Tommy Tallarico on Video Game Journalism

Here's something I've found while I was browsing through ree10's youtube channel.

Tommy Talliarico is awesome!

There have been many articles written about the problems of videogame journalism, like this one. I agree that videogame journalism is crappy. Every major videogame journalist site will submit the same story as another website. Fact is, real journalism involves research, how much research is being done with videogame journalist now-a-days? (Prime Example: Joystiq thinking Cliff Bleszinski was actually a user on GiantBomb).

A lot of the videogame news seen throughout websites is rumors. There is no reason why rumors are continuing to make the headlines on game news websites. Why are rumors reported? Why not just wait until it is confirmed to report it? It has something to do with the way that game journalists are paid, which should be changed as well.

I agree with Tommy. Gamedaily.biz is amazing, along with GamaSutra, both are excellent sites that really show that there are some good game journalist sites out there.

Hulk likes the Spider-Man room in Tommy's house.

"Tommy Talliarico is awesome!

There have been many articles written about the problems of videogame journalism, like this one. I agree that videogame journalism is crappy. Every major videogame journalist site will submit the same story as another website. Fact is, real journalism involves research, how much research is being done with videogame journalist now-a-days? (Prime Example: Joystiq thinking Cliff Bleszinski was actually a user on GiantBomb).

A lot of the videogame news seen throughout websites is rumors. There is no reason why rumors are continuing to make the headlines on game news websites. Why are rumors reported? Why not just wait until it is confirmed to report it? It has something to do with the way that game journalists are paid, which should be changed as well.

I agree with Tommy. Gamedaily.biz is amazing, along with GamaSutra, both are excellent sites that really show that there are some good game journalist sites out there."

"Hey don't forget about Giantbomb.com, it's one of the few video game websites I like. No it's not because of Jeff Gerstmann, thought Jeff is kicks ass."

"mg66368 said:

"Hey don't forget about Giantbomb.com, it's one of the few video game websites I like. No it's not because of Jeff Gerstmann, thought Jeff is kicks ass."

Of course GiantBomb, I didn't think I would have to state the obvious. :P"

he was always the douche on that gaming show on tech tv. and dude, that show kicked ass. i miss it big time

"Tommy Talliarico is awesome!

There have been many articles written about the problems of videogame journalism, like this one. I agree that videogame journalism is crappy. Every major videogame journalist site will submit the same story as another website. Fact is, real journalism involves research, how much research is being done with videogame journalist now-a-days? (Prime Example: Joystiq thinking Cliff Bleszinski was actually a user on GiantBomb).

A lot of the videogame news seen throughout websites is rumors. There is no reason why rumors are continuing to make the headlines on game news websites. Why are rumors reported? Why not just wait until it is confirmed to report it? It has something to do with the way that game journalists are paid, which should be changed as well.

I agree with Tommy. Gamedaily.biz is amazing, along with GamaSutra, both are excellent sites that really show that there are some good game journalist sites out there."

"he was always the douche on that gaming show on tech tv. and dude, that show kicked ass. i miss it big time"

I'll be honest, I find Yahtzee's videos to be entertaining. However, I do not take him as a journalist. I just see him as a guy who does a review of a game with a video who happens to makes money from doing so.

There are just way too many videogame news websites that just take articles from other places, add in a sentence or two of their own commentary and think link the source of the page. Many journalists who review games are either a) So easily hyped about a game that they hardly talk about the negatives or b) When they review a good game, they focus way too much on the negative aspects. I don't even want to talk about how most of the scoring systems in place for game reviews are absolutely horrible.

We can only hope that videogame journalism starts to improve itself within due time. Plenty of things need to be changed. Here's an interesting article on how to improve videogame journalism: http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/how-to-fix-videogame-journalism/69202/?biz=1&page=2

"I'll be honest, I find Yahtzee's videos to be entertaining. However, I do not take him as a journalist. I just see him as a guy who does a review of a game with a video who happens to makes money from doing so.

There are just way too many videogame news websites that just take articles from other places, add in a sentence or two of their own commentary and think link the source of the page. Many journalists who review games are either a) So easily hyped about a game that they hardly talk about the negatives or b) When they review a good game, they focus way too much on the negative aspects. I don't even want to talk about how most of the scoring systems in place for game reviews are absolutely horrible.

We can only hope that videogame journalism starts to improve itself within due time. Plenty of things need to be changed. Here's an interesting article on how to improve videogame journalism: http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/features/how-to-fix-videogame-journalism/69202/?biz=1&page=2"

"Thanks for that great article I should really start checking out gamedaily often. I never thought of Yahtzee as a gaming journalists but the way he is been recently behaving I can tell the man is trying to be a attention seeking whore who wants to create drama at forums. Have you seen the comments to most of his videos? Bleh, I don't care about Yahtzee anymore. Like the AVGN {who's is a guy who reviews shitty games for entertainment instead of journalism which he ain't} he's becoming stale."

When I read the thread title I instantly started getting angry because of that guy's name.  I hate him but he did make a good point. 

"When I read the thread title I instantly started getting angry because of that guy's name.  I hate him but he did make a good point. "

He makes a very good point....

And really, the things hurting the industry that he mentions all mostly stem from message boards (yes, even THESE message boards).

Think about it....just watch it again, and think about how message board react to the sort of things (or cause them).

That the same man who thinks the original Tomb Raider is better than Super Mario 64! Tommy you are under arrest, dead or alive, your coming with me.

"That the same man who thinks the original Tomb Raider is better than Super Mario 64! Tommy you are under arrest, dead or alive, your coming with me."

He makes good points.

There are some good journalists in the industry, but the handful seems to be getting smaller. I think 1up and their editors have a lot of integrity, and besides Giant Bomb, they are the only outlet I trust. Some of my favorite journalists come from there like Dan Hsu, Jeff Green, Luke Smith, Che Chou, and Crispin, but now they're gone. There's still Shane, Milky, and Garnett, though.


 

Yahtzee Croshaw is not so much a game reviewer than he is a comedian. His reviews are very entertaining, and I almost always agree with him on his points. My issue with him is he never talks about the good parts of a game. He ignores the redeeming qualities of a game and simply slaps the label of "shit" on it without talking about any of the fun parts.

For example, watch his review of The Orange Box. When he gets to Portal, his first statement about it is not "this is a great game" it's "I can't think of any criticism for it", implying that if he could, the game would suck.

"Yahtzee Croshaw is not so much a game reviewer than he is a comedian. His reviews are very entertaining, and I almost always agree with him on his points. My issue with him is he never talks about the good parts of a game. He ignores the redeeming qualities of a game and simply slaps the label of "shit" on it without talking about any of the fun parts.

For example, watch his review of The Orange Box. When he gets to Portal, his first statement about it is not "this is a great game" it's "I can't think of any criticism for it", implying that if he could, the game would suck."

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Yahtzee Croshaw is not so much a game reviewer than he is a comedian. His reviews are very entertaining, and I almost always agree with him on his points. My issue with him is he never talks about the good parts of a game. He ignores the redeeming qualities of a game and simply slaps the label of "shit" on it without talking about any of the fun parts.

For example, watch his review of The Orange Box. When he gets to Portal, his first statement about it is not "this is a great game" it's "I can't think of any criticism for it", implying that if he could, the game would suck."

Here's what he said in the end of the credits in his SSBB review: "Not much point in writing anything here this week, everyone's already fucked off to their favorite Nintendo forum to talk about how I'm not a "real" reviewer"

So I think that clearly states that he certainly takes himself as a real critic despite the comedic content of his videos.

BTW, I like the SSBB review."

Negativity is cool as long as it's funny.  Otherwise I agree.  It's annoying, but it's pretty much the only way anyone's going to listen to these people.

"mg66368 said:

"Bulldog19892 said:

"Yahtzee Croshaw is not so much a game reviewer than he is a comedian. His reviews are very entertaining, and I almost always agree with him on his points. My issue with him is he never talks about the good parts of a game. He ignores the redeeming qualities of a game and simply slaps the label of "shit" on it without talking about any of the fun parts.

For example, watch his review of The Orange Box. When he gets to Portal, his first statement about it is not "this is a great game" it's "I can't think of any criticism for it", implying that if he could, the game would suck."

Here's what he said in the end of the credits in his SSBB review: "Not much point in writing anything here this week, everyone's already fucked off to their favorite Nintendo forum to talk about how I'm not a "real" reviewer"

So I think that clearly states that he certainly takes himself as a real critic despite the comedic content of his videos.

BTW, I like the SSBB review."

Just because he views himself as a "real" reviewer doesn't mean he is one. I'm not a fanboy of any particular game or franchise, so he has never offended me, but I hardly count him as a reviewer. More like a satirist or a professional complainer."

"Here's something I've found while I was browsing through ree10's youtube channel.

  

I was never a fan of Tommy Tallarico but he's made a very good point here at why the gaming industry is failing and what we should do to help it.
"

I miss Judgement Day.  :-(

Isn't Tommy Tallarico the same dood that gave Advent Rising an 8/10?

"I miss Judgement Day.  :-("

On an ironic note, I miss watching Tommy butt heads with other co-host/creator Victor Lucas on Judgment Day ( or Reviews on the Run for our fellow Canadians).

E3 did suck, wtf is he talking about?  He is basically saying you should lie and pretend E3 doesn't suck that bad

"Isn't Tommy Tallarico the same dood that gave Advent Rising an 8/10?

Didn't he do the soundtrack for Advent Rising?

'Nuff said about my opinion on his opinion of video game journalism.

"

This guy is right, most gaming websites are completely identical to one another in terms of content provided and thats abysmal. It's one of the major stumbling blocks that me and the team at FR will try to avoid upon launch. He's absolutely correct though, the sheer amount of sites that simply post everything from another source is sickening.

"jakob187 said:

"Isn't Tommy Tallarico the same dood that gave Advent Rising an 8/10?

Didn't he do the soundtrack for Advent Rising?

'Nuff said about my opinion on his opinion of video game journalism.

"

Victor Lucas gave Advent Rising a 8 too, your point?"

"jagt707 said:

"jakob187 said:

"Isn't Tommy Tallarico the same dood that gave Advent Rising an 8/10?

Didn't he do the soundtrack for Advent Rising?

'Nuff said about my opinion on his opinion of video game journalism.

"

Victor Lucas gave Advent Rising a 8 too, your point?"

The point is obvious, you should not be reviewing games that you have a credit for... file  under no duh?"

"brukaoru said:

"mg66368 said:

"Hey don't forget about Giantbomb.com, it's one of the few video game websites I like. No it's not because of Jeff Gerstmann, thought Jeff is kicks ass."

Of course GiantBomb, I didn't think I would have to state the obvious. :P"

This made me think of a gaming journalist and comedian who’s talks all negative; Ben Yahtzee Croshaw. His Zero Punctuation reviews usually consists him focusing and pointing out all the negative of the game and creating jokes out of them, it’s basically his shtick to his comedy routine. Many wouldn’t take his reviews seriously but in reality he takes himself very seriously as the mentioned in his Zero Punctuation video on youtube and the credits of his SSBB review. His recent videos have more commentary than jokes, he been more commentarish than funny as if he was trying to influence the gaming industry with his popularity by using cynicism but pessimism would just make it worse as it would influence more negativity. He’s being just as snarky as websites like Kotaku and Joystiq, he’s  being snarky without any real humor or legit criticism and he’s being paid for it like a sellout. It takes more effort to point out the balance of the positives and negatives of a game instead of bashing it for cheap laughs, something the Yahtzee fanboys cherish. His reviews of Turok {a game I didn’t like by theway}, Soul Calibur IV, and XBLA Double Bill is a prime example of all of this. Yahtzee gimmick pessimistic attitude towards game has become tiring and old. The man must retire and try something new now.

"

"Isn't Tommy Tallarico the same dood that gave Advent Rising an 8/10?

Didn't he do the soundtrack for Advent Rising?

'Nuff said about my opinion on his opinion of video game journalism.

"