It’s been a long time coming, but Kotaku have made a version of their site that features gaming news exclusively - Kotaku Core. Finally, a version of the site that doesn’t bombard you with irrelevant bullshit about Japan, or medical science, or whatever!
Still, our good friend Stephen Totilo appears to have absolutely no idea why people have been asking for this very thing. In the post announcing Kotaku Core, Totes writes:
Kotaku Core readers will only see stories about video games themselves. You won’t see stories about the culture surrounding video games. You’ll see more stories about products, fewer stories about people; more stories about what a game company wants to sell you next, fewer feature stories, fewer stories about crime, politics, life and death.
Right, yeah, no. Look, people weren’t complaining about the posts that looked at game culture. Those are fine. I don’t have a problem with those. It’s posts like this one about a man who died kind-of sort-of near an arcade in Japan, or this one about a man trying to hold up a Toys R Us with two plastic lightsabers, or this one about Alec Baldwin using Twitter. These posts have nothing to do with gamer culture. You’d have to have suffered serious cranial trauma to think that posts like these somehow relate to videogames.
(The first person who suggests the lightsaber thing should get a pass because there have been Star Wars games gets a free umbrellenema, which is exactly what it sounds like.)
Congratulations on finally doing the right thing, Kotaku, but a sincere, wholehearted Fuck You for entirely missing the point of why people have been asking for it.
Kotaku: “Dead Rising Creator Keiji Inafune Hurt Himself. He’ll Be Okay!”, January 10th, 2011
Take everything I said just yesterday about Bashcraft’s ongoing penchant for incredible non-news posts, and reapply it here. Again.
Also, yes, in case you were wondering, this whole “blip” and “quick bite” thing that became prevalent last year is still in the upper echelons of lazy games journalism. Don’t use what amounts to a glorified Tweet as a news article.
No, right, ‘cos… ‘cos this is obviously a promo for, like, Super Muscle Pull Panic!, or something. PS3 exclusive, I reckon. Sounds like it’ll be fun.
Christ.
Kotaku: “32-Year-Old Homeless Man Found Dead Outside Japanese Arcade”, January 4th, 2012
It is terrible that a person died, and it’s certainly even more unfortunate that they were homeless, but the sheer coincidence that their passing occurred within a mile of a Japanese videogame arcade does NOT equal an automatic, relevant post for a gaming
blogtabloid.Not only does this article have not a goddamned thing to do with gaming, the games industry or “gamer culture” (is that really even a thing anymore?), but as a commenter pointed out on this unrelated GameJournos post the other day, the one Kotaku visitor who managed the courage to speak out against this story was subsequently and swiftly met with vitriol and backlash from the readership hivemind who, no doubt, are the very reason this kind of shit is still accepted as appropriate coverage.
Were you under the delusion that Kotaku would, in any way, become less shit than it was under the watchful eye of new Editor-in-Chief, Stephen Totilo? Boy, don’t you feel embarrassed.
(OK, to be fair, it was probably misguided the think any change whatsoever would come in the first couple of weeks — it’ll likely be many months before we see any noticeable differences, if they’re coming — but still. Way to kick off the new year, Bashcraft.)
Hooked Gamers, Mark Barkley: Microsoft Unveils New Xbox 360 SKU [Dec 27th, 2011]
Oh no! Microsoft have opted not to include a costly accessory in a new bundle for a territory in which the console has traditionally performed exceptionally poorly! This is shocking news! I am genuinely surprised!
Kotaku: “Dual-Wielding Star Wars Nut Arrested for Lightsaber Assault”, December 19th, 2011
Again, a shining example of article desperation in a period of slow news.
Take out or replace the coincidental nerd/geek reference — in this case, the Lightsaber — and would this have any business whatsoever being posted on a gaming blog?
No, it wouldn’t. And really, even as it is, it still doesn’t belong. Was the person in question assaulting Toys R Us shoppers to steal their new videogame purchases? Was he mad that the people he attacked bought a title he didn’t like? Who knows; that’s not stated. But let’s infer that for the sake of justifying covering this!
Star Wars doesn’t automatically equal ‘gamer culture’. There are plenty of Star Wars-related/involved happenings in the world that never see the front page of Kotaku. And this is one of them.
Also, this was posted on Oregon Live’s site last Thursday, December 15th. Not only is it not news, it’s super old not-news.
Kotaku: “Gamers Pepper Sprayed During Black Friday “Competitive Shopping”, November 25th, 2011
DToid: ‘Black Friday shoppers Pepper sprayed Walmart game section”, November 25th, 2011
VG247: “Gamer pepper-sprayed in Black Friday sale”, November 25th, 2011
Take the lucky coincidence that the person(s) involved in this incident play/are aware of/wanted to buy discounted videogame merchandise out of the equation, and would this be “news” worthy of covering on a gaming site?
The answer is, shockingly, no. Not at all. It’s not even really news whatsoever.
Would a few unruly mainstream shoppers at an isolated store who happen to be slobbering over the chance to pick up some overly promoted discounted Blu-rays or DVDs, and then getting into a minor shopping altercation in that medium’s accompanying section, be all over the web’s various film and TV/entertainment sites?
Probably not. It’s not a pressing matter of any widespread significance, even with the faux CONTROVERSY ZOMG HEADLINES! In fact, I’m quite surprised the L.A. Times made as big of a deal out this as they did. It’s not even under their Entertainment tab; it’s just ‘Local Breaking News’.
This kind of shit is not surprising in the slightest, and happens every year — and not exclusively pertaining to videogames. Retailers should honestly be ashamed of themselves for promoting, and by association, encouraging this ongoing clusterfuck of nonsense.
I long for the ending of the practice of sites — be they gaming or not — tripping over themselves on a slow day to pick out any pseudo-relevant bit of info, from an otherwise unrelated topic, to concoct an unneeded article.
Take the weekend off and eat your goddamn leftovers. Christ. Those ad clicks will be back on Monday.
Plunkett, Sterling and Cullen - the three most common offenders of “posting vaguely gaming-related not-news bullshit as if it were relevant gaming news”. Nicely done, boys.
Kotaku: “Please Keep Lindsay Lohan and Her Nasty Teeth Away From Our Gaming Events”, October 13th, 2011
Good ole’ Fahey here, going for the gold.
This sort of tabloid level, written for clicks bullshit isn’t news, and shouldn’t be tolerated by readers.
Moreover, it bears repeating: random celebrities doing something (often vaguely) involving videogames also is not news. Ever.
This, gentle readers, is just one of the many reasons why Kotaku is considered the tabloid gutter press of the games industry.
Kotaku, Owen Good: Gotham City Impostors Carries a ‘Sensual’ Voice Option [September 22nd, 2011]
Kotaku there, bringing you the hard-hitting news.
![VG247, Brenna Hillier: Rumour – PS3 exclusive shooter from EA’s Black Troll [July 27th, 2011]
So an unannounced studio might be working on an unannounced game. But it’s just a rumour! Don’t hold me to it!
It baffles me that stuff like this continues to be classified as news. “Studio working on unannounced project” is bad enough - most studios usually have a few projects on the go, be it tech demos or R&D work, or even fully-blown development that they haven’t shown the world yet - but this? A studio we’re still not entirely sure even exists might be working on a game we know nothing about?
Honestly, VG247. You need to hone your internal filter. Sometimes shit like this should be allowed to slip through the cracks.](http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_loyypzcPGy1qaim7mo1_500.png)
VG247, Brenna Hillier: Rumour – PS3 exclusive shooter from EA’s Black Troll [July 27th, 2011]
So an unannounced studio might be working on an unannounced game. But it’s just a rumour! Don’t hold me to it!
It baffles me that stuff like this continues to be classified as news. “Studio working on unannounced project” is bad enough - most studios usually have a few projects on the go, be it tech demos or R&D work, or even fully-blown development that they haven’t shown the world yet - but this? A studio we’re still not entirely sure even exists might be working on a game we know nothing about?
Honestly, VG247. You need to hone your internal filter. Sometimes shit like this should be allowed to slip through the cracks.
Kotaku, Lauren Davis: Game of Thrones cast talks dragons, puppet wolves, and the Khal Drogo dance. Plus, the scene George R.R. Martin doesn’t want to watch. [July 22nd, 2011]
Alright. Yes. Okay. So… what does this io9 post have to do with videogames? Anybody? No?
Of course it qualifies as news, because lolol CRAPCOM.
