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[Felessan]

When a gamer can aggregate tons of information from sites like gaf, resetera, reddit, who needs dedicated news sites for opinion pieces?

Every sane person who value his time?
Basically long-read journalism is about distillation of information and proper analysis - this is what people who value time wants to see and pay for.
Not babbling about some opinion no one asked for

 

[Dacvak]

I feel like it’s weird that people are celebrating this.

 

[The Pleasure]

Bunch of video game writers wondering if Jason Schreiererer considers them in his elite group of "two dozen".

Meanwhile, Jez Corden....

Reported for extreme Britishry

 

[Danteyke223]

This feels really American centric and this is why i ignore them. They only think the USA exists

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Any good ones left in America?

 

[FubukiJ]

They killed all of their credibility overrating AAA games for the past two decades and bringing politics and virtue signalling into the mix. The way they treated Hogwarts legacy, stellar blade and wukong was ridiculous.

 

[Interfectum]

Henrique Olifiers on LinkedIn: Games industry media nowadays: Dev: Hey, here's our new game, would you… | 90 comments

Games industry media nowadays: Dev: Hey, here's our new game, would you want to talk about it? Journo: Nah, sorry, we're too busy covering CoD, Monster… | 90 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

 

[laynelane]

His absolute refusal to look at why gaming media has collapsed is endemic in the field - it's insert big corporation here that's the problem (he uses Google and Facebook, for example), it's gamers that are the problem, etc. So many excuses when a simple acknowledgement of the issues and a sincere effort to correct them would have averted so many lost jobs and site closures.

 

[Spukc]

Well devs don’t get paid by their wives boyfriend like schreier

 

[Panajev2001a]

His absolute refusal to look at why gaming media has collapsed is endemic in the field - it's insert big corporation here that's the problem (he uses Google and Facebook, for example), it's gamers that are the problem, etc. So many excuses when a simple acknowledgement of the issues and a sincere effort to correct them would have averted so many lost jobs and site closures.

Best kind of media would be media that does not need to beg for developer access or codes and where game development is not their next step in their career. Very few gamers would pay or read this content.

Gamers / audiences demand pre-release reviews, in dept dev interviews, etc… and gaming journalism is weak and cannot demand that so they are in total control of most publishers.

Not saying a lot of media is not crap and audience hating, but it is more complex than that.

 

[Hudo]

can someone ask this motherfucker what's up with the Final Fantasy Tactics remake/remaster? He said that this is coming for years.

 

[Black_Stride]

I feel like it’s weird that people are celebrating this.

Right?

If all these outlets go.
Its going to be so much harder to get news about games, Indies and smaller titles will be even more obscure than they are now and people will complain that every game is homogenous because only the safe massive AAA games will be able to afford to actually promote themselves and host their own events the way COD does.

 

[awwr999999]

It's going to be so good when the entirety of the games media are completely unaccountable YouTubers who'll do anything for a free code or access to a press event with a free bar. Or even better, AI generated YouTubers who just say whatever the publisher wants without needing a code or free bar.

It'll be even better when nobody reads or watches game reviews, period.
When PS makes the inevitable move digital-only and adopts Steam's 2hr no hassle return policy there will be nothing preventing anyone from just blindly buying any game and giving it a try.
In reality buying video games off of Steam is a uniquely high risk situation that effectively forces everyone to be paranoid about purchases and research them thoroughly prior to buying.
With all of the risk removed the vast majority of users would much rather just try games blindly until they find one that they enjoy.

 

[laynelane]

Best kind of media would be media that does not need to beg for developer access or codes and where game development is not their next step in their career. Very few gamers would pay or read this content.

Gamers / audiences demand pre-release reviews, in dept dev interviews, etc… and gaming journalism is weak and cannot demand that so they are in total control of most publishers.

Not saying a lot of media is not crap and audience hating, but it is more complex than that.

It takes a lot to estrange an audience like gaming media has done. For me, it started way back when a bunch of different sites all published articles attacking gamers at the same time (the infamous "gamers are dead" articles way back in 2014). Other issues were things like reviews and review scores being compromised due to game company investments in media sites, emphasis on ideology over video game news, and several other issues.

At a core level, gaming media has proven itself to be untrustworthy and often times openly hostile to its audience. The obvious outcome for such behavior is a loss of interest by that audience. The fact that it took as long as it has to get to this point tells me that gamers are markedly tolerant, ie. not demanding at all. Maybe gaming media took that tolerance as complacency, who knows, but this outcome is most definitely deserved.

 

[peek]

I am very, very saddened to hear this. Thought it'd be fewer.

 

[Wildebeest]

I grew up with British game magazines, so I'm not necessarily nostalgic for the American version. Always seemed a bit up themselves if you ask me.

 

[cormack12]

The demise of gaming news is down to the reluctance of pubs and/or devs to speak to anyone or give any sort of hint as to how dev is going. We still barely know anything about Heretic or Barlogs new game. We have slight teases of Fable etc. The excitement, buildup and general crescendo of a release is gone. This overlaps with the amount of games in dev that need reboots or a rewrite etc so it only covers poor management/direction.

There just isn't enough 'news' to make gaming journalism a full 24/7 cycle and create a press industry any more.

Which means it's replaced with cyclical culture wars, or a small number of in-depth youtubers who intimately know each franchise. Most of the whirlwind leaks are just twitter predictions that don't come true or reposts from gamingleaks and 4ch.

Influencers are a double edged sword too - see the cyberpunk chairs fiasco. But mainstream game writers are frustrated creative who can't produce anything longer than 500 words, cannot refrain from injecting their politics - because they are all looking for a jump into proper journalism - and largely detest their own audience/market.

 

[Boss Man]

Underpaid is a fake concept.

If you’re underpaid work somewhere else.

 

[__SteakDeck__]

The gaming media is a joke. Just full on fanboys. Like this clown Ryan McCaffrey.

 

[Clear]

I feel like it’s weird that people are celebrating this.

Well, here's the thing. I certainly have no love for what gaming media turned into with its tiresome politicking, but honestly what's replaced it is really isn't any better.
Commentators on Youtube are just as political, are often captured by their audiences, and frankly as just as uninformed. The only upside is generally you no longer have to pay to have your intelligence insulted by their half-baked opinions.

Like it or not, an important function of the media is to spotlight good stuff that otherwise would fly under the radar. In essence they need to be able to tell the audience that they are wrong and that they really ought to give "x" a chance.

It seems to me that the traffic-based economy of YT is really not suited to this, because its all about giving the audience what they want and expect.

 

[awwr999999]

A 90s return to form for video games media.

Gaming needs a modern day Siskel and Ebert.
Two reviewers that get along in a Siskel/Ebert dynamic and are both willing to play through entire games before giving reviews.
Two opinionated individuals debating something that they've both experienced fully is as good as reviewing gets.

 

[MonkD]

Two dozen too many

 

[Braag]

I used to frequent sites like PC Gamer and Rock Paper Shotgun often, that was long time ago though.
They started getting entangled in the culture wars rather than giving honest opinions about games, so I stopped visiting.
They did this to themselves.

 

[cormack12]

I find the parallels with AI and cheap labour interesting though.

Like the majority of these purple haired bloggers largely support mass immigration policies across the board. Which creates a market of cheap(er) labour, quicker labour and usually a drop in terms of perceived and actual quality. This has effectively been the construction, building and home improvement story for 20 odd years now. And yeah, in extreme cases people have been done by cowboys etc. for taking the risk.

AI is just the same but because it isn't 'humans' the reaction is different. There has been an influx of AI models and uses, which will continue to grow exponentially and is unchecked except via regulation.

AI can generate the same content, quicker and cheaper so will replace that 'labour market' or more accurately supplant like 95% of it because throwing 200 words together is it as hard as building a wall, fitting a toilet, tiling etc.

 

[GymWolf]

Considering the dogshit quality of the videogame media they should be all without a job...you know, for equality and empathy or some shit.

 

[GymWolf]

That's because independent YouTubers are providing all of the traditional functions of the gaming press in a higher quality, less compromised form.

This is obviously true of reviews, news, and commentary, but it's also true of industry analysis and even investigative journalism. It was Karl Jobst who broke the retro game market manipulation story, which is probably the single best piece of actual investigative gaming reporting of the last few years. Meanwhile, all people like Schreier can do is get "scoops" from their "sources" (read: friends) in the industry about studio closures and delays a few hours or days before they're publicly announced or get them to bitch off the record about crunch or how unfairly treated they are in their six figure jobs.

The gaming press isn't going extinct. It's been replaced by a superior alternative.

Youtubers are the superior alternative? Less compromised form?

Dude youtubers get invited to event and receive gifts and shit, they are as compromised as the official media

 

[MetalFreak]

 

[Laptop1991]

It's been a quite a while since these so called journalists have cared about the actual games anyway, most of the time they just write fake/paid reviews and call us every insult under the sun!

 

[Mr Reasonable]

I find the parallels with AI and cheap labour interesting though.

Like the majority of these purple haired bloggers largely support mass immigration policies across the board. Which creates a market of cheap(er) labour, quicker labour and usually a drop in terms of perceived and actual quality. This has effectively been the construction, building and home improvement story for 20 odd years now. And yeah, in extreme cases people have been done by cowboys etc. for taking the risk.

AI is just the same but because it isn't 'humans' the reaction is different. There has been an influx of AI models and uses, which will continue to grow exponentially and is unchecked except via regulation.

AI can generate the same content, quicker and cheaper so will replace that 'labour market' or more accurately supplant like 95% of it because throwing 200 words together is it as hard as building a wall, fitting a toilet, tiling etc.

Oh mate, you've gone insane.

 

[deriks]

I was at a local newspaper a decade ago and I saw everything crumbling down, so I jumped the ship and turned into a I.T. guy

It's not just gaming journalism, but as a whole, and not just because of agendas, but how many times did you see a gaming site in this past year in comparison with a decade ago? Everyone knows the answer

The market changed, and they need to adapt to it. That's how the world works

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Henrique Olifiers on LinkedIn: Games industry media nowadays: Dev: Hey, here's our new game, would you… | 90 comments

Games industry media nowadays: Dev: Hey, here's our new game, would you want to talk about it? Journo: Nah, sorry, we're too busy covering CoD, Monster… | 90 comments on LinkedIn

www.linkedin.com

 

[ClanOfNone]

Print media, especially for games, was already dying. Then the majority of them started pushing agendas, and the YouTube crowd came in and ate their lunch.
I’m surprised Scherier hasn’t fucked off to YouTube, I’m sure there are plenty of morons who would sub or donate to a patreon for him.

 

[Neff]

The only time the gaming press is relevant to me these days is when out of curiosity I check out a MC score for a game I'm already pretty sure I'm going to buy anyway.

 

[SegaSnatcher]

Gaming Press has been garbage for over a decade if not longer.

I would much rather hear the opinions of someone not getting paid to review a game.

 

[Angry_Megalodon]

In the early internet era or before, the gaming media was useful for two things:

- News

- Game reviews

Back then, people who reported on these were nerds who knew their shit so their info was objectively valuable. Today, this profile is only on YouTube or Twitch.

The so-called "video game journalists" are mostly tourists who have very little relevant info. Their reporting consists of a mix of lies, activism, and stuff obvious to the naked eye.

As for game reviews, most reviewers lack the necessary knowledge and background to analyze in-depth. They don't add more value than a random dude on the internet. Recently, it's become much worse, since 99% of reviewers are judging based on personal prejudices, fanboyism, or political agenda.

 

[Bernardougf]

 

[lmimmfn]

Maybe 2 dozen "journalists" too much!!!

 

[justiceiro]

Don't worry, if they are overworked, AI will take care of the extra weight.

 

[Bernardougf]

The mainstream media died together with impartiality... be it for access and/or political agendas... its absolutely impossible at this stage to filter their bullshit to try and find an honest opinion. Their articles, previews, reviews and awards are for mere fanboy gloating or warring.

 

[CliffBronger]

I'm shocked they was that many, but with the demise of USAID that might finally put the nail in the coffin of these so called journalists.

 

[BbMajor7th]

Meanwhile, the entire Escapist crew got so pissed off with corporate oversight they jumped ship and now are completely self-sustaining. You don't need to shill for clickbait if your content is good.

 

[Toots]

Actually there only 3 if you don't count their fursonas

Also it's just par for the course, there wouldn't be many baker left if all they could bake was croissant made of shit, and you had to listen to them whine about their lives for 15 minutes before you could buy any.

 

[HJuggernaut]

overworked doing what? there are barely any games to cover

 

[xenosys]

Certain industries need to hit rock bottom first before they can be reborn into something new and more valuable. Gaming journalism might be one of those.

 

[captainnapalm]

They abandoned their core audience - simple as that. And they were warned as far back as 2014, back when they all thought they were hot shit, writing articles attacking gamers and the very concept of a 'gamer'. But no, they ignored the warnings despite the massive threat of online media. Ultimate case of FAFO.

 

[DAHGAMING]

Well theres always the big HGV driver shortage here in the UK, come try that then lets see about that overworked and underpaid bullshit you ratty little cunt.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

They abandoned their core audience - simple as that. And they were warned as far back as 2014, back when they all thought they were hot shit, writing articles attacking gamers and the very concept of a 'gamer'. But no, they ignored the warnings despite the massive threat of online media. Ultimate case of FAFO.

That whole gamergate thing around 2014 killed my interest in a lot of the gaming sites back then.

Didn’t help that at the same time I bought and Android TV with a YouTube button on the remote.

 

[FeralEcho]

Guess virtue signaling didn't pay off

 

[Pandawan]

Modern game journalists are the most dishonest and fake public speakers imaginable. Even the TV news guys seem honest compared to game journalists. And TV news is a textbook example of dishonesty, but game journalists somehow managed to be even worse.

Game journalists look like they are just selling you the ideas they advocate, or sucking asses of the developers and publishers to get privileges from them (like preview keys and event invites), nothing like real journalism. Game journalists look like idea merchants, not journalists.

They are also really bad at games and often don't even know what they are talking about, but still talk to their audience in a patronizing manner.

Forgot to mention half of them nowadays are non binary individuals who became journalists just to teach people how to become lame. And to condemn everyone who don't want to.

I am so glad that Youtube and Twitch have completely destroyed this piece of garbage called game journalism.

 

[Elios83]

Most of them just try to survive with clickbait, sensationalistic and misleading reporting.

Their reviews are influenced by the relationship with the particular publisher and external factors like personal ideologies that should be kept outside of their job.

News and marketing materials are directly published and available though socials.

It's obvious that people don't see the value they used to have.