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AshfordPride
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« Reply #40 on: April 24, 2013, 09:16:21 AM »

Fig. 1: The Game Journalist in its natural habitat



Fucking Kojima I knew it was you, you didn't fool me you fucking idiot.  Everyone knew it was you in a mask.  Holy shit, I hate video games.



A toast.  To the fuel that sustains us.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2013, 09:39:19 AM by Samtagonist » Logged
AshfordPride
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« Reply #41 on: April 24, 2013, 09:35:47 AM »

Here's Kotaku's defense on why game's journalism is the biggest piece of shit ever.

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No one has to take an oath to be a reporter or a critic. Ethics standards can vary. You can set up your own rules, as we do at Kotaku, where we turn down paid travel, default to shoving the swag under our desks, and make sure we're not wearing game company shirts during interviews. Good ethics are, of course, not a perfect predictor of good journalism and therefore even the most righteous of games press might find themselves running what our publisher calls "fake news."

See, here's the problem.  There's nothing wrong with accepting this stuff, with getting excited about a game, with ENJOYING VIDEO GAMES.  If someone sent me a Monster Hunter figure, I'm keeping it.  I don't default to shoving it in a drawer where it won't tempt me.  What's even more worrying is that this both paints them as being entirely passionless AND completely drowning in corporate shit.  You fucking gave all these games good reviews, why don't you want to keep the swag?  Yeah, put the Assassins Creed flag in the drawer.  You know what that gets us from Kotaku?

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It is one of the best video games of the year, one of the most daring developed by a major studio this generation, and one of the most beautiful to ever run on any machine.

SO WHAT THE FUCK!?  You like the fucking game, is it okay to take the flag out of the drawer now and maybe put it up after you've proclaimed it to be the best games EVER?  You act like this shit doesn't matter when it should, it's okay to get hype.  I get hype when I go to PAX.  I get hype as fucking shit.  But I can check my hype at the door when it's time to get down to brass tacks.  I don't care how much free shit Magic: The Gathering has given me over the years, I'm not playing that.

It just makes them seem passionless.  They get a Street Fighter Chess Set, valued at three hundred dollars, and this fucking asshole talks about how he typically throws this shit out.  Ugh, what the fuck ever!  INTO THE TRASH! 

They seem to want to maintain their professionalism by telling us that they are drowning in this shit, like victims, but they're able to tune it all out.  Sure. 
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baconman
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« Reply #42 on: April 24, 2013, 08:30:21 PM »

This sounds like every preorder bonus goodie I got gypped out of. Including a Terry Bogard hat, a couple of soundtracks (those are my fav's!), and a Dark Souls artbook.
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SirNiko
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« Reply #43 on: April 25, 2013, 03:13:02 AM »

I will never understand why people place so much value in action figures and other kinds of con swag stuff. Honestly, if I got a Street Fighter Chess Set I'd probably just give it away to a friend. It's entirely possible that some of these writers genuinely have no interest in all this crap they're getting and they write their articles based on genuine opinions of the game. After all, if they're lying to players and tricking them into buying shitty games or failing to recommend top titles they're going to lose ground to reviewers who are more useful to the players. That's a problem that any person in any business suffers - if your customers are getting crap as a result of you taking kickbacks, you're taking a big risk of losing both your customers and the vendors giving you toys.

As a player, your best bet is to read the articles, determine whether or not their reviews reflect your own interest in the games, and then read different websites if they don't. I get most of my game recommendations from friends and reviews people put on TIGsource for this reason. I like to read some of Yahtzee's reviews because I find his tastes in games aren't too far from mine. It's unfortunate for the casual player or the mother buying a game as a gift, but they can learn the same lesson after they buy a couple crappy games and get pickier.

Rather than complaining about corruption in game journalism in general (This happens in every business anyway), I'd be more interested in hearing about specific examples of games that got lots of reviews out of line with how they actually play, or reviewers (individuals or websites) that give good quality reviews that have helped you find games you enjoy.
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mono
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« Reply #44 on: April 25, 2013, 04:30:22 AM »

lol game press



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Sar
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« Reply #45 on: April 25, 2013, 05:18:18 AM »

I'd be more interested in hearing about specific examples of games that got lots of reviews out of line with how they actually play

But without a baseline, how do you determine when they're out of line with reality? I thought GTA IV was dull as hell after the first hour or so's novelty wore off, and that it had lost the character and 'soul' of previous GTA titles. I disagree by a wide margin with most of the (glowing) reviews that game got. Is it a bad game? Lots of people didn't think so. I doubt they were all bought off by Rockstar's PR/intimidated by Sam Houser's goons/blinded by fanboyism for a series they've been trained to love. But equally, lots of people had the same complaints I did.

I think the point about finding reviewers whose opinions you agree with and paying them more attention is the most important part, really!
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InfiniteStateMachine
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« Reply #46 on: April 25, 2013, 06:00:45 AM »

I will never understand why people place so much value in action figures and other kinds of con swag stuff. Honestly, if I got a Street Fighter Chess Set I'd probably just give it away to a friend. It's entirely possible that some of these writers genuinely have no interest in all this crap they're getting and they write their articles based on genuine opinions of the game. After all, if they're lying to players and tricking them into buying shitty games or failing to recommend top titles they're going to lose ground to reviewers who are more useful to the players. That's a problem that any person in any business suffers - if your customers are getting crap as a result of you taking kickbacks, you're taking a big risk of losing both your customers and the vendors giving you toys.

As a player, your best bet is to read the articles, determine whether or not their reviews reflect your own interest in the games, and then read different websites if they don't. I get most of my game recommendations from friends and reviews people put on TIGsource for this reason. I like to read some of Yahtzee's reviews because I find his tastes in games aren't too far from mine. It's unfortunate for the casual player or the mother buying a game as a gift, but they can learn the same lesson after they buy a couple crappy games and get pickier.

Rather than complaining about corruption in game journalism in general (This happens in every business anyway), I'd be more interested in hearing about specific examples of games that got lots of reviews out of line with how they actually play, or reviewers (individuals or websites) that give good quality reviews that have helped you find games you enjoy.

It will be interesting to see what happens to polygon considering where they got all their seed money from.

I would totally write a biased review if I got a street fighter chess set.  Cool


edit : I disagree with your DS analysis. I liked the early game better than the late game but overall the fact that the game caused me to sit in front of my TV like my 12 year old self did with LTTP is more indicative than any argument or analysis I can conceive. I don;t think I'd been that addicted to a game since the halflife modding era.
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AshfordPride
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« Reply #47 on: April 25, 2013, 07:37:38 AM »

I will never understand why people place so much value in action figures and other kinds of con swag stuff. Honestly, if I got a Street Fighter Chess Set I'd probably just give it away to a friend. It's entirely possible that some of these writers genuinely have no interest in all this crap they're getting and they write their articles based on genuine opinions of the game.

But it's so incredibly lame to imagine that these people are the ones who are the fucking link between corporate and consumers.  I don't want these people to be numb to all of this.  Look, every PAX I get like six eyedrops from these guys who hand them out.  I'm not hype about eyedrops.  I'm not asking anyone to be hype about eyedrops.  What I am asking is that if you're going to give glowing reviews to games and tell everyone that this is one of your favorite games, I need to know why you're not hype about getting exclusive swag about this game.  I fucking love Monster Hunter.  I have a little Rathalos Hammer on my desk.  I like Monster Hunter, I like my little hammer.  When I tell people that Monster Hunter is one of my favorite games of all time, it's evident.  Literally evident, as in I have evidence.  I don't hide my shit.

Well, I did put a Mia Fey figurine I got for free away in my drawer.  But only because that shit is obscene, her tits are just ridiculous and I got a facade of normalcy to uphold. 

I also own a set of Capcom formalwear.  Have we been over this?  Bowtie and cummerbund, perfect for a wedding.  I'll never wear it.  Never, ever, ever.  But the fact that I have this is something amazing.  It's a Ying Yang blend of the ironic and genuine. 

What bothers me is when people don't give a shit about any of this.  I'm not asking you to lose your shit over every piece of plastic garbage that's passed to you, because I've tossed loads of free shit from cons that I couldn't give a shit about.  But I need to know why none of this phases them, because it makes them just sound so lame.

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It's entirely possible that some of these writers genuinely have no interest in all this crap they're getting and they write their articles based on genuine opinions of the game.

I wouldn't doubt that these guys have terrible tastes that are meant to jive with the majority of readers who also have terrible tastes.  In fact, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what's going on.  Stephen Totillo genuine found the combat of Bioshock Infinite to be faithful to the other games in the series, that he found the entire experience to be absolutely amazing.  If Stephen Totillo had reviewed Bioshock Infinite in a featureless white room he'd still be just as impressed by it.

But that's another problem.  These idiots are being coddled by companies to the point where they have to either pretend to not care, or legitimately not care to seem incorruptible.  And that's where passion dies.  It's when the solution to all this isn't to deny it, it's to accept everything that comes to you and then tell everyone how little you cared about getting it.  I don't care if you admit that you don't need a free chopper ride to review Black Ops.  I don't care if you put on the sourest, most disinterested face as you were flying around Hawaii.  You're all a bunch of besties who get to go to these fantastic parties subtly disguised as game previews.  Then you come back and tell everyone how ho-hum spending a night in a luxury hotel was.  Fuck you.  You had a fucking blast.

Quote
That's a problem that any person in any business suffers - if your customers are getting crap as a result of you taking kickbacks, you're taking a big risk of losing both your customers and the vendors giving you toys.

Quote
Rather than complaining about corruption in game journalism in general (This happens in every business anyway), I'd be more interested in hearing about specific examples of games that got lots of reviews out of line with how they actually play, or reviewers (individuals or websites) that give good quality reviews that have helped you find games you enjoy.

Oh no, this helps.  If a game is given an entirely glowing review from Kotaku, I can take it that this game has had all of it's corners rounded out and probably has nothing interesting that would make it a day one buy.  If Kotaku complains about things being obtuse, or the combat system being too hard or frustrating, or that they would like X, Y, and Z to be ironed out to be better, then I know I got a hit.  Really, it's the games that get the 7's and 8's from the mainstream websites that go on to be my favorites, and it's the 9 and 10s that get bought for five dollars on Steam nine months after they come out for me to play and go 'eh, it's alright'. 

That's my ironclad system.  It's never done me wrong.
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Sar
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« Reply #48 on: April 25, 2013, 12:45:01 PM »

Really, it's the games that get the 7's and 8's from the mainstream websites that go on to be my favorites, and it's the 9 and 10s that get bought for five dollars on Steam nine months after they come out for me to play and go 'eh, it's alright'. 

The problem I frequently have with this is that some games get 7s and 8s from mainstream websites because they're oddball, obscure or obtuse (how alliterative!), and I often like those kinds of game as well. But some other games get 7s or 8s from mainstream websites because they're the same dull dross as those that get 9s and 10s, just not so nice. A quirky and easily-misunderstood game is going to get the same rating as a generic FPS with a clunky control scheme! It's not always that possible to tell the difference, and finding one or two reviewers who have a similar taste in games to you is often going to be more productive, in my experience. There are more generic FPSes with clunky controls than quirky and easily-misunderstood titles that I would love.



On the subject of swag: I can see your point, but from what I recall of reading Kotaku regularly a few years ago, the writers there did think the action figures and the little replica-weapon keychains and the novelty clocks and the chess sets were awesome; they just didn't think they could morally keep them. And that's their decision; morals are something that are pretty personal if you're doing them properly. I can totally empathise with Totillo's reasoning behind not keeping any of that stuff, because he doesn't want to open himself to the accusation that any of that shit affects the rating he gives to games. I have to wonder whether the lengthy descriptions of the PR effort thrown at him when he went to see Bioshock are an attempt to point out how superior Kotaku is from other websites because those other websites didn't mention all this stuff, but it could just as easily be a case of "I have to deal with wanting to wallow in this stuff on a daily basis but not being able to let myself, so at least I'm going to write about how hard it is".

I think "I get pissed off and/or dismissive about being given cool action figures for a game I think is awesome because I know I can't bring myself to keep them and I'd really like to" is a perfectly good reason to not get excited about being given cool action figures for a game you think is awesome and gave a glowing review to, put it that way. Like an alcoholic whisky critic with a failing liver.
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