We can't get no respect

If you read the Penny Arcade newsposts, (and what true gamer doesn't?) you may have seen this story in the Seattle Weekly about the comic's creators. Reading through the fairly standard profile story, I was struck by the frankness and accusatory tone of this quote:



Of course, there are plenty of other sites for compulsive gamers, but they tend to be either whores to their advertisers, or bland clones of each other, chock-full of interchangeable, weirdly earnest reviews. Consensus develops quickly in the video game world, and companies will spend a mint to generate fake buzz—flying journalists on junkets to aircraft carriers or English castles, for example. But the Penny Arcade guys talk like real gamers (if real gamers were a lot more intelligent). Their self-aware intellectualism makes playing video games seem like the height of urbanity.



Opinions like this are the reason we have to strive for a higher standard. The dedicated video game press won't get any respect until it treats itself more seriously and treats its subject with a more critical eye.