It was nice knowing the site. Unfortunately for me since this now means all the crew I cared to follow is gone I think I'm done with the site. Good luck to everyone involved!
@bisonhero: You're adding in absolutes where I did not. I'm not "bringing out pitchforks" nor saying Giantbomb ONLY did gaming content. As other people have put it those were side things while now it feels like it's the main content.
I've been here since the launch and I've been a premium member since the offered the service, I know what kind of content they've been doing over the years and I've seen it slowly creep from videogame content as main to a flood of pop culture stuff. This site invented lets plays basically and I'm bummed there's not more quantity and unique videogame content on the site. Also now with Jeff basically saying traditional reviews are dead I'm questioning why I subscribe anymore since the new pop culture content which feels like the majority doesn't tickle my fancy.
First off, I really missed written reviews from you guys but I guess I'm apart of that diehard crowd that you mention, but I think you hit the nail on the head when it comes to the state of modern reviews. You're saving us time, not money, especially when it comes to subscription service offerings, but also time = money so it's one in the same.
Reading this review is much better than compared to anything I've read on other sites in terms of quality. I know you mention other avenues are better at conveying the thoughts of a game but to me nothing beats a tightly edited thought process of a written, or video review. There's still room out there or a Roger Ebert style reviews but I don't really see anyone in the traditional games press bringing out that kind of quality other than you anymore, which is why I've been following since the Gamespot days. You have reviewers who don't know how to get past a tutorial, complain about too much water, or compare everything to Dark Souls. Skill of reviewers is a whole separate issue but when their whole review sounds exactly like your satire of a review in the final paragraph, I think that says something about the quality of these written reviews rather than the antiquated nature of them.
So I guess the site is branching into pop culture general? I guess video games alone aren't enough to keep stuff going? Ain't mad at chasing that bag but weird to see movie critique on a video game website, especially when the movie isn't even tangentially related to a game in some way like in TANG. Just to be consistent, also thought it was weird when BOO(ze) stuff last year came out and any other movie stuff before it. But this feels like the site is now branching into a weird direction.
Interesting article. I think my view on this topic has been stated a bunch already but hopefully there's something here to add to the convo. Also I should note that I have grown up in Canada where our race/sexuality issues are a bit similar but not exactly the same as USA.
Coming from a straight white males perspective, I have always thought that, in videogames, you don't have to have a black person voice a black character, or even a white person voicing a white character. The voice actors job is to make you believe that they are X person, and in a medium where the actor isn't being seen (unless they do that face capture stuff) it comes down to pure skill. Now there are a lot of marginalized people that do have amazing skills but if they get beaten out by someone with celebrity status, or some other person who is a better fit, who happens to be white, that sucks. But the same rule applies for white people who get beaten out of a position by a minority. Tough luck whitey, but ya gotta keep truckin'. I believe that actors should do what they are paid to do, which is act. And if Laura Bailey can make me think that she's portraying a black mercenary leader, or if Terrence Carson can make me believe he's a white Greek demigod then good for them because their skill has risen above what race they were born as.
Now if you're saying that there is a bigger problem that companies aren't hiring trans, people of colour, or whatever else then I would agree. That's a issue rooted in years of systemic hatred taught by parents to children. We will see change but it's going to happen generations at a time. The article though seems to be focusing on shaming (not the right word, but I can't think of anything else for some reason) videogames themselves rather than company hiring practices.
Also there's the case of business being business, which usually isn't a great excuse for anything but sometimes it's just the reality of life. Business will go wherever the money is. If a company knows that hiring a transgendered person to play a transgendered role will sell more copies of something they will do it in a heartbeat.
It's a tough situation that, honestly, I can't relate to at all because of my "privileged position" as a white male. But it's very interesting to read ideas on a topic from a different perspective. Thanks for the article and thanks Austin for setting up these kinds of things!
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