A Plea To Game Journalist[s]

[Master]

It's late (3am)...I can not sleep...so I figured I'd post about something that has bugged me for a while:

It really bothers me when game journalists throw themselves in with the folks who actually make the games when they talk about OUR industry.

I'm not sure if you have noticed this as well, but I see this alot, especially in op-ed pieces, letters from the editor,etc....often times it reads something like this:

-We need to examine other ideas than just racing games or our industry will dry up....

OR

-Our industry is worth 11 billion dollars...

...but the thing is, the game journalists are not part of the game industry in my mind. They have their OWN industry: magazine publishing. Or web publishing. Or hey, even journalism! But not GAME MAKING.

And it really bugs the shit out of me that they lump themselves in with developers and publishers.

I'm not some elitist snob, mind you. It's not like I'm trying to close the doors to others and say: NO! YOU CAN'T PLAY IN OUR LITTLE CLUB!

Hey, we're even talking to a guy who writes for a mag I love about doing some design work for us here at Sony. So it's not like we're opposed to the guys who write about games crossing over and MAKING games. Seems like a logical step to me.

My frustration has more to do with the fact that I think this kind of thinking on the part of game journalists degrades and demeans the actual job that they could/should be doing (and in some small cases actually are)....I want game journalism- at least 50% of it- to be more like music or film journalism of old. I want it to challenge us and tear our shit apart and analyze it and- when we do a good job- champion it and bring the message to the masses.

I've read a bit about how film critis in the 1970's really played a significant role in the advancement of the art form at that time. Same with music critics in the 1960's.

And if you look at the state of film criticism today- which is very bland and simple- one has to wonder if there is a correlation between the lack of folks challenging the film makers in a public forum AND the crappy films that Hollywood seems to be putting out more and more often.

Now hey, games are fun and I think game journalism can take on many forms. I don't think every/any mag/website needs to be dry and dull. I mean,I get jazzed as the next guy when the crazy, Mad Magazine style antics of the PSM crew hit my mail box every month. So shit yeah, there is room for that kind of stuff in my mind.

But I can't help thinking that there's just not enough real, meaty game journalism happening. Now sure, some of that has to do with what the public will actually pay for (it's not like NEXT GEN magazine- one of my faves of all time- was a chart topper). But doesn't some of it also have to do with the mentality of the folks who write for these magazines IF indeed they are not respecting their OWN industry enough to claim JOURNALISM as their industry? I mean, can you imagine if Pauline Kael claimed her industry was the movie making biz VERSUS the biz of being a critic? It just sounds crazy.

...by the way, I know there are more and more web sites that ARE trying to write about games in a more serious light and that's a welcome switch. But I think they lack the ability to do the thing that the mainstream mags DO VERY WELL: write for the masses.

But it IS a start I suppose...

...still, there's gotta be a balance between writing ABOUT interesting stuff and still making it interesting to read. Rolling Stone does a good job of this from time to time. Premiere magazine USED to until it became a full fledged PR tool.

...ok, getting tired...I hope I didn't piss off some of you game journalist who read this blog but I gotsta speak my mind....and hey, I KNOW you guys have bills to pay too and you gotta write what the consumer wants (and in this day and age, there are not many consumers who want to be challenged)....but shit man, isn't there a way to do both?

But then again, that may be just as hard as you guys asking us: can't you make a commercial, mainstream title that still has artistic, social merit?

And to that I say two things:
a- touche, bitch!
b- We're doing our best! Lemme know if you think our next game nails it!

David

ps. There are SOME mags/sites that ARE doing some really nice writing about games in my opinion. So it's not a total wasteland in that respect....and NO I won't name them. I think that crosses the line from a standpoint of hurting Sony in that I don't want to be the guy who is out there bashing specific magazines and then see those mags take it out on Sony games just for spite. But catch me in public and you know I'll spill the beans! Oh, by the way, I don't dislike ANY of the key magazines or websites. I really do think they all do at least a few things really well and I gladly pay for them all each month/year. I'm just talking in regards to the issue of real, meaty game journalism.

Oh, but I will say this to ALL the fucking print mags: LESS FUCKING PREVIEWS AND MORE FEATURES!!!! I can get my previews on the web a shit load faster than I get them from you. I wanna read some STORIES and MEATY INTERVIEWS in the print mags....and I wanna spend more than 5 minutes reading your magazine that I've paid 5 bucks for. I really should be READING your magazine, not just FLIPPING FUCKING THRU IT!!! More content please!!!

Did you see ROLLING STONE with the BONO interview?!? Give me THAT but with KOJIMA....OR MIYAMOTO! And no more of this bullshit about how he plays the fucking banjo and likes to garden. Wow, that's hard hitting! Shit guys, dig into the man and let us know what makes him tick, what he really likes and dislikes, his political views, what his stresses are, what his vices are, does he feel stress to save Nintendo,etc....you know, go and WRITE something! Man, I would gladly pay triple for a mag like that! And shit, if you guys don't champion the real visionaries of this biz in a meaty and detailed and challenging way, who ever will?!?

This is completely how I feel. Thoughts?

PS: From http://davidjaffe.modblog.com/

[kedawa]

I've been saying pretty much the same shit for years.
I miss the features and articles that Next Generation used to run, and I'm sick of mags and gaming sites that are nothing but screenshots and ads, with some fluff writing thrown in to fill up space..
Part of the problem is that there aren't enough game journalists who are qualified to write indepth articles or conduct serious interviews.
The biggest problem is that shrinking sales of magazines in general has lead to a market where publishers are unwilling to take a chance on a more serious gaming magazine when their mainstream mags are struggling to keep their readerships.

And, yeah, it's pretty lame that some writers act like they're some kind of industry insider.
It's the same with any other form of entertainment.
A lot of shitty film/tv/music 'journalists' think that they're fucking celebrities, for example.

[Mzo]

I'm an insider because I post on TNL holla

[mollipen]

As far as the bolded text, I've been saying that as well for forever now.

As far as interview, however.. realistically, no print mag is big enough that it can give a real interview with a company or developer. They ask a serious question, and the PR person or game creator just refuses to answer. If the interview is, say, about historical events, like the interview that EGM ran with Ralf Baer (sp?), that was great. But I can't sit person X from Y game company down, and ask, "Seriously, why was your last game so shit?" and expect them to give a serious answer.

I do think, however, this guy is going a bit overboard. If I said, "Hey, I'm in the industry!" I don't mean the video game MAKING industry, obviously. Video games, period, is an industry, and that encompasses everybody from those who make the games, to those who promote them, to those who write about them.

[cka]

I know a bunch of guys that work on video games so I'm an insider in the games industry

[Brisco Bold]

There's one important point in that diatribe (and it was a throwaway comment): nobody wants the kind of hard-hitting gaming journalism that we want.

Next Generation? Who cares. Features? Whatever. Sadly, a lot of people buy EGM and whatever for the previews.

Yes, it'd be nice to have a GamesTM over here. But, honestly, who'd buy it?

[Compass]

We would. It does well enough to sell out seemingly every month, priced at $10.50, at my two local Barnes & Nobles.

[kedawa]

I do think, however, this guy is going a bit overboard. If I said, "Hey, I'm in the industry!" I don't mean the video game MAKING industry, obviously. Video games, period, is an industry, and that encompasses everybody from those who make the games, to those who promote them, to those who write about them.

But his complaint was about how journalists sometimes act as though they are involved in the MAKING part.
And the main point was that the gaming press needs to look at itself as an industry and take itself seriously.
Maybe if the gaming press wasn't so trivial and pathetic, we'd actually get those hard-hitting interviews, since the videogame industry would have to take them seriously, or risk the bad publicity that a serious publication give them.
Gaming journalism as it exists today isn't much more than a hype machine, and it's undeniably the game industries bitch.

[Brisco Bold]

We would. It does well enough to sell out seemingly every month, priced at $10.50, at my two local Barnes & Nobles.

Yes, but we're in the minority. The type of people who keep magazines afloat buy them at EBs, Gamestops or whatever. The average joe doesn't give a shit.

[Satsuki]

As long as game journalists don't post livejournal bullshit in their articles (a la Candice Shane) then I have no problem with them.