-
I think the reasons nobody's talking about it is because the same old ground has been covered so many times before, over and over and over again. Honestly, how often am I supposed to be outraged that the media is using sensationalistic tactics to hype up a non-issue story during a slow news time of year?
It was the particular phrasing of that article that got me. Not only can you kill cops and use humans as shields, but the game goes so far as to let you wear gang colors and customize graffiti! When games allow people to spray paint walls they've just taken that one step too far.
James
-
my take...
I have to be careful here because I know a lot of excellent gaming writers who do not have schooling in that area, but this is my take...
The realm of gaming journalism, like many other areas is largely susceptible to that fanboy mentality, where you have gamers who love games and end up writing about them, which is fine, but these fanboys don't necessarily have the basics of writing under their belts, so we get articles that just fall short. Of course there are those who are naturally gifted writers, but for someone such as myself, I needed college to help me become a better writer, there is a lot to learn in the real world and a lot to learn in the academic world, so the best of both, I think, will help gaming journalism gain the legitimacy it deserves.
Another problem is that we haven't seen a big push for gaming journalism to evolve, perhaps because videogames as a whole don't have the intellectual substance of a great novel or an arthouse film...perhaps...I say perhaps because I think some games are worthy of serious coverage and can easily be likened to great movies, great books, etc.
I recently got into gaming journalism after years as an academic/pr writer and fiction writer, and it is hard. It's hard to care about a game that sucks and it's hard to find real inspiration when maybe 1 out of every 100 games is worthy of such inspiration. I really do respect good gaming journalists who are able to write solid reviews for games they love and games they hate...journalists who are able to take Elmo's Super Duper Adventures and review it clearly and succinctly. I mean gaming journalism has its own style and order, and to be good at it, takes a lot of time and failed attempts.
As for style, I prefer to involve myself in the review. I read Esquire each month and feel that if a gaming magazine could approach videogames with the same level of personality, quality writing, and detail as E does, then we would see the true evolution of the genre.
So far, I have only been truly happy with one review I have written, and I find myself constantly trying to get back to that level of inspiration --
http://www.got-next.com/reviews_read.php?id=103
So yes I do think there is an unseemly amount of bad writing out there, but this spans across more than gaming journalism. Read a NY Times from the turn of the 19th century and tell me that journalism hasn't devolved to a ridiculous degree. The same tenets of writing don't apply today, where we have everyone and their grandmothers becoming writers, but not taking the time to learn to do it right. I, in no way, feel that I have reached any comfortable level of writing mastery. Everyday there is more to learn and more to correct. As a writer, I think what fuels us, or what should fuel us, is that pursuit of perfection. It's amazing what power we have with words, if only we learn to use them effectively; otherwise, no one pays attention and who wants that?
ssb
