I would love to break into games journalism as a lark (got my BA in Journalism from IU last december) but it is really had to get into without an expansive portfolio. And I would probably want to do something independent with people I know. Unfortunately for me, I can't think of anyone I know who is interested in reviewing games and knows how to write.
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WeaverWho are you?What do you want?Registered Userregular
edited January 2011
I'm with NaS
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
edited January 2011
The problem the article quoted in the OP is trying to point out is that most games journalists don't have training in art
they don't have the basic lexicon at their disposal to actually describe the things they are paid to describe about
they can't say anything beyond "this game is pretty" or "the colors are bright" because they lack the critical understanding about how the bright colors or sharp textures tie into the game itself beyond the most superficial means, aka "ooh pretty"
it is essentially an art critic that doesn't understand technique, composition, color theory or practical application of the medium and has only the most basic understanding of art history as it relates to whatever their doing
add to that the fact that most reviewers are in the PR/Consumer Information Mill, churning out game reviews at top speed without giving them the time or attention they deserve and are immediately on to the next one as soon as that one has been processed into its base decimal system, and you have a system ripe for exploitation by lazy uninformed writers who use press releases as their core source for information and rely on controversy and hype to generate their paychecks
Personally I'd like to see how much content would be lost on gaming sites if they were forced to never make Top ____ lists ever again. The distinction between enthusiasts and critics is a big one.
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
It's a stupid term that doesn't really do anything but add word count and re-affirm that these are just blogs and not news sites.
Also it sounds stupid.
Did I mention it is stupid?
It is a system that is basically there for metric tracking
they add the jump so that they can entice the reader with an initial blurb from the home page into clicking a link to read an article that would be too large to fit into the flow of the home page layout, which also serves to allow the admins of the site with a way to track what pages are getting read more then others
it ain't going away
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Vargas PrimeKing of NothingJust a ShowRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
I can't really blame the vast wasteland of video game journalism for any lack of elevation in the medium itself.
No one would argue that there are some fantastic movie critics out there, and even though the internet has given rise to the same "I'm a critic too!" mentality that games journalism suffers from, there are still the stalwart, respected film critics that most people turn to when they want to hear about the merits of this year's Oscar winners.
And yet the movie industry is bloated with cash that is routinely spent on pumping out trite bullshit and huge vapid blockbusters. So while games journalism certainly isn't helping to hold games to some higher standard, the people who go out and buy "Madden X" and "Call of Duty Y" every year without question are more the problem, I think.
The problem the article quoted in the OP is trying to point out is that most games journalists don't have training in art
they don't have the basic lexicon at their disposal to actually describe the things they are paid to describe about
they can't say anything beyond "this game is pretty" or "the colors are bright" because they lack the critical understanding about how the bright colors or sharp textures tie into the game itself beyond the most superficial means, aka "ooh pretty"
it is essentially an art critic that doesn't understand technique, composition, color theory or practical application of the medium and has only the most basic understanding of art history as it relates to whatever their doing
add to that the fact that most reviewers are in the PR/Consumer Information Mill, churning out game reviews at top speed without giving them the time or attention they deserve and are immediately on to the next one as soon as that one has been processed into its base decimal system, and you have a system ripe for exploitation by lazy uninformed writers who use press releases as their core source for information and rely on controversy and hype to generate their paychecks
My new site is going to be called "Reviewing Games That Came Out Six Months Ago". It's overkill in the other direction, but I like it.
If I wasn't so disillusioned with grassroots internet stuff I'd try to start my own review site. But I'd rather spend that energy trying to make an awesome game.
I would love to break into games journalism as a lark (got my BA in Journalism from IU last december) but it is really had to get into without an expansive portfolio. And I would probably want to do something independent with people I know. Unfortunately for me, I can't think of anyone I know who is interested in reviewing games and knows how to write.
The best way to do anything is just to start doing it. You have every single tool you need at your disposal. Begin writing about games, and if you show any bit of competency toward the craft you will earn the attention you deserve and with that comes the ability to do more with it.
It's a stupid term that doesn't really do anything but add word count and re-affirm that these are just blogs and not news sites.
Also it sounds stupid.
Did I mention it is stupid?
It does sound a little dumb, but in most cases I've seen it used, it's pretty similar to newspapers and magazines having longer features continue in later pages of the publication. I can't really think of layouts where "after the jump" just punctuates gaps in a single page. Unless the phrase is carrying over from their headline roll or something, which is just bad editing.
The problem the article quoted in the OP is trying to point out is that most games journalists don't have training in art
they don't have the basic lexicon at their disposal to actually describe the things they are paid to describe about
they can't say anything beyond "this game is pretty" or "the colors are bright" because they lack the critical understanding about how the bright colors or sharp textures tie into the game itself beyond the most superficial means, aka "ooh pretty"
it is essentially an art critic that doesn't understand technique, composition, color theory or practical application of the medium and has only the most basic understanding of art history as it relates to whatever their doing
add to that the fact that most reviewers are in the PR/Consumer Information Mill, churning out game reviews at top speed without giving them the time or attention they deserve and are immediately on to the next one as soon as that one has been processed into its base decimal system, and you have a system ripe for exploitation by lazy uninformed writers who use press releases as their core source for information and rely on controversy and hype to generate their paychecks
I was listening to joe rogan talk about the UFC judges and its a pretty similar situation
It's mostly people from boxing and they just don't understand a lot of the stuff dudes are doing. He brought up an instance of a judge leaning over and asking what it was the fighter was doing
I assume if it gets a 7 on metacritic it won't be that fulfilling.
so far I've been kinda correct, at least in my personal opinions of gams.
Particularly in Gran Turismo 5.
Now I try and make it my business not to buy anything lower than 8.
oh and it appears Gran Turismo actually scored an 84.
So hey I am wrong again
This is why number scores are dumb. My personal example is the Conan game for the 360, which is averaging a 69 on Metacritic. While that's definitely the "objective" score that it deserves, I love the hell out of that game. If I'd just looked at the number and not read reviews I'd have never picked it up and I would have missed a lot of fun.
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UnbrokenEvaHIGH ON THE WIREBUT I WON'T TRIP ITRegistered Userregular
I hate reviewers that won't sack up and give a bad score. Every time I read a review that completely shits on a game and ends with "7/10" it makes me crazy.
I vastly prefer sites that don't give a numerical score at all, not the least because fuck metacritic.
I think I've made my opinion of RockPaperShotgun clear, but they do everything as "Wot I Think"s, which are literally that - the reviewer's opinion, and as well written as the rest of the site. Their recent review of Precursors a buggy, flawed, but also very ambitious russian game is a good example of how things should be done.
Ars Technica is also pretty good - they too eschew traditional review scores for a "Buy, Rent, or Skip" at the end.
If I wasn't so disillusioned with grassroots internet stuff I'd try to start my own review site. But I'd rather spend that energy trying to make an awesome game.
What do you think about my idea for a site?
I really think that I get more detailed and custom tailored game reviews and suggestions from my social circle than anywhere else.
I think it would work.
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RankenphilePassersby were amazedby the unusually large amounts of blood.Registered User, Moderatormod
I can't really blame the vast wasteland of video game journalism for any lack of elevation in the medium itself.
No one would argue that there are some fantastic movie critics out there, and even though the internet has given rise to the same "I'm a critic too!" mentality that games journalism suffers from, there are still the stalwart, respected film critics that most people turn to when they want to hear about the merits of this year's Oscar winners.
And yet the movie industry is bloated with cash that is routinely spent on pumping out trite bullshit and huge vapid blockbusters. So while games journalism certainly isn't helping to hold games to some higher standard, the people who go out and buy "Madden X" and "Call of Duty Y" every year without question are more the problem, I think.
why are they "the problem"
because they'd rather spend their money on an experience they know they would enjoy, faced with a glut of potential disappointing experiences that they don't know about? Games cost sixty fucking bucks any more, and take forty to sixty hours to beat. You can't blame the consumers for knowing what they enjoy, nor can you blame the producers for wanting to deliver a guaranteed profitable game to a demanding market instead of risking tens of millions of dollars on a product that may not make it back.
Innovation has always happened on the fringe. That's what the fringe is for.
If I wasn't so disillusioned with grassroots internet stuff I'd try to start my own review site. But I'd rather spend that energy trying to make an awesome game.
What do you think about my idea for a site?
I really think that I get more detailed and custom tailored game reviews and suggestions from my social circle than anywhere else.
I think it would work.
As they say, the proof is in the execution of your idea.
I think that's what they say, anyway. They say a lot of things.
If I wasn't so disillusioned with grassroots internet stuff I'd try to start my own review site. But I'd rather spend that energy trying to make an awesome game.
What do you think about my idea for a site?
I really think that I get more detailed and custom tailored game reviews and suggestions from my social circle than anywhere else.
I think it would work.
As they say, the proof is in the execution of your idea.
I think that's what they say, anyway. They say a lot of things.
It would require much planning.
Probably studying sites that are similar, like Last.FM or Boardgamegeek.
metacritic is complete shit unless you want to reaffirm your opinions for a game based off of one number
In aggregating review scores and averaging them you lose all sense of bias and personal opinion of the review author, so you can't weigh the emotions and opinions behind the number. If THE INDUSTRY was as objective in its reporting as it could be, then metacritic would actually be useful.
Probably studying sites that are similar, like Last.FM or Boardgamegeek.
This is in the nicest tone possible:
I don't care.
The internet is filled with people who try to do something and then realize it actually takes work. I'll be glad to offer my opinions on your site once it's up, but until then giving you my thoughts on an idea is worse than useless.
It's a stupid term that doesn't really do anything but add word count and re-affirm that these are just blogs and not news sites.
Also it sounds stupid.
Did I mention it is stupid?
It is a system that is basically there for metric tracking
they add the jump so that they can entice the reader with an initial blurb from the home page into clicking a link to read an article that would be too large to fit into the flow of the home page layout, which also serves to allow the admins of the site with a way to track what pages are getting read more then others
If you are using accurate and descriptive headlines, you can just put the link there and track to a permalinked page for the story.
The "put a little blurb in and then a 'jump'" method basically reduces the first paragraph of a story into extended sensationalism like the headlines with the sole purpose of getting people to click on the jump link.
For all of their flaws, Kotaku isn't horrible about this. They have a headline and a small blurb and then a link that simply says "More" (which doesn't appear on the story page). However, to scan their stories on the front page, I still have to scroll down through all the blurbs and any time they are randomly inserting a larger box for an image or video in the middle of it.
But numbers determine everything! If you can't tell me everything I need to do know about a product by giving it a generic quantifier then I don't want that product
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Viscount Islands[INSERT SoKo HERE]...it was the summer of my lifeRegistered Userregular
edited January 2011
Another point is that people who would take the time and energy to study art with the goal of working in the video game industry would probably prefer to work in design rather than the journalistic aspect.
Viscount Islands on
I want to do with you
What spring does with the cherry trees.
But numbers determine everything! If you can't tell me everything I need to do know about a product by giving it a generic quantifier then I don't want that product
I've actually read a lot of game magazines (mostly in the past when I was a kid, stuff like GamePro and Nintendo Power and what have you). Now with stuff like Nintendo Power, it wasn't until pretty recently that there was any real criticism about any of the games. But fuck, it's sponsored by Nintendo what do you expect.
That being said, what's driven me most crazy (especially in console game reviews) are the opinions on the controls or the camera. Either the controls were unresponsive or they weren't. Either you couldn't see your character or you couldn't. They were never able to come up with anything more clear headed than "the controls are A, they should be B." or vice versa, and it drove me nuts.
Another point is that people who would take the time and energy to study art with the goal of working in the video game industry would probably prefer to work in design rather than the journalistic aspect.
That's sort of a silly point to make, though. Of course they would. Is it so easy to get into design? Ask Rank. Ask NaS. That aside, there's no reason one couldn't contribute to a publication while working a day job. It's the mode of operation for almost every writer of note in the last century.
Another point is that people who would take the time and energy to study art with the goal of working in the video game industry would probably prefer to work in design rather than the journalistic aspect.
which is precisely why most media critics are fucking worthless
most of the time, they're just folks without the ability or training to actually do anything useful at all
they're just fans who want to be part of the system they are fans of, but they're lazy and terrible at their jobs
The problem the article quoted in the OP is trying to point out is that most games journalists don't have training in art
they don't have the basic lexicon at their disposal to actually describe the things they are paid to describe about
they can't say anything beyond "this game is pretty" or "the colors are bright" because they lack the critical understanding about how the bright colors or sharp textures tie into the game itself beyond the most superficial means, aka "ooh pretty"
it is essentially an art critic that doesn't understand technique, composition, color theory or practical application of the medium and has only the most basic understanding of art history as it relates to whatever their doing
add to that the fact that most reviewers are in the PR/Consumer Information Mill, churning out game reviews at top speed without giving them the time or attention they deserve and are immediately on to the next one as soon as that one has been processed into its base decimal system, and you have a system ripe for exploitation by lazy uninformed writers who use press releases as their core source for information and rely on controversy and hype to generate their paychecks
My new site is going to be called "Reviewing Games That Came Out Six Months Ago". It's overkill in the other direction, but I like it.
I still want to review movies that are no younger than five years
Another point is that people who would take the time and energy to study art with the goal of working in the video game industry would probably prefer to work in design rather than the journalistic aspect.
tru tru
but I can't draw and am poor in the creative sense, so I'm hoping the study of the history of art will lead me to a career in the history of videogame art.
I skipped a couple pages, has anyone gotten angry about "This-But-This" reviews, where the entire review is structured so as to give one bad point followed by one redeeming quality for 10 paragraphs? Because fuck.
I skipped a couple pages, has anyone gotten angry about "This-But-This" reviews, where the entire review is structured so as to give one bad point followed by one redeeming quality for 10 paragraphs? Because fuck.
Compliment sandwiches! Fuck them, fuck them in their formulaic... bread
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Viscount Islands[INSERT SoKo HERE]...it was the summer of my lifeRegistered Userregular
Another point is that people who would take the time and energy to study art with the goal of working in the video game industry would probably prefer to work in design rather than the journalistic aspect.
which is precisely why most media critics are fucking worthless
most of the time, they're just folks without the ability or training to actually do anything useful at all
they're just fans who want to be part of the system they are fans of, but they're lazy and terrible at their jobs
I have a friend who wants to work in IGN. Why? Because he likes video games. I've told him a few times what I think of that idea, at least to get to him to seriously evaluate why he wants that job. He doesn't even like writing.
Viscount Islands on
I want to do with you
What spring does with the cherry trees.
Another point is that people who would take the time and energy to study art with the goal of working in the video game industry would probably prefer to work in design rather than the journalistic aspect.
That's sort of a silly point to make, though. Of course they would. Is it so easy to get into design? Ask Rank. Ask NaS. That aside, there's no reason one couldn't contribute to a publication while working a day job. It's the mode of operation for almost every writer of note in the last century.
It is so difficult to get into design that I realized that it would be easier to learn how to program and literally make the games myself.
Posts
so far I've been kinda correct, at least in my personal opinions of gams.
Particularly in Gran Turismo 5.
Now I try and make it my business not to buy anything lower than 8.
oh and it appears Gran Turismo actually scored an 84.
So hey I am wrong again
Dear satan I wish for this or maybe some of this....oh and I'm a medium or a large.
they don't have the basic lexicon at their disposal to actually describe the things they are paid to describe about
they can't say anything beyond "this game is pretty" or "the colors are bright" because they lack the critical understanding about how the bright colors or sharp textures tie into the game itself beyond the most superficial means, aka "ooh pretty"
it is essentially an art critic that doesn't understand technique, composition, color theory or practical application of the medium and has only the most basic understanding of art history as it relates to whatever their doing
add to that the fact that most reviewers are in the PR/Consumer Information Mill, churning out game reviews at top speed without giving them the time or attention they deserve and are immediately on to the next one as soon as that one has been processed into its base decimal system, and you have a system ripe for exploitation by lazy uninformed writers who use press releases as their core source for information and rely on controversy and hype to generate their paychecks
It is a system that is basically there for metric tracking
they add the jump so that they can entice the reader with an initial blurb from the home page into clicking a link to read an article that would be too large to fit into the flow of the home page layout, which also serves to allow the admins of the site with a way to track what pages are getting read more then others
it ain't going away
No one would argue that there are some fantastic movie critics out there, and even though the internet has given rise to the same "I'm a critic too!" mentality that games journalism suffers from, there are still the stalwart, respected film critics that most people turn to when they want to hear about the merits of this year's Oscar winners.
And yet the movie industry is bloated with cash that is routinely spent on pumping out trite bullshit and huge vapid blockbusters. So while games journalism certainly isn't helping to hold games to some higher standard, the people who go out and buy "Madden X" and "Call of Duty Y" every year without question are more the problem, I think.
sketchyblargh / Steam! / Tumblr Prime
My new site is going to be called "Reviewing Games That Came Out Six Months Ago". It's overkill in the other direction, but I like it.
I actually wanna write a thesis on games as art if I ever get into a grad program.
If anyone wants me to review the art in games I'd be happy to!
Dear satan I wish for this or maybe some of this....oh and I'm a medium or a large.
The best way to do anything is just to start doing it. You have every single tool you need at your disposal. Begin writing about games, and if you show any bit of competency toward the craft you will earn the attention you deserve and with that comes the ability to do more with it.
It does sound a little dumb, but in most cases I've seen it used, it's pretty similar to newspapers and magazines having longer features continue in later pages of the publication. I can't really think of layouts where "after the jump" just punctuates gaps in a single page. Unless the phrase is carrying over from their headline roll or something, which is just bad editing.
I was listening to joe rogan talk about the UFC judges and its a pretty similar situation
It's mostly people from boxing and they just don't understand a lot of the stuff dudes are doing. He brought up an instance of a judge leaning over and asking what it was the fighter was doing
http://www.firstpersonobserver.com/
have a personal ads section.
"Male Human seeks Female Asari for space adventures.
This is why number scores are dumb. My personal example is the Conan game for the 360, which is averaging a 69 on Metacritic. While that's definitely the "objective" score that it deserves, I love the hell out of that game. If I'd just looked at the number and not read reviews I'd have never picked it up and I would have missed a lot of fun.
I vastly prefer sites that don't give a numerical score at all, not the least because fuck metacritic.
I think I've made my opinion of RockPaperShotgun clear, but they do everything as "Wot I Think"s, which are literally that - the reviewer's opinion, and as well written as the rest of the site. Their recent review of Precursors a buggy, flawed, but also very ambitious russian game is a good example of how things should be done.
Ars Technica is also pretty good - they too eschew traditional review scores for a "Buy, Rent, or Skip" at the end.
What do you think about my idea for a site?
I really think that I get more detailed and custom tailored game reviews and suggestions from my social circle than anywhere else.
I think it would work.
because they'd rather spend their money on an experience they know they would enjoy, faced with a glut of potential disappointing experiences that they don't know about? Games cost sixty fucking bucks any more, and take forty to sixty hours to beat. You can't blame the consumers for knowing what they enjoy, nor can you blame the producers for wanting to deliver a guaranteed profitable game to a demanding market instead of risking tens of millions of dollars on a product that may not make it back.
Innovation has always happened on the fringe. That's what the fringe is for.
As they say, the proof is in the execution of your idea.
I think that's what they say, anyway. They say a lot of things.
It would require much planning.
Probably studying sites that are similar, like Last.FM or Boardgamegeek.
In aggregating review scores and averaging them you lose all sense of bias and personal opinion of the review author, so you can't weigh the emotions and opinions behind the number. If THE INDUSTRY was as objective in its reporting as it could be, then metacritic would actually be useful.
This is in the nicest tone possible:
I don't care.
The internet is filled with people who try to do something and then realize it actually takes work. I'll be glad to offer my opinions on your site once it's up, but until then giving you my thoughts on an idea is worse than useless.
What's wrong with this:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
If you are using accurate and descriptive headlines, you can just put the link there and track to a permalinked page for the story.
The "put a little blurb in and then a 'jump'" method basically reduces the first paragraph of a story into extended sensationalism like the headlines with the sole purpose of getting people to click on the jump link.
For all of their flaws, Kotaku isn't horrible about this. They have a headline and a small blurb and then a link that simply says "More" (which doesn't appear on the story page). However, to scan their stories on the front page, I still have to scroll down through all the blurbs and any time they are randomly inserting a larger box for an image or video in the middle of it.
What spring does with the cherry trees.
It's been a while since I've had a good idea just let me enjoy it for a minute.
That being said, what's driven me most crazy (especially in console game reviews) are the opinions on the controls or the camera. Either the controls were unresponsive or they weren't. Either you couldn't see your character or you couldn't. They were never able to come up with anything more clear headed than "the controls are A, they should be B." or vice versa, and it drove me nuts.
That's sort of a silly point to make, though. Of course they would. Is it so easy to get into design? Ask Rank. Ask NaS. That aside, there's no reason one couldn't contribute to a publication while working a day job. It's the mode of operation for almost every writer of note in the last century.
which is precisely why most media critics are fucking worthless
most of the time, they're just folks without the ability or training to actually do anything useful at all
they're just fans who want to be part of the system they are fans of, but they're lazy and terrible at their jobs
I still want to review movies that are no younger than five years
tru tru
but I can't draw and am poor in the creative sense, so I'm hoping the study of the history of art will lead me to a career in the history of videogame art.
Dear satan I wish for this or maybe some of this....oh and I'm a medium or a large.
Compliment sandwiches! Fuck them, fuck them in their formulaic... bread
I have a friend who wants to work in IGN. Why? Because he likes video games. I've told him a few times what I think of that idea, at least to get to him to seriously evaluate why he wants that job. He doesn't even like writing.
What spring does with the cherry trees.
It is so difficult to get into design that I realized that it would be easier to learn how to program and literally make the games myself.