Comments on: Online Journalism and the Loss of Integrity

By: DCBronco

DCBronco — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 16:00:09 +0000

I think this could become a huge problem. Actually it already has. We’re in the “Age of the Fanboy”. They support a certain thing no matter what. The fanboy does not think is develops into a fanboy by reading the bs of some of these sites. That and peer pressure. If a company knows that they can get support from the fanboys and the fanboys can find comfort from bs articles, we all continue to get crappy games. EA has made millions off of crap and fanboy support. Madden has been behind the times for years. There is more effort being made in the industry, but you have to sift through a lot of garbage to get to it. Even EA is slowly coming around. Don’t let me get started on Halo 3. And Final Fantasy has been around too long. Bad journalism perpetuates bad products. (Native-American cries)

By: FredFredrickson

FredFredrickson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:00:40 +0000

We’re talking about the credibility of an entire subset of the industry, JohnBrown. I don’t see any problem with sounding the alarm bells.

By: JohnBrown

JohnBrown — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 14:33:40 +0000

This is retarted, can all of you just relax, they’re just games…there’s no need to call for arms just don’t go to gamespot or ign if you don’t like them

By: FredFredrickson

FredFredrickson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:38:36 +0000

@sagat – I actually had never heard about that incident – please do not judge me just because I am, in fact, a 360 owner. I would have gladly added that piece to the article, had I known about it… but as a single human being, I can’t be all-knowing, so don’t pass off my work as “biased” just because I don’t mention things I know nothing about.

By: Kesvalk

Kesvalk — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:27:54 +0000

let’s not even talk about the Wii news being totally ignored in this sites…

the only place i can really get some news about it is on n4g and gamasutra, gamespot and IGN don’t have any news on the Ninty Console…

By: theturk

theturk — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:58:17 +0000

Talking of Halo-hype. You might fond this a good read

http://www.gamelemon.com/article_30014.jsp

By: sagat

sagat — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:37:07 +0000

When reading this i was wondering why there was no mention of one of the biggest examples of a lack of gaming journalism integrity, the Halo 3 review fiasco. However after a brief look at your blog which reveals you to be an Xbox 360 owner, it seems that your own bias has you more interested in painting a company such as Sony in a negative light instead of also criticizing a company which went a few steps worse and actually outright paid for good reviews. It’s a shame that even an article such as this can succumb to fanboy bias instead of painting a fair picture. I think anybody who was trying to look at this objectively yet chose to report on “review guides” over actual paid reviews is lacking integrity themselves.

By: theturk

theturk — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:10:55 +0000

I agree there is a lack of integrity in game reviews. I like to believe that most of us gamers read reviews with a pinch of salt and can spot the narrative that’s Bull and Hype. I have stopped buying gaming mag’s and rely more on sites run by a bunch of keen gamers, fansites and blogs, at least you know what you’re getting and they are more fun. Nothing like a little subjective fibre in the diet to make reading interesting I say.

By: Reed

Reed — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 07:11:39 +0000

check out my article on this very issue.

::self promotion::

http://rodneythepom.gametrailers.com/gamepad/index.php?action=viewblog&id=309124

/end self promotion

By: FredFredrickson

FredFredrickson — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 06:53:22 +0000

Well said, Reed (and also Xygthop and David) and – I fully agree. What we are seeing here is an online game review version of payola… and I don’t like it one bit!