Games Journalism General

[A_Callow_Youth]

Developers worldwide begged and pleaded with Valve to be allowed onto Steam, and bitched and moaned endlessly about Valve playing kingmaker, and fretted at all hours about "the kind of game that gets onto Steam", and deliberately tried to make things they thought Valve would look kindly on, so as to get a slice of that big-ass money pie. The journos wrote a lot of articles about this phenomenon back in the pre-GG days. (I suspect they really just wanted their friends' trash to be allowed onto the platform, but hey.)

Valve realized this was a very precarious position for it to be in, so it stopped playing kingmaker and gave every single one of those developers the exact thing they wanted: an easy spot on Steam. Now that all the developers can put their games on Steam, they all seem to want Valve to batten down the hatches and start playing kingmaker again, because now that they're on Steam, it's in their interest for fewer things to get added to Steam, so that their products will get more attention for longer. Curation for thee, but not for me. Fuck you, got mine. Kick the ladder down so nobody else can climb it.

Fuck every single developer who thinks top-down storefront curation is desirable. What they actually want is "curation, but I'm good enough to get in and you're not", and none of them ever actually agree with the curation standards when it's inevitably decided that their games aren't good enough to make the cut.

Huh, I don't think I've ever seen somebody describe how market regulation inevitably leads to monopoly by accident before.

 

[Next Task]

Well I mean they got all the free speech warriors banned from social media. So it's strange to watch them act surprised that nobody is around.

That, or they have them muted so they wilfully can't see it. The usual disingenuous bullshittery from these hypocrites.

 

[Judge Dredd]

the problem is people are lazy and retarded, this includes most devs. "I just need to put my game on steam, guaranteed sales!", and then when no one bothers with it because it doesn't look that interesting and possible customers don't even know about it, they suddenly blame valve for their lack of marketing. imagine EA silently releasing battlefield 6 without any marketing, you honestly believe that won't have an effect on sales? there's a reason marketing budget is millions these days.

It used to be that getting your game on steam = guaranteed sales, because there was nothing else there. And because Valve only allowed good games, it was all the marketing you needed.

Once the floodgates were opened, simply being on steam wasn't enough since being on steam wasn't a mark of quality, and the new release list wasn't 3 games a week.

Same way getting a game journalist to write about your game increased sales, until they promoted crap made by their friends over quality.

They assume they can have it both ways. But that's not how it works.

 

[Jazz never died!]

God Games journalism is a running joke they used to be decent pre 2005 before selling out as game marketers. Mass Effect 3 ending controversy was the nail in the coffin with most gamers being fine with the game until the ending which was vague as hell and didn't feel like all the effort making the best ending in all 3 games not worth it as you got a light show. Then Bioware released a extended cut which just explained your actions more and journos and the guy behind Bioshock bitched about them caving in to the audience who hated the ending. Then GamerGate happened and it destroyed the credibilty of Journos and since then they have been bitter or feign love for gaming only to reveal themselves as bitter sell outs like Jim Sterling.
Just for fairness i love Mass Effect the remaster is great but even that was lazy in some areas because you can't fix poorly coded physics when you add nitrous and without a complete rewrite and retcon fix the ending for Mass Effect 3 without better writing. Most fans other than the fanboys would rate the series as 1: 3/5, 2: 5/5, 3: 3/5, Andromeda: 3/5.

It used to be that getting your game on steam = guaranteed sales, because there was nothing else there. And because Valve only allowed good games, it was all the marketing you needed.

Once the floodgates were opened, simply being on steam wasn't enough since being on steam wasn't a mark of quality, and the new release list wasn't 3 games a week.

Same way getting a game journalist to write about your game increased sales, until they promoted crap made by their friends over quality.

They assume they can have it both ways. But that's not how it works.

Except Cod Black Ops: Cold War was one of the best selling games of last year despite Activsion marketing it nearly 2 months from relese because its COD it appeals to the casuals and the hardcore for following MW return to form in the gameplay department. Hell at this point Cod markets itself it doesn't need expensive marketing budget. Battlefield on the other hand does because of the bad Battlefield 5 and for having the for every good game the next one is bad syndrome in the franchise.

 

[moocow]

IGN staff is mad

I wonder if signing this letter will backfire and result in any of them getting fired....

I'll never understand this compulsion some people have to put their formal demands to be fired for cause in writing like this.

 

[Marissa Moira]

I'll never understand this compulsion some people have to put their formal demands to be fired for cause in writing like this.

Can't spell ignorant without IGN!

 

[Lucas Silva #4903141]

There's a battle raging in IGN, apparently.

Inside IGN’s Battle for Editorial Independence​

https://archive.is/rEVBW

"Our morale has never been this low," IGN employees say a week after confronting their parent company.​

IGN, one of the largest websites dedicated to covering video game news and reviews, underwent a very public scandal this month. The trouble began when the site’s parent company, J2 Global, seemingly removed an article on the site titled “How to Help Palestinian Civilians,” which acted as a call to readers for humanitarian aid, all without editorial input or authorization. Unfortunately, the situation only appears to be growing more complicated and intense.

The action was seen as a major step over the boundary between corporate ownership and editorial independence traditionally expected in free journalism — and indeed necessary for its continued credibility. Certainly several dozen IGN staffers thought so. Two days after the article was removed, 82 out of 238 IGN employees signed a public statement to express their disapproval and plead their case for common editorial independence. The whole thing is worth reading, but the centerpiece was that the parent company shouldn’t be able to unilaterally remove content created by and endorsed by the editorial wing.

Roughly a day after the reaction, things were looking up. Multiple sources within IGN (who wish to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal) tell Fanbyte that Chief Content Officer and site cofounder, Peer Schneider, assured staff that corporate was listening. The proper people had supposedly seen the complaints and were open to a discussion. The mood turned tenuous but optimistic given Schneider’s comments. The letter of disapproval originally set a date for May 21, 2021 to hold said discussion between all involved parties. Schneider told the editors they would at least be included in those conversations.

The reverse now appears true. During the week, Schneider backtracked his earlier statements internally, suddenly placing all the blame for the original article’s removal — and the ensuing fallout — on himself. If that were true, it would make the issue an entirely editorial matter, magically absolving J2 Global and Ziff Davis of the corporate interference of which they were accused. Our sources maintain this version of events was a very sudden change in narrative. One described it as Schneider falling on the sword. Up until that point, just a few days ago, the Chief Content Officer never named himself or any editor as the source of the original decision.

Now “morale is at an all-time low” following a further all-hands meeting attended by Ziff Davis president Steve Horowitz. The executive described the issue as a purely IGN editorial problem, which IGN editorial (and by extension not its parent company) would clean up itself.

Horowitz further attempted to pit employees against each other by asserting several people who signed the open letter were coerced or tricked into doing so. Though he did not provide any evidence of that claim. He did, however, point to the number of employees who did not sign the letter as proof that most of the company did not support it. Another possibility, of course, is that some avoided doing so out of further fear of retaliation.

All of this occurs just weeks before a somewhat uncertain E3 — the first since 2019 and the first ever to be an “all digital” affair. The video game trade show and its contemporaneous events make up one of IGN’s highest traffic periods of the year. Now many employees say they’re entering this highly stressful time without faith that their parent company supports them or a desire to craft and promote good journalism.

 

[Tanner Glass]

There's a battle raging in IGN, apparently.

Inside IGN’s Battle for Editorial Independence​

https://archive.md/rEVBW

"Our morale has never been this low," IGN employees say a week after confronting their parent company.​

"Promote Good Journalism"

You write for a fucking video games website, Jesus Christ.

 

[BrokenWokenBespoken]

"Promote Good Journalism"

You write for a fucking video games website, Jesus Christ.

Even in the field of entertainment journalism there needs to be an opportunity for the press to express themselves. This is something straight out of a despotic nation who wants the population pacified and the press suppressed for the most innocuous of reasons. What you would get is essentially replaceable newsbots. Not people who can express their opinions, why not just give every game 10/10 in fear of not hurting the feelings of some game publisher?

 

[Lord Xenu]

Even in the field of entertainment journalism there needs to be an opportunity for the press to express themselves. This is something straight out of a despotic nation who wants the population pacified and the press suppressed for the most innocuous of reasons. What you would get is essentially replaceable newsbots. Not people who can express their opinions, why not just give every game 10/10 in fear of not hurting the feelings of some game publisher?

While I largely agree, these people's job is to write about video games and in that sense they have failed dramatically. They had basically unfettered editorial freedom up until they sunk the company and now someone has to come in and draw some lines to get them profitable again.

There has to be some boundaries, the organization can't sustain itself financially with these faggots alienating half the audience on a regular basis. And there's no real need to write articles about games from one single ideological position.

If they were a news magazine, I would agree. However, they tried to be a news magazine and failed dramatically due to their biased positions for nearly every article. Now the corporate body says it's time to get back on track and start writing about video games again, and there's no real argument to be had (if they want to continue to get paid).

Otherwise, they can go write a fucking blog and if the audience gives a shit about their pet causes, they will follow.

 

[Tanner Glass]

Even in the field of entertainment journalism there needs to be an opportunity for the press to express themselves. This is something straight out of a despotic nation who wants the population pacified and the press suppressed for the most innocuous of reasons. What you would get is essentially replaceable newsbots. Not people who can express their opinions, why not just give every game 10/10 in fear of not hurting the feelings of some game publisher?

You're not wrong, but it's a bit of nonsense to write about clearly political affairs (Isreal v Palestine conflict) on a video game website.

It's signing up for a job and then complaining about what it entails. It's like working at Wendy's and then complaining "all these fuckers in charge want me to do is sell hamburgers." - It's the fucking job.

 

[BrokenWokenBespoken]

You're not wrong, but it's a bit of nonsense to write about clearly political affairs (Isreal v Palestine conflict) on a video game website.

It's signing up for a job and then complaining about what it entails. It's like working at Wendy's and then complaining "all these fuckers in charge want me to do is sell hamburgers." - It's the fucking job. .

Edit: Fuck it, the journalists deserve to be lobotomized and stripped of free thought or preferably be treated like the Russian news reporter in Airplane 2

Airplane 2 russian news

youtu.be

 

[robobobo]

It's a bit more that the boss walked into the Wendy's and found a donation box for the local suicide cult and the employees had a cry session when being told that supporting suicide cults isn't something the company is okay with. The fact that this all kicked off when the poor downtrodden were trying to murder other civilians is somewhat significant.

 

[Lord Xenu]

I could be wrong about this, but I think the order of events is significant. They changed the branding at the top of the page, which is absolutely in the wheelhouse of corporate oversight.

There were screenshots all over the internet of IGN branding promoting Palestine. Then, when they were told to "knock it the fuck off", they doubled down.

I never followed closely, but from what I gather that is how it went. Something like when G/O told DeadSpin to focus on sports. It becomes more of a disciplinary issue, rather than about editorial freedom.

 

[AnOminous]

Note: it is completely autistic to care about "ethics in videogames journalism" when there is no such thing.

Gammergrope or whatever was basically complaining about ethics in vidya goon ADVERTISING.

What do you expect from advertising? Ethics? When has that ever happened?

 

[Lord Xenu]

Note: it is completely autistic to care about "ethics in videogames journalism" when there is no such thing.

Gammergrope or whatever was basically complaining about ethics in vidya goon ADVERTISING.

What do you expect from advertising? Ethics? When has that ever happened?

The fact that they are more than willing to shill 10/10 shit games to fund their efforts in propaganda.

At least in the old games media the paid advertising was pretty obvious, and the funding from the corporate shills enabled a handful of people that were passionate about games to write about (wait for it....) GAMES.

 

[Herbert West Reanimator]

Only for the corporate execs to be either coldly corporate at best, and maliciously supporting a baby eating evil shitheads at worst block that cause and keep them from supporting the cause during the shit decade where social misanthropy is in full speed .

"The cause" is very clearly one-sided here. The IGN staffers want to support Palestine. They don't want to support neutral efforts to ensure innocents are not harmed; they don't want to support neutral efforts to bring anyone who harms an innocent to justice. They want a Palestinian victory over Israel - in the wake of an unprovoked attack by Palestine on Israel. Even if it weren't damned clear-cut who's in the wrong in this particular episode of But Whose Land Is It Anyway, it is entirely understandable that IGN's corporate masters would want to ruffle as few feathers as possible and remain neutral. IGN shouldn't be picking sides in a literal war, especially one that has absolutely nothing to do with the website's alleged primary topic.

This was only a few pages ago: https://kiwifarms.net/threads/games-journalism-general.56282/post-9024580

We, the undersigned employees of IGN, are appalled by the recent management decision to subvert our editorial autonomy and remove our post directing aid to the Palestinian civilians currently suffering a humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.

No mention of anyone who's not Palestinian. When Palestine shoots rockets at Israel unprovoked, mum's the word. When innocent people in Israel are killed or injured by said rockets, mum's the word. But ohhhhh won't you think of the poor people in the aggressor nation who were killed or injured in the counterattack, despite indications that Israel gave out false information to the media regarding its plans so as to lure the actual combatants away from innocent citizens? (They said they'd be performing a ground invasion, then promptly didn't do that and shelled the fuck out of Hamas instead.) It's a humanitarian crisis, y'know - one in which one side actually seems to care about trying to avoid collateral damage, and the other side is all too happy to set up military operations in civilian neighborhoods and bank on not being shot at because of their innocent meat shields.

Seriously, if IGN staffers want to help innocent Palestinians, they should start by funding efforts to obliterate Hamas, so Hamas will stop using innocent Palestinians as meat shields for all of its operations and putting those people in harm's way, instead of flying the Palestinian flag and treating the conflict as a black-and-white Palestine-dindu-nuffin scenario.

 

[Marissa Moira]

Charlie apparently single handedly killed BioMutant with his review. He starts the review going "I know this game was made by a small team of people, but the problem is they're charging 60 dollars, so if they want AAA pricing I'm going to judge them like an AAA game". He shot down the hype baloon the game had like it was The Hindenburg.

Not even Dunkey has the power to destroy a game like that.

 

[Articles and Nudes]

That's a rather weird remark given the hype train derailed the second actual reviews came out. Nobody has been hugely kind to Biomutant.

 

[moocow]

There's a battle raging in IGN, apparently.

Inside IGN’s Battle for Editorial Independence​

https://archive.md/rEVBW

"Our morale has never been this low," IGN employees say a week after confronting their parent company.​

Oh good. Here's hoping IGN dies. In unrelated news, I like collecting rainbow stickers.

"Promote Good Journalism"

You write for a fucking video games website, Jesus Christ.

lol if they really wanted to "promote good journalism" they'd torch the place and neck themselves amid the smoldering debris.