VG Journalism is a Stinky Pile of Poo

Why do I want to be a video game journalist? A few reasons:


1.) I love video games.
 I haven't gotten to play them much lately thanks to schoolwork and workwork, but they're still my biggest hobby. Something about the ability to take control of a world and immerse myself in the story outshines the entertainment I get from movies, books, or television.

2.) They are becoming mainstream. 

One may argue that they're already mainstream, but I think there's still a different stigma attached to being a video game nerd versus, say, a movie buff or bookworm. Having someone writing quality articles in a mainstream outlet should help this a lot. Which brings me to #3...

3.) The current state of VG Journalism is crap. 

Just about every major video game news outlet is the CNN of the video game world. IGN, GameSpot, Kotaku, etc. They're all business, scrounging for whatever articles they can make to draw in pageviews and ad revenue. They don't care about accuracy, just that they're the first to break the news. Here's what prompted this entry:

Photo credit reddit user C-Ron.

Backstory: A graphic designer on reddit, a fan of Xbox, decided to throw together a possible logo in Photoshop. Suddenly, major VG news sites are reporting it as the possible "leaked" logo of the next-generation console. A few minutes of research would have cleared up this confusion, but some nimrod thought, "Ooh, if I report this as a leak, everyone will read my article! Money!"

This is ridiculous. There's no passion in reporting. Nobody writes about video games for the sake of writing about video games.

Actually, I take that back. There is one bastion of hope. Rock, Paper, Shotgun. These guys report on video games with love. They don't do this for the money (but they sure make money!) Any time they do report any sort of rumor, they make sure to announce that it's just a rumor or speculation.

That's what VG Journalism needs. Less CNN, more NPR. Report things because they're interesting and relevant, not for shock value or attention-grabbiness. If I can claw my way into the industry, that's what I hope to bring - a real fire for the medium.