KG

Marge: “It’s awfully small.”
Lionel Hutz: “I’d say its awfully cosy.”
M: “That’s dilapidated.”
LH: “Rustic.”
M: “That house is on fire!”
LH: “Motivated seller!”

The Escapist articles were really good and show just how useful games can be. Why I’d never have passed my History GCSE without Red Alert.

Congratulations to Poisoned Sponge with the column. Hail to the indies, baby!

Also, auto-docking is cheating! Real players do it manually.

And yeah, probably, what he’s writing about is pretty awful reporting. But he’s assuming that’s widespread, general practice, which from my experience it really, really is not. Even if it was, his infantile, personally-abusive manner immediately turns me against him. Not fond at all.

He has some awful, infantile rhetorical habits, but he’s right. “Accusing it yet again of corruption”? He’s aptly describing the funding model of corporate gaming sites and the shallowness of Kotaku-scale blogs. It’s systemic corruption — it’s market failure, it’s system failure. There’s no “envelopes of cash are being exchanged under a table” here. (And the article’s not reportage. And “the worst possible reporting” is… well, the worst possible reporting is what he’s writing about, not what he’s written).

I agree that there is a problem with the current state of reporting within the videogame press. Absolutely. I think it has to acknowledge a real responsibility towards its readership first and foremost, and learn not to play up to the demands of publisher PR. It should certainly be more independent and analytical. But to accuse it – yet again – of corruption is terribly offensive to the people who dedicate their professional lives to this sort of stuff. And to attack reporters on a personal level, which the article does, is the worst possible reporting you can get.

It’s right about having game pages up even if there’s very little information available on the game, I’ll give it that much. I hardly think that’s the biggest problem, though.

EDIT: That guy’s most recent post refers to people who don’t like scores on reviews as “pseudo-intellectuals or artfags.” That’s the level we’re dealing with. Versus Leigh Alexander, one of the most highly respected – for a reason – videogame reporters in the world. Come on.

Especially because the accepted term is “sodomological.”

The study of sodomy?

Excellent link, SheC, (except where he gets all self-regarding about how “this will blow your mind!”, but still, excellent.)

http://insomnia.ac/commentary/the_videogame_news_racket/

Great piece of nostalgia.

Meanwhile, I continue to try think of a name for my own fotnightly column over there, which commences soon, kids!