Totally Not Corrupt Professional Objective Gaming Journalism DRAMA

[Black]

Yeah, I'm spent

 

[Volrath]

I don't think it's a pretty important story. I think it's the same tired nonsense about games journalism that some folks love to carry on endlessly about. If we had more clear facts about whether one journalism outlet or journalist really threatened to sue another and if that other outlet buckled under that needlessly, then maybe we'd have a small story. But that would take reporting to find it out, and I just don't care enough about the latest supposed media scandal to ask my reporters to look into it.

You know what's important? Doing good games journalism, which is what we did this week and highlights in this list above.

On why Kotaku is not doing a story on it. Read. And then read it again.

Holy shit

 

[Telengard]

As bad as the picture is, I think the video is even worse. For all those too lazy to watch it: Halo gets mentioned in the first minute (shocker), and it gets a full segment starting at 2:00. And immediately after the Halo segment is this: ("interviewer" in italics)

...talking about Wargames, which is, you know, a huge part of Halo

(2:44)

and, you know, part of what I'm talking about today is the Double XP Program that Mountain Dew and Doritoes are bringing back, which actually allow gamers to rank-up inside of Wargames in Halo 4 by purchasing Mountain Dew and Doritoes. So it's a great example of a brand saying, Hey, we actually want to give benefit and value to gamers. So if you buy, uh, you know, if you by Mountain Dew, if you buy Doritoes, you get a code, you go to DewXP.com or DoritoesXP.com, enter that code, link it to your gamer tag, then you're going to get some experience in the game. So it's, uh, it's a good partnership.

That's...that's all they gotta do? It's that easy? It's just buy the Doritoes and the Mountain Dew and then go to the website and they can get a competitive edge before the game launches next month?

Yeah, it's gives you a little boost, kind of, you know, right out of the gates. So it's not like you're invincible, or something like that. But, yeah, if you want to rank up, um, and you can bank it, as you said, before the game comes out. So that's why, you know, in the very early hours, you can get that little edge, if you want. There's a limit to it. But, uh, yeah, you can get that little kind of boost right out of the gate, so you can, uh, you can impress your friends, if you, uh, drink enough Mountain Dew and Doritoes.

All right.

(End at 3:52)

So over a minute of a 5 minute 30 second "interview" is devoted purely to the Dew XP program, on top of the previous segment and all the internal videos being about Halo 4, with the words Doritoes, Dew, and Halo crammed in as much as possible. Having the "journalist" say all that, surrounded by all those stage items, is all very informercial in style, especially what with the interviewer comments.

There's also that phrase "as you said" in there, further implying a staged or coached interview.

Yeesh.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Supposedly he did come here to promote his webpage. No idea if it was actually him or someone just doing it for shits and giggles.

I can't believe anyone thought it was really him.

 

[Humanity has risen!]

Anyway it's a shame that Geoff keeps doing this, because he is actually an intelligent guy, and he has written some of the best investigative game articles and behind the scenes features. I think he has let the fame get to him at this point.

Another part of me is pissed at the gaming community at large for treating this as a major crisis, as if console games meant anything in the grand scheme of things. It's constantly creating drama over dumb stuff and acting like the "game industry" is actually "profound".

 

[Gurkog]

I find that the real problem is how the 'mainstream' game press has not shed any light on this incident. If the issue is so taboo that it can not even be discussed they only hurt themselves in the long run. I thought maybe if someone called them out on their behavior they would acknowledge and rationalize their business practices... not fling shit and cry like mindless apes. Perhaps it might be possible for a infinite amount of monkeys typing on keyboards to write Shakespeare, but any monkey could type the drivel a PR rep feeds them. It is pretty obvious that the sites are bought and paid for even if the writers aren't. I thought they could at least admit to shady practices without pouting like a child caught with their hand in the cookie jar. I would not be surprised to see the sites changing a writer's 'score' of a review before posting it to keep the PR shit stream flowing their way.

I can understand PR fluff pieces like any 'entertainment magazine', like Entertainment Tonight or Access Hollywood, but when they claim to be publishing objective reviews it is outright collusion. What is even more interesting to me is how 'legitimate' news organizations do not report on the corruption in this industry. In fact, journalists bring up games and snigger over them like it is some bumbling cousin and report on minor instances of business defrauding thousands of dollars from customers when they should be trying to track how many millions Activision and EA are conning out of customers. Perhaps they don't want to legitimize the gaming press as that would add more competition for column space and TV spots. Oh, well... I should know better. The industry will only change when it feels that the truth is more profitable than gorging on the fount of PR shit.

 

[Machocruz]

It doesn't matter. Autoplatforming Creed 3 will still sell millions and be one of 4 other big publisher games up for GOTY everywhere.

 

[SCO]

Journalism - in general - is dead

 

[Gurkog]

Anyway it's a shame that Geoff keeps doing this, because he is actually an intelligent guy, and he has written some of the best investigative game articles and behind the scenes features. I think he has let the fame get to him at this point.

Another part of me is pissed at the gaming community at large for treating this as a major crisis, as if console games meant anything in the grand scheme of things. It's constantly creating drama over dumb stuff and acting like the "game industry" is actually "profound".

People don't like to feel like they were lied to by someone they trust, and that person does not even attempt to fake feeling guilt. There probably would be no outrage if the accused parties had not acted like the issue needed to be covered up. Perhaps it is the bald lack of respect demonstrated. The angry internet rages whenever it doesn't command respect from its citizens.

 

[Oriebam]

bros do you remember that time that forbes guy called bioware out on ME3's ending/writing

tell me when/if it happens to this

I don't know how this jewnarlism thing works but you can send them e-mails about stuff too, rihgt?

not this would be capable of changing anything


oh yeah, there are also "instig8tivejournalism" and some other guys who make videos about it, each with several thousand views

again, it's fucking nothing, but it's still good

Supposedly he did come here to promote his webpage. No idea if it was actually him or someone just doing it for shits and giggles.

I can't believe anyone thought it was really him.

there were at two accounts here claiming to be angry joe, IIRC
I dunno man, the first one looked p. legit to me, the second one was a troll IIRC

 

[Gurkog]

bros do you remember that time that forbes guy called bioware out on ME3's ending/writing

tell me when/if it happens to this

I don't know how this jewnarlism thing works but you can send them e-mails about stuff too, rihgt?

not this would be capable of changing anything


oh yeah, there are also "instig8tivejournalism" and some other guys who make videos about it, each with several thousand views

again, it's fucking nothing, but it's still good

Supposedly he did come here to promote his webpage. No idea if it was actually him or someone just doing it for shits and giggles.

I can't believe anyone thought it was really him.

there were at two accounts here claiming to be angry joe, IIRC
I dunno man, the first one looked p. legit to me, the second one was a troll IIRC

Is this Forbes article the kind you wanted?

Forbes

 

[Average Manatee]

I see the bi-monthly gaming "journalism" bribe-based shitstorm is right on time. Other than the "journalists" no one is even pretending to act surprised. Aside from the journalists who ignore it entirely.

 

[waywardOne]

You also sort of have to get to know the different people who work there. Brad is a sucker for anything Blizzard and tends to vastly overstate the quality of stuff he is hyped about. Jeff is probably the most "fair" in the sense that he doesn't really get excited about anything any more and tends to give the lowest scores on average. Vinny is... well, I can't actually recall the last time Vinny wrote any reviews, but he tends to be more into traditional PC games than the others. Patrick is an insufferable moron, weeaboo and indie-fag, most of the time, though that also means he tends to dislike a lot of the Western triple-A crap. Ryan sucks at games and is annoying.
.

Why do I need to know about them in order for their reviews to be valid? Just from your descriptions they all sound like fucking morons and incapable of providing me with anything useful. Fair enough?

 

[DalekFlay]

You also sort of have to get to know the different people who work there. Brad is a sucker for anything Blizzard and tends to vastly overstate the quality of stuff he is hyped about. Jeff is probably the most "fair" in the sense that he doesn't really get excited about anything any more and tends to give the lowest scores on average. Vinny is... well, I can't actually recall the last time Vinny wrote any reviews, but he tends to be more into traditional PC games than the others. Patrick is an insufferable moron, weeaboo and indie-fag, most of the time, though that also means he tends to dislike a lot of the Western triple-A crap. Ryan sucks at games and is annoying.

Yeah, this is a PERFECT summary of that website.

I don't think reviewers are corrupt, I think they are mostly stupid and unprofessional. The trick is to understand their personalities and color the review accordingly. The above is a perfect summary of the GB crew, so when I read a Ryan Davis review I know to read it as if a 10 year old with no functioning intelligence wrote it. The same applies to other sites. When I read something on RPS I know to add that faux-sophisticated air of hipster shit-smelling. When I read something on Kotaku I know it's written purely to obtain hits, no matter what must be compromised.

It's not corrupt journalism, it's just fucking BAD journalism, 90% of the time.

 

[skuphundaku]

bros do you remember that time that forbes guy called bioware out on ME3's ending/writing

tell me when/if it happens to this

The links have already been posted in this thread (or in some of the articles posted in this thread...):
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkai...ence-leaves-eurogamer-after-libel-complaints/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkai...how-video-game-journalism-went-off-the-rails/

[mostly] off topic:
He brings to light how Ubisoft is going to add free-to-play shit even in retail games: http://www.forbes.com/sites/erikkai...t-applies-free-to-play-model-to-retail-games/ . Counting down to pay-to-win in retail games. Ubisoft

 

[Pegultagol]

Gaming journalism is in a flux, that's for sure. The gaming culture itself is very fast paced, in which opinions and trends can literally move at the speed of a tweet, and its participants can be very savvy in detecting bullshit. The transition from the traditional form of media itself, let alone journalism, is moving online and social networks. The game criticism will be based on how the reviewer gets to know and become chummy with his or her readers rather than PR snakes and put in an effort to see their trust and familiarity reciprocated, and based on how extensive its social network of readership becomes. For example, as a result of this relationship, I can safely say that Jeff Gerstmann can't be trusted in any of his reviews on anything released by anyone who ever worked at Midway during the 1990s. This trust of course has already become one of monetary transaction, in which journalists could become somewhat independent of the financial strains and resist the temptations of payola and all expenses trip to party with their former friends. But It doesn't change the fact that let's play videos get more views and inform consumers more than any review could. Again look at Giantbomb, their so called 'quick' looks are continuously increasing in length, however ineptly directed and produced, and have put up their ridiculous 24hr marathon of playing just Halo.

At least it is good to see that this brand of journalism gets to be at the forefront of something for a change, as I believe this phenomenon will gradually reform the conduct and operations other media outlets too. I dream a day where Wolf Blitzer will give a shout out to a 'BieberDream2K' for her tweet on the pending impeachment of Barrack Obama.

The article about the incoming F2P is very informative. The marketing is shifting once again to maximize its earning potential by a tier system. The DLC will be split into even incremental amounts that psychologically ensnare consumers by lulling them into multiple safe instances of smaller purchases. To those who catch on to the nickle and diming will encounter season passes that will entice them on the virtue of value and bargain. To those who reject it all will be beset with a platform to simply exist in the world, and without any charge at first, but will inevitably come upon the pressure caused by the projections of others socially integral in that world who opted into higher pay scale tiers. Scores will be tallied on even the simplest action to compare to people on your friends list and admonish you on your fresh accomplishments. Now, they are dusting off the tomes of trickery from MMORPG yore, lure consumers into trap of a game, a glorified slot machine, and get them to gamble away their choices for their colorful and cosplay consequences. All the while blasting you with spyware-gleaned select premium grade product placements. Games in genres that can't be less compatible in controls or gameplay are somehow tied in frivolous attempts to waste everyone's time. The trap is everywhere to make you spend more money, from top to bottom, gameplay is a captive ransom to drive to divide and collect, enslaving your to what you thought was a simple joyful hobby that relieved stress rather than aggravating it. And Ubisoft CFO, the marketing guru, is the fucking arbiter prime in deciding feature sets for its AAA+ game, and proudly boasts about the game in question only in terms of its earning potential.

How about this, I will take you at your word, and pay for your stupid packs, only on the condition that it is indeed F2P, and ACIII is released on the Pirate Bay. If ordinary consumers are being treated this way, then I can only imagine the passion of game journalists who claim to retain any shred of integrity.

 

[Infinitron]

Supposedly he did come here to promote his webpage. No idea if it was actually him or someone just doing it for shits and giggles.

I can't believe anyone thought it was really him.

Sounds like an admission, bro.

 

[Ulminati]

Watch the Totalbiscut vid above Trash. It is very informative.

Now there's a line I never expected to hear unironically.

 

[sea]

Why do I need to know about them in order for their reviews to be valid? Just from your descriptions they all sound like fucking morons and incapable of providing me with anything useful. Fair enough?

How are their reviews not valid one way or another? Reviews are opinion pieces, you are reading for entertainment, for insight into a game, and to decide if it's worth your time and money. Whether or not you agree with the opinions presented, or think the people writing them are morons or geniuses, they're valid so long as they are genuine opinions and decently well-supported.

My point, though, was that they care about games and gaming in a genuine way, and are not corporate stooges - the entire reason Giant Bomb was founded, after all, was because Jeff was fired from GameSpot for giving low scores that CBS had advertising deals with, and the rest of the crew left along with him after the schism it caused. That doesn't say "corrupt" to me.

For the record, I really do not read their reviews often or care much for them. I only watch the quick looks and occasional special features, because they give pretty good insight into games while also being entertaining. I consider them entertainers first and game critics second.

 

[GarfunkeL]

Hey Finns, has Pelit or any other local magazine/site taken any stance on this yet? Anyone use their website still?

How about French/German/Potato sites?

 

[felipepepe]

Kotaku has the guts to make a week recap with quotes from the industry and don't say/show a single word about all that... it seems they finally understood that the smartest way to handle such events is ignoring it, not raging & suing.

 

[Jaesun]

Kotaku has the guts to make a week recap with quotes from the industry and don't say/show a single word about all that... it seems they finally understood that the smartest way to handle such events is ignoring it, not raging & suing.

Stephen Totilo at neoGAF (Kotaku's responce... yeah I know.. Kotaku lol)

Nope. It wasn't because we were worried about upsetting fellow reporters. It came down entirely to what our decision to do any story that requires a decent amount or reporting entails: a sense of how many people will find the story interesting vs. the amount of time and effort it will take to report it well vs. other demands on our time. I can't speak for others, but that's how it came down at Kotaku.​

Folks here are clearly extremely interested in the topic. If Kotaku was the NeoGAF Times and I was EiC of it, I'd be negligent in my job if I didn't have us cover this whole affair. But stories about the media, while interesting to those who care about the media, are often rather small-fry and just not that compelling to a lot of people. I fully admit that the interest in the story here is intense, so I'm sure it seems strange that we didn't cover it. But given the aforementioned formulation and my sense that there wasn't a whole lot of new revelations to be gleaned from reporting the story, we held off. As I've said before, the nice thing about journalism is you can look into something just about any given day and do something new at any moment. So, given the passion about this topic I'm seeing here, I'm reconsidering whether maybe we should revisit the old "problems with games journalism" story. If we do, it seems to me that it should include the seemingly unshakable disdain and suspicion that some gamers, including some folks here, have for and of the gaming press.​

Also some other lulz from him as well:

Is it fine for Kotaku writers to go out for meals, hit the town etc with PR people at the PR people's expense?​

It's not the end of the world, and I pay my share some of the time, but if you're looking for a lapse, here you go. I always offer to pay my share but will be willing to be talked out of it sometimes. I should be more consistent in paying. (I can afford it; so don't make the impoverished-games-journalist excuse for me). You didn't ask, but I think I've gone to dinner with PR people three or four times this year. Maybe they paid twice or three times? I can't remember. I don't make PR dinners a habit. I prefer to have non-work dinners!​

And a further explanation of it:​

What i assume it means--what it means when I'm mentioning it--is simply having dinner with PR people. I work in New York City. Most publishers aren't in New York, so they'll fly a team of PR people, along with their games, some producers, maybe some developers, rent out a hotel suite or nightclub space or something and book appointments for the press to come see their new games, do interviews, etc. The visiting PR people, looking for something to do (and maybe looking to butter up the reporters!) might invite some reporters to dinner, maybe bring some of those developers or producers along. Now some people do become friendly, so there's that part of it, but it's also a more relaxed forum to poke and prod and maybe sniff out a story. It's not that different from a reporter having an off-the-record drink with a source, though the ethics of who is paying can turn it into something else. Your worst-case-scenario would be a reporter who just gets fat on a PR person's dime, is so much of a pushover and so afraid of not getting the next freebie dinner that all they do is write the most positive things possible and try to never offend. The better reporters get some good intel.​

Also another good write up of Professional Gaming Journalism™ here: http://checkthis.com/82qo

 

[Jarpie]

Hey Finns, has Pelit or any other local magazine/site taken any stance on this yet? Anyone use their website still?

How about French/German/Potato sites?

No any news about it on Pelit-magazine's website, and I couldn't find anything from forums either, doesn't surprise me though since the magazine is nowdays utter shit.

 

[felipepepe]

It came down entirely to what our decision to do any story that requires a decent amount or reporting entails: a sense of how many people will find the story interesting vs. the amount of time and effort it will take to report it well vs. other demands on our time.

Well, let's see what quality stuff we got since Oct 25 instead of boring "industry is corrupt" nonsense:

• Teacher Dresses Up as a Maid to Reward Her Students
• You’ll Never Guess Where Burger King’s Pumpkin Burger Hides Its Lettuce
• This Pikachu Hairstyle Is Utterly Terrifying
• Seven Misconceptions about Vampires To Keep In Mind as You Kill Them
• Guillermo Del Toro’s Man Cave Is a Whole House. And It’s Really Awesome.
• Gamer Gets Pumped to Pump Iron. His Motivation: EVE Online.
• Here’s A Two-Second Clip Of Reggie Fils-Aime Saying ‘Hey Ice King, Why’d You Steal Our Garbage?’
• Report: Groom Kisses Bride on Neck, Tragically Killing Her
• Taiwan’s Most Famous Cosplayer Just Wants Happiness
• Why Halloween Became a Thing in Japan
• This Dog’s Halloween Costume Gets Funnier The More Excited He Gets

Quality journalism everyone... I wonder why those dumb reporters at Tv still cover wars at the mid-east, it's so far and dangerous, they should just talk about how their beds have Sonic sheets or something liek that...

 

[Jarpie]

Hey Finns, has Pelit or any other local magazine/site taken any stance on this yet? Anyone use their website still?

How about French/German/Potato sites?

And neither has Pelaaja (The Gamers) anything about the whole thing on their website or forums but they are even worse whores than Pelit-magazine.