Way Back When...

Come with me, if you will, on a trip back in time.



A trip back to the wild and murky days of early- to mid-October, 2004.



A mysterious time when "reports estimate" that the PSP will be between $250 and $300 (or, alternatively, "under $300" or "between 25,000 and 30,000 yen").



A time when, depending on who you ask, either there are "hints of delay," questions of "another delay" or "analysts forsee[ing] delay" of the PSP, possibly to November, 2005 (or, if you asked Sony, no delay).



Seems like ancient history now, doesn't it?



Just because the conventional wisdom was wrong this time doesn't mean that these sources were wrong to report it. But this should serve as a reminder to never simply assume the conventional wisdom as correct without further review.



Kudos, then, to Business Week for challenging the status quo and examining the case for a lower than expected PSP price point days before the announcement (as picked up by TVG, Gaming Horizon, Spong et al).



Kinda makes you wonder how accurate the election's conventional wisdom will be, eh?

Headline of the Moment

"Not many San Andreas faults so far"

-Dan Hill on his blog, City of Sound

Quote of the Moment

"Video games are so mainstream it's beside the point to convince you that they are mainstream."

-Jonathan Simpson-Bint, president of gaming magazine publisher Future Network USA, in yet another article trying to convince people that gaming is mainstream.

San Andreas Shakes Things Up

You've known this day would come for months now. You've been guessing at the name even longer. Pre-release hype has practically assured it will be one of the best selling games of all time. Now, it's finally here. What do you do to cover the release of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas? Well...

• If you're GameSpot, you accompany a standard release story (which describes the game, "for those who have just awakened from a two-year coma") with prominent links to a review, a bunch of movies and screen shots on the top of every page of the site.



• If you're IGN, you cap off weeks of endless features and news tidbits with... a one paragraph news story announcing the release. Oh, and a sizable set of images, movies and a large review on your part, as well.



• If you're CNN/Money, you take a different angle and discuss the surprising effect the release is having on Take-Two's stock. (You may also be surpised that GameSpot posts a similar story four minutes later)



• If you're MTV, you do an interesting experiential piece that captures the breathless anticipation and first sleepless night spent with the game.



• If you're the local TV news you comment on the throngs of people assembled to buy the game and touch on the violence issue.



• If you're Reuters, you also touch on the violence issue while discussing the sales and business impact of the game's release.



• If you're an Xbox-exclusive site, you either ignore it or quickly mention it before returning to breathless Halo 2 anticipation.



• If you're GamesIndustry.biz, you post the press release and leave it at that.



• If you're a site I didn't mention, you probably at least mentioned it.



• If you're just a gamer, you're probably too busy playing the game to read any of this.

The Ombudsman Asks: Your First Time

It's Monday, so it's time once again to turn the spotlight on you as... The Ombudsman Asks:



This week's question: What was the first exposure to video game journalism?



Were you an early adopter of magazines like Replay? Were you one of the many that made Nintendo Power the most popular children's magazine for a time? Did you get a free subscription to Sega Visions for registering your Genesis? Were you attracted to the glossy covers of an early Next Generation and immediately hooked?



Feel free to elaborate on your early game mag experiences. Was your first from the newstand or a subscription? Was it a gift or a personal purchase? What struck you about the magazine? What annoyed you? Do you still have the magazine? If so, does the content hold up after all these years (if you don't, do you think the content would still be fresh)?



I'll get the conversation started: My first video game magazine was a copy of Nintendo Power Volume 7 (July/August 1989, Mega Man II cover). It was a gift from my favorite aunt on a trip to visit assorted relatives in New York. I was all of seven years old at the time. I clearly remember her handing it to me as we walked to the car to leave for home. It was already dark out, so I had to squint to read under the passing highway lights. My gradnma (sitting next to me) said I would damage my eyes. I didn't seem to care.



My favorite part was the Super Mario Bros. 2 tip book, which was a huge help in conquering my favorite game of the time. Unfortunately, it was only part one of the tip book, so it only helped with the first half of the game. I remember liking the Howard & Nester comic too, although I couldn't remember the content until a quick Google search just now.



Before long, I was a loyal subscriber to NP, starting with Volume 19 (Strategy Guide #4: 4-player Extra). I had no four-player games (nor a multitap), so I never even opened it, instead keeping it as a mint-condition monument to my newfound obsession. It's currently sitting in my parents' basement, (till in near-mint condition), along with hundreds of game magazines that have come to my door since (in much worse condition). I won't let my parents throw any of them out.

Edge Gets Edgier?

While scanning the latest press releases on Games Press the other day, I was surprised to see a post announcing a redesign of Edge Magazine (Registration required, and if you don't have one, you should definitely get one. If not, the rest of this post gives a good feel for the contents anyway).



This provides an interesting window for a Yank like me into the machinations of one of Great Britain's most lauded (and sometimes most derided) magazines without paying almost $115 for a subscription. I've never read an issue of Edge, so I can't tell you for sure if its "videogame magazine for grown-ups" branding fits or if it's just a tad full of itself. But I can tell you that this press release makes me believe the former.



The release starts off with some standard boilerplate about how Edge has been "internationally respected" and "award winning" since its launch in 1993. It goes on to mention how Edge is "the only videogame magazine ... that reflects the full scope of gaming's present, past and future," and is uniquely positioned "to address its widening cultural impact." While the first part might be arguable, that second part sounds much more appealing to me than another magazine filled with glowing previews and uninspired reviews.



After a bit about the visual part of the redesign, the release goes on to announce a change in Edge's mission statement, from 'the future of electronic entertainment' to 'videogame culture.' First of all, the fact that the magazine has something as lofty as a mission statement is impressive to an admitted Edge-neophyte like myself. I find it hard to imagine many American magazines declaring such a thing. Secondly, Edge's new statement reflects what they call an aggressive pursuit of "all that is interesting in gaming and imaginatively assessing its wider significance." All I can say is, it's about time.



The release also announces a new 'Time Extend' feature for the magazine, which will "follows significant titles after the pre-release hype and the post-release criticism have died down, examining the influence they had on the people who played them and on the games that followed." Many magazines are already doing something similar with increasingly popular "retro" sections, but the way Edge phrased their description here makes me think this could be a little more relevant.



After mentioning in passing that Edge has included editorials since 1999, the release announces two new writers, one a former Grand Theft Auto designer who will give "an insider's perspective on game development," the other a world traveller who will "investigate online communities and the fascinating culture that has rapidly grown around them." American magazines, which have been much slower to incorporate outside editorials, could take note at the variety of perspectives reflected in just these two names.



The release finishes with a comment from the editor that "Edge readers are knowledgeable, dedicated and highly demanding consumers," something that seems either too ludicrous or too embarrassing for most American magazines to claim.



From my outsider's perspective, I got the impression from this press release that Edge is a magazine that takes videogames very seriously and is dedicated to exploring new ways of exploring all aspects of the world of video games, two things I'm definitely in favor of. Then again, I still haven't read the magazine, and a self-laudatory press release probably isn't the most impartial way to find out about a magazine.



Still, if what they say is accurate, maybe paying $115 for a subscription isn't so ridiculous after all.

Review: The Video Game Revolution

At the very beginning of KCTS' "The Video Game Revolution," the host talks about the difficulties of making a documentary about video games that will appeal to gamers and non-gamers alike. He pledges that the non-gamers (who he calls 'older folks') will come to understand why videogames are important, both as a business and a cultural force. He promises the gamers (the 'young folks') will get a look at the hottest new games and a historical look at important games selected by expert gamers.



This all-inclusive goal is luadable, but it results in a somewhat schizophrenic presentation, that fails to cover either audience perfectly.



This is especially apparent in the first half of the two hour program. During this portion, the narrator takes us on a whirlwind tour of videogame history, blazing through subjects from the great video game crash to the explosive success of the Sony PlayStation with amazing speed. To their credit, the filmmakers struggled to mention as many industry-defining games, companies and moments as they can, often including interesting and nostalgic video clips from bygone eras. Unfortunately, this extensive breadth forces the film to gloss over the details of many events that simply require more explanation to be useful. The legal battles over Teris rights barely rate thirty seconds of explanation, roughly the same amount of time used to show a classic Nintendo Tetris commercial.



Perhaps more time could have been devoted to these necessary details if the film didn't constantly jump back and forth between the historical narrative and random bits of gamer culture and life. Short segments about a blind Pokemon player, a professional video game restorer, the GDFest gaming convention and more are squeezed in with the historical bits with strained segues that eat up even more time. Some of these segments are interesting, but they're so short and badly introduced in the hsow's first half that all they manage to do is destroy the viewer's focus. By the time we come back from a contemporary look at the Tokyo Game Show to talk about the rivalry between the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo Entertainment System, many viewers may be wondering exactly how the two are related.



The history is also filled with little inconsistencies and factual errors that most casual gamers won't notice but experienced players will wince at. A video of Pong is shown as the starting point for gaming before the controversy over "the first gamer" is acknowledged later in the program. Shots of classic games like Q-Bert, Punch-out!! and Goldeneye are accompanied with video of updated versions, not the originals. The discussion of the SNES mentions that the system shipped with a sequel to The Legend of Zelda which actually came out months after the system's release. Computerized animations of "Dungeon Siege II" are implied to be gameplay movies. The kinds of errors are don't totally invalidate the historical facts, but they do get pretty annoying.



This is not to say that the documentary doesn't have its good points. On the contrary, once the muddled history is mostly out of the way, the second half allows the filmmakers time to give viewers a broad understanding of some of the deeper cultural and social issues involved in gaming. Segments on the gender gap, gaming violence and gaming addication cover both sides fairly through extensive and well-editted interviews. Shorter pieces on military simulations, LAN parties, professional gaming teams and online gaming romances are concise and good at capturing the human side of the issues. Bits of interviews with industry spokesmen like Nolan Bushnell, Henry Jenkins and Seamus Blackley and journalists like Steven Kent and Rusel DeMaria provide surprisingly lucid quotes on the business, cultural and even philosophical aspects of games.



But in the end, watching "The Video Game Revolution" is like digging through a bargain bin full of used games, where the gems of interest are somewhat obscured by the massive wastes of time. I can't help but think that a short series of hour-long shows, each dealing with one of the many issues crammed into this documentary, could have been a bellweather for intelligent game discussion on TV. As it stands, the two-hour documentary is an over-ambitious and only somehwat successful attempt to fit a very large subject into a very small package.

Are They Mistakes, or Are They Mistaken?

GameDaily recently got some attention in certain circles for their recent feature on "7 Bad Mistakes that Good Game Journalists Make." I thought I'd widen that circle a bit by adding my own comments on GD's comments. I recommend reading the article first, but if you don't want to I've included the seven "mistakes" and a quote representative of the argument for each below.



1. Right Reviewer Wrong Game

"A brutal review based on the game's merits is one thing. Being summarily dismissed because of the game's topic is quite another."



Sadly, I see this problem as endemic to the video game journalism beast. Because of the sheer number and variety of games released and the amount of time required to play even the best one's fully, it's almost impossible to find a reviewer that is equally well versed in all genres of games. Without having access to anyone with such breadth, magazines are forced to employ a variety of reviewers with depth in a few specialized genres and distribute the relevant reviews to them accordingly. This becomes a problem when a game comes along that none of the reviewers is particularly well-equipped to speak about from experience, as is bound to happen to even the best-staffed publications.



2. The Preview Gloss

However, judging games by previews is like hooking up at last call. You go home at 2 with 10 and wake up at 10 with a 2.



I'm in almost total agreement here. I rarely read the previews anymore if there is other unread content in a publication simply because I know exactly how each of them will read. When every single preview is so glowing, simply reading the table of contents is enough to know which games the publication will be gushing about for months to come. Then again, making previews more scathing would likely lead to less press access when the next big name game comes around.



One possible solution: make previews more descriptive and less subjective. Talk about the game's, how far it is in development, get some quotes from the developer and tell the readers to expect a review when it comes out. The previews might be a little drier, but they'll be loads fairer.



3. The Email Interview

Lazy interviews are usually less informative than reprinted press releases.



I disagree that an e-mail interview is neccesarily more "lazy" than a phone interview. If the journalist does his research beforehand and carefully considers his questions in advance, an e-mail interview can be just as interesting as a phone interview. Allowing the interviewee to prepare their response can also lead to fewer unchecked facts being inadvertantly thrown about. Also, in my experience, e-mail is often the only option when journalist and interviewee schedules are simply incompatible. I do agree that follow-up questions are a good policy, though, even if they can't be immediate in e-mail interviews.



4. Yesterday's News

Since the days of Next Generation magazine, no magazine has affirmatively taken steps to establish itself as the industry's authoritative feature publication



If we ever see a magazine that handles news features as well as Next Generation, you can be sure I'll be a subscriber. Unfortunately, the Internet has made print magazines neglect news rather than develop it into something deeper than the same press release blrubs that were on the Internet weeks ago. This development would take a large investment of money and manpower, but I think the first publication willing to risk it will see good return on their investment.



5. Copy Cat Features

Deja vu is sometimes unsettling and almost always boring.



As far as game-related features go, this is almost to be expected. Certain games get so much grass roots hype that gamers simply clamor for all the information they can get, which forces magazines to cover them as much as they can. I agree, though, that features that aren't directly related to a specific game could use some spicing up. More creative, broad and in-depth looks at the artistic, business, and cultural sides of gaming could do wonders for expanding the appeal of these publications.



6. The "Look what we got!" Stories

More stories about random free stuff mean fewer stories focusing on deserving games.



Yeah, that's pretty much true, although so far most publications seem to have kept this kind of thing contained to one or two pages in the back. Then again, I think that if a magazine is going to call itself a video game magazine, it should completely eliminate everything that doesn't relate to video game in at least some indirect manner. Leave the article on anime, comics and "gear" to magazines that focus on these things or to multi-purpose magazines. If you're going to have a video game focus, stay focused on it.



7. Summary Strategies

With such limitations on space, the focus for magazine strategies has to be laser sharp or else it's worthless.



In its waning years, I remember Next Generation trying out a new section that brought game strategies direct from the developer. These articles provided gameplay tips but also some insight on the game design process. Unfortunately, they were still strategy guides, and therefore of limited interest to anyone who hadn't actually played the game. The same goes for less ambitious magazine strategies -- most of your readership probably hasn't played any given game and therefore much of your strategy space is as good as wasted on them.

Quote of the Moment

"The fanciful racetracks ... don't redeem the atrocious racing and so-bad-it's-good-oh-wait-it's-just-bad [emphasis added] dialogue."

-Unsigned review of Choro Q in Electronic Gaming Monthly 185 (Dec. 2004)

The Ombudsman Asks: What Genres Do You Like?

Welecome to the second edition of "The Ombudsman Asks." You probably know the setup from the first edition so let's get right to it.



This week's question: What genre of video game journalism do you like most?



Just as video games can be lumped into distinct boxes like first-person shooter and platformer, so to can video game publications usually be broken down into a few distinct sections: news, editorials, interviews, reviews, previews, and features chief among them. Other sub-genres like retro reviews and hardware reviews are becoming more prevalent as the industry grows. Then there are the ancilliary genres that seem to be creeping in to a growing number of game mags: toy reviews, anime news, movie interviews, etc., etc.



All these genres are neccesary for a well-balanced publication, but most readers have one section that they jump to first. Hit the comment link below and tell us what section that is.

Quote of the Moment

"... In fact, this kind of outside-the-Xbox thinking [emphasis added] represents the next frontier for the lucrative interactive gaming industry ..."

-Jose Antonio Vargas, Problems You Can Shake a Joystick At, The Washington Post

A New Schedule (again)

Remember when I promised to post features on this blog every Tuesday and Thursday. That's not quite working out as I expected it to. This is for a few reasons, many of which have been largely invisible to the reader.



One reason is sometimes I'm left waiting to hear back from some sources so I can't post a planned feature on the Thursday I planned to (and scrounging together a backup usually results in a rushed, messy post). Another reason some weeks is that I'd rather post a feature Tuesday and Wednesday. And finally, sometimes I have other plans Thursday night.



All three of these apply this week.



So, new plan: Still keeping with the regular posting, I will strive to get at least one post up every Monday through Thursday. Sometimes these will be long, featurey posts, other times they'll simply be quick links with a bit of comment. Sometimes there'll be right in the middle. Sometimes there will be more than one post on a given day, but there will always be at least one every Monday through Thursday.



So, in that spirit, here's a quick link to an article by Ombudsman reader Joshua Fishburn about problems in recent reviews of Midway Arcade Treasures, Volume 2. Joshua argues that the game's apparent glitches were neglected by some outlets, including ones that described the game as "arcade perfect":



Any review that does not detail the triumphs as well as the pitfalls of such a collection is not useful to the reader. Reviews that loosely toss around the phrase "arcade perfect" are similarly useless, as they cripple its meaning. It should only be used to describe games that are frame-for-frame and note-for-note identical to their arcade counterparts.



If you really want to get down to the nitty-gritty, it's not "arcade perfect" unless you have the arcade joystick and button setup too, I suppose.



But outside of that, I think part of the problem here is two different meanings of "arcade perfect." Where Joshua sees this as meaning "frame-for-frame and note-for-note identical," it could be argued that any home version that uses emulated code instead of reverse-engineered code could be considered "arcade perfect" in the sense that it is running off the same inherent base (if I lost you in the last sentence, then you need to probably learn a little more about the technical side of game conversion. Or I need to start writing better).



Then again, the overuse of the term could just be lazy use of a cliche to signify something as a relatively authentic home conversion. I'm not sure which I'd say is more likely right now, but I'm sure you readers have some thoughts on the subject. Leave 'em using the "comments" link below.

The Ombudsman Sells Out (again)

Yes, again (see last paragraph).



As you may have noticed, there's a few new ad-like things on the right sidebar of the page (in addition to the Google Ads that have made me a young millionaire in a matter of weeks). The first is a link to Project DU (for Digital Universe), a new blog aggregator being promoted by SBC Communications. SBC pays me a small sum every month to be able to use my Atom feed in their program and list my site on their Games page. In exchange, I give them the link button on the right. I don't really think it's a fair trade for them, but I'm not complaining.



The second is the now-familiar BlogAds box that graces many a successful blog (especially political blogs). Currently there are no ads, but any of you who have a few bucks (and I mean very few... my rates are reasonable) and want to reach a reliable audience of a few hundred dedicated opinion-makers in the video game industry should feel free to order an ad.



But enough about me, let's talk about Happy Puppy. In a move similar to the now-infamous McDonalds/IGN ad buy Happy Puppy seems to have recently been completely covered by ads for Paper Mario 2: The Thousand-Year Door. The ads are everywhere: In the usual adbox near the top of the page, in a sidebar on the right, in the site logo, and, almost subliminally, in the background of the front page's main content boxes. Even some of the section headings have been redone in Paper Mario font. I've taken a screenshot so you can see for yourself, even if the ads eventually go away.



Now, as I've shown above, I'm not against making money. If people want to get paid to write about videogames all day, than ads are a necessary nuisance in any publication. But the ads have to be clearly separate from the content, especially when the subject you're advertising is the same as the one you are covering. The Happy Puppy ads mentioned above, while mildly annoying and stylistically distracting, don't really threaten this separation.



However, the naming of Paper Mario 2 as "Today's Pick" does cause a slight problem. I'd say it's possible, probable even, that the Happy Puppy editorial staff made this decision independent of the large ad buy from Nintendo, especially given that the same pick appeared on the site back in February. But to the casual visitor, the juxtaposition of so many Paper Mario 2 ads and preferential treatment for Paper Mario 2 content creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. To a first time visitor, it may not even be clear that the "Today's Pick" area isn't an ad in itself.



Anyway, I'm not going to pass total blanket judgment on this, especially without talking to someone at Happy Puppy first (it must be said that no attempt was made to contact them before I went shooting my mouth off here). I'd like to hear your opinions on this, though, and on the impact of ads in general on game journalism. As always, post your comments using the link below.

Whose Press Release Is It, Anyway?

Ombudsman reader Brian Crecente, of the always excellent Red Assed Baboon, recently wrote me an e-mail with the somewhat accusatory title: "Plagarism or just being lazy?" Brian pointed me to a TeamXBox article that "apparently just cut and paste the press release and slapped a byline over it." Brian included a copy of the press release to prove his point and, sure enough, they are exactly the same (as far as I can tell). Brian asks, "I suppose it's shy of plagiarism since the people who wrote the press release will be ecstatic, but it seems unethical in some way. What do you think?"



Before answering, I felt I needed some more information, so I went straight to the source and e-mailed the article's author, TeamXBox News/Hardware Editor César A. Berardini, to ask a few basic questions about the article. His response appears in italics below, interspersed with my comments (not italicized). The bold-italics indicates my original questions to Cesar.



hi Kyle,



How is it going? Thanks for contacting TeamXbox. Regarding your question, yes, this is a "common practice", as you call it, not only on TeamXbox but in many other sites that focus on deliver [sic] news (instead of stories) first. It's been our style since 1999.



I deal with how much of a "common practice" this is below, but here I want to focus on delivering "news (instead of the stories) first." There's nothing wrong with that, but why not call a spade a spade and let the audience know that what they're reading was written by a public relations professional and not by you? This way you can get the information up quickly and still represent it fairly to the reader.



That article you mention sounds more like a media alert than a press release to me, and even press releases are modified a bit so they are easy to read. We also have found that companies don't like their info to be modified or edited and because we believe in freedom of speech for both parties, we let our visitors post any comment, no matter how hard that may sound to the company issuing that press info. As an example, everytime there is a news about an EA game, a user called FIG has tough comments about EA and its games. We have never deleted/edited his comments or anyone else's feedback.



Notwithstanding the difference between a "media alert" and a press release (a purely semantic one, as far as I can tell) I surely wouldn't advocate editing any PR information that came directly from a game company. Besides angering the PR folks, it would be more than a slight misrepresentation to, in effect, put words into their mouths. But I don't think it's any less of a misrepresentation to put up an unedited press release (or "media alert" or anything from a public relations person) and posting it under your byline with no indication of the true author, as was done here.



As for the comment about not editing comments, that is neither here nor there (but I do think it's a commendable stand).



Do you feel this is a common practice elsewhere in video game journalism? It used to be a common practice in PC news sites and TeamXbox introduced this style to video game news site. Then many other (video game coverage) sites followed us.



He's right, to an extent. A quick google search of the first ten words of the press release confirms that at least a handful of sites ran the press release verbatim. However, some of them actually identified the article as a press release, either by shouting FROM THE PRESS RELEASE, by using a more discrete [PR] note on the main page (though no indication appeared in the actual article page), or by grouping it under the "press releases" section of a newswire. TeamXBox did none of these things.



Do you feel it is clear to readers that this article is a press release and not original writing by yourself? Yes, it is clear to anyone when it is a press release since press releases have a format. "Company announced today that" (...) "Quote by executive" (...) "Game Description" Many of our visitors post the same press releases in our forums. They know they can find them in businesswire, yahoo! news or google news.



First of all, this article does not have any of those phrases or patterns in it and, to me, reads more like a quick news blurb than a press release (and I've read my fair share of both). I think it would be hard for an average reader to make this distinction, unless they troll "businesswire, yahoo! news or google news," regularly (which I assume most of them don't).



Press releases in forum posts are, again, a whole 'nother issue.



Does TeamXBox make any effort to make this clear to the reader? Same question again. There is no need for such a thing. The first thing you learn in journalism is that the audience is not dumb. They are smart and they always choose what they think is the best for them. One million users choose TeamXbox because they think it is the best site covering Xbox.



While I asked before if it was clear to the reader, here I'm asking what effort you make to make it clear to the reader. Obviously there is none. One of the first things I learned in journalism, actually, was to assume the reader is usually not as smart as you are on the particular topic you write about. After all, you write about it for a living, while they are just a random reader trying to learn more. They may not be dumb, but they don't necessarily have the savvy to figure out the difference between a press release and a poorly crafted article. What is "best for them" is probably knowing who actually wrote the article they are reading, no matter how many of them there are.



Do you feel there is anything wrong with putting your name in the byline of an article such as this that you did not write? No, there is nothing wrong with it since most of these news also include screenshots, movies and sometimes an editor's note. In the past, we used to have other fields (Source Name, Source URL, etc.) but they were discarded when we found out no one cared about them or clicked in those links. We started to use instead (like many other sites) a "thanks [source name+URL] for the heads-up" line.



First of all, I see no "thanks... for the heads-up" line anywhere in this article. Secondly, just because people don't click the link to find the same information you are reposting on your site (and why would they... they just read it) doesn't mean they don't care about the notice. Personally, I like to know when what I'm reading is written by a game company and not a game journalist, and I don't think I'm totally alone. The effort it would take to correctly source the article is not a siginificant barrier either. As for the point about screenshots and movies, those are often provided by the game company too. The editor's note might be by you, but it should be clear to the reader that the rest of the copy is not.



I hope these answers help you in your quest.



Let me add one more thing; I don't think there is a need to use a sentence such as "If I do not hear back from you, I will be forced to write on this matter without comment from you." for the simple reason it sounds more like a threat than an inquiry.



I included this line because it is true... I can't really write an article with a comment from you if I don't get a comment from you. But I did get a comment from you, and now I've commented on that comment. And the circle of life continues.



So, in answer to the original question, "plagiarism or just being lazy?" I'd have to say a little of both. Plagiarism because it doesn't correctly identify (or even hint at) the true author, and laziness because it would only take a few second to correctly identify (or even hint at) the true author.

The Ombudsman Asks: Where Do You Read?

If you read this site regularly, you probably get tired of me lecturing like I know everything about videogame journalism. Well, frankly, I get tired of lecturing too. Maybe if you all knew more I could stop.



Seriously, though, the best way to learn is to ask, so in an effort to change the tone around here a little, the start of what I hope will be a regular VG Ombudsman feature: The Ombudsman Asks. Basically, I ask a question and you guys answer it using the comments link below.



Today's question: Where and when do you read about videogames?



I don't mean "What videogame web sites do you go to?" or "What videogame magazines do you read?" but where do you read about videogames? At the computer? In the bathroom? At the breakfast table? In bed? On the subway? On your favorite easy chair? On TV (technically watching, not reading, but I'm flexible)?



I also want to know about general environment and timing. Do you read with music or the TV on in the background? What kind of lighting do you like? Do you read during the endless loading screens during Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. Do you read while you should be working? Do you read while you should be reading something else?



Again, use the comments link below to answer.

Review: "Power Up" by Chris Kohler

When I was 7 years old, my parents got me a copy of Nintendo Comics System, a short-lived U.S. comic series featuring all my favorite Nintendo characters. Hidden in the pages of that decidedly child-targeted magazine was an ad for a Game Boy game called Fist of the North Star. The ad featured two small, black-and-white screenshots against a large drawing of a black-haired male martial artist standing amid a desolate, red plain. The game screenshots were wholly unimpressive, but I couldn't stop staring at that exquisitely drawn full-page image that was like nothing I hadseen before. The unique look of that picture stuck with me, but I could never quite put my finger on exactly why.



Chris Kohler's Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life goes a long way towards helping me understand.



Power Up's main thesis -- that the export of Japanese video games to America has brought the cultures closer together -- will resonate with any video game fanboy that has gone on to develop a love of Japanese anime, manga, or culture in general. The discussions of what makes Japanese game design unique will appeal to players that grew up with The Legend of Zelda and wondered why the Grand Theft Auto just felt different, despite the similar core gameplay. The details of Japanese gaming life and culture will satisfy any American who longs for the almost mythical gaming utopia of Japan. In short, Power Up is a pocket guide to understanding and appreciating Japanese culture through video games.



Unfortunately, it takes a little while to get to the best parts of this guide. The book spends a bit of time at the beginning giving a very abbreviated summary of video game history, both eastern and western, using information largely borrowed from more in-depth video game history books. Reader's of David Sheff's Game Over and Steven Kent's Complete History of Video Games will recognize many, if not most, of the historical events and trivia. Though Kohler adds the occasional unique observation or factoid, the history portions have in general been covered better elsewhere.



The book also struggles when Kohler tries to discuss the cinematic elements from a variety of classic Japanese games and analyze what makes them important. These analyses are relatively original and touch on some interesting ideas, but the sheer number of games discussed and the large amount of space given to simple description of the scenes (presumably added for a non-gamer audience) prevent them from getting much farther than the surface issues. This type of analysis is intriguing and worthy of more discussion (perhaps in another book), but here it seems unfocused and overly sparse.



But these weak spots are almost necessary to set up the strong, varied look at the video games and culture that comes after. Power Up discusses in explicit detail how the design and aesthetic of Japanese games has affected and been affected by both eastern and western culture. Kohler's intimate understanding of Japanese language and culture is a big help here. Power Up has entire chapters devoted to the differences between the Japanese and American games and game markets, covering everything from licensed products and game soundtracks to garbled translations and where to find games bargains in Tokyo's Akihabara district. The book is packed full of information that will be totally new to most Westerners -- some of it eye-openeing, some of it trivial almost to the point of uselessness (i.e. the Japanese restaurant Segafredo has no relation to the game company Sega), yet surprisingly interesting nonetheless.



Kohler also plays to his strengths in interviews with famous developers, both Eastern and Western, that bring out the human side of what often seems like a sterile and artificial medium. These discussions show a journalist's eye for getting the story straight, but also show a fan's curiosity and sense of wonder at getting to sit down with a personal hero. The reader gets the sense that Kohler wants to understand game design by first getting to know the person behind that game design, a process that brings out some very interesting quotes.



Power Up is a great first attempt to more fully explaining a complex foreign culture that has been hiding in the plain sight of American gamers for decades. Here's hoping that the issues Kohler brings up in this book will be discussed further in other volumes to follow.

GMR Has It Covered

A few months ago, I spent $5 at my local Electronics Boutique to get an EB Edge card. As a side bonus, I also got a subscription to GMR, three issues of which were recently redirected to my new address by the post office. I haven't really looked at any of them yet, but I will say that the covers alone are almost worth my $5.



What makes them good?

• A dominant graphic: Each cover has one large, strong, graphical element -- a character from the featured game in that issue. No cluttered screenshots. No inch-tall characters in the corner. Just one dominant graphic.
  
  
  
  These graphical elements include: A menacing looking Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas gangster with a gun pointed slightly towards the reader (September), a pastel, canvas Paper Mario reading a piece of paper (October) and a polka-dot-bikini-clad Dead or Alive Ultimate girl in a black-and-white, faux newsprint style. Each of these graphics are high resolution, and large enough to nearly all parts of the cover that don't have text. These graphics focus the cover and provide a strong hook for a reader skimming the magazine racks.
• The logo: Each cover features the large, sytlized GMR logo at the top of the page. The logo is big enoug hto read, but not so big that it dominates the page. Each cover placed the logo at a slightly different location, in a different color scheme (made to match the dominant graphic above), but they are all still highly recognizable and attractive. GMR's logo is actually a visual elemnt instead of cland window dressing.
• Large, concise text: Outside of game titles (which are used sparingly), page information (see below) and an Electronic Boutique discount teaser, the September issue has 14 words on the cover. The October issue has eight. The October issue has three (Xclusive Xbox Reviews). The game titles are big andthe rest of the text is small, which is how it should be.
  
  
  
  Readers at a newsstand are scanning these covers for information on the newest games, not a feature on "5 games to scare you silly" (to take an example from the latest GamePro). Once they open the magazine, they may very well be interested in such features, but for the most part they're not going to stand there scrutinizing the entire table of contents on the cover. Keep it focused: catch their eye with a big graphic and text element and get them to open up the magazine. The content should be able to handle it from there.
• Page numbers for features: Some features on the cover have small text above the title in the form "Page 86 //FEATURE//HALO 2" to tell the reader exactly where to flip to for the featured content. The October issue didn't have this, but I hope they'll bring it back for the next issue.

Look for more generalized opinions on GMR once I get a chance to read it some more.

The "Letter of the Month" Racket

"...With a single DVD player, I can watch every movie imaginable. I don't need a Paramount player to see Mission: Impossible... "

-Cara



"...For example, I have one DVD player, and amazingly enough that DVD player will play every single DVD in America. I don't have to get out my MGM player to watch Spaceballs or my Paramount player to watch Zoolander..."

-Cara--Via Internet



The first quote above comes from the latest issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly (Issue 184, Nov. 2004). The second quote comes from the latest issue of GamePro (Issue 194, Nov. 2004). Both quotes come from letters that won the "letter of the month" contest in their respective magazines.



For her trouble, Cara won a Logitech Cordless Action Controller from GamePro and a copy of "some game or another" from EGM (A picture of Def Jam: Fight for NY ran with Cara's letter in EGM, but it doesn't explicitly say that is the game she won.)



EGM ran a more concise version of the letter with the headline "You must assimilate" while GamePro's version is at least twice as long and headlined "A Modest Proposal." The EGM response focuses on the business model that keeps the competing system entrenched while the GamePro answer focuses on historical competition that led to the current system.



The fact that two different magazines (from two different publishers) decided to print and award prizes to similar letters from the same author is most likely simply a coincidence. But the occurence does point to some unscrupulous tactics that can end up unfairly skewing perception of public opinion on an issue.



The first tactic is a letter-writing campaign, in which a person or small group of people organize to write similar or identical letters to as many publications as they can, hoping one will stick enough in an editor's mind to get published. Sometimes these campaigns are legitimate, grass roots efforts for change, but other times the authors will misrepresent facts and their own identities in an effort to exaggerate public support for often controversial issues.



While this happens quite often in the newspaper realm (.pdf), I'm not aware of any such organized campaigns against the specialist videogame press. Still, videogame editors should remain mindful of the tactic. If you suddenly begin to notice an influx in letters with a similar, slanted message, you might want to consider whether they are all actually by different people.



The second tactic to sway perception of reader opinion is often referred to as "comment bombing." This is the practice of filling comment areas in blogs or message boards with positive comments in order to generate positive buzz, usually for a product. Comment bombings are often allegedly sponsored by PR companies as a part of a guerilla marketing strategy that injects advertising into places that consumers are unlikely to notice it and tune it out.



Online videogame publications are very suceptible to comment bombing, which can be much harder to detect than a letter-writing campaign, given the relatively anonymous nature of the Internet. But tactics like IP tracking and required registration can help reveal posters disingenuously claiming to be fans while actually writing from a game company headquarters. Other times, comments that seem overly positive in a sea of negative comments are often accused of being posted by covert PR employees (as in the recent Driv3r debacle). but its hard to prove that such comments are not just honest differences of opinion.



Bottom line: Editors should be mindful of the comments and opinions of their readers, but also be mindful of the potential for a dedicated few to misrepresent those opinions.

Fable Fables and Early Reviews

Seems I've been a little delinquent in the "interesting links" type posts as of late. Let's see if we can't fix that.



If you didn't read Peter Molyneux's public apology for Fable you should. If you're too busy for that, here's a relevant excerpt.



"However, what happens is that we strive to include absolutely [every feature] we've ever dreamt of and, in my enthusiasm, I talk about it to anyone who'll listen, mainly in press interviews.



...



I have come to realise that I should not talk about features too early so I am considering not talking about games as early as I do. This will mean that the Lionhead games will not be known about as early as they are, but I think this is the more industry standard."



A few random thoughts on this issue:

• Will this public apology affect how much information developers are willing to give game journalists before a game's release? I doubt it. While Molyneux and a few others may like to take the high road and admit responsibility when promised features don't come to pass, most developers and PR people will continue to feed the hype-machine that usually leads to more sales and presitge for them and their game.
• Should this make the press wary of reporting on promised features too long before a game's release? I don't think so, though I do think it should be made clear to the reader, either explicitly or implicitly, that early previews do not necessarily accurately represent final versions of a game.
• This kind of thing points to the journalist's responsibility as a filter for reasonable claims. If a journalist hears a developer talking up a feature (or set of features) that sound absolutely ludicrous, they should call the developer on it, perhaps by asking about how realistic these projections are. This can be tough to do on the spot and to a developer's face, but it's this kind of thing that seperates a good journalist from a great one.

That not enough for you? OK, ravenous reader, how about this short interview with PC Gamer's Chuck Osborn, the guy who got the "world exclusive first review" of Half-Life 2. The interview is mostly about the game and not that interesting, but there's a few interesting bits on review spoilers, non-disclosure agreements, and how it feels to have the first review of a sure-fire blockbuster:



It was a mixture of excitement and trepidation, because of the responsibility of being the first one to review it.



I think I speak for all my readers when I say that's a responsibility we'd be happy to take off your shoulders, Chuck.

Is GamePro 'Reader Friendly'?

Sorry for the late post, but I was too busy watching last night's U.S. presidential debates to write about videogames. I hope you were similarly occupied.



On Wednesday, I had the privilege of attending a panel discussion hosted by the American Society of Business Publisher's and Editors through my job at NPR (don't ask how this relates directly to my work. I'm not sure either.) The subject of the panel was crafting good covers, which was interesting in its own right.



For most of the panel, though, I was glued to The July/August issue of "Editor's Notes", the ASBPE newsletter, which announced the organization's Magazine of the Year awards. The winners in both the over-80,000 and under-80,000 circulation categories (ComputerWorld and CSO) are published by International Data Group. IDG also publishes what was once the most popular videogame magazine in the country, GamePro.



In a sidebar to the awards article, "Editor's Note" lists "7 Ways CSO is Reader Friendly." I decided to pick up the latest issue of GamePro (Issue 194/Nov. 2004), to see how it stacks up against what the ASBPE says is one of IDG's best publications in 'reader friendliness.'



1. Page numbers on the cover provide quick, easy access to stories.



Nope, no page numbers on the cover, but I only have to flip through eight pages of ads and masthead to get to the table of contents, (compare this to magazines like Rolling Stone to see how it could be worse.). The ToC does have large numbers and headlines, and an alphabetical "Game Finder" on the second page of the contents is also useful.



2. People cover tell readers the magazine is about them.



If you think the main characters of Halo 2, Metroid Prime 2 and Killzone are like you then, yeah, I guess this applies. Otherwise it follows the lead of most videogame magazines in going with a character-based cover instead of person-based cover. The only significant exception I can think of to this rule is Next Generation, which would occasionally put an industry luminary on the front. But I digress.



GamePro's cover is a crowded mess, to put it mildly, squeezing 11 game names and other assorted text in between five character pictures and two thumbnail screenshots. On the one hand, putting everything you think is mildly interesting might get a few more readers to take a second look at your cover. On the other hand, the lack of a singular focus makes it hard for casual glancers to process the cover quickly, which might mean they'll pass it by. In general, I'd suggest they simplify a bit.



3. "Story" boxes on features quickly tell the reader exactly what they'll get from the story.



No "story boxes," but the cover feature on first-person shooters does feature a sidebar list of "All-time best selling FPS games for each system." That informative t's right below a pretty tasteless "guest review" of Halo 2 by an inexplicably Scottish-accented Samus Aran, so the sidebars are a wash.



4. Document number listed at the bottom of feature articles, provides easy access to the article and related information on the CSO website.



No document numbers, but they do feature a "Get More Online" graphic at the bottom of some features encouraging you to visit the website. Once you get there, though, you're on your own to find the information.



5. Bios at the ends of articles solicit feedback



Nope. Not even a real name at the end of the article to let you know who wrote it. But they do encourage feedback through a well done letters section and some unique letter-response feature like "Buyers Beware" (investigating glitches and rip-offs) and GeekSpeak (technical issues explained in English).



6. "Tear-out" features provide concise information in a format that can be passed around.



Nothing like this. The articles are pretty concise, though.



7. Experienced staff in knowledgeable about the market.



They seem to know what they're talking about for the most part, and they convey this knowledge to the readers.



So, after all this, the final verdict is pretyt mixed. Do you readers think GamePro and other game magazines are "reader friendly?" Let us know using the comments link below.