An open letter to gaming journalism.

You've won. Get over it.

Let me explain.

Picture this; a young lad's rat tail majestically flows through the air as he runs down the stairs Christmas morning, 1987. As he rips into the biggest box under the tree, revealing a shiny new Sega Master System, a love affair that will span the ages is ignited. I can't remember if I was actually capable of a boner at this point in my developement but if I was, you can be sure I had one on that day.

Anywho, I've been playing video games for a bit and pretty much from the beginning I've not only been playing games but also reading about them. I mean, how were you supposed to beat Contra without that code anyways? I've seen a lot of changes in the industry as a whole but one thing that unfortunately hasn't changed is the general 'underdog' attitude of gaming journalists.

Whether it's bitching about the opinions of a rather famous and rotund film critic or bitching about how the government is trying to enforce a ratings system, gaming journalism always seems to take up the position of the sad little misunderstood nerd being picked on by the big popular jock.

'They just don't understand, man!'

Wake up! When the tiny little industry you're championing is making upwards of $11 billion a year and some of the best selling media EVER are video games, the 'they' in the above sentence equals a very small percentage of the population.

Chill out and relax guys, you already have the money and all that respect you think you're not getting will come eventually, just look at the film industry. In it's earliest days a lot of people said the same thing about films that they're currently saying about games and it wasn't until lots and lots of money started pouring in that people started getting all high and mighty about it.

'But wait Mr. Malcontent, are you saying that it all comes down to money?'

Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying. Take it from a guy who, having gone to art school, wanted nothing more than the pure respect that true art can achieve.

But then I started working in galleries...

And then I started working in film....

And then I started working in fashion.....

And what I quickly realized is that respect goes where the money is. I think it has something to do with our culture confusing the value of something with it's cost. Seriously, look at the fashion industry. What is the intrinsic value of what that industry produces? What does it really do?

'It makes clothes.'

Very good class, it makes clothes. Yet, if you ever have the misfortune of dealing with the people in that industry you'll soon start to question things like, 'Why the fuck is everybody running around like they're solving the cure to cancer when really all they're doing is pushing a new type of shirt on people while making young girls feel fat.'

The reason?

Money. There's lots of money in fashion.

So yeah, pull out the wedgie from your ass crack and straighten your glasses. You've won, you just don't realize it yet. By all means, continue to celebrate and examine the medium and the industry, just don't continue to wrap it up in an us-versus-them mentality. In the end, all it does is make everybody look bad.

Oh, and if I have to read any more bullshit like the last paragraph of that 'Art Bomb' article in the last issue of EGM I'm going to slap somebody. Seriously, I dare you to try and make sense of that. I tried showing that to my girlfriend, who's currently getting her masters in art history, and she just looked at me slack jawed.

Damn Dan, I still miss you in that editor chair. I'll save that rant for another post.

Comments (2)

Chris Hoadley

April 15, 2011

Money does talk, but crticism about what you like or do still hurts. I don't like the 3D trend, but there are people who earn a living doing the necessary technical work for those movies and games to work, and they probably don't like it when someone says their work doesn't add anything and acts like the process is as simple as flicking a switch. Sometimes I get tired of the defense articles too, but the people who don't voice their opinion are the ones who get ignored.

In any case, welcome to Bitmob! You've seemed to have had some interesting careers.

Hatuey Diaz

Thanks for the welcome! And yes, it's always hard to have what you love criticized. Considering that there's nothing closer to my heart than comics, I understand this like few do. Sure, the intellectual properties are more popular than ever, but the medium itself is still largely ignored in this country and going the way of the Dodo. Working in that field has helped shape my fairely cynical view on mediums and the respect they get, considering comics are just as old as film yet get nowhere near the prestige. While there are many reasons for this, including one of the worst cases of self censorship by an industry in this country's history, money does still have a lot to do with it.

Anyways, I just wanted to draw some attention to the occasionally myopic view that I find in a lot of gaming journalism. I feel like the field is going through puberty right now, it's no longer a child but not quite an adult just yet. It's still all gangly and not quite sure of where all it's parts are supposed to be.

At least, that's my opinion.

Thanks again and I hope my future rants entertain.