Better Than Us
Increasing amounts of comments and content from gaming press over the past couple of days have been attacking gaming consumers for being “entitled” and accusing them of not knowing enough about game development to have grounds to complain. It’s as if gaming press has suddenly responded to some sort of call to arms here, defending the industry that it covers instead of even attempting to look at the issues at play in some sort of balanced format.
The war has begun, and the very gaming websites that we read for video game news and information think that they’re better than us. They’re even taking to the bully pulpit to do so. It’s disappointing. It’s offensive. It’s a scenario that I never really thought would happen.
Why is it that Forbes, a financial website, has to be the one to even try looking at the consumer’s side of the debate when it comes to issues revolving around Mass Effect 3? Why is it that I don’t see any gaming portals even acknowledging that consumers may have a point, even if it’s not pursued the right way? Is there some fear of backlash from industry insiders if this occurs? Have relationships forged between gaming press and industry staff obscured the ability to see both sides of the fence? Is this finally the breaking point for gaming press, where they’ve simply become sick and tired of dealing with consumers complaining?
I wish I knew the answers to these questions, but I fear that we’ll never find the truth. Gaming press will be defensive, claiming that they can’t be bought and that they’re as impartial to the issues at hand as possible. It’s likely true that the average consumer doesn’t know the basics of game development, but talking down to your readership as though they’re comprised of petulant youths isn’t really the best way to make a point. Instead, it comes off as being a massive superiority complex:
We write about games, so we know more than you. Stop your whining and deal with it.
It bothers me to bring things like this up, but I can’t help but to feel as though the message has been made very plain. Respected gaming portals like IGN and Vox Games believe that they’re better than you. Crave Games thinks it’s better than you. Various members of the gaming press on Twitter think that they’re better than you. It’s an “us vs. them” scenario, with seemingly nobody in our corner as consumers.
I don’t get it. I always thought that gaming press was the consumer’s link to the video game industry. I thought that we were allies, or that there was at least some kind of responsibility to the reader when it came to what was said and written. Then I got this tweet from Ian Miles Cheong from Gameranx, which made it very clear:
We owe you nothing.
There you have it. If this tweet is to be believed, gaming press owes readers– most of whom are gaming consumers– nothing. This means that people like you and I don’t have a voice, outside of the complaining that we’ve been unequivocally told to stop doing. That’s just the way it is. It’s deflating to realize this, because having a responsibility to my readers and to consumers is part of why I wanted to get into the gaming press in the first place. Instead, it’s all about alliances and politics… and if you’re not part of the agenda, you need to kindly go away.
It won’t matter to anyone but me, but I’ve lost some respect for this medium over the past few days. Nothing will change, and that’s fine, but it’s a damned shame that something that I’ve held in such high regard for so long can be like this. I expected better. I expected different. I guess that’s my fault.
Wow. I think the gaming press owes absolutely everything to the consumers. A lot of people are trying to be “gaming press” and it’s never been easier. Anyone can run a blog or start reviewing on youtube. Most people will “sell out” as soon as they can. Their reviews are half assed and all they do is try to get as many views as they can by not really saying anything…every game is great. And of course if you’re known to only give out positive reviews companies are willing to give you more and more free product. It breeds this atmosphere of sucking up to the publishers just to get free shit.
I’ve been reviewing things seriously for a little while now and getting product from companies but I’ll never, ever, lie or misrepresent something jut to continue getting free shit. I’d rather buy the game and tell the truth than suckle at a publishers teat.
“Gaming press will be defensive, claiming that they can’t be bought and that they’re as impartial to the issues at hand as possible. ”
Does anyone really believe this? I think we’ve seen time and again that the media can and has been bought over and over again (see; Dragon Age 2 reviews.) Maybe the public at large actually does believe the Gamespot’s, IGN’s, etc but almost no one I know actually bases any purchases off of major game reviews; it’s usually off of friends, forums, or user reviews that I see most people making their decisions.
Seeing that tweet thread made me realize that he’s right; the gaming press owes its readers and followers nothing because we no longer pay for their content. When it was magazines we shared the monetary stake in publications with the marketing firms that advertised within them. Now that everything online has to be free and ad-supported it’s really no surprise that the mindset is swaying to side with the people who not only pay the writers but also give them access to the goods they need to cover. We’re nothing but page views and pre-order numbers to them now and the more sensationalized they make their writings the more we click.
Great post. I’m really taken aback by Miles’ comment. It’s so brazenly arrogant. If you write for free, than yea, who cares about anyone else.
But if you make your livlihood off of writing things other people read, then I would hope you have a relationship with that readership that goes beyond: here’s what I wrote, now read it so I’z get paid.
A sizable chunk of the gaming press went very insider this week. It’s really disgusting, and demonstrates much more “entitlement” then fans demanding this that and the other for something they at least paid for. G-press wants to shit on its audience and still have them waiting on their every news clip and review.
Uncharted 2 had a $20M dollar budget and Uncharted 3 probably cost at least as much. These huge investments call for gigantic returns, so it’s inevitable that they’d try to fix the game. The end of this era of videogaming is long overdue.