Thirith on 29/6/2009 at 12:57
Are there any games journos that you can recommend? I know that a couple of people here read (
http://rockpapershotgun.com/) Rock Paper Shotgun, which I like a lot (although I also know there's a lot of KG hate going around), and some probably frequent (
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/) The Escapist, which is a bit hit-and-miss for me, usually depending on the topic.
Which games journalists do you like? What do you enjoy about their writing?
EvaUnit02 on 29/6/2009 at 13:10
Not Kieron Gillen.
Matthew on 29/6/2009 at 13:37
Kieron Gillen.
mothra on 29/6/2009 at 13:43
rps seems to do articles about games i (could) like.
are they any good ? hell, NO. but informative.
is the Keiron Gillien hate around here justified ? hell, NO.
I think some hate him for calling the hardcore SS-fanbase bad names in his Bioshock-Defense article.(I assume).
but "real" journalismn (as in well-argumented, sophistically formulated and non-interpretable sentences) - only for games - .......... hmmmm
gl hf
Thirith on 29/6/2009 at 13:48
Quote Posted by mothra
are they any good ? hell, NO. but informative.
Out of interest: what do you mean when you say that they're not good? Is the writing bad in your opinion? And, if so, what would make it bad?
For the record, good journalism IMO makes me think. Whether I agree with it or not doesn't matter all that much, e.g. I disagreed with a lot that KG wrote in his
Bioshock defense, but I still found it an intriguing piece of writing - although my favourite article would probably have to be his write-up of the Cradle in
Thief 3.
Good games journalism IMO risks being pretentious in some people's eyes because it looks at games as more than just something people do in their spare time. It looks at them as a medium that is, at least potentially, artistically and socially relevant. It takes them seriously - although ideally without losing a sense of playfulness.
Melan on 29/6/2009 at 13:50
Kieron Gillen, probably; at least he puts some thought into his articles, and doesn't seem to be particularly beholden to advertising payoffs.
OTOH, the last completely honest game journalism I read was in Commodore Világ (Commodore World), Hungary's cultic game journal. They pirated their games like everyone else back then, were only biased towards fun, featured some really cool artwork (since screenshots looked kinda poor on newsprint) and had this awesome fanzine mentality where if you could write something good, you could send it in and they would publish it. They are dead now, of course, along with the game journalism scene. :p
mothra on 29/6/2009 at 14:00
my opinion/taste in journalismn:
good articles have less "fanboy" talking and "insider" words and more history, facts and unknown background information on its making, their makers and the industry surrounding them. They bring a new angle, a new perspective and don't repeat everything everybody else already knows by reading the press release. While a certain dose of "don't take yourself serious" is always good they do not joke or ridicule the contens of their article / matter they are discussing or involved parties.
RPS articles always sound to me like they were written by some fan, then edited down for less bias, a few personal anectodes thrown on top (to serve the own celebrity status that gets denied few sentences later) and a little self-irony concerning the "business". All nice and cosy and very un-offensive against anybody that could have a word in the journalists future but lackluster and cowardly for me. Gaming Journalismn seems to me to be a work of "befriending" and "gaining access and favors" to publishers and devs.
I can't tell you of a single magazine or site that once surprised me with its uncompromising and honest work.
Thirith on 29/6/2009 at 14:06
Quote Posted by mothra
RPS articles always sound to me like they were written by some fan, then edited down for less bias, a few personal anectodes thrown on top (to serve the own celebrity status that gets denied few sentences later) and a little self-irony concerning the "business". All nice and cosy and very un-offensive against anybody that could have a word in the journalists future but lackluster and cowardly for me. Gaming Journalismn seems to me to be a work of "befriending" and "gaining access and favors" to publishers and devs.
See what you mean, although I've never perceived them to be like this - my impression is mainly that they have the privilege at RPS to write about what they enjoy most, so naturally they are less likely to write any critical (in the sense of "inclined to find fault or to judge with severity") articles.
Koki on 29/6/2009 at 14:10
RPS journo? It's just a "Stuff I like" videogame blog and news regurgitation. Well except Rossignol, he wrote a book and all.
The Escapist is more like it, too bad they let pretty much anyone who can put two words together in these days.
Try Costikyan, but I don't know how much of his stiff is about videogames, since he covers the whole spectrum of gaming in general.
Matthew on 29/6/2009 at 14:13
I was sorry, but unsurprised, to hear that Costik's project Manifesto Games shut down recently.
