GameDaily’s Chris Buffa has published a short piece ranting about the state of video game journalism. Most of his points are quite valid, but I don’t think the problem is as dire as he makes it out to be. He does hit on two sensitive issues in the business: shoddy writing and PR-centric publications.
There is a predominance of bad video game writing, mainly on the internet. Far too many journalists regurgitate words on the screen and call it a day. For fansites and other volunteer-based publications, this is tolerable, but Chris quotes a stinky piece from a well-known website that rhymes with Fly See Tin. It makes me cry on the inside to know that someone got paid good money to put that drivel on the site. Edit, people, edit. Put the writing above everything else.
As for public relations sources buying good reviews and magazine space, that’s a tough one. As journalists we need access to early info and actual games to review. But at the same time we can’t let hype rule our judgement, which many are very quick to do. A balance between creating buzz, catering to game publishers (gotta make our buck, don’t we?) and focusing on the end-reader has to be found. And that will only come with time.
The real problem with video game journalism is that we’re still figuring out how to do it. We can’t simply copy the template from movie or music reviews and slap it on video games. We’re dealing with a new form of media and have to teach ourselves how to present it. It’s going to take some disgusting drivel to get us there, but as long as we keep our standards intact we’re heading in the right direction. Thanks, Chris, for the reminder.
