Video game journalism is killing video games.

Every shit storm that comes along the video game industry manages to make itself seem less credible and proceeds to kill the very little credibility it has left (if it has any at all is debatable). It descended in to nothing but click bait to get more money from ads, the interests of the people who visit the sites aren't the priority of the people making the content. It has come down to people in the industry are shamelessly making sensationalised content to increase site visitors.

The surge of Anti-Advertising software had press 'celebrities' crawling out of the wood work protesting how dare people use browser extensions, look at Game Trailers for example. On some websites certain journalists have turned it in to a platform to push their own political agenda which is the most damaging factors the industry faces today along with shit like Doritogate, IGN putting in one of their own to Mass Effect and Gawker making up things about David Jaffe. Journalism in the industry needs to stay neutral as possible if it wants to improve and gain some journalistic integrity. The very people in the gaming press that are doing this practice are the very people that are hurting the industry the most.

Fucking stop it.

I think video games are doing just fine. If you feel the Enthusiast Press scene or forum communities are ruining your enjoyment of video games, then you should stop following them.

It's true, video games are dead because of the internet. There are no more video games, they have been killed. If only nobody talked about video games we would still have video games.

I think you can't see the circus for the clowns, Onomatopoeia.

Depends where you go.

On Giant Bomb, they're just guilty of pushing their North Korean agenda that one time and starting wars via Bombcast.

big, if true

First off hardly anything of what is reported is "journalism" what Patrick does THAT is journalism he digs and finds a story. Places like Kotaku and most other news sites just regurgitate press releases or make speculative opinion posts. Its never been about journalism at its core. Secondly, the fact that you think it should be neutral is laughable. If everything was entirely neutral it would be boring and stale. Personality and opinions is what makes people writing about the games industry fun and exciting to read.

Follow the money.

Sexism bullshit.

That shit ain't a game.

Chemtrails.

Other stuff.

Rabble rabble rabble.

Hear hear brother.

#jointheconversation

You know most people who play games have never come in contact with any of the bullshit you mention? You're in too deep, man. Fucking eject.

There's no getting off this ride

We're having a discussion about video game journalism again, huh?

Tell me more about Doritogate.

So it goes.

@csl316: AWESOME

Dude, unplug.

I don't need to read video game journalism to have a good time, Maaaaaaaannnnnn.

I would argue that none of the stuff you mentioned actually is "journalism" and has no obligation to maintain absolute objectivity. The vast majority of video game media coverage is editorial, which by definition is opinion-based. If you don't like the opinions of a particular person or outlet, seek out other opinions.

As for the issues of integrity that you touch on, that's an entirely different discussion, but 99.999% of all that follow the money conspiracy theory junk is total nonsense.

If you find that you absolutely can't accept an ounce of opinion creeping into video game coverage, I'm sure there's probably some soulless website similar to Kotaku just without any commentary at all that cranks out nothing but press releases and trailers, and there's always http://www.objectivegamereviews.com/ for your game reviews.

I'm going to share a little secret about journalism.

It is never neutral.

Do you have any specific examples?

But how could they be killing something THAT'S ALREADY DEEEEEAD AGHHHHHHHHHH

When it comes to a few games, I feel like journalism and fan base can be responsible in determining a games outcome.

boredom breeds vitriol... it's ok... i'm bored too

You stop it!

Does this mean that the Star Wars franchise only exists because some key characters were bored out of their minds? Because that makes way too much sense.

Haha, you said "Doritogate" seriously in a sentence.

dude wanted to bang his sister he was so bored... those poor womp womp rats never stood a chance did they?

@jasonr86: what a season.

Quit reading dumb bullshit and you won't be so worried. Nobody matters but giantbomb, rockpapershotgun, and usgamer anyway.

This topic is dangerously presumptuous in assuming "video game journalism" ever had integrity to begin with.

EA does a better job at killing video games than any journalist did.

Also, I tune out every-time someone mentions IGN, it's like Fox News nothing ever good comes from it.

I'm getting a weird feeling that you're one of the angry people on Twitter that use the phrase "SJW" as a way to insult someone.

Sheeple.

Also, I don't understand why people imply that any journalism has integrity anymore.

I actually do think that a lot of game journalism relies on sensationalist topics and titles. It's why I don't visit Gamespot anymore - they kept releasing news related to the Xbox One and the PS4 that is just freaking click bait. The article that made me just give up was when they reported about two whole Xbox One consoles have some sort of liquid leaking out of them. Not to mention they kept reporting non-news stuff like World of Warcraft getting a new patch... just... why?

It's why I like Patrick so much, he actually reports about things that really mean something and he puts in a lot of time and effort into everything he writes. It reminds me of that amazing article on Kotaku of all places that explained the collapse of Silicon Knights, man that was an AMAZING article. We need more of that shit.

Write sensational blog article about journalists killing the industry with sensationalism.

That oughta do it. Thanks very much, Ray.

@random45: Have you tried reading more Polygon articles? That place is chock full of thorough articles like that. I may not like them for the day to day coverage, but their special features are regularly quite good.

This is a fringe element in fringe culture complaining about nutty fringe elements.

I don't think the OP has much to worry about.

@alex: Are you a game journalist?

Then... DIE!

DONGLES.

Giantbomb is the only video game site i regularly visit, I haven't ever gone to Polygon, despite people mentioning it here a few times. I've just started checking it out, and I think I might start frequenting the site now, haha. Thank you.

I'm just sick of everything being a controversy and people being way too serious about shit.
But yeah, i stopped giving a shit awhile ago.They can shoehorn their social issues and shout about it from their soapbox. I'll just be over here actually enjoying games.

PC gaming is dead.

No problem! They have some great features; so, if you like in-depth articles on games and game development, they're a nice place to check out.

People upset about others taking some things seriously would probably be helped by lightening up a bit. Don't take things so seriously! heh.

I take a lot of things seriously, but I don't let them ruin my day or my gaming experience. If people want to be serious about something, let them; it's not the end of the world. Those who seem to regularly be bothered by people taking anything seriously tend to be taking the sanctity of their hobby too seriously. Let people say what they will, and enjoy what you will enjoy. There's room for fun, seriousness, and even more fun in gaming. :)