Okay, so there've been a ton of stories on this lately. My question to you, Escapists, is who do you think is the Lester Bangs of video games? Or do you even care?
Where's Lester Bangs?
- Thread starter Russ Pitts
- Start date
What if maybe, just maybe, there's a little Lester Bangs of Videogames in all of us?
And if we all join hands, we'll become one great, ascending LBoVG..?
And if we all join hands, we'll become one great, ascending LBoVG..?
I'm pretty sure he doesn't meet many of the criteria, but Scott Sharkey [http://solidsharkey.1up.com/] certainly has a distinctive style. Probably worth mentioning.
The problem with saying there *could* be a Lester Bangs of VideoGames, is giving to much relevance to gaming as it stands.
Video Games aren't a medium of expression/art in the same way that T.V./Movie/Comics/Etc are... Yet.
For there to be a Lester Bangs of Video Games, we'd have to have something real to report on, a cultural to deeply involve oneself in. You can't have Gonzo reporting, without a deep, sprawling and intrinsically disturbing/beguiling underbelly to immerse and explore.
A game review can't carry the same tone, nor can a "Day in the life of a Dev."
The Second Life reporting is as close as it comes, because THAT is a lifestyle, it's something more than the parts. It's not just entertainment and excitement, it's not just escapism and digitalization... That is another Culture.
When games become so immersive, artistic and subversive that they become a subculture... There will be something to talk about.
When a video game addiction isn't just a 12 hour Raid on a WoW server, but an actual direct pleasure experience... There will be something to talk about.
Right now, there is no Lester Bangs of Video games for the same reason there is no Lester Bangs of Magic : The Gathering touraments, or Competative Cheer Leading. Sure, there are some people who devote their entire lives to these things, but that doesn't make it a subculture or apart of our society outside of the fringe and as a hobby.
Video Games aren't a medium of expression/art in the same way that T.V./Movie/Comics/Etc are... Yet.
For there to be a Lester Bangs of Video Games, we'd have to have something real to report on, a cultural to deeply involve oneself in. You can't have Gonzo reporting, without a deep, sprawling and intrinsically disturbing/beguiling underbelly to immerse and explore.
A game review can't carry the same tone, nor can a "Day in the life of a Dev."
The Second Life reporting is as close as it comes, because THAT is a lifestyle, it's something more than the parts. It's not just entertainment and excitement, it's not just escapism and digitalization... That is another Culture.
When games become so immersive, artistic and subversive that they become a subculture... There will be something to talk about.
When a video game addiction isn't just a 12 hour Raid on a WoW server, but an actual direct pleasure experience... There will be something to talk about.
Right now, there is no Lester Bangs of Video games for the same reason there is no Lester Bangs of Magic : The Gathering touraments, or Competative Cheer Leading. Sure, there are some people who devote their entire lives to these things, but that doesn't make it a subculture or apart of our society outside of the fringe and as a hobby.
I don't think people just having a general dislike of him qualifies him as a gonzo journalist 
Or I'd be the next Hunter S. Thompson! (Without the Gun fetish, give me swords and knives all the way!)
He's pretty decent, he has an immersive style of writing that involves him. But, there is still no subculture there, he has to reference other subcultures to get perspective for the gaming culture.
Or I'd be the next Hunter S. Thompson! (Without the Gun fetish, give me swords and knives all the way!)He's pretty decent, he has an immersive style of writing that involves him. But, there is still no subculture there, he has to reference other subcultures to get perspective for the gaming culture.
wow why has this old thread popped up suddenly? Lester Bangs was a music journalist for rolling stone widely regarded to be one of the best. I think (this is only a guess) that some of our forum ranks are taken from things he'd claimed to be his influences. "Bangs claimed his influences were not so much predecessors in journalism as they were beat authors, in particular William S. Burroughs. His ranting style, similar to Hunter S. Thompson's gonzo journalism, and his tendency to insult and confront his interviewees earned him distinction." see beat writer gone gonzo?
And lo, the mountains shook and the valleys echoed to the sound of Saskwach's indifference: "Meh."
But then I'm not a games journalist. I understand the significance of having a Bangs: gaming journalism will finally have shed its role as PR machine for publishers and devs. Still, I think that a Lester Bangs isn't needed for that change.
But then I'm not a games journalist. I understand the significance of having a Bangs: gaming journalism will finally have shed its role as PR machine for publishers and devs. Still, I think that a Lester Bangs isn't needed for that change.
