Game Journalists Are Incompetent Fuckwits: Archive

Game Journalists Are Incompetent Fuckwits

February 2011

72 posts

Anonymous asked: Questioning your ridiculous attempts to gain more mainstream coverage by turning this into a site predominantly about feminism is a ridiculous response? Yes you also do need to change the site name to something more appropriate also ie Feminist weekly or something along those lines. The GJAIF doesn't mean anything anymore.

Anonymous asked: "Why the Hell are you getting in a huff over something that was being discussed on the blog two weeks ago?"

Don't you have a regular section called "Fuckwittery of Yesterday" or something? What a hypocrite, you are.

Anonymous asked: You've thrown in the subtitle "Gamers Deserve Better", but honestly, with the ridiculous response to your legitimate criticism of blatant juvenile sexism in gaming media and culture, I'm not really sure we do. But I suppose a lot of the cultural standards are set by popular journalists, so the responsibility is still at least partly theirs. In the name of making this a question...

Anonymous asked: To help you get off the sticky topic of equality(props by the way, you made this lady happy). What did you think about the RPS coverage of Fox News' "Bulletstorm" article? Not only did I think that was great gaming journalism, I thought it was great journalism overall. Is it that hard for other sites to actually do this? - Kate
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/tag/fox-news/

Anonymous asked: Ok, so you have an excuse for your diatribes about feminism. What's your excuse for the "why games are art' bullshit?

Y’know, you’re all right and I apologise. There really is no need to go on about feminism and sexism. These aren’t problems with game journalism, after all! I’d also like to apologise to anybody who was offended by my critique of Greg Miller’s Dead Space 2 review. I’m sure he’s an exceptional writer, and I look forward to reading more of his work. ...

aninventoryofthepossible asked: Re: The people griping about your focus on feminism. The closer you get to the heart of it, the more they'll squeal. Press on, by all means.

This belief your complainers have that feminism is some kind of distraction or side issue is telling -- mostly of ignorance, definitely of privilege. Treating anyone not a straight white male like trash is one of the foundational pillars...

For those wondering

The feminism thing has kind-of taken a front seat because I haven’t had time to sift through the gaming news sites and blogs looking for trash to talk about, and because… well, people have been asking me about it. My apologies if you’ve been coming to this blog looking for one thing and getting another. Normal service will resume soon.

I received this anonymous Ask today on the subject of feminism - I guess the Asker didn’t feel strongly enough about the subject to slap his or her name at the end of it - and I thought that rather than slap it up as an Ask I’d post it as an inset quote so I could tackle each paragraph individually: It saddens me that you swallow hook, line and sinker the whole feminism shtick because...

Anonymous asked: I don't want to come across as a prick (though I inevitably will) but you seem to be going on about feminism on here (and that Blog Blogalists thing) rather a lot at the expense of the good work you were doing before. Now, I'm not against gender equality, feminism, etc, and goodness knows there's enough of that shit around in gaming communities (as a quick glance at that Fat, Ugly...

Anonymous asked: This needs to be read by you, to put it bluntly change the name of your site or fuck off, you are no longer tearing through the shit of fecal world of games journalism you are knee jerking to that webcomic. I don't care what the heart of the drama surrounding that webcomic and it's time for everyone to move on but I doubt you guys will, even Ben Croshaw would probably fail it.
I...

Anonymous asked: Oh come off it with the feminist crap,that article you just told everyone to read is fucking ridiculous. WAAAAAAH PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET ARE MEAN TO US WAAAH.

The Feminist Hub: Cis Woman/ Trans* individuals/... →

thefeministhub: First things first, I’m going to post a trigger warning here. I’ve got all the pictures and links off http://fatuglyorslutty.com and some of the content does include sexual violence. It’s a great website to go check out, but be warned some of the content is triggering. This article also… This needs to be read by all of you. All of you. No exceptions.

newcamelot asked: I disagree slightly on whether something "potentially harmful to business relationships" should be published - this is journalism and they should write about stuff whether or not its potentially harmful to the industry - this is what honest journalism is.

Sensationalist headlines, well, those are not. Especially when the headline is completely off from the story, as was...

You’d be amazed how many articles get posted onto gaming news sites and blogs with horribly, horribly misleading headlines. Take, for example, this VG247 news post about Half-Life 2 Episode 3. It’s yet another post about how Valve aren’t ready to commit to a release date for the next entry in the series. This is not itself “new” information, although the fact that...

“To say Topware has been suffering from bad PR lately is to put it lightly. A...”

– NOT SHIT JOURNALISM - Destructoid, Jim Sterling: Allegations, sleaze, & treachery: A tale of Two Worlds [February 20th, 2011] Fascinating read into the influence publishers have over the press and, if true, a sad indication of the nature of the industry’s grip, for want of a better word,...

Posts will be infrequent and sparse over the next two-to-three weeks. A friend is visiting from England and I’m entertaining him, so very little time to read the gaming news sites while weeping openly into a bowl of Frosties with gin.

slackrmedia-deactivated20111215 asked: Yo man, just wanted to let you know that I really dig the new layout of the site, your sort of "re-branding", and all of the content that you continue to publish. You keep me in line on my own blog so that I don't act like a fuckwit, so I just wanted to thank you for that and tell you to keep up the good work.

fanaticalmind asked: You're doing nothing but rant and rave about things, why don't you get up and actually do something. There are sites out there actually doing that, and maybe you should do the same. I have no problem with you criticizing but in essence all you're doing is camping on the negative aspect of things, and you know as well as I do that your little tumblr is not even making a dent in the...

Anonymous asked: I'm a little confused by your "games as art" answer: "I do think that games are a viable storytelling medium, but even with games like Monkey Island I don’t think we’re quite there yet. In most games with a narrative our input has minimal consequence on the outcome, or if it does it’s veering the game on a slightly different path to one of a handful of...

tadthuggish-deactivated20110417 asked: THANK YOU for having such a great response to the "are games art?" question. It's the God-honest truth that every manmade creation is qualified as art: whether or not I like it is an entirely different matter.

There are people who try to say "games are art" as a way of justifying their love, and there are people who say "games aren't art"...

Anonymous asked: Do you even write about games journalists anymore? You've gone so far down this pathetic rabbit hole seeking hits from the feminism crowd that you should probably change the blogs name.

Anonymous asked: "I submit that those two viewpoints are in direct opposition to each other. Either games are capable of being art, or they’re just games and it doesn’t matter. You can’t have both."

A game that is, ultimately, just about blowing stuff up is unlikely to be championed as a piece of 'art', and it might seem reasonable to dismiss complaints about...

emmilions asked: I was reading some of your replies to the asks regarding the 'are games art?' question, and I was really impressed. It reminded me of a podcast I listened to once about video games, and how the time is ripe for a pioneer to be making an impact on the gaming community, and games themselves, by implementing standards that games (and their vast potential for story telling and immersive...

aninventoryofthepossible asked: Re: Sterling

Awhile ago a writer I greatly admire said that humor is about sapping the strength from the powerful, and weakening those who wield power over others. "Humor" used to bully minorities and the oppressed isn't humor -- it's just bullying, and a weak strain of it at that. As you said, how can Sterling be "edgy" if he's just using the...

Anonymous asked: Do you think often when people discuss "are games art" they are in fact discussing "Are games a good platform to tell stories" instead? which is really not the same.

Even Ebert's criticism about games as art was more of a "interactivity effects ruin its capacity to tell great stories." than of how it's perceived and interacts with the...

Anonymous asked: "The 'games as art' debate is far more complicated, and it’s not helped by the people who are saying 'Games are art!' in one breath and 'Stop fussing, it’s only a game!' with the other." When you say this, do you implying they say this about the same game, or completely different games? Because if it's the latter, then you're implying...

newcamelot asked: Why can't I reblog?

Anonymous asked: In regards to the word nigger I can choose whether it is offensive to me yes, women can do the same with the shit Sterling said.

stupidsmartkids asked: I just read your quick criticism of the Gears of War story and I'd probably agree with you if the game stopped after the first in the series. However, after following the second game I noticed where they were going with this. The humans are actually the bad guys, they've done whatever they can to kill the locust and by doing so they have destroyed the world they were trying to capture. I...

Anonymous asked: Why do so many people think that games are art, when the art world is famous for having a massive critical view on art? Film also is famous for its critics and art relies on them for the creative process, but hardly any criticism happens in the games world. It makes lazy, piss poor hype driven games. Innovation is driven by the selling point, not the desire to create. Video games are very much not...

Anonymous asked: Sterling was the CENTRE of the story, so yes talking to him would have been of utmost importance to any respectable writer. Regardless of how you feel about his comments, you should try and get a comment from him. You were to busy being smug and arming yourself against him.

You criticize journalists but you in essence have done the opposite of what would be deemed good journalism....

Anonymous asked: Offending those that you write for by calling them mouth breathers etc (I know you didn't write that but you posted it and agreed) is crazy. If you hate your audience THAT much just stop writing for them. I say this to you and Leigh Alexander. Go write for that higher brow audience who don't play games. You seem to inexplicably hate us so just leave us alone.

Anonymous asked: If you can't seriously see why that Sterling story you wrote was harsh and one sided then I can't help you in the same vein that you can't help me. I SAW you on Twitter talking to Leigh Alexander at one point about feminism and whatnot. Would it have been that hard to talk to the guy to at least have him try and explain his side. That doesn't make such a compelling story though...

Anonymous asked: It is incredible how you decided to make the Jim Sterling issue into something that it actually wasn't. The saying is true, the leopard does not change his spots. I was under the impression because of your last few updates that you were actually going to change your ways and talk to the people involved before writing bullshit. Silly me I am on GJAIF.

“By giving us the opinions of the uneducated, journalism keeps us in touch with...”

– - Oscar Wilde I enjoy how relevant this quote is now. (via thecynicscorner)

Anonymous asked: Do you really think that the reviewing scale is that distorted? I would argue that given the limited time and space for reviewers, they only review games that are notable in some way, and it's rare for a notable game to be truly terrible just because to be notable they must have some kind of pedigree or buzz behind them. Genuinely bad games exist, of couse, but very few of the large gaming...

This just appeared in my Askhole, but rather than just publish it as an Ask (which aren’t rebloggable, maddeningly) I’m going to blockquote it (and make some minor formatting edits). You need to read this. The following is not so much a question as a large, barely comprehensible dump of words. I’d appreciate it if you took the time to read it though. I’ve noticed you...

Anonymous asked: Do you suppose that one reason for game journalists' distortion of the 10-scale is that they equate it with the grading scale used in schools, where the 70-80% range is 'average' (and that's just traditionally speaking, since with grade inflation in universities today 'average' is often higher, not only mathematically but also in terms of how people perceive an...

QuikBitez™: New Spyro game in development

I just read on G4’s website that the new Spyro the Dragon game is in development, and “is being written by the same team behind the original Toy Story movie.” I wonder if Joss Whedon knows he’s working on this? Edit: Nikole since edited the post to clarify that Toy Story writers Alec Sokolow and Joel Cohen are working on the game, although she misspelt Alec’s name...

Anonymous asked: Apparently the old kotaku/gizmodo etc. designs are back at e.g. uk.kotaku.com

Anonymous asked: re: the Bitmob piece. You're treating the writer as if he's a game journalist, but he clearly isn't - he's an amateur writing about games. In this case, it seems he's a fan writing about a game he's eagerly anticipating. It's a bit harsh to judge him by the same standards you would a professional. He may well aspire to a role in the industry, but if that's...

Anonymous asked: Are you doing an ironic kotaku semi-parody, where you change to a bad design just as they are? Because I really don't like your new design. The new boxes with the date on the top look kinda cool, but the font looks god awful on the sidebar and titles.

billydeal asked: Did you hate "Pirates" that much? So they abandoned the Civ mould and tried something different. I think it generally works.

happyhibisci asked: I appreciate your commitment to this blog and what it stands for.

You get a lot of shit in your ask box, so I thought I should send positive feedback your way. You just keep speaking my language, and I love it. I think you set a good example for this industry and you establish quality standards that need to be encouraged. Thanks!

Recorded in a sleepy, absent-minded state. Apologies for the um-ing and ah-ing.