Rest In Print, Gaming Journalism 65
Phaethon360 writes "The film industry, the music industry and the gaming industry — three factions of entertainment in the grasp of a vicious and unbridled tyrant. The internet is a toddler with a handgun, and its whims shall be met — and with great abandon. It can be a source of great wealth or utter failure. But what's striking is the fact that no one seems to be taking the necessary precautions to ensure a smooth and prosperous transition. I'm talking, of course, about doing away with the middle man; the gaming magazine."
Dan Amrich, former editor of OXM, recently argued the other side of this issue, saying that game-related print media doesn't get the respect it deserves for breaking stories earlier than online media, and for not just waiting "until the information came to them, in the form of a PR release and a video." A related piece at GameSetWatch suggests that the print media is doing a decent job of undercutting itself through unsustainably-low subscription fees.
Quality (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm unfamiliar with OXM, but if they were of average quality, then that's not saying much at all, and usually online sources were superior at that time.
(Of course, they kept sending these which were unsolicited for a year, then sent a bill. After being told they'd sent it to us unsolicited mail sent to us through the US Postal Service and to shove off, they did, suggesting that they employed that tactic on others. So they were probably higher on the slimey scale than most.)
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I used to read PCZone magazine, until my subscription ran out last year, and I never renewed it.
Why?
While PCZone was an excellent magazine, it was both fun and fair, they were not afraid to admit when their hype machine was wrong (Path of Neo [computeran...ogames.com] was a case in point) - As indicated by that link, I can get all the reviews I want online. No subscription needed.
PCGamer - atleast in the UK - was and is aimed at the teenage market. Plastered with semi-naked models holding various computing peripherals. Last time I b
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PCGamer - atleast in the UK - was and is aimed at the teenage market. Plastered with semi-naked models holding various computing peripherals. Last time I bought PC Gamer I was at a hospital and needed something to read while I was waiting. Utter Trash
I've never seen a model on the front of PCGamerUK, naked or otherwise... without exception that I am aware of, their front covers are always screenshot-, concept art-, or logo-based.
Were you thinking of PC Format? Now that is trash.
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There's an Old Expression... (Score:2)
Something to the effect that the only thing lower than Music "Journalism" is Game "Journalism." It's meant more as a slam to Music "Journalism," as there would inevitably be some guy in the whom citing some music review or other as if it mattered. There was never anyone who took game reviews seriously. In a general interest publication, the game reviews is the job given to the editor-in-chief's nephew, chasing his first byline.
Re:There's an Old Expression... (Score:4, Insightful)
I've been reading gaming magazines for nearly 20 years now and can confidently say that they have been very informative overall. Unlike most websites which regurgitate press releases, magazine editors build relationships with game developers and are invited to visit their offices to get their hands on alpha builds or deathmatches with the team. They then go back to the office where they put their professional writing skills and industry experience to proper use.
Games journalism is unquestionably real journalism. It covers news about an industry I care about, and it acts as consumer reviews of expensive products that I will buy or avoid based on their comments.
Plus it's something to read on the can.
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magazine editors build relationships with game developers
I'd rather read the thoughts of someone who developed a relationship with the game, not the developer. Of course, that takes time but that's ok with me. Just like any other media, our understanding of its quality matures as time goes by.
Plus it's something to read on the can.
Reading on the toilet increases your risk of hemorrhoids. Just do your business and leave.
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Gaming magazines aimed at school-kids are probably the last bastionof Games Mags (As they began)
atleast until they can get WiFi at school and surf the web on their phones
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Either broadband or the demo sizes approaching a full DVD did.
The zombie stops moving (Score:4, Interesting)
The game I worked on became "game of the month" in Germany's largest gaming magazine solely because we threw in a pile of merchandise they could use for a raffle. We didn't come up with the idea, the magazine did.
With this kind of conduct increasingly apparent even ten years ago, the only thing that surprises me about this is how this sham has been shambling on. But there are enough other branches of worthless journalism (i.e. men's and women's magazines which recycle the bulk of their material every two years), so go figure.
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Uh, are you familiar with gaming print media at all....? He's basically giving a real-life example of what everyone already knows.
You are quite right about online reviews sites being "pray" to the whims of sponsors... Kane & Lynch, anyone? But unlike magazines, websites also offer reader views, and the ease and variety of reviews makes this much less of a problem.
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With this kind of conduct increasingly apparent even ten years ago, the only thing that surprises me about this is how this sham has been shambling on. But there are enough other branches of worthless journalism (i.e. men's and women's magazines which recycle the bulk of their material every two years), so go figure.
This became apparent to me as I watched reruns of the gaming news show Electronic Playground before its reincarnation into its current EP Daily format. Running shows that were sometimes 2-3 years old, it was fascinating to see the reporters fawn over the drivel fed to them by developers over games that were either never released, or came out as total garbage and targets of repeated negative and hateful critics. I've become very skeptic of the gaming news industry as a result, being a lot less receptive to v
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The game I worked on became "game of the month" in Germany's largest gaming magazine solely because we threw in a pile of merchandise they could use for a raffle. We didn't come up with the idea, the magazine did.
Hey, congratulations! Game of the month! Wow!
But there are enough other branches of worthless journalism (i.e. men's and women's magazines which recycle the bulk of their material every two years), so go figure.
I find it very rare that mens magazines recycle their material. It's not like there's a shortage of women willing to be paid to wear a bikini.
Game journalism is dying because it sucks. (Score:2)
There is nothing in game magazines that can't be done better by any joe schmoe on a forum or game blog.
I miss the days of the old Next Generation, when they actually scored some interesting interviews and had some solid business information in the
Insideous relationship. (Score:2)
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I stopped reading gaming mags/sites years ago, too many puff-pieces for vapourware, or people telling me I'd be sooo much more competitive if I just spent loadsamoney on their hardware. Instead; I tried asking real people what games they played, how well it played, and if online play was fun or just a button-twitch fest.
You might find Rock Paper Shotgun [rockpapershotgun.com] refreshing, then.
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Try reading sites like Hardcore Gaming 101 [hardcoregaming101.net], The Video Game Critic [videogamecritic.net], and Racketboy [racketboy.com]. The article is right, in print gaming journalism is long dead, but there's still quality stuff on the internet.
was there "gaming journalism"? (Score:2)
I stopped reading the print magazines years ago because they seemed to be nothing more than fan rags. Where were the "this game is an unstable, buggy, boring turd" for all of the games that really were or "those of you with high-enough spec' systems may get this game to run, but the rest of you should wait for it to hit the bargain bins, because, by then, you may have 'leet' enough systems to run it"?
How often was there a "BTW, the copy protection in this game means that when their server is down, you CANN
OXM (Score:3, Insightful)
having picked up an Xbox 360 at the weekend, now they're not supposed to crash or die much, I got an Official Xbox Mag (UK) just to see what was what...
Apart from being thinner than a steamrollered snake, it seemed to have lost interest and heart in the subject matter. Most of the writers seem to be the same old faces from way back, so perhaps gaming mags need to cull their staff and hire the keen young web-types to inject some enthusiasm.
But, overall - I didn't find anything new in the mag that I couldn't read online, so (despite their claims for exclusives) mags seem to have no purpose.
Caveat - it is summer so there's less newsy stuff about
Switched to GamesTM (Score:2, Interesting)
I used to read PC Gamer until I got sick of it getting thinner and thinner, while the price went up and up and the amount of crap on the coverdisc multiplied. Now I read GamesTM (UK mag) and it's pretty good- it feels like it's written for adults, which is bloody refreshing in a games mag.
(No, I don't work for them, just pointing out that it's not all as bad as PC Gamer!)
R.I.P. Brodeo (Score:1)
...this is a blog. Not 'news'. (Score:3, Insightful)
And accurate or not, I'm not sure we should be thrilled to see the most pompous and tenuous form of new media preaching to the converted on the death of the old media.
The Decline of PC Magazines (Score:4, Insightful)
It all seems like everyone jumped the shark shortly after PC Gamer's Coconut Monkey became an interactive video on the attached CD-ROM.
Some of the demos were okay, but most were blindingly atrocious, with more and more of the disc being taken up by Coconut Monkey easter eggs and such. That was around 1996?
Computer Gaming World, and most other magazines equally rapidly became less and less about information, and increasingly about the tepid sales pitch and promo tie-ins.
But, someone might as well call time of death on the notion of print media covering games, particularly PC games.
People want to actually get their hands on games. Gamers are getting more jaded with release after release of blatant shovelware, most of which needed at least another year of fully funded development (cough, EA, cough).
Almost everyone knows by now, most of the trailers, screenshots, and even occasionally demos (although demos are RARE nowadays) are all carefully staged to make something look awesome, but in the end, it's a 1/10 POS.
Despite making profits that make non-casual gamers turn mauve in disgust, game companies are having trouble selling the flaming piles they have almost-exclusively in recent years. If nobody produces truly good, inspiringly made games, nobody's going to want to read about it, either. That's kinda like adding Director's Commentary to Tom Arnold comedies. Nobody wants to listen to commentary about something that's akin to self-harm.
Print magazines have been on the decline for a long time, but it's been the canary in the coalmine as far as quality vs. quantity in the gaming industry goes. Now you've got a dead canary, and the miners can't be arsed to fix any gas leaks before they all suffocate.
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Agreed for coconut monkey being the stupidest thing on the planet.
But the biggest killer as you said was just broadband. Why wait for a print mag that will have less screenshots then a website can put up? Reviews are fun to find out about features, you still have to get to know a reviewer before you can figure out if you like the same kinds of games as them.
But really, all you need now a days to judge a game is a video. 5 minutes on gametrailers.com and you can pretty much see if the gameplay is for you or
Good riddance to bad rubbish. (Score:2)
Video game magazines have always been rubbish, at least until the internet came out, especially with broadband. Biased reviews in favor of anticipated big hits (review our game bad and we'll just see who gets preview copies of this game we're working on next time!), terrible, corny humor and transparent attempts to be "edgy" corny than anything else, useless information, outdated information (since almost all gaming magazines came out monthly), useless strategy guides since they had obviously limited space
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er, should be
"..terrible, corny humor and transparent attempts to be "edgy" that were more ridiculous than anything else,"
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Websites are just as biased in their reviews as magazines. True, in the case of OXM, Bungie could compress feces into a DVD form, slap a Halo logo on it, and OXM would rate it a 10/10, but they've been doing that for years. It's the previews that really bug me, as they make crap games sound good (Hour of Victory anyone?). However, you just take the previews with a huge grain of salt and continue on. My biggest gripe with them is that the magazine seems to get thinner and thinner each year.
Let's face it,
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bidet [wikipedia.org] (as a sidenote, I consider the act of smearing the feces on your buttocks (fundamentally, that's what it is) quite disgusting)
But...a lot of trees used in industry come from, basically, plantations, so it's not so bad as you put it.
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A bidet is a nice idea in theory but most of the time you just end up wet and dirty rather than just dirty.
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Well, perhaps; was just pointing out that there is standardized solution to the problem.
Me...I just always try to take quick shower afterwards.
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Yes, you've just pointed out how problematic that "solution" is.
A bidet really does not cut down my use of paper. If anything it might increase it.
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Which, really, isn't much of a problem in case of toiled paper...largely a product of recycling, ending up as biomass waste in the ground (it would end up like that in natural forest; never mind that our wood comes from forests that are far from natural)
wow (Score:2)
i would like to meet the moron who modded this flamebait.
on second thought, not. someone stupid to the extent of being that biased or lacking vision should be avoided.
Generalization (Score:1)
Toddler with a handgun? (Score:3, Funny)
Let's not forget the reviews (Score:1)
Well, that's where they truly, 10 on a 1-10 scale, suck. I've yet had to see a game that was advertised for that would score less than 70%. In fact, I would usually subtract 60% and divide by 4 to see how the game would rate on a 1-10 score in a more realistic way.
Combine that with enthousiastic "previews" of games in production where the lads of the redaction had a good time with the pro
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Well, that's where they truly, 10 on a 1-10 scale, suck. I've yet had to see a game that was advertised for that would score less than 70%. In fact, I would usually subtract 60% and divide by 4 to see how the game would rate on a 1-10 score in a more realistic way.
You know, most mags and sites have a ratings guide that help define what those numbers actually mean. I've heard many people complaining about high averages. Frankly, it's probably not reasonable to expect reviews to average at the midpoint. There are a number of reasons why this may be the case:
* Magazines are much more likely to review a larger proportion of AAA games. Among the spectrum of games available, one would expect these to be of higher-than-average quality.
* Some reviews utilizing a percenta
Novel content versus news content (Score:2)
It seems to me that the main functions of magazines pre-internet - regurgitating news releases and screenshots so that obsessives know what's going on - can be very easily and cheaply accomplished by any hack on the web. Given that, any magazine which sells itself on the back of raw news is utterly screwed. However what kept me reading games magazines as an adult was the editorial and other novel content. Lengthy discussions of game design tropes, how games are written, game history and so on, are mentally
Edge (Score:3, Insightful)
I think I got stung by the cancellation of like 3 gaming mags, each worst than the last, when I actually tried to subscribe to one. So I gave up for awhile.
Then, after the third month in a row, buying this "Edge" magazine deal from the UK for like $18.95 at Chapters, I finally pulled the trigger and subscribed. (expensive still but a lot cheaper than chapters)
Worth a shot if you're on this side of the pond and looking for something to read on the crapper!
Edge is the best gaming magazine I've read in years, it reminds me of the old Next Gen, but is probably better than that. You get previews where they, GASP, actually dare to say a game looks like it's probably going to suck. The reviews are well done, and they seem to use the full 1-10 scale. Plus you get long interesting articles on a variety of game industry stuff; retrospectives of older games, in depth looks at various game houses etc.
And it's actually more than a 10 page flyer! And not stuffed with ads.
It's just so expensive (like $80-$90 per year in Canada), but on the other hand it's pretty much the only mag I buy.
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It seems that game journalism in the UK is alive and well for some time now. Personally I haven't got much contact with Edge; primarily with another thing from their publisher - Official UK Playstation (1) magazine (well, it was PL edition...mostly translated). Over a decade ago.
Even then, in comparison to other mags here, it was the only one worth taking seriously. First and foremost, written by people who know how to write; and/or who don't assume that they are bought by kids mostly unable to read (well,
Payola, credibility and how they are connected (Score:5, Insightful)
Let's face it, why did we read game mags. To see what new games hit the market? Ok, true, to some degree. But be blunt and honest here, we wanted to know how to spend those 50 or 100 bucks we had per month. What games are worth our dough? If you can only buy one or maybe two games a month, you have to make a selection. Back in the days, often getting a "trial" wasn't easy (no internet, you whippersnappers!), if you got one it was, you guessed it, bundled on a CD with a game mag. And even then, what does a preview show you? That yes, it has spiffy graphics and that you don't go nuts immediately at the crappy interface, but what trial gave you more than 3-4 hours of gameplay? And pretty much any game is fun after just 3-4 hours. Even Spore was.
So we relied on experienced, hardcore gamers to sift through the pits of rubbish to unearth the gem or two that this month held in stores for us. The one or two gems a month that we would spend our pittance... I mean, allowance on.
And what did we get, more and more often as time went on? Overhyped crap, that had flashy graphics, no doubt here, but games that looked great... on paper. Choppy animations, horrible bugs (and try to get patches, still no internet you young'uns!) and a general feeling of being ... fuck, you've been ripped off! By the company that released this cheesy, half-baked excuse of a game, but also by the game mag that gave this turd stellar reviews. What the (censored to protect the squeamish)???
Later, when I went into writing, I learned that the whole biz is a lot of "scratch my back, scratch your back". You gimme good reviews, I give you exclusive material. You gimme sneak previews, I don't talk about the glaring bugs. You gimme free samples, I give you a review that doesn't make your material look like the pile of turd that it is. I'll even photoshop your graphics a little...
That's also why you can't find any "bad" reviews anymore. When was the last time you saw a game getting a score of 50 or lower (on a, theoretical, 0-100 scale)? A 60 already means "reeks like my old running shoes". Back in the days, before it got turned in the complete joke it is today (read: When you could at least assume that there were non-payola reviews), a review of 90+ meant that this is gold, an epic piece, a milestone that will be the measuring stick for the next decade. A 80+ was a good game, worth the dough. 60+ was still good, if it was your genre you could still get that. A 40+ at least meant that it would be ok if it was in the bargain bin and you had those odd 10 bucks to throw at something. Around 20, you found really stinkers, often included for kicks or to find the "lemon of the month".
Today, 90+ is the standard for A material games. No top level studio title will ever get anything but a 90+ rating unless it's really bincrap. 80+ is fairly good, 70+ could possibly be considered if you're a fan and stay the hell away from anything getting a rating with a 6 as the first digit. No, I'm not talking about reviews below the 60s. It's moot. The simply DO NOT exist.
And here's where the internet comes in. The internet is brutal. Unforgiving. People who do not get paid and thus have no interest at all to pull punches. They will shower you with praise if you should get it, but they will cover you in rubbish if you deserve it, too. Of course, you're dealing with another form of payola today: Paid reviews that push the "review meter" this way or the other.
Still, it's much harder to silence (or pay) a few thousand voices than to nudge a single one in the "right" direction. And that's why online review pages take over. Credibility. As odd as it may sound, but yes, a few thousand anonymous amateurs are more credible and reliable than a single expert. At least when it comes to opinions and taste.
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Magazines miss completely (Score:3, Interesting)
I've been part of the 'gaming media' for nearly 20 years now, writing game reviews occasionally for print magazines, but mostly for websites.
My take is that gaming magazines miss their target completely.
Firstly, gaming magazines are nothing more than previews, reviews, and columns. When's the last time you opened a gaming magazine and actually saw a STORY about UI developments, the moral stance in violent videogames, or something that wasn't a poorly-camouflaged (if they bother) extended preview of something in development? Frankly, it would not be a bad move for a gaming magazine to publish the sort of thing that is on Gamasutra, as some of those articles are in-depth, technical, and worthy of mental digestion, instead of just extended adverts?
Second, their credibility is universally shot. In the real world of journalism, there's at least some degree of credibility to the print media (although that's fading too), with formal fact-checking offices and editors that review the stories for meaning in value. Gaming mags ape the worst habits of the cheapest websites. Their review scales (1-10, stars, whatever) are meaningless, as games fall clearly into three categories: the uber-mega hit, the merely interesting, or the scapegoat category. Their scores will be (on a 1-100 scale) 97+, 89-96, or 50 or lower, respectively. Generally the whole thing is a quiet circle-jerk, where the gaming companies provide free games and buy copious advertising space, while the magazines quietly agree to make sure that the review is generally good but in any case always contains a few hyperbolic quotes that are good for box text. There are a *few* games that even the publishers regard as stinkers, and are so obviously bad, they serve as useful 'credibility' anchors, because pretty much everyone agrees to pile on and downrate it, so there's no danger of a publisher/developer getting their feelings particularly hurt. You might think that mags could buy their titles, but this would put them MONTHS behind their peers, who all get pre-release gold copies for their reviews. They are already hostage to their print schedules, distribution, etc which handicaps them in breaking any new information vs. websites.
Third, even if the reviews are genuine, the nature of reviewing is personal and very subjective. I'd suggest that most gamers browse reviewers widely, until they land on a handful that seem to mirror their own opinions closely enough. There is a quite natural advantage to websites that can be hotlinked, browsed widely, and cost nothing to sample widely (they're not really free, you as a gamer are paying a microtransaction in every game purchase to subsidize the free review games and advertising fees, but it's nearly invisible).
Fourth, in regards to pretty much any modern game aside from Dwarf Fortress, a huge selling point of any game is the graphics. Websites can simply link a screenshot, and you can see what the game will look like at full resolution (boo to the retarded game sites that display their graphics in some sort of non-capturable popup so this is impossible). That's tremendously important to most players who either want to see the pretty flashes and chrome, or have a more tangible question about whether the UI is readable, etc. Magazines are stuck with (good resolution but) usually smaller than 4x6 images, which simply can't carry the details. Websites can also carry video clips which SHOW gameplay (boo again to the websites that accept the bullshit cutscene videos which show neither actual gameplay nor game resolution).
Finally, there's the matter of space: while editorial review is a good thing (don't ever let my editors hear me say that), magazine editors are more about the chopping than the refining. A good editor helps a writer be more succinct and convey their points more clearly. Magazines like all print media have a zero-sum hard cap on the amount of space stories can take up - if a game is alloted 18 column-inches, or 750 words, or whatever, that can't be changed with
It's not all bad (Score:2)
When's the last time you opened a gaming magazine and actually saw a STORY about UI developments, the moral stance in violent videogames, or something that wasn't a poorly-camouflaged (if they bother) extended preview of something in development?
Last week. Because I buy EDGE magazine. The American games journalists should import it so they can see how to do their jobs properly.
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Thanks for the tip!
I'm unfortunately hostage to US magazines generally, but that one looks good enough to pursue.
What's interesting is that the current online version - there's almost NO overlap to the 'feature titles' covered in most US gaming mags. Interesting, and very positive sign of depth.
Bookmarking it now.
Thank you!
The gaming mags killed themselves. (Score:1)
The usefullness of gaming mags are nowadays nonexistent. The reason is the blatant ad-based reviews. Put a couple of expensive ads in the mag and you get a stellar review of your game.
I dont want to wade through a gaming magazine and buy really crappy games to sift through muck before i find one thats playable. I want the gaming mag to describe to me what the game is all about.
The gaming mag industry killed itself just as the IT-mags are killing themselves with paid reviews and tight connections to the indu
Blinkies and the Blowing Myth (Score:1)
TFA mentions the "blinkies" that often happened to original NES systems, with the design flaw being the spring loaded, zero insertion force cartridge mechanism. TFA also mentions the supposed "solution" which involved taking the cart out, blowing into said cart, reinserting it, and repeating until it worked. I am still amazed how this MYTH has been perpetuated, and that very few seemed to ever figure out that there is a quick, easy, nearly foolproof, and nearly 100% effective solution.
The easy way to solv
Guess I'm the only one (Score:2)
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The Author - "Glad for the discussion!" (Score:1)