[Op/Ed] The Great UK Game Journo Meltdown of 2012

[tacitus]

Originally Posted by Gorvi

A lot of the press is influenced by PR, it's just a fact of the business. Early coverage and review copies can be held over their heads, and that's a big deal.

Just look at Ben Kuchera's negative review of Rage which allegedly lead to him not getting a early review copy of Skyrim. That is BS - some could say that this behavior tarnishes all day-one reviews and they are all bogus.

[Shieldmaiden]

I've been watching this with particular interest because I know Lauren Wainwright, I met her at university and lived with her for a year. The first day we met, we had a rather heated discussion on this very subject. I like Lauren a lot and I know that she's worked damned hard to get to where she is. However, I also find myself in complete agreement with Rab's article, and appalled at how his piece was butchered. There was nothing even vaguely defamatory in the article and although I agree that it wasn't either necessary or nice to use Lauren's name, or even her tweets, to make that point, Rab wasn't wrong to do so.

It doesn't surprise me to discover myself agreeing with pretty much every word John Walker writes on the subject as well.

[Gorvi]

Originally Posted by tacitus

Just look at Ben Kuchera's negative review of Rage which allegedly lead to him not getting a early review copy of Skyrim. That is BS - some could say that this behavior tarnishes all day-one reviews and they are all bogus.

Or the mess with Kane & Lynch and Jeff Gerstmann over at Gamespot. It happens.

I wouldn't say it tarnishes all day one reviews, but again, I wouldn't trust them implicitly either. Of course, just look at what happened with Resident Evil 6 recently as an indicator that a AAA game can still get bashed. I didn't even think the demo was that bad......

[Ghostbear]

While those are higher profile examples, I imagine they are the exception rather than the rule. I'm not saying that skepticism shouldn't be used, but it's really not that bad out there.

Let me be clear, I think the tweeting for PS3 thing is ethically questionable and I would not participate. I think you would be right to be concerned, I just don't think it would alter the opinions of those people greatly. I mean my thought process if I were to participate "yay free ps3" months later review tomb raider as normal.

[biosc1]

Originally Posted by Dark Acre Jack

But I know that when a new piece of actual information comes down the pipe I look to CoG to dish it straight.

Keep up the good work.

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

Even though it wasn't directed at me, thanks for the kudos. We're just trying to have some fun and have a good place on the internet to hang out.

What we are witnessing here is a game developer greasing the palms of a game journalist!

[Ghostbear]

HAHAHAHA! nice.

[Vandabo]

Much like Narra said above, I pretty much got all of my gaming news through here or the previous site. I also didn't recognize any of the people involved in the OP. When I was much younger I got a couple gaming magazines, but that was about as far as I ever got into the mainstream game journalism world. I appreciate this site because it is a relatively calm, rational place that doesn't have thousands of essentially anonymous people posting comments on reviews that may or may not be influenced by the type of stuff in the OP. I get a much better overall feeling for a game after reading through the review/thread about it on this site than I would reading a dozen "pro" reviews, because I've come to know the tastes and preferences of the various people here.

It's too bad the game journalism industry is constantly being manipulated by PR firms, and I wish it didn't have a negative effect on the game industry as a whole (however large that effect may be), but it is relatively easy to avoid... Just listen to your friends.

[Ravenlock]

I love all kinds of games writing, but I wouldn't even begin to call most of it journalism.

Some of it is, and that's important. Kill Screen makes a point to find interesting stories about the gaming industry and write lengthy, thoughtful coverage about them. I think Ben Kuchera at the Penny Arcade Report is doing a great job of seeking out important stories and putting them front and center (this one is frontpaged today, actually). Gamasutra also occasionally writes something really well researched and thoughtful, or digs into a story deeper than surface level. That stuff is journalism, in my opinion.

But reviews are not journalism, and never have been in any context. A movie reviewer is not a journalist (EDIT: or at least, s/he would not be performing journalism while writing a review). Roger Ebert would not call himself a journalist. He'd call himself a film critic. I think for some reason we group everything written about games into the same category, and then assume that all people writing about games have the same objectives and should be held to the same standards. That's ridiculous.

I love Rock Paper Shotgun because they do games writing as travelogue - they write about a game as you would write about a visit to a new place, and I've never found a better format for getting me excited about playing something than that. Is it objective? Hell no. It's deliberately subjective. It's designed to elicit your emotion and enthusiasm. I go there specifically for that purpose.

I love BrainyGamer because the man spends pretty much all day every day just thinking about games. Game systems and mechanics and aesthetics and why some things work better than others and how the art form as a whole is evolving. It's the best "games philosophy" writing I know. (The Experience Points guys do this well, too.)

If I want a good, objective review, there are some people that I trust. Generally speaking I think the GiantBomb guys tell you what they think without pulling any punches, and while I don't always agree with them I know where they stand. (Incidentally, Patrick Klepek also writes some stuff that tips into the journalism category, and I think he does a fine job with that.) I like Arthur Gies over at Polygon. Don't always agree with him but I never feel like he's holding back what he thinks. Same thing with the reviewers here on CoG. Our tastes aren't all the same, but I know you guys aren't being jerked around by a publisher.

But travel writing is not criticism is not philosophy is not fact-based journalism. There are way too many different types of content being written about games to lump them all together and treat them all the same.

[Ghostbear]

Well said Ravenlock, I like it even though you are kicking my ass in Hero Academy.

[Ravenlock]

It's that kind of professional distance that makes me trust you, GB.

[Lekon]

Originally Posted by Ghostbear

Well said Ravenlock, I like it even though you are kicking my ass in Hero Academy.

In the interests of full Colony of Gamers Editorial transparency: Ghostbear really isn't very good at Hero Academy.

[Ghostbear]

To be fair I was learning on 4 different games at the same time.
Also my obvious deficiencies at Hero Academy are not on trial here! *runs away weeping*

[DoctorFinger]

Originally Posted by Goronmon

Does that mean that everything's fine or that gaming journalism really shouldn't be taken seriously due to how close reviewers/writers need to be to the industry to provide the coverage people expect?

I would actually argue that almost every other facet of entertainment or product journalism is just as ethically challenged, we just don't see how the sausage is made in those sectors quite as often.

For example, have you ever heard of Top Gear? The original British version has entered into multiple feuds with carmakers where the manufacturers get pissed at a bit and won't provide cars for review. Turns out the same thing happens across the auto journalism biz; write too many negatives and the company puts you on a blacklist for a while. Writers and publications on the blacklist don't get early access, while their competitors do. You can't run a magazine without access, so everyone plays ball. That's really no different from the game industry, just with more money on the line.

[digitalErich]

Yeah, it's garbage like this why I've limited my gaming news to CoG, GiantBomb, and RPS. I'm sure Polygon will make it in there now, too.

Trying not to put words in his mouth, I'm with Ravenlock too when it comes to reviews. I'm not sure the old format of explain a game, it's context, pros/cons, give score is relevant to me anymore. I much prefer an RPS article or a GB quicklook. They tend to give me a more valuable impression of a game, good or bad.

[bapenguin]

I'm not a journalist. I never was, and I never will be. I have never had any professional training whatsoever. I don't pretend to hold myself to some impossible set of standards that defy human emotion or attachment. I'm not a robot.

Even "real" journalism is not. FoxNews? Not journalism. MSNBC? Not journalism. CNN? Not even entertaining.

I hope the people that trust me do so because they've read and agree with my coverage of games and hardware and products. They've used them, agreed on multiple occasions, and then said - "hey, this Nick guy - his stuff is kinda my style. "

If some PR schmuck is going to try to "pay me off" with a t-shirt and a free copy of a game and I write a positive review or talk positively about something that's not - I lose my reputation.

"It takes a lifetime to build a reputation, but only 15 minutes to destroy it."

You'd have to be stupid to risk that.

[Ghostbear]

Exactly Nick, the good will that someone builds is worth far more than a game or a console. Which is why I am generally less concerned about a review being "bought." That may not be everyone's viewpoint, but it has to be the majority, without credibility you can't do this. It's better to avoid even a hint of compromise though.

[Gorvi]

I think it's more complex than that, though. It's not always so black and white where a bad game will magically get a shining review. That's far too obvious. It's the scores that generally get inflated. Where a 7.0 becomes an 8.5, an 8 becomes a 9, or even a 6.5 becomes a 7. I've heard and read enough from people in the industry to know that that kind of thing does happen.

[MagGnome]

Is this the thing people have been going on about on Twitter? All of a sudden all of these posts about corrupt journalists started popping up, and I had no idea what it was all about.

Edit - Is anyone surprised that entertainment "journalists" are often quick to sell out? This is a field that generally has very little credibility, IMHO, although journalism in general is pretty much in the toilet these days, with a few exceptions.

90% of game writing is PR fluff. It's tragic, but that's the way it's been for a long time.

[MagGnome]

Lots of great posts in this thread. This kind of conversation is one of the things that I love about this site.

[Kelegacy]

Rock Paper Shotgun is one of my most respected places. One thing I love is the lack of a score. Read the goddamn review if you want to know if it's good or not!