Game journalism is a disgrace

[TheWesDude]

i used to read computer gaming world all the time. plus that like maximum pc or whatever it was.

i like RTSes, and they gave a huge review to starcrap. it was horrible and simplistic. a click fest.

then i re-read their dark reign reviews and they praised it for its options and AI options and the map editor and such. figured that favorable starcrap review was due to them pandering to the AAA publisher which was kinda understandable at the time.

then they did a review of supreme commander where they panned it for its complexity and upgrade system.

strike 1, 2, and 3.

final nail in the coffin was the review they did on another game, i forget what game it was. but they gave it a glowing hugely positive review. but when i played the game it was horrible.


RTSes should be moving forward. simplicity and click-fests like starcrap need to stay in the 90s. we have much more powerful hardware and we can use it for far more complex ai and fuller options like what Dark Reign and Supreme Commander did.

FPSes are doing the same. complex ones like quake and unreal and such get panned nowadays and now we get games with being able to hold 1-2 weapons, all picked at start of round, no finding weapons on maps, no armor pickups... we get games like COD and halo and crap. they are crap. they are not very fun. i do not know how people enjoy playing them for hours on end.

at this point, the gaming media cant grow a sack. too many have caved. at this point its up to the fans en-masse to demand honesty.

 

[Alphadrop]

Well, TBH, we all know Kharn is always manipulating us. He manipulates me like four times on a daily basis. Not that I mind too much tho'.

Can you show the jury where on this doll was Kharn manipulating you?

 

[Ilosar]

but you also have pressure from fans on the other, fans who just want to see their favorite games slobbered on professionally so that their opinions are rubber-stamped.

Case in point, with examples no less, http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/EightPointEight .

Yes, I just provided a TvTropes link. No, I am not responsible for the hours that will be wasted because of this action.

As for Kotaku, if there's one example of a site being in bed with publisher PR and acting like they're not, it's them. At least IGN is kinda-sorta honest about what they are.

EDIT: When even Jim Sterling finds that the ''big game = big score'' situation has gotten out of hand http://www.gamefront.com/gears-of-war-3-perfect-review-scores-by-divine-right/

 

[Dead Guy]

Well, TBH, we all know Kharn is always manipulating us. He manipulates me like four times on a daily basis. Not that I mind too much tho'.

Can you show the jury where on this doll was Kharn manipulating you?

 

[Yoshi525]

Good stuff BN. Incidentally, I've found all the Gamebanshee reviews I've read to be well throughtout, detailed and fair.

edit: Da fuck at the pages 2-3. Though it does fill in some blanks for me.

~Yoshi

 

[ptar]

really? really

What do you really want at the end of the day? Honesty or truth? An honest man will give you his opinion in 2 sentences or less after giving you his name. A liar will quote truth all day and still tell you what you want to hear. That's what it boils down to, opinion.

Where's that BS detector they keep trying to invent? I hope it runs on java (or equivalent sun microsystem compatability).

 

[PlanHex]

This write-up on the Codex is pretty good too:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=8579

 

[Crni Vuk]

Speaking of fabricating and manipulating, it's funny how you claim I "absolve" Beth when all I've said is that they're better than others in my experience because they don't do pressure/blacklisting stuff with professionals, which is not the same as absoluving them of everything. I have said they do press trips and gifts, and that's a problem. They're just relatively not among the worst, because they're better at the positive spin side of things. I still think they manipulate, that many journalists are way too much biased fanboys of them, and that their interpretation of Fallout kinda sucks and Fallout 4 will probably not be very good. Sure sounds like they got me in their pocket, right!!

I see your glittering gem of hatred somehow lost its glitter :p !!!

*Edit
Thing is, people don't realize that NMA is lead by a very small and Conservative, almost fascistic fallout-uber-alles loving core, working in the background like a shadow government, like the Enclave. BN is our liberal looking and acting face. Our puppet. Our Manchurian candidate! You people, are all just falling for his integrity and great intellect to boost our traffic. It has always been about politics. Fallout today. The World tomorrow.

 

[Per]

This write-up on the Codex is pretty good too:
http://www.rpgcodex.net/content.php?id=8579

I got mired in a sentence or two, but overall I liked it. I was surprised at how much of the forum thread was made up of complaining about how reading long paragraphs is hard.

This part was a little puzzling

like Penelope refusing her army of suitors or the goddamned Batman

because I don't remember Batman being in the Odyssey.

 

[DJS4000]

what the fuck is going on in this thread?

 

[Jebus]

I see no-one mentioned Eurogamers head-honcho Tom Bramwell's update yet.

 

[ptar]

Kick-backs yo. Srs bsns. :hangman:

 

[TheWesDude]

it did just happen yesterday.

 

[Brother None]

This may be the best follow-up article, because this guy highlights all the problems exactly by arguing in favor of corruption.

We don't need rules! Having rules would be an admission of guilt! Also how can I do my job without compromising by accepting gifts!?

Like I said before, guys like Keith here personify the problem. Prioritizing getting buddy-buddy and having press access over basic integrity is the crux of the problem.

 

[Kyuu]

That article's author focuses on the most inane example (eating a free sandwich at a press event) to try and make a point, then proceeds to frame the issue as it being the vast majority of incorruptible, Batman-like journalists like himself against a minority of greedy slobs. He pretty plainly just doesn't get it.

 

[Brother None]

Haha, it just doesn't end

Additionally, earlier this year Square Enix and Intent Media forged a partnership to promote Hitman: Absolution in MCV, (the aforementioned magazine for the videogame industry.)The Hitman Sniper Challenge is a monthly competition started in July 2012 and will run until December 2012. Industry professionals are invited to download a Hitman minigame to see who will be "The UK games industry’s top assassin." It has featured every week in the magazine. The first winner in July was David Scammell who is Lauren Wainwright’s partner and whose tweets are regularly quoted in MCV . A version of the Hitman Sniper Challenge has also been made available to the public who pre-ordered the game.

When Michael French was asked on Twitter "can you comment on what sort of work Wainwright does for Square Enix? They're listed as one of her clients." He didn’t reply. He has been curiously quiet in answering any further questions on the past week’s events. However this week’s MCV features does feature three page feature on Hitman: Absolution - written by Lauren Wainwright where she comments "It’s a triumphant return for a much-loved series with impressive visuals and cinematic story."

Nothing wrong here guys! Just move along!

 

[Walpknut]

"It’s a triumphant return for a much-loved series with impressive visuals and cinematic story."

Can you write a more generic and vague line of text?

 

[TorontoReign]

This shit hurts my heart man. I have a deep, nagging desire to become a reviewer, yet I see countless "journalists" that are completely... unqualified and highly overrated, with a serious lack of morals. I read numerous reviews with the same pre-prepared lines like the one mentioned above, yet this is the standard that we are expected to agree with? We are in the wrong because we ask for a little integrity and professionalism? What a joke...

 

[Geech]

When this first came out I was actually somewhat concerned that largely innocent, if somewhat naive and careless, journalists might be smeared as examples. But there more comes out, the more Lauren Wainwright looks rotten, rotten, rotten.

They've exposed a real stinker.

 

[Crni Vuk]

This shit hurts my heart man. I have a deep, nagging desire to become a reviewer, yet I see countless "journalists" that are completely... unqualified and highly overrated, with a serious lack of morals. I read numerous reviews with the same pre-prepared lines like the one mentioned above, yet this is the standard that we are expected to agree with? We are in the wrong because we ask for a little integrity and professionalism? What a joke...

yeah, but as BN said. Its somewhat what many people expect.

If tomorrow the gamers would suddenly demand a lot more integrity and lets say honesty (aka less hype), then people would start to deliver that.

People get what they ask for more or less. I mean even if you just start to be more critical you will have thousands of self-appointed crusaders and avengers spaming your twitter or facebook or what ever platform you use that you could not be more wrong and biased ... and I can not even imagine how it feels like to deal with such a crowd. Now to say that I am fan of Blizzard for example. But the last thing I would do is to comment on someones blog about how stupid he is when he makes fair points like the fact how many mentioned the issues when Diablo 3 was released like with the hacks and compromised accounts or that the game lacks serious end game content and so on.

Not going to blame only the users here, but well. Its like working as a chef in some expensive restaurant and the guest want MC cain fries with ketchup.