Game Journalism- Time to Reconsider Practices?

8/6/2019 Game Journalism- Time to Reconsider Practices?

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Katerina Gnafaki

3703347

Game Studies

New Media & Digital Culture



INTRODUCTION Although game journalism has a long history of almost thirty years (Nieborg andSihvonen 2009) it has lately been the bone of contention on whether people who

report on games are game journalists at all as well as on the ethics that surround

game journalism (e.g. Hall 2003, Nieborg and Sihvonen 2009). Game journalism has

been a murky term pertaining to its content and credibility. With the advent of the

internet each game company immediately established an online presence with its

own dedicated website as well as websites focused on each of the games published.

In addition, game publications and websites mostly employ low-paid hobbyists who

become easy targets of lavish marketing and PR events that encourage the exchange

and use of industry-provided game capital (Hall 2003; Nieborg and Sihvonen 2003).

On the other side, game fans have devoted a vast number of blogs and websites on

their favorite games by mostly rehash information pertaining to games and game-

related news. As the media scholar Henry Jenkins remarks, game companies have

seen the value of constructing fan communities around their products which in turn

helps them establish long-term relationships with their consumers and fans (Jenkins

2004).

The result is that more and more are getting involved into game journalism in an

effort to make their own offshoot games-blog that could potentially bring them

traffic and consequent profit. In the end, the participatory culture facilitated by the

web and the notion of mass creativity benefit the circulation of unprofessional and

at times biased content that primarily serves the game industry (Van Dijck and

Nieborg 2009).With regards to these occurrences, video game journalism has been debated among

gamers, academics as well as game journalists themselves (e.g. Bitmob, Escapist

Magazine Gamethingie). Due to the exploratory nature of this paper I will mostly

focus on what game journalists think about game journalism as well as on the

potential ways to improve their practices in the future.

Game journalists on game journalism The game journalist, game designer and editor of games.slashdot.org Michael Zenke

interviewed for the Escapist Magazine (escapistmagazine.com) a number of game

journalists (2006).Purpose of this interview was to question their standpoint on

what game journalism is and around current discussions on the blemish of the game

industry and game journalism. Interestingly, their answers reflect current

discussions in the field of game journalism that succeed to expose the unethical

practices of game journalists who besmirch the traditional “elements of journalism”.

These elements according to journalists Kovack and Rosenstiel (2001) include

“aspects like writing verifiably, independently, and truthfully about the powers that

be, while adhering to swift and ethically sustainable methods of analysis (quoted in

Nieborg and Sihvonen 2009, 6). The journalist David Thomas expressed his



disappointment regarding the current form of game journalism: “Journalism, in

general, has turned into this fresh-faced hucksterism where ‘journalists’ pretend to

be interested in getting the story when they really care more about winning some

prize or looking good on their interview on Nightline... The trouble with gamejournalism is that most often we are neither comforters nor afflicters. We just create

a marketing echo chamber that amplifies whatever the industry happens to want us

to say” (Thomas 2006).

Press trips, nice hotels, exquisite gifts, money, drinks and paraphernalia are just

some of the special packages, also coined as junkets, delivered to game journalists

by the industry. It comes though as no surprise to learn about such practices. The

entertainment journalism, in particular the movie, music and games journalism

suffers from its dependence on the industry, namely on the “hands” that feed them.

For instance, Pulitzer-prize winning film critic Roger Ebert affirmed that when he

first started working at the Chicago Sun-Times, journalists would indulge on anyspecial goodies that were offered to them (Hall 2003). David Thomas comments on

the Escapist Magazine about the pressure of conflicts of interests regarding the

swags that are bribed to them and the difficult position they are getting themselves

into: “I try so hard on this subject that I can measure my success each year by the

number of PR people who won’t return my calls. (...) We are all tainted. We have all

sold out. We all will (or did) write about the PS3 launch as if it were news. (...) It

seems to me that conflict of interest is built into the job. And as long as we have to

play nice to get review hardware or games, we'll be as big a sellout as those movie

reviewers who always seem to have thumbs-up quotes on the ads for movies we

would not [pay] money to go see” (Thomas 2006).

The discrepancy highlighted by the conflict of interests that is exposed by David

Thomas has drawn much journalistic attention as a result game critics not to accept

to refer to themselves as journalists but as game writers. For example the journalist

signed as “TonicBH” on his editorial for Destructoid (destructoid.com ) brought

forward another questionable issue regarding game journalism; the spread of

amateur blogging like Dtoid , Joystiq or Kotaku which according to the editor they can

“post rumors without evidence, they will have this air of smugness in their written

entries, they will post the obvious after the entire internet has known about it for

years, and the most problematic of the bunch: It's for hits, not for credibility”

(TonicBH 2009). Interestingly, the same view is adopted by game journalist Joseph

Jackmovich who characterizes this type of journalists as “a kind of enthusiasticpress” (Jackmovich 2010). Jackmovich argues that current gaming sites rely not on

strict and critical gaming news but also on an array of gaming-related stories to

circulate traffic. In an effort to flesh out their coverage these stories can be written

recklessly, sometimes not based on facts but on rumors and are often judged by

their incorrect use of language, inconsistencies in style, and their inability to

contextualize single games in larger settings (Nieborg and Sihvonen 2009).

Perhaps one relevant example of an unsuccessful report on news on the field of

game journalism comes from Joystiq (joystiq.com) one of the most popular blogs

within Weblogs, Inc. In particular, on September 7th 2006, the game journalist



Robert Summa spread a rumor regarding news about one of the next-generation

consoles. He reported on his editorial: “…we can't talk about any specifics yet, but

you have our word that this announcement is something worth waiting for.

Expect all the info tonight here at Joystiq at 12:01 a.m. Eastern” (Summa 2006).Apparently, this post generated a lot of fuzz and immense amount of interest and

speculation but for no reason. This post turned out to be just an escalation of

Nintendo’s PR teaser regarding IBM shipping processors for Nintendo's Wii console.

Not surprisingly, it added even greater confusion and bewilderment to its beloved

fans. The editor of Joystiq, Christopher Grant posted an apology for the circulation of

such a vague editorial the day after. Robert Summa found himself fired at all once.1

Game journalist Greg Kasavin reflected on the issue of hype and sensationalism for

the Escapist Magazine: “I think as audiences grow older and in some cases more

mature, they begin to see hype more transparently for what it is. (…)I think people

interested in games will always prefer a trustworthy, dependable source of information to one that builds a track record of letting them down” (Kasavin 2006).

Time to reconsider practices?

In his interview for Gamethingie, game journalist and scholar David Nieborg advised

game journalists to reconsider their practices. He stated: “Making an effort for

independent games journalism should mean that a (more) critical culture comes

from gamers. Critical means nothing more or less than wondering why certain

choices have been made by certain parties, and what the consequences of those

choices have been. So that doesn’t necessarily mean that it should be from a

negative perspective. In the long term it would be a good thing to look at thepossibilities of the medium and not just at the next title in the franchise or new

hardware” (Nieborg quoted in Gamethingie 2010).

As David Nieborg tellingly observes criticism should be practiced by game

journalists in an attempt to bring game journalism closer to the traditional practices.

Jenkins in Games, the New Lively Art acclaims the use of criticism in game

journalism: “Criticism encourages experimentation and innovation; commercial

pressures insure accessibility. The lively arts grow through a careful balancing

between the two. (…) Imagine what a more robust form of criticism could

contribute. We need critics who know and care about games the way Pauline Kael

knew movies. We need critics who write about them with that same degree of wit,wisdom, and passion” (Jenkins 2005).

On the same wavelength, Jackmovich urges game journalists to critically reflect on

game reports that should entail investigation, cross-check of their posts, clear

representation of facts and dedication to the readers: “Let’s turn our strength of

colloquial reporting and passion for the industry into a passion for powerful

1 The editorial and the apology post of Joystiq on the hype can be found here: http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/08/an-

apology-and-a-note-on-hype/



reporting. Let’s discover trends, investigate poor game development, and do a real

service for our readers” (Jackmovich 2010).

All things considered, game journalism is laden with ethical problems pertaining to

its dependence on the game industry as well as the emergence of innumerableamateur blogs and websites that struggle to increase website traffic, arguably

leading to an attitude of “quantity over quality”. Yet, there are still many journalists

who encourage proper journalist practices and the re-establishment of traditional

journalistic elements on game journalism. Critical attitude, independence and

transparency are key elements that game journalist should adopt in order to revive

their languishing field and evolve by overcoming the challenges mentioned.



References Hall, Justin. 2003. Ethics in Video Game Journalism. USC Annenberg Online

Journalism Review (April)

Jackmovich Joseph 2010. How Broken is Game Journalism? An Analysis of Three

Gaming Sites. Retrieved June 8, 2011 from gamrFeed:

<http://gamrfeed.vgchartz.com/story/82886/how-broken-is-game-journalism-an-

analysis-of-three-gaming-sites/>

Jenkins, Henry.2004. The Cultural Logic of Media Convergence. International Journal

of Cultural Studies 7(1), 33-43.

Jenkins, Henry.2005. Games, the New Lively Art , in Jeffrey Goldstein (ed.) Handbook

for Video Game Studies (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2005).

Kasavin Greg.2006. Game Journalists on Game Journalism. Retrieved June 8, 2011,

from Escapist Magazine:

<http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/issues/issue_71/409-Game-

Journalists-on-Game-Journalism>

Kovach, Bill and Rosenstiel Tom. 2001. The Elements of Journalism - What

Newspeople Should Know and the Public Should Expect . New York: Three Rivers

Press

Nieborg, David B.2010 Idealism in the Industry: Games Journalism. Retrieved June 8,

2011 from Gamethingie: <http://www.gamethingie.com/?p=126>

Nieborg, David B. and Sihvonen Tanja. 2009. The new gatekeepers: The occupational

ideology of game journalism. Breaking New Ground: Innovation in Games, Play,

Practice and Theory. DiGRA

Summa Robert.2006. Major next-gen console news coming tonight [update 1].

Retrieved June 8, 2011 from Joystiq: < http://www.joystiq.com/2006/09/07/major-next-gen-console-news-coming-tonight/>

Thomas David. 2006. Game Journalists on Game Journalism. Retrieved June 8, 2011,




TonicBH.2009. Writers Who Play Games" Vs "Gamers Who Happen to Write.

Retrieved June 8, 2011, from Destructoid:



<http://www.destructoid.com/blogs/TonicBH/-writers-who-play-games-vs-

gamers-who-happen-to-write--139667.phtml>.

Van Dijck, Jose’ and Nieborg David B.2009. Wikinomics and Its Discontents: ACritical Analysis of Web 2.0 Business Manifestos. New Media and Society 11.5: 855-

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Zenke Michael. 2006. Game Journalists on Game Journalism. Retrieved June 8, 2011,




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