From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with
the reporting and discussion of video games. It is
typically based on a core reveal/preview/review cycle. There has
been a recent growth in online publications and blogs, and
stylistic revolts in games journalism including New Games Journalism.
History of print
based video gaming magazines
The first magazine to cover the video game industry which is
still in continuous publication is the subscription only, trade
periodical Play Meter magazine which began publication in 1974 and
covered the entire coin-operated entertainment industry.
The first consumer oriented print magazine dedicated solely to
video gaming was Computer and Video Games which
premiered in the U.K. in November 1981, two weeks ahead
of the U.S.
launch of the next oldest video gaming publication Electronic Games magazine.
The oldest video game publication still in continuous
circulation (as of 2008) was Computer Gaming World, or
CGW (now known as Games For Windows), which also debuted in 1981
but does not get credit for being first all around as it began
publication as a bi-weekly newsletter before becoming a full scale
magazine.
History of web
based video gaming magazines
There are conflicting claims regarding which of the first two
electronic video game magazines was "first to be published
regularly" online. Originally starting as a print fanzine in April of 1992[1],
Game
Zero magazine, claims to have launched a web page in
November of 1994,[2]
with the earliest formal announcement of the page occurring in
April of 1995. Game Zero's web site was based upon a printed
bi-monthly magazine based in Central Ohio with a circulation of 1500 that developed
into a CD-ROM based magazine with a circulation of 150,000 at its
peak. The website was updated weekly during its active period from
1994-1996.
Another publication, Intelligent Gamer Online ("IG
Online") debuted a complete web site in April of 1995, commencing
regular updates to the site on a daily basis despite its
"bi-weekly" name.[3]
Intelligent Gamer had been publishing online for years prior to the
popularization of the web, originally having been based upon a
downloadable "Intelligent Gamer" publication developed by Joe
Barlow and Jeremy Horwitz in 1993.[4]
This evolved further under Horwitz and Usenet-based publisher
Anthony Shubert[5]
into "Intelligent Gamer Online" interactive online mini-sites for
America Online (AOL) and the Los Angeles Times' TimesLink/Prodigy
online services in late 1994 and early 1995. At the time, it was
called "the first national videogame magazine found only
online."[6]
Game Zero Magazine ceased active publication at the end of 1996
and is maintained as an archive site. Efforts by Horwitz and
Shubert, backed by a strong library of built up web content
eventually allowed IG Online to be acquired by Sendai Publishing
and Ziff Davis Media, the publishers of
then-leading United States print publication Electronic Gaming
Monthly who transformed the publication into a separate print
property in February 1996.[7][8][9]
New Media and games
journalism
The traditional video games press has suffered the most at the
hands of New Media. Gaming is a technological
past-time, thus many gamers, defined here as those interested
enough to consider purchasing printed gaming publications, can use
the Internet for finding relevant information. This, coupled with
the fast pace of the games industry, has eroded the influence of
print in computer game journalism. For contrast a typical print
magazine is published monthly, and will have on average a three
month lead time between when any given article or review is written
to when it is finally delivered into the readers hands. This
creates a situation where print media is always a couple of months
behind their on-line counterparts in covering news.
Future Publishing exemplifies the old
media's decline in the games sector. In 2003 the group saw
multi-million GBP profits and
strong growth,[10]
but by early 2006 were issuing profit warnings[11]
and closing unprofitable magazines (none related to gaming).[12]
Then, in late November 2006, the publisher reported both a pre-tax
loss of £49 million ($96 million USD) and the
sale - in order to reduce its level of bank debt - of Italian
subsidiary Future Media Italy.[13]
In mid-2006 Eurogamer's business development manager Pat
Garratt wrote a criticism of those in
print games journalism who had not adapted to the web, drawing on
his own prior experience in print to offer an explanation of both
the challenges facing companies like Future Publishing and why he
believed they had not overcome them.[14]
This then combined with the move away from mass media outlets
towards niche experts to create a growing market for bespoke games
writing. This gaming coverage, rather than trying to be objective,
acknowledges that it is written from a certain perspective. Some
outlets, Game People's social media for example,
even use this bias as a unique selling point of their content.
Independent games
journalism
While self-made print fanzines about games have been around since the
advent of the first home consoles, it was the inclusion of the internet in the lives of most
gamers that gave independent writers a real voice in video game
journalism. At first ignored by most major game publishers, it was
not until the communities developed an influential and dedicated
readership, and increasingly produced professional (or
near-professional) writing that the sites gained the attention of
these larger companies.
Independent video game websites are generally non-profit, with
any revenue going back towards hosting costs and, occasionally,
paying its writers. As their name suggests, they are not affiliated
with any companies or studios, though bias is inherent in the
unregulated model to which the subscribe. While many independent
sites take the form of blogs (the vast majority in fact, depending
on how low down the ladder you look), the 'user-submitted' model,
where readers write stories that are moderated by an editorial
team, is also popular.
In recent times some of the larger independent sites have begun
to be bought up by larger media companies, most often Ziff Davis Media, who now own a string of
independent sites.
Ethics
The computer and video game media industry is criticised for
holding lax journalistic standards.[15]
Reviews are the most controversial area, with issues in the
following areas:
- Conflicts of interest
- A publication reviewing a game when it has received advertising
revenue from the game's publishers or has been invited to lavish
'press day' parties is often held in suspicion.[16]
Reviews by 'official' console magazines such as Nintendo
Power, Official PlayStation
Magazine or the Official Xbox Magazine, all
of which have direct financial ties to their respective platform
holders, usually find themselves in similar positions. Publishers
have been known to withhold material and/or advertising money from
publications that do not adhere to their wishes (e.g. making the
game in question the cover story) or do not show the game in a
positive light.
- Time spent on the game
- Unlike linear media, getting a complete sense of a game can
require far longer than the time it takes to play it from start to
end. Further to this, games such as RPGs can last for hundreds
of hours. Computer and video game reviewers therefore tread a fine
line between producing timely copy and playing enough of a game to
be able to reliably critique it.
- A famous exposé of underplaying was published by Penny Arcade's Mike Krahulik in
September 2006: he dissected a review of Enchanted
Arms and among other findings concluded that the reviewer
had barely played three hours of the game's fifty before forming
his opinion.[17]
New Games
Journalism
New Games Journalism (NGJ) is a video game journalism term, coined in 2004 by journalist Kieron Gillen, in which personal
anecdotes, references to other media, and creative analyses are
used to explore game
design, play, and culture.[18]
It is a model of New Journalism applied to video game journalism. Gillen's NGJ
manifesto was first published on the now defunct state
forum/website, a community of videogame players often engaged in
discussion and analysis of their hobby, from which an anecdotal
piece, Bow Nigger[19],
had appeared. Gillen cites the work as a major inspiration for and
example of what NGJ should achieve and the piece was later
republished in the UK edition of PC Gamer, a magazine with which Gillen has
close professional ties.
Most New Games Journalism articles are not reviews of games in
the traditional sense. They can instead be understood as being
analogous to travel journalism, where the writer responds to
subjective experiences presented to them by the game world, as well
as interactions with other players online, real-world events
surrounding gameplay, and other personal experiences and anecdotes
which create a unique story. The story is not necessarily
indicative of the experience any other player will have with the
game and will be unlikely to offer any objective value-judgements
regarding the game's merits or failings. Instead attention is
focused on the subjective experience of the person[20]
playing the game.
Publications of note
- See: Category:Video game
websites
- See: Category:Video game
magazines
Consumer
- Blogs - Joystiq, Kotaku
- Two mass-appeal blogs that rose to prominence at similar times.
Often carrying the latest rumours and hype, they are viewed as
being the primary tabloid
games journalism sites.[21]
- Online - 1UP, IGN, GameSpot, GameSpy, GamesRadar
- The five stalwarts of online games journalism. All attempt to
cater to a wide audience, contain enormous amounts of information
on all the major platforms, offer paid subscriptions (with the
exception of 1UP and GamesRadar) and have extensive community
features.
- Online - Eurogamer
- A relatively young online site with an unusually lean design.
Primarily serves English-speaking, European gamers. As of April
2007 offers a similar level of community features as the four other
major sites (see above), but still no paid subscriptions.
- Video-based - Gametrailers
- a media website that specializes in video game related content.
It provides free access to original programming (such as reviews
and previews), game trailers and recorded game play. Many of the
video clips are offered in high definition along with standard
definition.
- Print
- Edge
- Famitsu
- GamePro
- Game
Informer
- Nintendo
Power
- Official PlayStation
Magazine
- Official Xbox Magazine
- Play
- PC Gamer
- Television
- X-Play
- GameTrailers
TV
Trade
publications
- Print - Game Developer
Magazine
- Online - Gamasutra
- The largest games trade magazine (circ 35 000), and its
associated website. A focus on North America.
- Print/Online - MCV
- UK trade publication (circ 10 000). Unusually, it is published
weekly.
- Online - GamesIndustry.biz
- Popular trade website for Europe.
References
External
links
- International Game Journalists Association
- Video Game Media Watch
- So You Want to Be a Games Journalist: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
- The New Games
Journalism
- Ten Unmissable Examples of
New Games Journalism
- The Gamer's Quarter Collaborative NGJ irregular
quarterly and related forums
- GameDaily BIZ's Media Watch
column
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