Swearing in official written reviews

Okay, I just read Patrick's review of ZombiU and I noticed he wrote "you fucked up" in one part of his review.

Now, just to clarify, I am not one of those wierdo's who hates swearing, in fact I swear all the fucking time, but I do think there is a proper time and place for it.

I just found it strange to be reading it in an official review for a video game on a site. I actually found it a little unprofessional (and I've visited IGN!). I love GB and I truly believe it to be an unbiased and trustworthy source for video game information and reviews. I also thoroughly enjoy all the GB videos, and I really appreciate how much time and effort the crew put into making enjoyable content for the site. I find the swearing in those videos fine, but I personally would rather not be reading it in official reviews that represent the site.

I just wanted to know what you guys think about this.

I have no problem with this.

Don't care. I never read reviews so I'm not sure if they take them as serious business or with a more casual approach like everything else on the site. Ether way, if you come to this site then you know what you are getting. Don't see why they need to change how they talk in certain parts of the site.

If they could make a review in the style they made that Rogue Warrior QL, then I'd be a very happy man.

It doesn't sound particularly professional but I'm not that bothered by it either.

I don't mind it as long as it's not used as a crutch for lack of a more refined vocabulary. After all, they are just words that have certain meanings, and as such, they have their place and can be used tastefully. I'm pretty sure several of the other staff members have swore in reviews in the past as well, and they all seem fully aware not to overdo it.

I'm no huge Patrick fan, but this does not bother me in the slightest. I know I dished out some shit on him before, but this guy can't catch a break. ZombiU is an M rated game, it can have an M rated review.

At times, it's appropriate, and like the rest of Giant Bomb, it's most definitely appropriate to how dumb video games are. Look back at the Bayonetta review for example.

@Azteck said:

If they could make a review in the style they made that Rogue Warrior QL, then I'd be a very happy man.

Let's fucking do it, man!

@Bucketdeth said:

ZombiU is an M rated game, it can have an M rated review.

I like this statement a lot, and agree wholeheartedly.

who fucking cares.

I care not.

I have no problem with this. While reviews may be professional in nature, they are also personal expressions. Sometimes, the situation, whether video game or not video game, calls for adult language. If it fits in context, and is not simply a fuck for fuck's sake, there is and should be nothing wrong with it.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Azteck said:

If they could make a review in the style they made that Rogue Warrior QL, then I'd be a very happy man.

Let's fucking do it, man!

Loved that quick look btw. I whole heartily approve reviews as such for games as dumb.

As @OneKillWonder_ said, as long as it is used for stress then I really don't see the problem. It's not like he's fucking, like, using every fucking goddamn swear word, motherfucker.

@Video_Game_King said:

@Azteck said:

If they could make a review in the style they made that Rogue Warrior QL, then I'd be a very happy man.

Let's fucking do it, man!

Fuck both of you Communist dicks right in the fucking face.

BRING THE NOISE!

gamez journalizm

People thinking of some words as swears or "bad" words is just a fucking antiquated way of thinking. Why should the word shit be any less professional than crap,? They mean the same exact thing to us, don't they? Fuck is a word that is perfectly acceptable in modern society and we need to start behaving like normal fucking people when we see or hear it in some unaccepted place. Words are just words and there is no reason why some of them just can't be used for ridiculous reasons that no one would ever be able to explain.

I ask all of you, give me a logical reason why the word fuck is unprofessional?

Considering the game is rated M, you should technically be ok with the F word...

I don't personally mind it, mostly because I use it in posts fairly often and in daily speech often enough, but I wouldn't use it in a "professional" review, even if I were writing for this site.

That said, this site seems a little more personal and laid back than IGN or Game Informer or something. That's not to say that they're less credible (I'd say more than IGN, but that's a different story), just that they can stretch their language more than those sites and it's far less of a problem. If you're on Giantbomb more than once or twice, you should expect to come across some harsh fucking language, it's kind of become an ingrained part of the site. Remember the pancakes video (the "we're being bought by CBSi" video) where one of the big questions on people's minds was "Can they still curse" and they said something along the lines of "Fuck yeah"?

I don't see what the big deal is.

I don't have an issue with it. The review is written to be in the same sort of tone as a normal conversation, not formal technical manual writing or a dry new story.

I'm not sure a dry and dispassionate review really fits with a description of a game experience, and I think Patrick does a good job expressing his precise reactions.

There are times when it is appropriate. I feel like nothing should be off limits. Personally I find it offensive when music sites or mainstream news sites censor the names of the bands Holy Fuck, Fucked Up and The Fuckers because those are proper names. It's disrespectful to censor it in that case. I remember about a decade ago when fuck was added to the Canadian Press editor's guide or something like that so it's certainly accepted in professional writing by more serious organizations than Giant Bomb.

@believer258 said:

I don't personally mind it, mostly because I use it in posts fairly often and in daily speech often enough, but I wouldn't use it in a "professional" review, even if I were writing for this site.

That said, this site seems a little more personal and laid back than IGN or Game Informer or something. That's not to say that they're less credible (I'd say more than IGN, but that's a different story), just that they can stretch their language more than those sites and it's far less of a problem. If you're on Giantbomb more than once or twice, you should expect to come across some harsh fucking language, it's kind of become an ingrained part of the site. Remember the pancakes video (the "we're being bought by CBSi" video) where one of the big questions on people's minds was "Can they still curse" and they said something along the lines of "Fuck yeah"?

I've followed the Giantbomb crew way before GB even existed! I followed Gamespot, loved the OnTheSpot with everyone including Gallup, Ryan MacDonald, Ricardo Torres and of course Greg Mueller (that guy beat down) .Button Mashing was also awesome, which reminds me I gotta download the theme tune by Jeff as that was sick. I loved it, then some shit went down and I followed it on twitter and the crews respective personal sites. I know what time of news style these guys bring to the table. I was never Anti Patrick (I just felt he needed time) and I read nearly every review the site does. I swear in my personal life all the time.

I understand ZombiU is a Mature game, but so are so many other games that haven't had swearing when reviewed, and I still don't see it as a legitimate excuse.

I guess its just me, and I guess I'm the minority, but I just wanted to see what others thought.

I don't have a problem with it. You could argue that any of the content on the site should be professional and that it represents the site, and that is true, but I don't think professional has to mean free of cursing, and that kind of laid-back attitude in review writing seems perfectly consistent with the other content on the site.

@TyCobb said:

I have no problem with this.

Giantbomb's casual approach towards coverage is actually attractive in my eyes. I feel that most video game sites have a forced professionalism about then that makes them seem very unnatural.

That said, I don't find anything unprofessional about cursing anyway.

But the site is full of swearing, so in a review that "represents the site" as you say, not swearing would be disingenuous. I wouldn't like any part of Giantbomb to feel restrained or dishonest to itself, or it would kinda kill what I consider to be a big part of the site's appeal. I want the reviewer's raw personal opinion on the game, and if swearing gets their point or emotional state across clearer then by all means they should cuss away.

You must be new here.

I think they've done it before. Swearing is kinda part of the vocabulary of the site, anyway.

Also, it'd be kinda fucked up to not be able to say the F word in a review of a game where you kill thousands of soldiers, for example.

Patrick is the one guy one this site who NEEDS to tone down the "I am a professional critic" and add a little more normal person talking about a hobby they love into their articles. So that said, I think it is fine. Obviously rampant swearing and going off the deep end isn't acceptable, but if they want to throw a F bomb in once out of five reviews and it makes sense in the review to use it.... I just don't see an issue.

I don't see anything wrong with it.

It doesn't mean that you committed a mistake, made a oopsie or should have thought better before acting, it means that you fucked up. Not that you screwed up royally or ruined the situation bigtime, you fucked up. It is a cuss word and a highly acceptable use of it.
 
Linguism 101.

Fuck no, it fucking fit with the fucking review. It's also the best fucking review that Patrick's written for this fucking site. I felt pretty fucking informed and fucking entertained by it.

And I know you didn't fucking bitch about it, but I gotta fucking appreciate the fucking irony of this coming in a post where the fucking avatar is Patrick fucking Bateman.

There are a few factors that make it okay for me:

1. Being able to say what you want about a game, including swearing, is an inherent part of the site's culture.
2. It's a fairly mature (as in can handle that stuff) site, so it shouldn't be restricted. It would only perhaps be necessary if the site was trying to sell itself, which it quite clearly is not.
3. ZombiU is a difficult game, apparently, and it could be argued that it's merely a representation of the frustration players may experience.
4. I prefer the honesty. If the reviewer feels it is appropriate and honest to use that term, then they not only can, but should, use that term.

That's merely my opinion, though. I understand where you're coming from in the professional aspect, but the term 'professional' is a little ambiguous in this sense.

So fuck yeah for swearing!

False, every website is biased

Seems fine to me, and it fits right in with the sites laid back attitude.

@TheHumanDove: Jim Sterling?!?!?

I swear all the time. Though when I read any kind of journalism swearing seems out of place. Unless the game is so God awful that there is no way around it. But if I was reading a pokemons review that had "You put the fuckers in the pokeballs and have them fuck eachothers shit up in battles." It would be too far.

@Azteck said:

If they could make a review in the style they made that Rogue Warrior QL, then I'd be a very happy man.

Fuck man, I fucking agree. Mother fuckers would love that shit. Anyone who doesn't is a god damned cock-sucking communist.

@eskimo said:

who fucking cares.

I don't have an issue with it, at the same time I can understand where you're coming from. Threads with swearing in the title get locked so you would kinda expect that stuff on the front page of the site would abide by the same rule. With a personality driven website though I don't think it's too big a deal.

@eskimo said:

who fucking cares.

I'm an adult.

It doesn't bother me at all but I agree on it being unprofessional.

@TheVideoHustler said:

You must be new here.

You clearly don't even read the posts on this thread. I clearly outlined I am anything but new.

@laserbolts said:

It doesn't bother me at all but I agree on it being unprofessional.

You basically sum up my point. I find it unprofessional, I am not massively bothered, I just think it should perhaps not be in the reviews.

swearing has been watered down by our current society and culture.

hell i remember hearing an english professor talk for ages about how "Fuck" is the most versatile and amazing word in the english language because you can use it in almost any situation and its intended meaning is always understood. which i completely agree.

also people bitching that its "not professional". well why the fuck do you come to giantbomb? the whole point of me valuing giantbomb reviews over other sites is they feel more personal. reading any of the reviews its more like a friend is telling you how the game is rather than some office drone writing a report. giantbombs loose professionalism is what makes the site so appealing to most of us.

@SeanFoster said:

I'm an adult.

Cuss words are awesome. The people that usually read up about games are mostly adults or adaptive kids anyway. I honestly don't see a problem. Look at some movie reviews and you'll see a few F words here and there -- not for the sake of complaining mind you, but more so in describing films like Shutter Island as "a mindfuck".

It depends on where the review is or what the review is for. In a printed magazine or on, say, IGN, that might be unprofessional. If it were for a kids' game, it wouldn't be unprofessional, but it wouldn't fit, either. The game in question is M-rated and on a relatively laid-back website, so I think it's fine. Just limit swearing as punctuation when shit is getting intense, so it doesn't start losing its emphasis.

As long as it is done tastefully, I don't care.

It's not like it's fucking gratuitous and he's hell damn ass cursing just for the shit of it. It doesn't bother me one ass shit bit.

Eff it.