Games Journalism General

[AirdropShitposts]

Deadspin is still posting articles, but the byline just says "Deadspin".

Why, you may ask? Because shortly after Deadspin's staff bailed, an article was posted by freelancer writer Alan Goldsher, which led to him getting hate mobbed and taunted as a '"scab" (despite the fact that scabs are people hired to fill in for employees on strike, and all of Deadspin's staff didn't go on strike - they quit). As a result, he bent over and suddenly decided that giving in to hacks was more important than paying the rent.

Meanwhile, GO Media seemly forgot to change the passwords to Deadspin's Twitter account, because the shitgibbons that bailed are still posting on there like they own the fucking place.

The dudes running GO Media need to get their shit together, because they are letting a bunch of shitty hacks make them look like impotent morons.

What is with these people flinging their shit all over the place as they leave? How do they think it's going to be taken by new employers that if something goes bad they'll leave you a mess to clean up?

Reminds me, on a non-employment level, of when ResetEra posters fled NeoGAF they posted porn and gore and just unnecessary shit all over the forum rather than just... stopping posting. It all got deleted, what did they gain from it?

These faggots have learned some really stupid social signaling from some really crappy places and somehow keep failing upwards to export it.

 

[Dom Cruise]

I can't believe people would discuss nice asses from video games but not mention Bayonetta.

You're right, that was a bad omission on my part, sorry.

(fun fact: the actress that voices Bayonetta also voiced the character who is my current avatar)

 

[ZMOT]

The only video game ass that is a work of art is 2B's as her ass and thigh fat are fully animated and responsive to the environment. There are no others in videogames worth mentioning, except maybe Tracer.

 

[AnOminous]

What is with these people flinging their shit all over the place as they leave? How do they think it's going to be taken by new employers that if something goes bad they'll leave you a mess to clean up?

Their shitty parents did nothing when they flung their shit around autistically screeching as children whenever they didn't get what they wanted, and as foul as such behavior is in a child, it is even less charming in an adult. They are perpetual infants.

 

[Judge Dredd]

I've been a bit too busy and focused on other threads.

Polygon posted a series of articles called "A decade in review" where they list their 100 best games of the decade. You can see the full thread here https://kiwifarms.net/threads/polygon-why-gone-home-is-the-most-important-game-of-the-decade.63155/
Thanks to @FireGod365 or I would have missed that.

You can see polygons top 100 here:

The 100 best games of the decade (2010-2019): 100-51 - Polygon

archived 4 Nov 2019 20:31:30 UTC

archive.li

The 100 best games of the decade (2010-2019): 50-11 - Polygon

archived 4 Nov 2019 19:40:13 UTC

archive.li

The 100 best games of the decade (2010-2019): 10-1 - Polygon

archived 4 Nov 2019 19:33:56 UTC

archive.li

But I'm going to go through the highlights.
100. VIRGINIA
Already off to a great start. No mention of Haydee, a game that came out around the same time and was more successful in both reception and sales. Polygon also contradicts itself.

This is a game that’s just two hours long, and features no dialogue, yet it has more to say than the vast majority of 40-hour games.

It’s also a valuable example of how, in the last few years, game developers have embraced complex political and social issues.

We're in the first of 100 and already they are fucking up.

99. LIFE IS STRANGE
Another no gameplay walking simulator. I'm guessing it's this low on the list due to the devs being guilty of wrongthink after revealing the next game would star a male character.

From this point I'm going to start skipping ahead for your sanity and mine.

95. CUPHEAD
Surprised to see this here. The only game that would be more surprising to see would be Doom 2016.

92. DEVICE 6

Developer Simogo has quietly created hit after hit. This year’s Sayonara Wild Hearts is a trippy rhythm game. Adventure game Year Walk explored Swedish folklore. The Sailor’s Dream was a meditative narrative mystery. And Device 6 is a Bond-tinged puzzle game. Each Simogo game is relentlessly stylish, and visually distinct from the others.

I have never heard of any of these games. I only know of Year Walk from the GiantBomb quick look. If it were to be revealed the devs are friends with Polygon staff, I would not be surprised.

91. THE WALKING DEAD

But Telltale’s brief success was marred by another phenomenon of the last decade: mismanagement and crunch. The company was wound up in 2018.

And there we have it. 9 entries in and they're already talking about their pet issue de-jour.

86. KIM KARDASHIAN: HOLLYWOOD

TL DW? Here's a comment from the video that sums it up.

Giant Bomb and Gamasutra put it on a top list for the games of the year. But I'm the misogynist for wanting ethical journalism?

At this point in the list, I want to make it clear that a lot of this list are either walking simulators or indie games no one has heard of, with the occasional popular game to make people forget that these people are hacks. Do you think Polygon would play games like XCOM 2, Doki Doki Literature Club, or Bayonetta?

53. DEATH STRANDING
Isn't it a bit too soon to be putting this on the list?

42. THE WORKS OF MICHAEL BROUGH

If creator Derek Yu is like early Terrence Malick, publishing a new masterpiece every decade or so, then Michael Brough is like late-career Malick: a fearless, productive, and intensely focused creator, releasing something new nearly every year of this decade.
Nominated multiple times for the IGF’s Nuovo and Excellence in Design Awards, Brough focuses on the roguelike genre, simplifying its notorious complexity with confined stage and limited abilities. He doesn’t lard his work with tutorials and his alien art style can be downright intimidating, and yet, games like Zaga-33 and 868-HACK are immensely accessible — warm, even.
It helps that Brough’s work is widely available for smartphones. If I have one complaint, it’s the number of times these games got me in trouble over the past nine years. What I thought would be a short weekday break somehow stretched into hourslong diversions. And just when I had had enough of one game, there was Brough, releasing another, this new addition somehow more life-consuming than the last.

I don't play phone games, so someone who does will have to tell me if these games are good or not. But the IGF was outed as corrupt during GamerGate, so seeing a multiple IGF winner is already a red flag.

39. FIREWATCH
No mention of the PewDiePie DMCA abuse.

27. DOOM
No mention of their gameplay scandal.

26. DISHONORED 2
Aka. The series that feminism killed. The devs went woke after Anita Sarkeesian called them sexist. Turns out feminists don't buy games.

20. JOURNEY
18. HER STORY

Her Story represents a 21st-century mini-renaissance for full-motion video games, laying the ground for its follow-up Telling Lies and for wonderful visual novels like Eliza.

15. EVERYTHING
13. GONE HOME
More walking simulators and non-games. I've skipped many so far, but remember, these are games that Polygon is rating as "best" above Doom, Bloodborne, and Skyrim.

10. FORTNITE BATTLE ROYALE

And if none of that does it for you then … yeah, Lady Gaga tweeted about it too.

9. THE WITCHER 3: WILD HUNT
8. DARK SOULS
7. P.T.

P.T. was a teaser for Hideo Kojima’s (never released) Silent Hills, but it stands on its own merits as a horror masterpiece, and an example of how short, intense experiences can be just as effective as long games.

If they played PT, I doubt they finished it. Most likely they watched it on YouTube. That's okay as the game isn't available any more. But the quoted section makes me think that it's only on the list for being short.

6. LEAGUE OF LEGENDS
5. POKÉMON GO

4. KENTUCKY ROUTE ZERO
Another questionable entry. More so than Gone Home. A largely forgotten point and click adventure that makes it onto Polygons top 100 game of the decade for vague reasons. Even more baffling is this line.

While the game’s final act was supposed to launch last year, there’s a chance we won’t see the conclusion before the decade ends.

So, the game isn't even finished and they put it highly on the list. There's no bias here.

3. SPELUNKY
2. THE LEGEND OF ZELDA: BREATH OF THE WILD

1. MINECRAFT
Finally, a decent choice. I can understand Minecraft being the game of the decade.

When our descendants look back upon us and upon our time, they will see many images: of tyrants and cruelty, of waste and stupidity. But they will also see Minecraft, within which the next generation, perhaps, will begin to learn how to build a better world.

Is he talking about Trump? I think he's talking about Trump. They just couldn't resist it.

So, Polygon is biased. No surprise there. I was surprised to see games like Neir and Doom get a mention, but there's some obvious missing games. No Wolfenstien. No Earth Defense Force. No Kingdom Come: Deliverance. No Battlefield 5. No Uncharted. No Sunset. Yet they put Kim Kardashian Hollywood on the list.

 

[AnOminous]

1. MINECRAFT
Finally, a decent choice. I can understand Minecraft being the game of the decade.

Is he talking about Trump? I think he's talking about Trump. They just couldn't resist it.

So, Polygon is biased. No surprise there. I was surprised to see games like Neir and Doom get a mention, but there's some obvious missing games. No Wolfenstien. No Earth Defense Force. No Kingdom Come: Deliverance. No Battlefield 5. No Uncharted. No Sunset. Yet they put Kim Kardashian Hollywood on the list.

Remember, they had to include at least one actual game. Having a list of best games with literally no games in it at all would be too obvious, even for fake games journalism like Polygon. Also why would you expect Kingdom Come: Deliverance? The political sentence on that game came out before the game itself and they're literally not allowed to even acknowledge that it exists.

It's also fairly glaring that they (obviously) suck Gone Home's girldick but don't even mention What Remains of Edith Finch. Way to be really obvious, excluding the obviously superior walking simulator with an actually compelling story.

Fuck Polygon so goddamn hard.

 

[Judge Dredd]

Also why would you expect Kingdom Come: Deliverance? The political sentence on that game came out before the game itself and they're literally not allowed to even acknowledge that it exists.

I didn't expect it. I assumed they would have had it be all woke games, which is why I'm surprised woke games like Battlefield 5, Uncharted 4, and Wolfenstein didn't make the list. At least those are games some normies played.

Since they did include non-woke games like Doom, Bayonetta, The Witcher, and Nier, it's odd they didn't go all the way and include games like Kingdom Come or Cities Skylines.

Like you say, it's a weird half measure where they are trying to include popular normie games and gamers games for the sake of appearance, but then stack the list with woke shit anyway.

 

[Secret Asshole]

People still read Polygon? Wow lol.

Also, you can't include the Kardashian Game. It isn't a unique offering. Its a direct copy and paste sprite swap with another game only this time with a brand over it. The first time it was completely unsuccessful, but the company made so much money by simply using her name. The 'game' was not successful on its own merits, only by brand. If you're doing a list of influential games, sure you can put it on there, but by definition it can't be 'one of the best' because it only succeeded because a name was attached to it. Kardashian Jalapeno Anal Wart Cream would sell. That doesn't mean its good. They 100% threw it up there for the clickbait. But I don't really think anyone reads Polygon so its not going to matter. I mean, who sees a Polygon list of '100 of the best games of the Decade' and actually reads that fucking thing? You already know what's going to be on there.

Remember, they had to include at least one actual game. Having a list of best games with literally no games in it at all would be too obvious, even for fake games journalism like Polygon. Also why would you expect Kingdom Come: Deliverance? The political sentence on that game came out before the game itself and they're literally not allowed to even acknowledge that it exists.

It's also fairly glaring that they (obviously) suck Gone Home's girldick but don't even mention What Remains of Edith Finch. Way to be really obvious, excluding the obviously superior walking simulator with an actually compelling story.

Fuck Polygon so goddamn hard.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance basically fucked the gaming press' asshole raw. They blacklisted it and it outsold their favorites and promoted games by a huge margin. They would never, ever mention it. Even putting those words together somewhere would remind people of how hilariously out of touch they were with it and how they didn't matter fuck all when it came to the game selling. Remember, this is at a time where gaming press outlets and progtard blogs are dying so hard that their parent companies can't sell them off fast enough before their valuation reaches somewhere in the pennies. To remind their corporate masters of how little they matter in the scheme of things is bad. I mean, every progtard outlet got fucking destroyed by the Joker, they're not going to mention another time they got destroyed. That's a double whammy.

They didn't include "What Remains of Edith Finch" because you have to do more than randomly walk around a small area and read things. Its too much effort for Games Journalists to complete.

Also people forget the big part of why Steam Refunds were a thing is because of "Gone Home". It only sold well because it was painted as this haunted house game, then it turned out to be this pathetically short game you could beat in an hour and a half for like 20 bucks. People were fucking infuriated. Of course, the journos painted this as 'MISOGYNY' but there's a reason that company's games have sold like total shit since Gone Home's release and other walking sims and adventure games have massively surpassed them.

Another thing @AnOminous, you shouldn't get mad at Polygon. Its like....getting mad at a dumb fucking low-effort troll who is a child. You don't get mad, you just mock them and then beat them while mocking them.

Because all of games Journalism, according to the most recent ESA study, only 29% of Gamers buy games off of the basis of a review site. It doesn't even make the top 7 of most important things gamers look for (Number 1 is price, shocking I know). Community reviews have more influence. What I find funny is that streaming topped in at the lowest reason for buying a game, 20%. Ouch to AAA marketing budgets.

Funnily enough, the 2019 ESA study on Gaming basically has Gamers as 37% Democrat, 33% Republican, 18% Independent and 12% as other. So when gaming outlets are calling gamers alt-right incels, the majority of who they're calling that are Democrats and Independents. Of which 59% of Gamers vote. So they're basically shitting on themselves when they promote these articles. This is the stupidity of the gaming press.

(Off topic but holy fuck, GTA V was the 5th Best Selling game of 2018. It was released in 2013.)

 

[AnOminous]

Like you say, it's a weird half measure where they are trying to include popular normie games and gamers games for the sake of appearance, but then stack the list with woke shit anyway.

As delusional as they are, they can't quite pretend shit like Minecraft doesn't exist, and Polygon isn't quite the full woketard outlet that, say, Kotaku is. They can't just literally pretend Doom never happened. They are, though, just delusional enough to believe they can "cancel" something like KC: D by just pretending it doesn't exist.

 

[AnOminous]

Because all of games Journalism, according to the most recent ESA study, only 29% of Gamers buy games off of the basis of a review site.

They must have been working really hard to rig that poll because last I saw it it was literally something like 0%. It was easily single digits. Literally fucking nobody buys anything because of some jerkoff "games journalist" who never plays games and hates games and gamers themselves personally.

 

[Secret Asshole]

They must have been working really hard to rig that poll because last I saw it it was literally something like 0%. It was easily single digits. Literally fucking nobody buys anything because of some jerkoff "games journalist" who never plays games and hates games and gamers themselves personally.

Oh yeah and they hid that study REALLY hard. I can't even find it anymore which is why I didn't mention it. The percentage was something insane. The top 5 haven't changed at all though. They definitely switched up their methodology and buried the reports. Its almost impossible to find. The closest I found was one in 2016 where the top 5 were basically the same, Game Journos weren't even mentioned and were shoe-horned in with the 22% 'other' category. Meaning that YouTube and Streaming were the vast majority. I don't think the press liked this look.

They changed their survey methodology. In 2016, Price was at 21% of factors influencing video game purchases and the entire pie chart equaled 100%. In the 2019 survey, Price was at 66 or something percent. Meaning they had people taking the survey check off multiple decisions to inflate numbers. Let us do a little math, shall we?

Running the numbers, the top 10 purchasing decisions equal 400% (The real percentage is 398, but I'm rounding, fuck you). We can assume this means that they asked survey respondents to pick the top four choices affecting their purchasing decisions. Because it is 398% and not 400%, this means they included people who ignored the questionnaire and put less than four. Meaning they included shitty data, so the poll itself can't be trusted. Anyway, lets assume a perfect 400%.

Now we do basic math. Dividing each of the top 10 by 4, Price represents 16.5% of importance to gamers. Conversely, gaming journalists rank at basically less than half at 7.25%. Adding all 10 choices they gave, the survey comes out to 99.5%. Meaning that basically that the entire poll is ±0.5%. Its impossible to tell where that missing percentage lies, because that data isn't there because they didn't discard people who ignored their instructions. We also don't know their n (number of respondents) so its basically impossible to tell how accurate this data is. My opinion is that since they included non-respondents (in a survey, anyone who doesn't properly respond is considered a non-responder. These are normally discarded) than the data is pretty bad.

I don't think the ESA expected anyone to do some very basic statistical analysis. But yes, the numbers are hiding the fact that Journos barely factor into any purchasing questions at all. Meaning the 29% is designed to make them look good. Which is hysterical, because I'd put my odds on it being somewhere between 2 and 5 percent.

In any event, the top 5 decisions haven't changed in half a decade as to why gamers buy things and journos never really factor into it.

 

[Water-T]

Also people forget the big part of why Steam Refunds were a thing is because of "Gone Home". It only sold well because it was painted as this haunted house game, then it turned out to be this pathetically short game you could beat in an hour and a half for like 20 bucks.

It's actually possible to beat it in less than 1 minute. In fact, the PS4 edition gives you a Trophy for doing it.

It's even possible to read all the diaries and finish the game within 10 minutes, which also nets you another Trophy.

 

[Secret Asshole]

Yeah, people were pissed because it was basically a bait and switch. Journos lauded it because they didn't have to do much of anything. Like I said, its no coincidence the company hasn't even remotely found the same success with any of its other titles. Sunset was returned in droves after people beat it in an hour and a half. I actually had a good concept for an adventure game where you could play as a revolutionary or as an infiltrator for the government, and make things morally complex. But of course it was just a walking sim with no gameplay and reading.

 

[Keystone]

Yeah, people were pissed because it was basically a bait and switch. Journos lauded it because they didn't have to do much of anything. Like I said, its no coincidence the company hasn't even remotely found the same success with any of its other titles. Sunset was returned in droves after people beat it in an hour and a half. I actually had a good concept for an adventure game where you could play as a revolutionary or as an infiltrator for the government, and make things morally complex. But of course it was just a walking sim with no gameplay and reading.

Still my favorite video to come from that pretentious heap of shit:

 

[Bread Fetishist]

This man speaks the fucking truth.

 

[Water-T]

LOL. Richard Lewis - an E sports reporter - recently won an award for Best Esports Reporter of 2019. When he accepted his award, he eviscerated Kotaku, Polygon, and Vice/Waypoint for being a bunch of jackasses who shit on their audience, have no journalistic integrity and care more about farming outrage for clicks instead of fairness and accuracy.

You just know that Schrier has Grayson fiercely at work rooting through Lewis' twitter history while he feverishly types up a hit piece.

Richard Lewis slams Polygon, Waypoint & Kotaku in Journalism awards acceptance speech

 

[Keystone]

LOL. Richard Lewis - an E sports reporter - recently won an award for Best Esports Reporter of 2019. When he accepted his award, he eviscerated Kotaku, Polygon, and Vice/Waypoint for being a bunch of jackasses who shit on their audience, have no journalistic integrity and care more about farming outrage for clicks instead of fairness and accuracy.

You just know that Schrier has Grayson fiercely at work rooting through Lewis' twitter history while he feverishly types up a hit piece.

Richard Lewis slams Polygon, Waypoint & Kotaku in Journalism awards acceptance speech

Way I hear it they've been doing that for a while, even before this year's award. He won it last year too and there's probably hit pieces from before that award as well. It's wonderful how the efforts of these pathetic faggots has had zero bearing on this Lewis guy's success. I mean esports is a fucking meme, but good on the guy for directly calling these losers out.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

People still read Polygon? Wow lol.

Also, you can't include the Kardashian Game. It isn't a unique offering. Its a direct copy and paste sprite swap with another game only this time with a brand over it. The first time it was completely unsuccessful, but the company made so much money by simply using her name. The 'game' was not successful on its own merits, only by brand. If you're doing a list of influential games, sure you can put it on there, but by definition it can't be 'one of the best' because it only succeeded because a name was attached to it. Kardashian Jalapeno Anal Wart Cream would sell. That doesn't mean its good. They 100% threw it up there for the clickbait. But I don't really think anyone reads Polygon so its not going to matter. I mean, who sees a Polygon list of '100 of the best games of the Decade' and actually reads that fucking thing? You already know what's going to be on there.



Kingdom Come: Deliverance basically fucked the gaming press' asshole raw. They blacklisted it and it outsold their favorites and promoted games by a huge margin. They would never, ever mention it. Even putting those words together somewhere would remind people of how hilariously out of touch they were with it and how they didn't matter fuck all when it came to the game selling. Remember, this is at a time where gaming press outlets and progtard blogs are dying so hard that their parent companies can't sell them off fast enough before their valuation reaches somewhere in the pennies. To remind their corporate masters of how little they matter in the scheme of things is bad. I mean, every progtard outlet got fucking destroyed by the Joker, they're not going to mention another time they got destroyed. That's a double whammy.

They didn't include "What Remains of Edith Finch" because you have to do more than randomly walk around a small area and read things. Its too much effort for Games Journalists to complete.

Also people forget the big part of why Steam Refunds were a thing is because of "Gone Home". It only sold well because it was painted as this haunted house game, then it turned out to be this pathetically short game you could beat in an hour and a half for like 20 bucks. People were fucking infuriated. Of course, the journos painted this as 'MISOGYNY' but there's a reason that company's games have sold like total shit since Gone Home's release and other walking sims and adventure games have massively surpassed them.

Another thing @AnOminous, you shouldn't get mad at Polygon. Its like....getting mad at a dumb fucking low-effort troll who is a child. You don't get mad, you just mock them and then beat them while mocking them.

Because all of games Journalism, according to the most recent ESA study, only 29% of Gamers buy games off of the basis of a review site. It doesn't even make the top 7 of most important things gamers look for (Number 1 is price, shocking I know). Community reviews have more influence. What I find funny is that streaming topped in at the lowest reason for buying a game, 20%. Ouch to AAA marketing budgets.

Funnily enough, the 2019 ESA study on Gaming basically has Gamers as 37% Democrat, 33% Republican, 18% Independent and 12% as other. So when gaming outlets are calling gamers alt-right incels, the majority of who they're calling that are Democrats and Independents. Of which 59% of Gamers vote. So they're basically shitting on themselves when they promote these articles. This is the stupidity of the gaming press.

(Off topic but holy fuck, GTA V was the 5th Best Selling game of 2018. It was released in 2013.)

I've been trying to play Kingdom Come Deliverance and I'm having trouble with it. I'm struggling with the combat and lockpicking

 

[SiccDicc]

I've been trying to play Kingdom Come Deliverance and I'm having trouble with it. I'm struggling with the combat and lockpicking

I used a controller for both, to be honest. Not that it's necessarily dependent on it, but for some reason I'm just able to better pull off what it wants.

All I can honestly say, though, is to practice. The game starting early on you're gonna get clobbered, you're not supposed to be the chosen one you're something of a pampered blacksmith's son whose best training was a random soldier coming into town a month ago. Hit and run tactics served me well, but once you get along farther you can just practice on someone who offers to train you. Makes things easier.

 

[Bread Fetishist]

You just know that Schrier has Grayson fiercely at work rooting through Lewis' twitter history while he feverishly types up a hit piece.

I hope these journos realise that if they do this, they’d only prove him right about them only wanting to start fake outrage and slander people.