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Subject: Game Journalism
Replies: 20 Views: 639

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:36pm
There is an image doing the rounds on the internet this week. It is an image of Geoff Keighley, a Canadian games journalist, sitting dead-eyed beside a garish Halo 4 poster and a table of Mountain Dew and Doritos. It is a tragic, vulgar image. But I think that it is the most important image in games journalism today. I think we should all find it and study it. It is important. * +

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:37pm
Geoff Keighley is often described as an industry leader. A games expert. He is one of the most prominent games journalists in the world. And there he sits, right there, beside a table of snacks. He will be sitting there forever, in our minds. That's what he is now. And in a sense, it is what he always was. As Executive Producer of the mindless, horrifying spectacle that is the Spike TV Video Game Awards he oversees the delivery of a televisual table full of junk, an entire festival of cultural * +

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:37pm
Doritos. How many games journalists are sitting beside that table? Recently, the Games Media Awards rolled around again, and games journos turned up to a thing to party with their friends in games PR. Games PR people and games journos voted for their favourite friends, and friends gave awards to friends, and everyone had a good night out. Eurogamer won an award. Kieron Gillen was named an industry legend (and if anyone is a legend in games writing, he is) but he deserves a better platform for * +

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:38pm
recognition than those GMAs. The GMAs shouldn't exist. By rights, that room should be full of people who feel uncomfortable in each other's company. PR people should be looking at games journos and thinking, That person makes my job very challenging. Why are they all best buddies? What the hell is going on? * +

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:38pm
Whenever you criticise the GMAs, as I've done in the past, you face the accusation of being bitter. I've removed myself from those accusations somewhat by consistently making it clear that I'm not a games journalist. I'm a writer who regularly writes about games, that's all. And I've been happy for people who have been nominated for GMAs in the past, because I've known how much they wanted to be accepted by that circle. There is nothing wrong with wanting to belong, or wanting to be * +

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:39pm
recognised by your peers. But it's important to ask yourself who your peers are, and exactly what it is you feel a need to belong to. Just today, as I sat down to write this piece, I saw that there were games journalists winning PS3s on Twitter. There was a competition at those GMAs - tweet about our game and win a PS3. One of those stupid, crass things. And some games journos took part. All piling in, opening a sharing bag of Doritos, tweeting the hashtag as instructed. And today the winners * +

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:39pm
were announced. Then a whole big argument happened, and other people who claim to be journalists claimed to see nothing wrong with what those so-called journalists had done. I think the winners are now giving away their PS3s, but it's too late. It's too late. Let me show you an example. * +

newt182 26.10.12 - 03:40pm
One games journalist, Lauren Wainwright, tweeted: Urm... Trion were giving away PS3s to journalists at the GMAs. Not sure why that's a bad thing? Now, a few tweets earlier, she also tweeted this: Lara header, two TR pix in the gallery and a very subtle TR background. obsessed @tombraider pic.twitter.com/VOWDSavZ And instantly I am suspicious. I am suspicious of this journalist's apparent love for Tomb Raider. I am asking myself whether she's in the pocket of the Tomb Raider PR team. I'm * +

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