I admit I was wrong when I started my crusade over three years ago. The popular and vocal media outlets thought videogame journalism was merely reviews and game criticism, and judging from the evolution of my posts on the subject, even I lost focus. “Should reviews have scores?” “Should reviews be based solely on technical merit?” Those were the arguments of the day, and every once and a while someone would ask the obvious question, “Should it be called journalism or criticism, or merely writing?”

The obvious answer, is all of the above.

Back in July 2006 I wrote a post entitled, “The Lester Bangs of Video Games is Under Our Noses,” in response to an article by Esquire’s Chuck Klosterman. Klosterman compared videogame criticism to film criticism, and theorized why there was no equal.

Video games provide an opportunity to write about the cultural consequence of free will, a concept that has as much to do with the audience as it does with the art form. However, I can’t see how such an evolution could happen, mostly because there’s no one to develop into these “potentiality critics.” Video-game criticism can’t evolve because video-game criticism can’t get started.

In my post, which was part of the Carnival of Gamers and spotlighted on Joystiq, I disputed criticism did in fact get started, but the media was just looking to the wrong critics.

The game industry is different in that it has an ever-expanding group of outspoken innovators and creators who not only critique the work of their peers, but also try to advance their craft by educating and stimulating the gaming populous with their blogs and journals about what it really means to make and play video games. They are one of them, very literally.

But again, the focus was criticism. And criticism was not to be the savior of videogames journalism.

Since that time, and really only until recently, games journalism has been treated like a business that begs to be covered with maturity and experience.

Ben Fritz did just this as former writer for Variety’s The Cut Scene blog, now entertainment business reporter for the Los Angeles Times. As his blog indicates he is indeed a fan of videogames, but instead of approaching his interest as an enthusiast, as was the trend at the time; he did it as a reporter, covering such stories as Midway’s meltdown in 2008. The IGNs and 1UPs of the world argued journalism didn’t translate to page views and subscriptions, but to his benefit Variety had no interest in becoming a blog read by teens.

At the same time, Stephen Totilo emerged as games reporter for MTV News, and started the MTV Multiplayer blog where he stayed before moving on as deputy managing editor at Kotaku in 2009. He wrote about how his Master’s in journalism helped his game writing: “That degree was by no means essential, but it helped. It helped me take reporting seriously.” More importantly, that same Master’s helped Kotaku transform itself from an news aggregate with a knack for potty editorials to a respectable industry blog with a team of seasoned writers and reporters.

In the past week, Totilo protege Patrick Klepek captured the Activision/Infinity Ward feud as an event worthy of a front page bombshell. Klepek, once caught in the sophomoric Animal House antics at 1UP, left for the nurturing confines of Totilo’s MTV Multiplayer blog and now covers videogames at G4 with the same propensity as his mentor.

In 2009, GamePro appointed former EGM editorial director John Davidson as executive vice president of content for its magazine and website. Always a proponent of quality content coupled with a sharp business sense, Davidson has attempted to successfully blend the two into the first few issues of the relaunched GamePro Magazine by tapping notable internet videogame journalists for editorials and handpicking content which clearly speaks to a more mature and sophisticated reader, and packaging those into a book that can be sold to the masses at the newsstand.

Four examples of writers, reporters and editors who have treated the videogame industry not like a childish diversion but rather the $20 billion business it has become.

The answer is there is room for writing, criticism and journalism in videogames media, but the media itself could not grow without true journalism. Sites like Giant Bomb and Joystiq can continue their brand of writing and podcasts as infotainment without the burden of trying to be journalism. Or needing to be journalism.

The emergence of true journalism in once-enthusiast blogs and mainstream outlets brings the possibility to millions of daily readers that the “Lester Bangs of Videogames” argument may now be a distant memory.

On CAGcast #133, Wombat and I discussed how major gaming blogs seem to
post any and all gaming rumors with little consideration given to the
credibility of the source or the plausibility of the story.

It goes on to use the specific example of the G4-Xbox 360 “relaunch” that spread like wildfire all the way up to Adam Sessler’s Sessler’s Soapbox segment. As an experiment, CheapyD and Wombat offered a free game to any listener who posted a fake news story that ended up getting picked up on any one of the major gaming blogs (Destructoid, Joystiq, Kotaku). Well, do a Google search for “xbox pure” and you’ll see exactly how that experiment fared (read: very well).

Since then, the backlash from these Blogging sites has been quick and strong, with Kotaku Managing Editor Brian Crecente posting just how he really feels about being duped:

It appears that this rumor story could be CAG throwing their
credibility out the window as part of a contest. Kotaku’’s decision to
run rumors is always based on the credibility of the site and the
information contained within it. In the past CAG has proven to be a
reliable site, having broken a number of stories through apt reporting.
It appears that may no longer be the case.

I have been very critical of Video Gaming journalism in the past, only because the industry deserves more. It is a multi-billion dollar industry covered by immature twenty-somethings who would rather emulate gaming blogs rather than rise above them as true journalists. Imagine if the motion picture industry, of which video games is nipping on the heels, had to rely on Ain’t It Cool News or C.H.U.D. for coverage. No Variety, no Premiere, no Interview magazine; just a bunch of kids who started a website to post snarky half-wit comments on multi-million dollar projects of which they have little creative knowledge and no business sense. Just doesn’t sound right, does it?

In regards to video game blogging – these blogs have demanded the same attention from the industry as legitimate gaming sites, such as IGN, GamesRadar, GameDaily, and Gamespot. And the major blogs have been so successful in terms of generating an audience that these said legitimate gaming sites have changed their style and presentation to capture some of that same audience, blurring the line between the two.

But Crecente’s comment made that line a little more clear. Even with his background in traditional journalism, he makes it evident his blog does not follow the same standards or ethics as legitimate news sources. Kotaku, like Joystiq and Destructoid, are nothing more than RSS feeds with commentary. To accuse CAG of any wrongdoing is like the Wizard accusing Dorothy of looking behind the curtain. Those who wish to hide behind a facade are only at risk of being exposed; whereas those who have nothing to hide also have nothing to fear.

I applaud CAG for what it did, and I hope they continue to demand more from the video game press both with intelligent discussion on the website and podcast and creative experiments such as this.

Source: Heard Any Good Rumors Lately?

And publicity he got. Kind of like shaking a bee’s nest, because the people who picked up this story were the journalists themselves. That’s kind of like Mike Ditka making a speech at the NBA All-Star game about the lack of fundamentals with today’s basketball professionals.

There are basically two types of game journalists today. There are the Enthusiasts, like Kotaku and Joystiq, which are sprout from blogs and report with an opinionated, fanboy-ish slant. The Enthusiasts took offense to the story because unlike their professional brethren they are the ones trying to break the mold of traditional journalism, providing commentary on the gaming industry in an unorthodox, mostly satirical way.

Then there are the Professionals, like Gamespot and 1UP, which are more objective and unbiased. Of course they had to comment on the story because it was news, and that is what they do. They merely reported on the reaction among the media, and probably cried a little inside at the realization their years of work really haven’t amounted to anything meaningful. I must give credit to 1UP for at least trying to do something different in their approach, but the end result of their attempt at gonzo is the appearance that the inmates are running the prison.

Why, Chuck, if you’ve found such a void in video game journalism, don’t you just fill it yourself? Probably because you can barely spell Xbox, let alone play games on it. No, instead you are merely raking the coals of the latest hot topic to appear to be “with it”. But I don’t want to pick on just you, I want to pick on the media themselves for not being able to retort with a quick, intelligent response. Please, let me have the honor.

The fact is, the video game media does have a Lester Bangs. Many of them, in fact, who are even more emotionally invested in the industry than anyone realizes. See, for those who aren’t sick of hearing the biography of Lester Bangs as told by Cameron Crowe, he was someone who understood music because he was integrated with its creation. There was Bangs, hanging out in the Bowery, drinking and smoking with the kids who would eventually save the world (or something like that). He heard the jams-in-progress, saw the same psychedelics as the musicians themselves. He was one of them.

Greg Kasavin or Dan Hsu are very much veterans of the video game media, but they are not one of them like Bangs was. Certainly it isn’t someone who writes about the feeling they get while playing Jaws Unleashed. They can act profound and say they want video games to make them cry, but they really don’t know what that means.

Cliff Bleszinski does. David Jaffe does. So does Warren Spector. So does Chris Crawford. God forbid, so does John Romero. See, the music industry had Lester Bangs, essentially a groupie, writing tales from the inside. But I don’t think someone like Keith Richards was ever sober enough to talk about the Beatles. Hell, we can barely make sense of musicians when they wax on about their political beliefs. The game industry is different in that it has an ever-expanding group of outspoken innovators and creators who not only critique the work of their peers, but also try to advance their craft by educating and stimulating the gaming populous with their blogs and journals about what it really means to make and play video games. They are one of them, very literally.

So I guess that means Chuck was right. The video game media doesn’t have a Lester Bangs. Nor will it ever, because to be able to critique at that level one would need a deep understanding of what it takes to make games at an emotional level. And if they had that, they wouldn’t be writing for 1UP or Gamespot anymore, they would be the ones actually making the games. But maybe since they didn’t know how to point Chuck in the right direction in the first place, perhaps they would be better suited playing the games rather than writing about them.

Okay, and now for my E3 2006 Awards:

• Press Coverage of the Show: Gamespot. They had live coverage that eclipsed G4, even with G4 working hard but yet still lacking how to work their Maxim/Spike TV slant into their live show. Here’s a hint: that shit doesn’t mix with peanut butter. Try the chocolate next time. The only knock was the lack of a daily podcast, I guess because everyone was so busy supporting E3 Live. I wish they would have had daily wrap-ups like 1UP, and with their User Videos functionality, I would have liked to see more guerilla videos by staff from the show floor. I have a feeling most bosses do not like their employees to run streaming video at the office.
• Podcast of the Show: 1UP. I wanted to give a special nod to the 1UP Yours crew for podcasting nightly during each day of the conference. At least in theory, because they were usually delivered a day late. But still, they are always entertaining and editorial, unlike the very objective (read: afraid to say what you really feel) delivery of Gamespot’s crew. Look at the tenure between the two leading websites – Gamespot has seniority in its staff, versus the very young 1UP. I think that’s the difference, as 1UP is very keen on delivering gaming news in a way that is fresh and, notably, different from the pack.
• Worst E3 Coverage: Tie between Kotaku and Joystiq. What the hell. These guys scoop from eachother’s websites, hardly deliver anything news-worthy and avoid giving any value to gaming journalism almost on purpose. Yet everyone loves them, because hits = attention. I wouldn’t rest on my laurels if I were them, because it only takes one person with good HTML skills and a little bit of dedication to build up a fanbase. 1UP would have taken this award if it weren’t my scathing hatred toward Kotaku and Joystiq, because their site is unmanageable. And when you actually know where to find information, HTML errors are in abundance. I can’t tell you how many times I got the error “failed to load page”.

Overall though, the coverage was pretty unorganized. How many times do I have to say this – do NOT just categorize by platform/title. The amount of news coming out of the show slips through the cracks this way. Here’s a hint – for those blog-based sites, use your tags wisely. And for those who aren’t, tags aren’t that hard to incorporate. I’ll have to show you what I mean next year…