I’m venturing a guess that you’ve heard of this thing called “the Internets,” probably even been to these things called “blogs.” If you’re really savvy, you’ve even noticed these blog thingys slowly taking over the Internets, destroying people’s ability to speak coherently or type without using alternating CaPiTaL letters. What’s most interesting about blogs, though, is that for all the talk we Old Timers heard about cable TV killing newspapers, the element that’s most starting to deteriorate journalistic ethics is the blog movement. And videogame journalism is shaping up to be the first casualty.
Four elements really make videogame journalism the most susceptible form, starting with the simple lack of respect for the industry. Videogames, if you ask most mainstream consumers, are a medium for kids. The presence of public companies, the fact that professional artists, accountants and computer programmers can spend an entire career in the industry — and support their families by doing so — is irrelevant. Games have been, and always will be, a kids’ diversion. To those people, it’s preposterous to think a serious, ethical journalistic venture could ever exist for videogames. This instantly degrades the industry’s journalistic credibility, because the industry itself doesn’t get the respect it deserves as an entertainment medium.
Outside perceptions aren’t responsible for degrading game journalism, though, and that’s what’s most troubling. What’s slowly eating away at the industry’s journalistic abilities is the industry itself.
Enthusiast and Fan(boy) Sites
I can’t help but think of Walt Disney World when I think of the Internet, because the always-on and always-connected nature of it really has made it a small world. No longer do we have to wait for a newspaper for news, nor do we even have to wait 30 minutes for TV-based “breaking news.” Now, the minute any small spark of a rumor is fanned by the gushing enthusiasm of a fansite or blog, our little corner of the Internet explodes in speculation and certainty that the rumors are true.
The immediacy of all of this, and the tendency for friends-of-a-friends to instantly leak “insider” information, has led reputable Web sites such as IGN, GameSpot and 1UP.com to pander to the lowest common denominator. Since when was commenting on rumors commonplace in the journalistic world? Do The New York Times or the Wall Street Journal use a half-dozen column inches to confirm or debunk business-takeover rumors? No. They wait for the facts, get official comments from those involved and run a story when it’s accurate and complete. There’s certainly still pressure to get “the scoop,” but stories only appear after they’ve been fact-checked, spell-checked and run through an editor.
Yet journalistic game sites are stumbling into dangerous ground as online communities and fan-based blogs immediately “report” every little whisper they hear online. With no remorse for posting lies or rumors, non-journalistic sites have enticed thousands of readers who demand the latest information, valid or not. And with those readers come advertisers — advertisers that the owners of the real journalistic sites want to attract as well. Solution? The big sites start reporting and/or commenting on rumors themselves, thus making them attractive advertising outlets as well — but not necessarily truly journalistic endeavors.
That’s Not News!
None of this is helped by the PR divisions of videogame publishers, which blast pointless press releases hoping to generate any small coverage for their games. Oh, your game now has a Web site? In this day and age I would sure as hell hope so. Oh, you’ve got some new screenshots on your site? Congratulations; that’s much better than having a blank screen. Oh, you’ve just released the box art and want us to post news about it? Since when was a box’s appearance newsworthy? And let’s not forget the holiest of holies: the “gone gold” announcement. Mr. and Mrs. PR, do you really think I believe your game has just passed certification and will be on shelves in a week? You have to manufacture, assemble, wrap, ship and price how many thousands of units nationwide? In seven days?
With the amount of garbage announcements floating out there, it’s no wonder fansites and even The Big Sites are posting bogus “news.” Quite simply, there’s nothing else to post, but visitors (and the advertising dollars they bring) require constant “news,” so the sites have to find it somewhere. I know for a fact that several big sites (which will remain nameless) have been referred to as press release whores. It’s kind of hard to respect a site’s integrity when it’s called such names by the very people who want to see their games covered there. Yet here they are, generating traffic with bogus or non-news because that’s all the industry seems to send out anymore.
Games As An Art
Probably the biggest hurdle with game journalism, though, is the very nature of games as an art form. For every game that hits it big, 10 or more fail miserably. For every developer who strikes gold with a game engine or new franchise, dozens of others stutter through layoffs and overdraft notices. And that’s just on the oh-so-glamorous development side. Journalism has never been known as a high-paying profession, so why should we believe the journalists who cover an often-disrespected art form should fare any better?
The best writers, the most inquiring minds and the most strategic thinkers don’t generally stay in game journalism — they opt for the PR side instead. One major site based in the Bay area (again, it will remain nameless) offered a section editor position to a talented writer. Section editor + Bay area + big site = nice paycheck, yes? Not even close, especially not considering the cost of living in San Francisco. So what’s the writer supposed to do? What’s the journalist expected to say? If that person wants to pay the bills, then that job offer was yet another nail in the coffin of videogame journalism’s staying power.
The Days Are Numbered
So what’s all this leave us with? A few poor, underappreciated game journalists and hundreds of thousands of blogs run by people who have no journalistic background. Is this bad? For an entertainment medium, not necessarily. But if you don’t like in-game advertising, you shouldn’t like the increasing prevalence of game-related blogs, either. The more blogs that get traction, the harder it is for journalistic sites to fund their professional ventures, and the fewer journalists actually stick with the program. At that point we’re left with nothing more than “press release whores” who post “news” directly from the publishers. And the last time I checked, publishers were out to make money on their products, not provide fair and balanced coverage of them.
Now is the time for The Big Sites to re-evaluate their definition of “news,” for publishers to evaluate the value of their news rather than its volume, and for the industry to reach consumers with more emotive and innovative products rather than a bunch of genre clones. If these stars align, videogame journalism might just avoid its own cannibalistic industry.
— Jonas Allen
