I don't know how the gaming community at large feels, but I personally have very little trust in 'big time' games journalists. People like Geoff Keighley and Luke Smith are either so invested in their own money-grabbing projects that their only interest in games is as a financial one, or are easily swayed to change their opinions based on swag and how much a developer can butter them up.
Sites like Gamespot, Gametrailers, or IGN have zero credibility in my mind. They're so busy fighting over who gets the exclusive announcements or one-on-one interviews that they tip-toe around issues that we're actually interested in. They don't ask hard questions, because that might mean they lose an exclusive with a developer.
Its starting to turn into an issue as bad as political journalism, where the people who are supposed to expose the problems in the system are actually a part of the system.
I'm getting to the point where the only games journalists I trust are split between two websites: Blistered Thumbs and The Escapist. The Escapist has made a name for itself by not being afraid to challenge the status quo and call developers out on their bullshit. Hell, that's basically all that Yahtzee does - point out that even though a game may be getting perfect 10s on the big websites it still has flaws that need to be mentioned. And Blistered Thumbs is literally just a site made up of amateur journalists who are fans first, reporters second. I can trust Angry Joe to tell it like it is. I know that Bennett the Sage is going to give an honest assessment no matter what the prevailing opinion is.
G4TV is trash, and anything related to Spike is about as credible as Gamespot.
Does anyone actually watch G4TV, except to catch an odd rerun of COPS? Did anyone here actually sit down and watch any of the VGAs? Am I the only one that cringes when some news network gets a 'games journalist' on their program to discuss violence and sexuality in games? Its like the very worst of our media is at the forefront, and all the honest and trustworthy reporters are stuck in the niche of the internet.
I don't know if it matters to anyone, or if I have a point, but its something that's been bothering me. Especially with the recent VGAs, which were (again) just a long commercial meant to line the pockets of these "journalists".
Sites like Gamespot, Gametrailers, or IGN have zero credibility in my mind. They're so busy fighting over who gets the exclusive announcements or one-on-one interviews that they tip-toe around issues that we're actually interested in. They don't ask hard questions, because that might mean they lose an exclusive with a developer.
Its starting to turn into an issue as bad as political journalism, where the people who are supposed to expose the problems in the system are actually a part of the system.
I'm getting to the point where the only games journalists I trust are split between two websites: Blistered Thumbs and The Escapist. The Escapist has made a name for itself by not being afraid to challenge the status quo and call developers out on their bullshit. Hell, that's basically all that Yahtzee does - point out that even though a game may be getting perfect 10s on the big websites it still has flaws that need to be mentioned. And Blistered Thumbs is literally just a site made up of amateur journalists who are fans first, reporters second. I can trust Angry Joe to tell it like it is. I know that Bennett the Sage is going to give an honest assessment no matter what the prevailing opinion is.
G4TV is trash, and anything related to Spike is about as credible as Gamespot.
Does anyone actually watch G4TV, except to catch an odd rerun of COPS? Did anyone here actually sit down and watch any of the VGAs? Am I the only one that cringes when some news network gets a 'games journalist' on their program to discuss violence and sexuality in games? Its like the very worst of our media is at the forefront, and all the honest and trustworthy reporters are stuck in the niche of the internet.
I don't know if it matters to anyone, or if I have a point, but its something that's been bothering me. Especially with the recent VGAs, which were (again) just a long commercial meant to line the pockets of these "journalists".
