Gaming journalism - (and why Game Informer sucks)

[American Lollinator Mace]

Much to my shame, I am subscribed to Game Informer. The only reason I read it is to see what's coming out; without it, I'd never know there were Persona games beyond P2: Eternal Punishment. Anyway, a few days ago I received their latest issue, the big thing of which was 'The 100 Best RPGs of ALL TIME!!!111ELEVEN!'...and as expected, they fucked everything up. I didn't even read the whole thing--just the entries of games I'd actually played--and they got basic fucking information wrong!
Take Vagrant Story, for instance. They credited Hiroshi Minagawa (who had nothing to do with VS as far as I know) with the art, when any twit who had actually played the game beyond the first thirty seconds could have told them it was Akihiko Yoshida.
There were plenty of rankings that made no fucking sense (Persona 3 was ranked higher than goddamn Castlevania: Symphony of the Night?! Earthbound is ranked lower than Morrowind?!), they gave Nintendo a tongue bath at every opportunity, Persona 5--which has been out for about a month and a half--is ranked directly below FF7--which has been out for 20 years, they definitely edited certain pictures for various games, I could go on...just...geez.
So, are there any gaming mags you trust? Or are they all just pretty toilet paper?

 

[Wraith]

Yeah I have a long history with the perils of old vidya mags. EGM, EGM2, a little stint with GI, Tips & Tricks and even Computer Gaming Monthly when they used to give out free CDs full of demos and free stuff. I was basically attracted to the old cheats in them. That was about it. As gaming mags went the way of the periodical publishing dinosaur, I only look online for old cheat codes and FAQs, and get suggestions for vidya from buds I trust, they are nothing to me.
Trust them? Codes back in the day, never for reviews. I got burned too many times. Online gaming mags, never. Can't trust any of them. I'd rather make my own website from scratch if I had the time and C-quarters than trust any of those yellow journalists.

I'm trying to remember the guy named Shu who used to work for EGM, I think, who started letting it be known how incestuous the video game journalism industry was becoming.

 

[AnOminous]

Are you retarded? Trusting gaming journalism, at all, ever?

Also the poll sucks. It has no "lol fuck you all" option.

 

[millais]

this thread is actually now about ethics in games journalism

 

[NumberingYourState]

Avoid N4G except for potential LOLCows, all of them suck Sony's dick so hard they circumcised it.

 

[AnOminous]

Lol there's no such thing as ethics in games journalism.

 

[Positron]

There is no such thing as games journalism.

 

[NumberingYourState]

At this point in our generation there is no such thing as journalism at all. Am I right guys.

 

[Un Platano]

Message boards and forums are a better source for info on games because at least you know that there they aren't being paid to share their shitty opinions

 

[Puppet Pal Clem]

I hadn't really noticed until lately, but all of the political bullshit has largely died down.
Obvious holdouts but Gamergate mostly scared off all the faggots.

Now it's just a money circle-jerk again, which is definitely easier to deal with.

It's actually not that bad anymore.
I can deal with endless fake enthusiasm for shillbux, so long as they don't call me a bigot when I ignore or criticize them.

 

[c-no]

Message boards and forums are a better source for info on games because at least you know that there they aren't being paid to share their shitty opinions

Worst thing those places have would just be fanboys who sperg on how one game is superior to the other because graphics and such, not to mention whatever cringe lurks within their forums. Then again, some message boards still try to screech their shitty opinions (NeoGaf would come to mind in some cases since they're bound to have all sorts of sperging.)

I remember being into some gaming mags in the previous decade when I didn't know how to use the internet. Tips & Tricks was a favorite since I remember they had pages not just on guides and cheats but also things like news for some upcoming game or even doing a bit on some games or consoles I never heard of before such as the Turbografx.

 

[Overcast]

Used to love GI, Nintendo Power, EGM, ect growing up.

Thanks to the internet I find them largely redundant now. Still, as a kid, there was something magical about turning pages and finding out what cool games are coming out.

 

[Wraith]

Message boards and forums are a better source for info on games because at least you know that there they aren't being paid to share their shitty opinions

A few years ago, I haven't noticed if they do it now, but on /v/ on the old 4chan they would have morons shilling various games constantly. It started to get screen capped and it became a joke to mess with those threads. One of my favorite times was when Gearbox was shilling that Aliens Colonial Marines and showing that one video, and then a long time later the finished product was inferior junk. We tore apart that initial video and the marketers would vamoose ASAP.

Also Kotaku is the worst of the worst.

 

[Coster]

I just keep a subscription because sometimes there's neat stuff in it but that top 100 RPGs list was garbage. Dragon Age: Origins comes in one slot below Kingdom Hearts II, they list Fallout 3 above Fallout: New Vegas, and according to them the #1 top RPG of all time is Skyrim. It's turned into a joke between me and my friends actually.

 

[Lucky Wildcard]

I never rely on gaming magazines and websites. Word of mouth is the best way to go.

 

[Morose_Obesity]

At this point in our generation there is no such thing as journalism at all. Am I right guys.

Yep, journalism's corpse is stinking up the place.

 

[Wraith]

I like to listen to people bitch about gaming journalism. I know Razorfist is an acquired taste, but I had a little fun with these, with his GameInformer video being key.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLmirOw7JCi82dEgcwvinojsmzSij9qpF8

If anybody has any other insightful vids worth digesting, I'm open.

 

[Erida]

I'm offline friends with some current and ex-games journalists and they're probably the most bitter about current 'journalism'. Nothing they had to say would surprise anyone here. There's so much competition that magazines and websites can recruit eager, young writers and pay peanuts. If they're lucky they get to go to E3 and other events and make the most of freebies, alcohol etc.

Certain games had to score highly enough that the publishers/PR people would still give them review copies and exclusive content on upcoming releases. They loathed doing those 'Top 10 X in video games' type articles and other lists because they knew it comes down to personal opinion. It would get the clicks and ad revenue wanted by the management though.

They mostly burned out by their late 20s/early 30s and now juggle freelance with self-produced Patreon stuff or have changed jobs to general tech, marketing etc.

I'm not a regular reader of any print or digital magazine. I either already know I want a game, will watch someone streaming it or will rely on word of mouth/friends who are more on the ball than me. If I do read a review then it'll be for technical details like bugs or server issues, as opposed to general opinion.

 

[BurningPewter]

back in the day I just bought whatever game was most popular and all my friends were talking about, be it Red Dead, Assassin Creed, whatever. Although I do appreciate mags for getting me into some obscure games, like SOS the Final Escape.

 

[BILLY MAYS]

Real gamers read steam reviews