BlogJam of the Week: Kotaku Causes Blindness

[Russ Pitts]

Now that we've made all of the "Florescent What?" jokes we can handle, it's time to take another look at the "New Kotaku [http://www.kotaku.com/]."

Glaringly eye-crushing colors aside, today's Kotaku front page features no fewer than four obvious attempts to cash in on the power of sex. In no particular order we have: one picture of a bikini model eating squid (posted for no particular reason other than to have a picture of a squid-eating bikini model on the front page); one in-game shot of a metal-clad sorceress; seventy or so upskirt shots of Japanese models; and one barely-legal picture of a model with extremely large nipples (covered with paint).

Now, I'm not a prude or anything - quite the opposite - but the problem here is that with my eyes all a-goggle looking at the sexy ladies, my eye happens to be open just enough for my retina to be blinded once again by the vibrant colors of the site's new layout. Therefore, weeks after the initial shock has faded, I find myself once more threatened with debilitating blindness thanks to Kotaku. So many expletives from which to choose ?

But that's not why we're here.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Original Comment by: Scott Jon Siegel
http://www.numberless.net/blog
I'm a bit confused at what's going on here, but I will say that Kotaku's new layout is a bit harsher on the eyes, and I lament the loss of the old format (although I applaud the recent addition of bylines to the postings). -sj

 

[Russ Pitts]

Original Comment by: Duncan
http://ghostsinthegame.blogspot.com/
Fortunately I read Kotaku via the Sage Firefox exstension. I have it display the whole feed, as formatted by a nice little CSS layout I have. I only have to look at their page once in a while. And I don't read it for the news. I read it for the random bits of information, the viral content, and the irreverence. Oh, and the contests. Nothing like getting free stuff.

 

[Kross]

See, I think Kotaku's exaggerating the whole situation.

I mean, c'mon 6.8 out of 10? IGN doesn't go lower then 8.5 (and that's considering anything under a 9.7 as a Kiss of Death), unless it was some crazy April Fools day review or something.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Original Comment by: Brinstar
http://acidforblood.net/
Kotaku is the worst of the large gaming blogs. It's poorly edited and poorly written. Most of Kotaku's writers suffer from a chronic and acute aversion to correct grammar and spelling. The writing there is often sensationalistic, comparable to The Sun (the worst of the UK's tabloid newspapers). Kotaku's commenters seem to be selected from the worst dregs of the gaming community. At least one of the writers is unapologetically sexist.

All of these problems, particularly the sexism, have been going on for a while. I got fed up so I removed it from my RSS feed. Kotaku was good before they started adding writers who couldn't write or edit, and before they added the exclusive comment system. You can't even argue with the people with whom you disagree.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Original Comment by: GamingHobo
http://gaminghobo.wordpress.com
Well since this is the second time this week (http://gaminghobo.wordpress.com/2006/06/20/sony-loses-appeal-kotaku-gloats/) that Kotaku have disgraced (I don't feel that is too harsh a word) themselves in my eyes it will be removed from my reader too. Will Kotaku continue to be listed in the Recommended list here?

 

[Kross]

They have been nice in the past (when the list here was initially created), but seem to be going for a more in-your-face style recently (in more then just the site layout). Seeing who's buttons they can push [http://kotaku.com/gaming/npr/new-npr-gaming-podcast-press-start-180375.php] and so-forth.

I'd imagine they are still worth checking out because certain news breaks there first due to the user submissions/tips. But if they continue down this path (more power to them if that's the image they want, the style generates buzz certainly) we'll see where it all ends up.

 

[Russ Pitts]

Original Comment by: jlaakso
http://7178.blogspot.com
The new layout is really bad, and yes, the posts are apparently on a downhill slide. However, you just get stuff you don't get elsewhere from Kotaku, so I continue reading it. I sort of like the laid-back feel, grammatical errors and so on, and not bothering too much if the content is news or what.

But recently it seems that they could use some editorial guidance. Like if someone reviewed the posts before hitting submit.

For actual news I read Eurogamer (which is always late, but so what).

 

[Russ Pitts]

Original Comment by: eben

The gripe about Kotaku's exloitation of sex is surely warranted.

Instead, look to the escapist for guidance, who so considerately used pastel-pink as the chromatic-trope of their issue focusing on sexuality and women.

Was that irony?

 

[Russ Pitts]

Original Comment by: Funky J
http://www.funkyj.com
Why is this even being discussed on the Escapist?

Is there not enough interest in the stories about girl gamers saying all the tired old shit we've read a hundred times before about girl gamers that you have to discuss the inconsequential hissy fit between two websites?

Come on Escapist, I thought you would have been above this kind of rubbish.

For all the tripe which tries to pass itself of games journalism, I use to think The Escapist was the most interesting. However, recently it seems you're struggling to come up with anything new and original to say in any of your articles.

Brinstar Wrote:
"Kotaku's commenters seem to be selected from the worst dregs of the gaming community"

As a commentator on Kotaku, I'll take that as a compliment...