in such an even-handed, non-confrontational tone gets you frothing. Again, rather than even attempting to understand and appreciate other perspectives, it’s far too common to attempt to demonize, falsely categorize and silence anyone who is even respectfully offering viewpoints inconsistent with those you’ve determined you need to have.

You’re so enraged by the existence of another perspective, despite how reasonably and calmly it was presented, you’re just stumbling over yourself trying to “make it go away” by desperately trying to steer people away from it and by bleating out a bunch of nonsensical criticisms and mischaracterizations that aren’t even consistent, let alone lucid.

If people aren’t even interest in trying to understand each other, and instead would prefer to just dismiss anyone else as “corrupt” or “nepotistic” or “criminal” or “racist” or “sexist” or whatever either side wants to hurl at each other, any legitimate concerns will just be obfuscated or ignored because of all the unpleasant static.

[Telefrog]

I thought his article was a decent read, but it’s tough to take the guy seriously when his bio says this:

A one-man gaming encyclopedia, Alexander knows everything there is to know about video games and the beautiful women that star in them. As a member of the press and the game industry, he gets to play the latest hardware and software at E3 while rubbing elbows with gorgeous booth babes.

Then that list of articles! Oof.

[Teiman]

For the white anglosaxon immigrants that first settled in the new world it was tradition to declare war by taking a woodworker tool like a hatchet, and ceremonially bury that weapon in the ground. Doing so was a declaration of War to the Death by two towns. Otherwise, the white immigrants where peacefull and resourcefull.

So mistakes where made.

I found a low more wisdow in these videos/articles that ask people to pause for a minute, and maybe see things differently. Less bigoted way. People of all sides in this war.

If you can’t exterminate the people of the one side, you will probably have to learn how to live with them.

[Telefrog]

Here’s some regular journalism news: Chris Plante is leaving Polygon to work at The Verge.

Not a goodbye, but a thank you

[RickH]

Here’s some regular journalism news: Chris Plante is leaving Polygon to work at The Verge.

http://www.polygon.com/forums/meta/2014/9/5/6111567/not-a-goodbye-but-a-thank-you

They’re owned by the same company, aren’t they?

[Telefrog]

They’re owned by the same company, aren’t they?

Yup. He says he’s only moving “a few desks away” so it’s in the same building as well.

[AntediluvianArk]

Here’s some regular journalism news: Chris Plante is leaving Polygon…

#Gamergate strikes again! …

Yup. He says he’s only moving “a few desks away” so it’s in the same building as well.

Oh wait.
;)
-Todd

[Nesrie]

You’re a tad too invested if an article written in such an even-handed, non-confrontational tone gets you frothing. Again, rather than even attempting to understand and appreciate other perspectives, it’s far too common to attempt to demonize, falsely categorize and silence anyone who is even respectfully offering viewpoints inconsistent with those you’ve determined you need to have.

You’re so enraged by the existence of another perspective, despite how reasonably and calmly it was presented, you’re just stumbling over yourself trying to “make it go away” by desperately trying to steer people away from it and by bleating out a bunch of nonsensical criticisms and mischaracterizations that aren’t even consistent, let alone lucid.

If people aren’t even interest in trying to understand each other, and instead would prefer to just dismiss anyone else as “corrupt” or “nepotistic” or “criminal” or “racist” or “sexist” or whatever either side wants to hurl at each other, any legitimate concerns will just be obfuscated or ignored because of all the unpleasant static.

Let me correct something for you… it’s not even handed it’s underhanded. There is nothing to understand there. It’s dismissive and heavily biased like a lot of his material. I had already wasted my time on it. It’s worse than the mysterious unnamed developer on a hidden site that managed to get attacked by a lot of people he has labeled as social justice warriors…

[Aleck]

I don’t know who or what Brietbart is but the first two sentences are what many of us feel did happen. I’ve read game ‘reviews’ where the author didn’t even mention the genre of the game he or she was reviewing and instead went for the philosophical/sociological angle that I, as someone who primarily plays games for the gameplay, don’t really care about. Where’s my information on the supported resolutions? Aspect ratio issues? FPS locks? Being able to rebind keys? Stutters? Physics being tied to fps instead of delta time? Length? Replayability? Overall performance? FOV locks? Mouse acceleration? Gamepad support? The list goes on. I used to be able to find this information in the printed pc magazines back in the early 90s and at the turn of the millennium but today, apart from TB and a few other youtubers, I don’t know of anyone in the gaming journalism who focuses on the technical aspect of games in their videos or articles.

So please, mention that women are being objectified in the game you’re reviewing if you feel that’s the case, but can we, for the love of god, get some actual fucking information that’s relevant to the product that we’re buying to go along with it? Preferrably have the article split into sections so I can skip to the parts I’m actually interested in.

You, sir, need to spend more time at Objective Game Reviews.

[Desslock]

Let me correct something for you… it’s not even handed it’s underhanded. There is nothing to understand there.

Be specific if you are trying to persuade or make your point. You’re doing exactly what we’re complaining about – being dismissive and trying to silence other views by trying to diminish them outright, without even trying to make your point with substance. Of course it’s “biased” - it’s expressing an opinion, and it’s doing so civilly, unlike so many articles and opinions on this subject matter.

[Nesrie]

Be specific if you are trying to persuade or make your point. You’re doing exactly what we’re complaining about – being dismissive and trying to silence other views by trying to diminish them outright, without even trying to make your point with substance.

Actually I already did. You can go back and read it if you like, but you can certainly start with the number of times your writer uses the word “annoying.”

[DDB]

Be specific if you are trying to persuade or make your point.

You’re not persuadable if you thought that trash had any merit. Like, if you linked to an article that calmly wrote out “I think it’s ok for developers to make a game where the main character is a big-lipped, ape-ish black guy who refers NPCs as ‘master’, if that’s the game they want to make - and you’re an ‘SJW’ for being offended by it. Stop being so politically correct, and it’s really annoying to hear you complain about how racist it is” and you posted it and said “this guy makes some good points that the other side doesn’t want to acknowledge” then I would laugh at your obliviousness. I certainly wouldn’t spend any time at all trying to show you that that’s a reprehensible view from a shitlord.

BTW, speaking of shitlords, if you click on the author’s byline, here’s the “funny” bio he wrote: “A one-man gaming encyclopedia, Alexander knows everything there is to know about video games and the beautiful women that star in them. As a member of the press and the game industry, he gets to play the latest hardware and software at E3 while rubbing elbows with gorgeous booth babes.” That’s puerile garbage. Just like the article. Sorry if this is too “frothing” for you to handle.

[Desslock]

Actually I already did.

No, you didn’t at all. Not even a smidgen. You just labeled and dismissed it, and added an ad hominem for good measure - exactly the sort of behavior that’s being highlighted as so wretched. It’s not substantive to say “I wasted time on it” - it’s giving it a dismissive label and trying to bury a viewpoint you disagree with or don’t understand.

The fact that he highlights a phenomenon that he, and many others, find to be annoying isn’t “underhanded” - it’s expressing an opinion, civilly, and trying to illustrating how the dismissive labels of SJW-types are often inaccurate because there’s a more obvious reason for why a lot of readers dislike their approach.

[TimJames]

#DescribeAGamerIn4Words came from the SJW devs and journo community. Check out the tweets from August rather than the last few days, where the #NotYourShield folks are using it.

Someone please tell me “Moms Against Gaming” (@MomsAgainstGam) is satire.