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Why are Game Journalists So Bad at Videogames?
- Thread starter Spyxos
- Start date
Beer Baelly
Al Pachinko, Konami President
These 'journalists' aren't picked for their gaming skills...
Thick Thighs Save Lives
Gold Member
Leaving this classic one here.
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Cyberpunkd
Member
They for sure are not picked for their journalistic skills either.
killatopak
Member
My guess is that they aren't really game journalist. They were just forced to do it since their skills were lacking in a traditional journalistic standpoint. Game journalist are where failed journalists gather.
Hypereides
Member
They aren't actual experienced, knowledgeable and thorough gamers like members of the gaming community. Its astonishing how much they misfire on what is a good and bad game.
Not to mention how unneutral their typical review assessments are or don't dare to ask hard hitting questions at developers/publishers.
Not to mention how unneutral their typical review assessments are or don't dare to ask hard hitting questions at developers/publishers.
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DenchDeckard
Moderated wildly
It's so they can review how good the accessibility options are......
digoutyoursoul
Member
A lot are simply extensions of publisher PR. Unofficially of course however it doesn’t need to be official, they make it obvious anyway.
Unknown Soldier
Member
Game 'journalists' are mostly political activists in 2024...
Sorcerer
Member
I would gather having to rush through so many games in such little time makes for a factory line type of process. Probably play every game on easy, maybe even some codes to streamline the process. All about quantity not quality of experience. Not condemning, there is no way to spend the proper time needed in these cases, which kind of makes the review process folly in the first place.
I suck at games and what takes someone 20 hours to beat will take me 60. But I am enjoying myself and don't sweat it. Then again, I don't make a living at it, which most likely would kill my enthusiasm for gaming sadly.
I suck at games and what takes someone 20 hours to beat will take me 60. But I am enjoying myself and don't sweat it. Then again, I don't make a living at it, which most likely would kill my enthusiasm for gaming sadly.
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This.
makaveli60
Member
Many of them are propagandists rather than journalists.
Stuart360
Member
Game journo's back in the day (16bit/32bit days), were actual gamers doing journo jobs on websites and mags etc.
These days a lot of game journo's are not real gamers and dont have the passion, they are just using game journalism as a stop gap to something better, a first step in the field.
These days a lot of game journo's are not real gamers and dont have the passion, they are just using game journalism as a stop gap to something better, a first step in the field.
Barakov
Gold Member
That's probably too kind of a term for these people given how shit they are at propaganda. Activists are a better term.
zenspider
Member
I think the opposite would be true. The more I play games — especially established genres with their own particular conventions and vocabulary — I learn and I get better. As I get better, I can clear them faster. I can also articulate what does or doesn’t set them apart for genre players and generalist gamers easier.
I think when “gamers were dead”, a big part of that was journos made it an anti-virtue to try and be good, to be “hardcore”, etc. Even when Dark Souls snapped the masses out of their amnesia that challenging games are rewarding, always attached was the bad faith “Easy Mode” argument: that if you paid the same money as me, you’re entitled to the same rewards as me.
tl;dr Hobbyist media pivoted from enthusiasm to criticism from a “casual”, non-gamer perspective, and by doing so became casual non-gamers themselves.
winjer
Gold Member
Not as bad as modern game writers.
Cyberpunkd
Member
Saber
Gold Member
Probably don't have the journslists skills and ethics to be accepted in the journalism. So they have to be in gaming journalisms, where they usually free to write whatever the crap they want.
Not to dunk on some game journalists, because I believe there are a very few who work decently and love games. But most of them are dejects.
Not to dunk on some game journalists, because I believe there are a very few who work decently and love games. But most of them are dejects.
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Arsic
Loves his juicy stink trail scent
Without seeing captured footage of their playthrough of a game to compare to their review it’s a shot in the dark if they are legit bad or not.
I know certain genres , like fighting games, reviews started being outsourced to actual fighting game players who could articulate. Let’s be real most reviewers aren’t gonna be able to speak to FGC heads why a new fighter is good or not. Actual players of FG games for long term care about online netcode, core gameplay, balance, performance , and cross play. Story mode and other modes don’t exist, and they don’t care.
I know certain genres , like fighting games, reviews started being outsourced to actual fighting game players who could articulate. Let’s be real most reviewers aren’t gonna be able to speak to FGC heads why a new fighter is good or not. Actual players of FG games for long term care about online netcode, core gameplay, balance, performance , and cross play. Story mode and other modes don’t exist, and they don’t care.
DaGwaphics
Member
Well now, you can enjoy doing something even if you aren't so good at it. I'm not the greatest player myself, but I keep plodding along and having fun with it.
a multicultural team of v
Member
If you think game journalists are unskilled and unknowledgeable about the topic they cover, wait until you find out about "real" journalists.....
diffusionx
Gold Member
In the 80s and 90s, the people who wrote about videogames were mostly just videogame fans. I don't even think a lot of them had college degrees, they just wrote because they enjoyed it. But at some point the "industry" became awash with these English and journalism majors that really wanted to write a book or a screenplay but needed to buy food; so they found jobs at the one place that was hiring due to a massive expansion of the industry, which was videogame sites. I think it shows, they don't like vidya very much, they don't like the people who play vidya, they are ultra-progressive and want to bring that ideology into everything they do, etc.
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Most arent journalists either.
Though to be fair, a sports reporter covering MLB doesn't have to grow up playing baseball, nor a movie critic needing to do film school in college.
But the key difference is if their content/reviews are skewed a certain way because they are bad at playing the game thats totally different.
Though to be fair, a sports reporter covering MLB doesn't have to grow up playing baseball, nor a movie critic needing to do film school in college.
But the key difference is if their content/reviews are skewed a certain way because they are bad at playing the game thats totally different.
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
Cos regardless of how often we see evidence that they don't even play games properly, if at all (how many got shamed for reviewing games they didn't finish or barely play and tried to hide it), folks still clamor for and elevate their opinions and reviews to confirm their biases and preferences with.
It wasn't better in the 80s/90s, it was all about clickbait, differently (read: entertaining reads, having an outlet for every niche just to cover all bases even with no honest interest in it) from people who were equally clueless and just as easily pushed their agendas and platform bias with blatant lies
It wasn't better in the 80s/90s, it was all about clickbait, differently (read: entertaining reads, having an outlet for every niche just to cover all bases even with no honest interest in it) from people who were equally clueless and just as easily pushed their agendas and platform bias with blatant lies
Nobody's asking them to be game developers before writing as that would be the right analogy to your example, clearly it's the masses that also don't play sports professionally/don't develop games that read/watch them rather than the much fewer people actually in the sport/game industry itself.
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STARSBarry
Gold Member
Its formed from a hobbist base. The issue is that much like newspapers their a business and traditionally easy to produce puff pieces made bank, via undisclosed sponsorship. Times have changed and now its about digital ad revenue and clicks.
The issue is investigative journalism takes time and resources, which is not something that the current way of doing things would turn a profit on. Even if you break a huge story it's hardly going to make as much bank as some large sponsorship deal for the 50 funny cat articles you write a day.
It's why I think it's no accident that the video format took over for this sort or thing, as longer videos that hold people's interest on YouTube allow for more adbreaks and revenue. So you find that sort of investigative industry thing on those platforms.
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ShirAhava
Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
Game journalism died with print media/magazines when all the gamers moved on.....activists don't need to be able to play games
Just PR Shills with ties with game companies and/or hoping to work for and eventually did/will work for said companies now
An incestuous disingenuous blob of plagiarists, whisper networks and fame fuckers some of which I used to associate with
A tell all book from 2005 to like 2019 would be shocking maybe call it "gamergate was right"
Just PR Shills with ties with game companies and/or hoping to work for and eventually did/will work for said companies now
An incestuous disingenuous blob of plagiarists, whisper networks and fame fuckers some of which I used to associate with
A tell all book from 2005 to like 2019 would be shocking maybe call it "gamergate was right"
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lughnasadh123
Member
I think you can be bad to average at a game while still being able to present a critical, fair assessment of it as well. And honestly most gamers out there are only average at best themselves - that's why it's called average, so why not have a review done by people they'd most likely relate to.
Gamer_By_Proxy
Member
There's nothing wrong with doing warning shots to see if the monster will surrender in Doom . . . really though, maybe the mouse sensitivity was wack?
Some recent game on PS5 or PSVR2 I had to turn down the sensitivity cause the default was all kinds of wack. Can't remember what game that was.
Some recent game on PS5 or PSVR2 I had to turn down the sensitivity cause the default was all kinds of wack. Can't remember what game that was.
calistan
Member
It has been a long time since I read a game review, but back when I used to write them the most important thing was that you could write entertaining copy.
If there had been a games magazine where only the top players at any particular genre could write the reviews, I guarantee it would have been a shitty read. Most people are semi-literate at best.
If magazines needed in-depth guides or analysis from expert players, we'd commission that, and a professional writer would turn it into something readable. But now everyone expects it all to be free on the internet, it's no surprise that standards are low.
mortal
Gold Member
I understand that monetization models have changed in the digital age. Still, if a publisher or developer sends you review codes to play and review their product, while also promoting it, is that journalism?
I can't help but think that's more in line with professional critic/reviewer rather than journalist.
The term seems more appropriate for interviewing people within or who have ties to the gaming industry, covering incidents, or even writing about the development history of a game.
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Toots
Gold Member
Well there's a lot you can do with your hands and mouth other than write and talk about games.
You are totally right but that explain why they suck at journalism, not video games...
StreetsofBeige
Gold Member
Sounds logical.
It doesn't even have to be top players vs avg joes for editorial quality. Just compare video game mags to PC gaming mags and it's night and day. EGM and Gamefan would be tons of pretty pics and numbnut text. Half the pages were almost all pictures. A PC mag would have probably quadruple the text and fewer pics.
Angry_Megalodon
Member
They are neither gamers nor journalists. Most of them come from the "culture" sections of other media or straight from college after getting their diploma in gender studies.
Men_in_Boxes
Snake Oil Salesman
Game journalists bad at videogames.
Game journalists overinflate scores of easy single player games.
Game journalists dislike multiplayer games.
Game journalists say "GAAS mArKeT iS sAtUrAtEd".
Game journalists overinflate scores of easy single player games.
Game journalists dislike multiplayer games.
Game journalists say "GAAS mArKeT iS sAtUrAtEd".
calistan
Member
I'm in the UK, and there were some fundamental differences between the magazine markets in the US vs here (subscription-based vs newsstand being a big one).
We basically plugged every gap in the market, so we had console mags with wordsearches and fart jokes for little kids, we had the aspirational mags that older ones wouldn't be embarrassed to buy, we had official and (multiple) unofficial mags for each format, we made PC mags for gamers, PC mags for tinkerers, Mac and Linux mags, and so on.
All of it produced by very good writers and designers, and almost all of it lost to the internet's freefall towards the lowest common denominator. It's sad to see a topic like this, where the only things people notice about a games journalist is that he's too woke and is shit at Cuphead.
STARSBarry
Gold Member
I mean if you read something like EDGE, you get more than just reviews, but your right a majority of videogame "Journalists" are closer to the definition of a professional critic... well the ones that can actually play videogames at least.
I think enough of them do opinion pieces as well, which would fit the modern day definition of journalist just not "investigative journalist" which there are very very few of within the gaming sphere.
MarkMe2525
Member
Don't post that shit here, it's maddening. My daughter at 6 years old had more awareness.Leaving this classic one here.
Happosai
Hold onto your panties
It's very similar today to niche journalism. This isn't every reviewer but you have people who are writing based on an opinion and ignore their target. Many of these 'journalists' are contract but operate like they were freelance. Why is this an issue? Most don't have individual editors. This isn't a modern or today issue either. Friend and I talked about this the other day and we found some of these niche journalists with followings in gaming magazines from the 90s too.
Good journalists do still exist but the best I've chatted with have moved onto other ventures. I still have hope they'll write again though as there's a definitely an interest.
Good journalists do still exist but the best I've chatted with have moved onto other ventures. I still have hope they'll write again though as there's a definitely an interest.
ZoukGalaxy
Member
Because they are not journalists for the vast majority with barely any experience of any sort ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't know about the US but in my country video games magazines were an even bigger joke back in the days. There are some exceptions of course but overall, it was pretty pathetic and probably worse than today's websites.
Even old TV shows about video games, when i was a kid i was clueless but now i realize how shit it was lol.
Nickolaidas
Member
They are not gamers. They are activists, or YouTubers.
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