Video Game Journalism: a branch of journalism concerning video games, mainly dealing with reviews, editorials, and previews of various games inside the industry. This article will discuss—mostly—how the subgenre of video game journalism has become very myopic and conditioned to believe that only gamers care about gaming news, trends, and happenings. The idea of going into a career in this field and category is a joke to many people, just like the pursuit of certain college degrees is to many people. With all of that said, if a person works hard enough and displays a willingness to learn, anything is possible in this day and age. With the growth of companies and an overall smarter population, it doesn’t really come down to who has a college degree anymore, but who has the better work ethic and skills.
Now, for anyone who does not know what ‘myopic’ means: when something is myopic, it means that the object in question is shortsighted. Video game journalism struggles to find a place among traditional news outlets, with many editors still under the stereotypical belief that dictates “Video games are just for kids, and they are nothing more than fun little time-wasters.” While there are many games such as this in the gaming industry, the scope and breadth has changed drastically over the past few years in terms of they have to offer. I write for Gameranx.com, where we specialize in news, reviews, features, and podcasting; my editor, Annie Wright, handles an organization by the name of Gamesave. Gamesave is a non-profit disaster relief effort that brings game developers together in the united belief that their imaginations and backgrounds can help save lives. However, it did not receive much media attention, save a few articles here and there from journalists desperate to meet their quota.
In a world where both video games and video game journalism have not received their due respect, it seems counterproductive that the journalism stay on its current path. It could—in some ways—be relevant to the corruption of today’s Wall Street, in that there are an elite few companies dominating the industry; examples include: IGN, G4TV, and Gametrailers. All three of these companies capitalized on video games early, and are now giving those employed a shot at opportunity that most don’t have. The problem though, is that all of these companies are fine to sit and wait. They are by all accounts the best and worst things about games journalism; they are bringing video games to the mainstream audience, but are not really innovating to make things better for both player and journalist. What seems to matter most for websites nowadays is traffic (The amount of people who visit any given website.) Simply put: the more traffic your website gets, the more money you make.
Advertising seems to be the Achilles Heel of the journalism field, as it promotes mindless articles and sensationalist headlines. This being the case, one also has to take into account the fact that without advertising, the entire field would cease to exist. It is really the only source of income for any given media outlet, and that one source of income has to pay for an entire staff of writers. Magazines are going under at a rapid pace in the gaming space, and the recent death of GamePro magazine is testament to this. The internet is—for most companies finding profit—a veritable treasure trove of opportunity. Most media analysts believe that the web is the next big thing. It is the big thing.
News that can be published at the blink of an eye, video content that can be viewed on a whim, and forums where fans can discuss the latest exploits of the industry; All of the conventions stated here are additions to the journalism industry that have shaped where we are and where we intend to go. Think about it: if a news piece gets published on the internet 20 minutes after a huge event, then how are monthly magazines going to compete a few years down the road? Being able to write editorial content on a regular basis is every gaming journalist’s dream, but it’s not a practical idea for a reason: you can’t fight against the grain in so many ways it hastens the downfall of your company. For magazines, the sad reality is that their content is going to become more and more fluff-like, and perhaps in some ways lose their ‘underground’ appeal that made them so popular in the first place.
Now, how does all this pertain to the myopia of this field? Gaming magazines were, are, and will be the lifeblood of our industry. GameInformer is perhaps the strongest example of this. Though they are a branch of the mega-retailer Gamestop, they have continually breached markets that other magazines have not come close to. A subscription only costs fifteen dollars, and with that comes other benefits, namely by means of the ‘PowerUp Rewards’ system that Gamestop implemented just a few short years ago. Gaming magazines are material, and are seen by a wider passive audience. If someone enters a magazine store, there usually will observe that some gaming magazines available for purchase—they may even flip a page or two; however, if someone goes to Google News, games probably aren’t very high on the list. It seems that in this way, the industry acts as if it wants to fight against itself, and halt progression.
Another one of our main problems’ lies in that we write to a very narrow audience. Those that would care to read what we have to say are turned off of an article after the first few sentences, simply because we write as if the only people who are reading our work are fellow gamers. This does us no good in achieving a higher place on the status quo of journalism in the world. While there are some extremely critical, smart, and observant minds in the field, they are shoved to the wayside in favor of sensationalist headlines and writers who simply don’t care. With that said, it would be smart to point out that it isn’t good for writers of the industry, either. We all struggle to acquire feedback and opinion of our work as is – would it not be in our better judgment to invite the rest of the public into our domain?
It seems that that a lot of gamers are still holding on to what some refer to as ‘The Golden Age of Gaming’, where we saw such titles as Mario and others breaking traditional molds that the gaming world had set for itself. This isn’t to say we should let go of said games, but as a group of people we need to break these molds for a second time! Nintendo is a company that displays some of this myopia in and of itself, all the while touting its kid-friendly nature. Games geared towards kids are great, but they’ve left their ‘hardcore’ gamers at a loss. This simply shows that these problems spread not only to media outlets, but the companies that these outlets are covering!
It astounds then, to realize that the industry is already building new walls for itself. While we are all one step behind, Call of Duty has risen up the past few years as a dominant force in the mainstream gaming market. Many play Call of Duty, and just Call of Duty. Furthermore, a good portion of these people will admit to never touching the single player portion of the game. This means that what we perceive to be mainstream media penetration is really just blasphemy in the long run. Very soon we will begin to see fatigue in the user-base these games are comprised of, and where will they go after that? Well, unless another monumental series such as Call of Duty comes along, back to whatever their hobbies were prior to picking up gaming.
Keep in mind that all of this isn’t just due to the industry’s lack of vigor towards innovation. The economy—most of all, the United States’—has forced companies into doing what they know will appeal to the consumer. This applies to all facets of the gaming world, be it journalism, developing, publishing, etc. We are all in this together, and to think otherwise is preposterous. The industry needs more franchises such as Infamous, Bioshock, and LittleBigPlanet. These titles have all proven profitable for their respective companies, and they have also given media writers an opportunity to write about something more than “How realistic something is” or other overused hooks.
So, how do we fix this problem? Many remember the marketing blitz that surrounded the ultra-popular ‘Halo 3’. It didn’t matter if one was a gamer or not, that person knew the fabled green armor and golden visor. Let’s bring this ‘epic’ feeling to the world of journalism, and create for ourselves a world of possibility. This can’t happen without a change in the hearts and minds of everyone involved, though. The economy is the same way, but that’s an entirely different discussion. A difference can be made here, but it won’t be easy. Please take into account what has been said here, and enjoy your holiday season.
