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Ain't It Cool Announces Game Site
Remik writes "Harry and the folks over at Ain't It Cool News are looking to do for video games what they've already done for cinema. The announcement is not exactly well received by Gabe and Tycho at Penny Arcade. Great, another place to go complain about Duke Nukem not being out yet." AIC has been a neat site for movies, it'll be interesting to see how well their expertise extends to games.
A site to "do for games" what AICN did for movies? so its going to be a terribly designed site with horrid fonts and colors, filled with wild speculation and fanboy style worshipping ? Thats exactly what the entire gaming community needs, more crap. I can't wait.
That's exactly what's been lacking in the industry, a video game site with 84 pt fonts.
Some competition for Fat Babies then...
Belief is the currency of delusion.
Or am I the only one who remembers the infamous "Meesa love [Jar Jar]" review?
Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
I use Macs for work, Linux for education, and Windows for cardplaying.
I wonder how his 102 point fonts will look in KDE, which is running on my hacked X-Box?
The movie industry is different from the video game industry. For one, video games bring in much more money. For another, a video game site needs different things than a movie site. Will there be codes? How about a forum for people to meet up who want to play? How 'bout a game-rating forum? This has the potential to be good, as long as it's not just a cut rate forum.
Ok so if I make a site devoted to movie reviews it then gets noticed, then I get invited to many advanced movie screenings and get to meet the stars...
Then I think I can do the same with a site devoted to video games so I can get all my games free without needing to download them from warez sites...
Somewhere along the lines I think they have lost thier original mission and are now out for themselves and not the fans. Besides do we really need ANOTHER website devoted to video games?
[n8.r0n] http://petesweb.spymac.net/
I agree with the Penny Arcade comic. AICN comments attract the absolute lowest forms of Internet life in existance. We're talking lower in the chain than 14-year-old AOL girls here.
That, and the fact that it's perhaps the ugliest "popular" site on the Internet. From the lovely "baby poop brown" color scheme, to the 800 pt. Ariel font used whenever Harry speaks. It just screams "hype".
AICN is the movie industry equivilent of the game-review/preview genre: Sellouts with no journalistic intergrity, who are just looking to keep the free "exclusives" flowing by pumping out as many hyped-up positive reviews as possible. And now, what do you know! AICN is actually moving into the game-review/preview genre!
I guess I have to share Gabe & Tycho's reaction: no, it ain't cool.
Behold the Power of Cheese!
Geez, this is what passes for INFORMATION on Slashdot anymore?
What about Slammer?
What about Gates announcement today promising to do something about security... now... really...
What about Kasparov beating Big Blue 2?
What about Gates giving a paltry 200 million to "cure" diseases for the poor? (Don't look at that Slammer worm... lookee here)
I mean, c'mon... what's the purpose of forwarding an announcement that AICN is going to review games!? Trolling for advertising revenue again? Hoping to get the movie studios to advertise here? Why not start a movie review section on Slashdot?!?
Maybe now all the crappy games might get fans!
"GUESS WHAT? DAIKATANA 2 IS IN THE MAKING. I CHECKED IT OUT AND IT'S BAD-ASS!"
*shudder*
AICN nerds make Slashdot nerds look like Puff Daddy.
Tycho compared this to the bottom of the internet barrel. It's a kind of slimy Drudge style of reporting that won't be able to provide 2 separate reliable sources for most of its reports, and yet I don't really mind. I can separate in my mind a rumor from news. We often criticize sites like this for lacking journalistic integrity, but they often make no bones about the fact that they're simply doing the best they can.
Moreover, I don't want to spoil movies before I see them. But when it comes to inside info on games, I do want to know some things ahead of time. With the way game development schedules are often stretched to infinity, with no word to the anxious public, it'll be nice to have developers tattling on their tight lipped bosses. I mean, when can I expect the sequel to my favorite game (H&D)? I may want to pick the right moment close to its release to purchase a new $1500 machine. That's not something I'll do for the movies, and I feel cheated everytime a company won't admit they're having problems.
Tribes 2 came out way before it was ready (stable, fast, fun). I guess the market taught them a lesson in the end, but had the discord among the developers been more public, management wouldn't have tried to ship a broken game.
...do for video games what they've already done for cinema
Does this mean I can expect reviews that are 90% about the reviewer's long melodramatic anticipation of a game, how he feels about his chair and how the controller he is using brings back memories of his childhood?
That AIC forum blows is that they haven't implemented a /. like moderation system.
All the First Post L337 d00dz messages don't sink like a stone like they do here.
It's Christmas everyday with BitTorrent.
Oh great... Now bad journalism... ellipses... and OTHER wierd Capitalizations, and speeeling mistakes will be further intagrated into the Internet Culture.
Oh, and not to mention selling out to promote a product.
Someone should do a parody site of AICN and call it Isn't it Cool. And run the same news Harry runs, but with corrected grammar, spelling, and a good design.
I'm sure it would be a hit.
Fantasy remains a human right; we make in our measure and in our derivative mode... -- JRR Tolkien
Hired? I hope to god that their webdesigner isn't paid..
At least on AICN, you can tell how important a posting is by how many exclamation points follow it!! We should totally do the same thing on Slashdot!!!
You be the judge.
p g
http://cowboyneal.org/Pater.jpg
http://www.jimcalagon.supanet.com/harryknowles1.j
I thought Gamespy.com had already cornered the market in crappy masturbatory game reviews. Hell, they're even going in the opposite direction by getting into crappy ill-informed boring articles on movies! AICN will have to sink to new lows if it plans to top a group who admit to not seeing movies they review.
Fight!
What is music when you despise all sound?
Hey there Tru Believers! Just got this missive from Underground_Troool about the latest going ons at EA. Seems they can't keep their grubby little hands off the sports games. Personally, I think it will suck, but read for yourself!
- Harry
Hey there Harry-poo! I just got back from my latest underground venture into the Mordor that is EA Games. Cleverly dressing as a pizza delivery guy, I made my way into the bowels of their Manhattan offices. Man, you should SEE the computers they got in this place! I was only able to get a glimps, but some of the code on this one guys screen made it look like Madden 2004 will be AWSOME! And lots of the programmers were wearing red shirts - real fans of EA will know what THAT means! Well, off to dress up as a phone repair man for next week. Over and out!
Heh. Once, I slammed Sega's horrific Phantasy Star Online hard, and it still apparently wasn't enough - judging by the drooling fanboys and girls who sent me angry e-mail bordering on death threats. (Bring it. My real life(tm) armory is more effective than your l4v1z c4nn0n, d00dz!!!!)
Aside from adventures in idiocy, I discovered something. Among the many e-mails with poor spelling and what I can only assume to be truly extraterrestrial dialects, there were a few people who applauded my review. (They then spent months e-mailing me about stuff. Including one guy whom I had a few good discussions with about classic gaming.)
People want real reviews. They're tired of the turds that float on the current gaming sites. Present day reviews tend to either insist a game will give you real live orgasms, or they complain that a game 'sucks' because 'it isn't like (insert favorite game here)'.
Reviewers, get your acts together. Tell us *why* you think it sucks. Give facts to back up your arguments. Sure, give us the good along with the bad, but for the love of Bob, don't be afraid to say, "This game is possibly the worst piece of software ever written. Small children would flee in horror from it, while their mothers would weep pitifully." Again, just tell us *why* you think that.
(No one likes, 'omg this game iz teh sux cuz i r stupid idiot hoo didnt read da manyel 'n i culdnt figgur out how 2 launch teh sooper mega explozion atak!!!')
The forums will degenerate into childish tomfoolery.
SamusGrrl: Metroid Melee Fox rawkz!
Halo3l33t: OMG, If you're 12.
SamusGrrl: MS Gearbox is big. LOL.
The fact is that IGN is the best source of videogame news out there. Not only do they have an exceedingly well-designed (functional) site, but the editors are generally informed and objective.
It's worth the annual fee that IGN charges its "Insiders", in my opinion. Nowhere else on the web can you find such competent & comprehensive coverage of the video game world.
99% of the gaming sites out there are run by teenage fanboys who balk at competing systems & blindly praise the one they've chosen. While I welcome another gaming site, I'd be surprised if this brings anything new to the table.
If you could be anything you want, I'll bet you'd be disappointed.
My eyes! My eyes! The goggles do nothing!
Dear goddess, please don't do the same thing for games, please?
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