Okay, first of all....I admit I haven't been following Gamergate. Also, I HATE that stupid name. While I personally consider video games serious business, video games are not United-States-President-Leader-of-the-Free-World-Richard-Nixon-straight-bangin'-on-people serious. Last time I checked, Kotaku and IGN weren't using a United States cabinet like it was the 3rd Street Saints. That shit aside, what is this even really about? Honesty? Integrity? Man, Jeff Gerstmann ain't lookin' out for me, and I don't expect him to. Who cares if video game journalists are honest?
I know what I like. You tell me a game is just like Dynasty Warriors, but with Zelda characters and that game is already at 3 stars in my head. Brad Shoemaker's word isn't gospel. Brad likes Destiny, and even though I haven't played it, I bet I would love Destiny too. However, Brad also likes DOTA. So, its like..."what the fuck?" That right there tells me Brad can't be trusted, even if he might have good taste in games. Dan Ryckert thinks T2 is better than T1! WHO is listening to this man?! He may as well be on the take, because I don't listen to mad men anyway. I wouldn't care if Brad Muir is filling the GB staff's inboxes with pictures of his smiling face. Then, when it comes time to score Massive Chalice they give it 100 stars out of 5. Massive Chalice looks a lot like a fantasy X-Com to me, so damn it I'm going to play Massive Chalice. So long as the Massive Chalice review doesn't consist entirely of the sentence, "Brad Muir is a handsome man." it ultimately doesn't really matter what Jeff or Brad or Alex or Patrick or Vinny think of it, because I'm another human being with a separate brain. (Not trying to call out Mr. Muir on anything either. Legitimately though, of the little I saw of Massive Chalice, that games looks doooope.) Even then, that shit would be HILARIOUS. And the most fucked up part about it is that it wouldn't even not be true!
As a matter of fact, I want EVERY Quicklook from now on to start with a short video of Dave Lang handing Jeff $100 in 1 dollar bills. Then, Jeff shouts, "1,000 Stars!" as he holds up a physical copy of Divekick and Killer Instinct...somehow he got disc versions, I don't know. You know why? Because who cares? That's why. Giant Bomb/Kotaku/IGN/Polygon/Game Informer TELL me about video games. And then I play the the games I like. I don't play what they TELL me is good.
Now, with aaaaall that said, I actually trust Giant Bomb. I wouldn't be a paying subscriber if I didn't think these guys got it. And I know they get it. Video games are entertainment. Giant Bomb is entertainment. They entertain, and I watch. And I love them for it. And that goes for everybody on the staff. If even one of them was shitty, I don't think the site would work. I know the site wouldn't work. Seriously, you guys have accomplished something real weird here.
Real talk, all this 'Gamergate' nonsense sounds like an excuse for a whole lot of people to push their petty, hateful and ignorant views on others. "Dishonest journalism is ruining video games!" "Women are ruining video games!" No, shitty people are ruining video games. Grand Theft Auto 5 and Gone Home and Depression Quest and Yoshi's Island are all video games. Deal with it. (And by 'video games' I mean 'interactive entertainment', but that doesn't sound as good, and that really sucks.)
But not DOTA. As far as I can tell, DOTA is a vortex of fear and self-loathing. You know I'm not wrong.
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