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Mass Media Coverage Of Gaming Discussed
Thanks to Adrenaline Vault for their editorial discussing the increased coverage of computer gaming in the mainstream press, and the "major distortions" that have subsequently evolved. Among the charges leveled are that "...the mass media generally assumes all good players are teenagers and oldsters are klutzes... In reality, those who play computer games - and are adept at them - are getting on in years." The writer also suggests that "...critics in the mass media... almost always equate visual excellence with photorealism", before ending on the hypothesis that: "If you can't spot any difference between pieces by dedicated game reviewers and mass media entertainment writers, then those of us who fall in the first category are doing something very wrong."
Xbox Live! is a huge success!
Gamecube price cut follows in the path of the Dreamcast!
Let's ignore Sony for now. Their success backs up the good things the media says about them. (well, everything except the cheap low quality parts that Sony uses, grrrr *stares at pile of broken Sony gear*)
This makes me wonder if those who write movie reviews really know what they're talking about.
I know I couldn't really critique a movie. All acting looks pretty much the same to me, and if I go to a movie expecting non-stop action, then I wouldn't consider that a downside of the movie.
Do movie reviewers use common (and incorrect) ideas about movies: movies in the countryside in another time about love are good, and movies with say, a terminator from the future are bad? Maybe when it's about something so subjective that one shouldn't read a review at all...
listen to a music review on techno mix tape from a professional painting critic?
of course not.
why would you listen to a gaming review from some guy who just happens to be a resident at some newspaper? would you listen to the guys pron review either? of course not because the guy probably hasn't even played the game for more than few hours(time and intrest limits).
that being said, would you listen to a review that is almost completely based on rumours and screenshots and pre-hype like most first 'hands on' reviews are? i don't give them much weight anymore at all(in fact, i stopped giving them weight when the expansion for wing commander game out and got 99% on a local game mag, with not too much explanation why, i mean, if i did give them any merit why would i need any more reviews than that since it is obviously nearingly best thing there will be and everything is just about perfect in it).
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world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
"It seems as if the mass media assume all computer games incorporate extreme levels of gratuitous violence."
I wish they had delved a little deeper into the violence issue here. They don't just assume all games incorporate adult themes, they also intentionally portray the game in a distorted fashion to make it look like the game company is trying to warp children's values. My favorite is the "see? You can beat up a granny!" example. Every single time they'll show the granny get beat up and killed. Or the prostitute, that's another one that can come up. They can show her getting killed and her money stolen, but they never ever ever show the cops coming after you when you do it. If you guessed I'm talking about GTA, you'd be right.
All of the GTA games have their share of violence, but they also depict consequences for what you do. If you attract the cops' attention, they hunt you down, and it makes the game a lot harder to win. It's difficult to make a delivery when cops are throwing spike strips into the road. The result? When you become experienced in this game, you avoid hitting pedestrians like the plague.
I really despise the media for their knee-jerk reactions towards games like GTA. The worst part is that people follow their view and avoid the game over it, the whole time thinking they are informed on the topic.
Man I wish the media had a system of checks and balances.
"Derp de derp."
I call bullshit. Yes, the folks in my generation (mid 30's) are better at computer games than the same age group was 10 years ago, but as an older gamer myself I can attest to the fact that most of the teenagers are better at the current crop of games than I am. The reason why is very simple: They have more time to play. Once you have a spouse/family/career/mortgage the amount of time you can spend honing your skills at various games is drastically reduced. Show me some data to backup your claims.
\/\/oobie
To begin with, perhaps the most basic error common in mass media coverage is to call recreational offerings for the PC "video games." This term technically refers to console titles viewed on a television, not to entertainment played on a computer.
No it doesn't. It may be more commonly used of console games, but using it for computer games is correct.
Fortunately, Adrenaline Vault itself hasn't followed this rule. (See, for example, The History of Video Game Prices, which discusses both console and computer game prices.)
The error is important because many of the patterns that apply to computer titles don't relate to console offerings and vice versa, so lumping the two together can be misleading.
There are lots of ways to divide video games into categories with different patterns. Doesn't mean they're not fundamentally similar.
That article was some seriously glorious self-love right there. As it turns out, the mainstream press has been reviewing stuff as long as their has been stuff to review. So why would games be any different?
The author supposes that the mainstream press portrays games negatively because of a few eggs, that while not bad per se, are controversial at least. Well, thats not really true. The mainstream press tells the story of those games because they are controversial. This is called "a story", and this sells issues. If we don't want people covering games such as GTA and Postal, don't buy (hence ceasing production of) these games. Those games are part of the large picture and the media tends to report the extreme of all things, note here that games are not special in this way, so why would games be any different. Sounds to me like this issue is as matured as any in the mainstream. As for the Touched by an Angel point (which seems to be the only specific account provided), the writer of that show is allowed any view of the issue he wants. As soon as real people stop dying over Counter-Strike and Everquest, I'll rid myself of the notion that just maybe games can have an effect on people.
The writer of the article questions the ability of the press to be able to comprehend games due to limited exposure. Oh please, touch yourself some more. Yes, a non-games specific writer would not be expected to play games as much as a full-time games writer, but is this bad? In the MAINSTREAM press one would hope the writer most closely matches the audience, ie mainstream. The author then plays terminology nazi, which is always convincing and never sour-grapes sounding. Noone cares if one uses video games or computer games except term nazis and noone cares what they think anyway. If I am reading Maxim for my video game reviews, I would want the writer to think like someone who gets their game reviews from Maxim thinks. Think is a good thing.
As for the young vs old gamer thing. Yes, kids play games more (always will) and they have more time to practice the current game and are better at it because of this. A stupid, grasping point to make in the first place.
I really like this one:
In other words, we need to reflect a higher standard than the mainstream press.
HA! No article published on the internet will ever be of the same quality as real press. If it was, the writer would be employed by the legitimate press and not some fan(boy)-site.
As for the point of necessary skill as a gamer? Nonsense. Despite some opinion to the contrary, if a game isn't fun within the first hour, on the first level, when will it be fun? Someone reading the mainstream press will want that first level to be fun and will want to know if it is or isnt.
This is just another self-important article by the needy gaming press. It is needy and attention hungry by nature and this article is just one exhibition of that fact.
Nick Catucci's Joysticks columns are frequently typical of the artsy writing of the Village Voice, but at the same time he appreciates the aesthetics and mechanics of gaming better than any joe at a regular newspaper... in other words, he's a gamer. If only more reporters followed his lead... or if only more gamers became mainstream reporters...
General entertainment writers working for television, radio and newspapers now have to cover the interactive entertainment sector, even if they have no familiarity with it at all.
... Touched by an Angel.
... As a consequence, only major interactive entertainment companies such as Electronic Arts and Microsoft receive extensive mainstream coverage. ... In general, the popular press appears to be much more interested in the business aspects of the gaming industry than its creative dimension.
Writes who remain ignorant of any field they report on are not doing their job. If you do not gain some familiarity with your subject, you are being professionally negligent.
The argument is that just as any discerning person can make intelligent comments about books, television shows, movies and music, so an intelligent novice can evaluate computer software.
This argument is demonstrably incorrect. The leading critics of any area are (at the very least) knowledgeable in that field. I will give little weight to a car review by Ebert or Roeper. I simply don't care about Click and Clack's last wine selection. Why this is worth discussion to Mr. Mandel escapes me. This should be obvious.
To begin with, perhaps the most basic error common in mass media coverage is to call recreational offerings for the PC video games.
I think I understand now. It seems that Mr. Mandel is being a bit self referential. He has no (or at least very little) understanding of what he is writing about.
Indeed, general entertainment columnists demonstrate little familiarity with the critical genre distinctions common in the computer gaming industry.
This is obvious and unsurprising. General entertainment columnist should not be expected to know the ins and outs of every entertainment medium. Of course, if they don't understand it, they simply should not write about it.
There's a particular tendency to assume that electronic entertainment turns teenagers into mindless zombies, and that once captured by its allure, these vulnerable victims are trapped for life.
Jeesh. I refuse to believe that anyone who make his or her living writing about the entertainment industry is actually this hopelessly moronic. Maybe I'm being too optimistic. Maybe Mr. Mandel can change my mind.
A classic example of these underlying assumptions occurred in an episode of
I would argue that this type of misrepresentation has less to do with fundamental misunderstandings and more to do with peddling an agenda.
It's not surprising that mass media largely covers only highly publicized AAA computer titles and miss the rest.
This is true of reviewers of any industry. It is relatively easy to a shallow industry reviewer. It is hard to be a top notch, respected critic. Do not go to a general media outlet expecting an insightful critique. This is how it is for most entertainment fields. Why should it be any different for the gaming industry? I don't believe that it should be.
In my mind, higher expertise is more necessary for virtual recreation because it's the only subject that's fully interactive; other entertainment media involve a more passive experience where the abilities of the reviewers involved don't determine how far they progress.
This is simply sad. There is nothing special about gaming in terms of media reporting. A well trained expert in literature is going to give a more enlightening book report than one by your local sixth graders.
In the end, if you can't spot any difference between pieces by dedicated game reviewers and mass media entertainment writers, then those of us who fall in the first category are doing something very wrong.
Perhaps things are really as bad as Mr. Mandel indicates. If he is what passes for an expert game review writer, I do fear for the industry.
John
I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it. jya.com/ap.htm
They make an excellent comparision not only to mass-media coverage of games, but also to most writing from within the industry. Pretty much all of the reviews are long, over a page, but they also get to go much deeper on the reviewer's thoughts about the game, which really gets back to the core of what "reviewing" and "criticism" in the artistic sense is all about - personal opinions and insightful commentary.
Many reviews treat art(in a variety of forms - music and movies get similar treatment to games at times) as a commodity, which means listing positive and negative aspects by a pre-made rubric and then coming up with a grade based on that. That works fine if you're trying to determine which toaster is the best, but some people want, for example, fast action games and other people want slower puzzle or strategy games, regardless of demographic, and so a "fits-all" rubric is clearly flawed from the start.
Last Friday I spent some time in the university library and found an audio cassette from 1982 about videogames. So I checked it out and listened to it. It turns out to be some sort of radio report about videogames. It was funny to hear even back then the reporters talking about games with storylines and then mentioning games like Donkey Kong and Ms. Pac-Man as examples.
The reporter was trying desperately to hype of some addiction or violence angle. It was interesting that every adult he talked to was a professional. A lawyer or an accountant.
At one point however, the reporter was talking to a kid and trying to get the kid to say something about violence. The reporter asked the kid about confusing reality and violence three times before the kid finally said that maybe some kids might get confused.
So mainstream media's distorted reporting of videogames has been going on for at least 20 years.
http://www.popularculturegaming.com -- my blog about the culture of videogame players