I stopped watching reviews by sites like IGN and GameSpot years ago. With how much time I spend playing, watching, reading about, and thinking about video games half of the time I’m able to better judge whether I will enjoy a video game than they are. Maybe it’s some sort of subconscious, six-sense-like ability, but usually I am able to accurately predict whether or not a game is going to be enjoyable. However, I do have more prevalent reasons that you might want to consider as well. I started this site around three years ago with the goal of providing a service to any parent looking for more information about what their kids play. Along that journey I have had a chance to step into the realm of video game media and, on rare occasions, actually rub shoulders with the professional reporters. I get to see what they do, how they act, what questions they ask, and how interested they are in their subject matter. This has mostly been at the E3 events I attended, but occasionally I catch glimpses of it on TV, written in reviews, and in other news outlets.
There is a significant difference between Geoff Keighley and Angry Joe. Geoff Keighley comes off as a guy who talks about games because he’s paid to talk about games. You hardly see his type at E3 because they come in for their appointments, sit through the shows, jot a few notes down, then go home to grab the preset media assets to write their story. What little passion existed when they first started has been sucked dry. It probably isn’t their fault, the gaming industry is a vampire constantly feeding at the neck of every employee who works within and around it. I have found this is most obvious when sitting in on the Bethesda events at E3. I managed to get a spot with the Bethesda team for all three years at E3 and each time they were media-only events. The room was always packed with reporters, some with notebooks out, others just watching. After each game was showcased, the reporters got up and left. One or two stayed to ask a question, and some stayed to try out the demos, but most just packed up and left. Bethesda doesn’t always do things perfectly, but each of their development teams works to the bone to create an awesome experience. You might not be looking forward to The Elder Scrolls Online or the new Wolfenstein game, but they are still the product of years of intense work. Anyone who can honestly say that they appreciate and love video games should give these games at least ten minutes of their time before they pass judgment. Yet so many of these reporters just left without picking up a controller or touching a mouse and keyboard. Those who did stay almost completely ignored Wolfenstein, instead only focusing on TES Online for a few minutes. I was internally confused. Maybe these guys aren’t serious gamers, but then how can they speak with a voice of authority about the subject? And that’s where the real dilemma began. When I saw Fable: The Journey, I recognized that the game would have significant hurdles to overcome before it saw the light of day and that it would certainly fail to overcome every issue, but that the developers were attempting to deliver a Kinect-driven experience that appealed to all levels of gamers. The other media personnel in the room couldn’t be bothered to ask a few simple questions like “How are you guys planning on overcoming the Kinect’s inherent lag issues?” I had the honor and the pleasure to meet Angry Joe at last year’s E3. It was the very end of the day and Joe was clearly on his way out, but he took the time to humor me. I like Joe’s reviews because he is always honest (at times brutally so). But it’s more important to me that Joe cares about the subject matter. When he discusses games, especially the ones that failed, he gives detailed, constructive criticism. If I ever made a game, I would send a review copy to Joe in a heartbeat and take everything he said to heart. I would like to believe that the guys at IGN and GameSpot are serious gamers who care about their subject matter as much as they care about their profession, but every time Call of Duty scores above an 80 metacritic and is praised for sticking to the “tried-and-true formula”, I question the reviewer’s integrity. I am grateful that guys like TotalBiscuit and Angry Joe exist. They have restored my faith in game reviews. I know that game designers listen to their comments and I believe that the gaming community is a better place for it. But I will be much happier when places like E3 are filled with gamers like Angry Joe than the “journalists” that currently haunt the halls and booths.
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The Legendary Carmine
Andrew Clayton (a.k.a. The Legendary Carmine) is SSG's Executive Editor. He toils at the stone to make sure this site brings its readers valuable content on a daily basis. Like what we do? Want to see more? Donate to the site using the button below!
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