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.
Wednesday, October 20, 2004
Tuesday, October 19, 2004
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.
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)
-Unsigned review of Choro Q in Electronic Gaming Monthly 185 (Dec. 2004)
Monday, October 18, 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.
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
-Jose Antonio Vargas, Problems You Can Shake a Joystick At, The Washington Post
Thursday, October 14, 2004
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.
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.
Wednesday, October 13, 2004
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.
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.
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