They were useful in the past as a magazine by the toilet really helped.
Comment on More than 1,200 games journalists have left the media in the last two years | VGC
njm1314@lemmy.world 2 days ago
I mean I’d like to be upset but honestly video game journalism has always been the lowest form of Journalism. Mostly it’s just pure propaganda and press releases from major game companies. 90 to 95% of Articles written by these game journalists were just useless fluff.
yermaw@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
mostlikelyaperson@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Yup, I remember even back in the print era there was significant criticism about the relationships between games publishers and various magazines resulting in what was essentially advertising disguised as articles. Payment was either indirect (exclusive access to preview builds etc) or direct via in-magazine advertising. Can’t badmouth the big flagship game releases too much when EA just paid big bucks to advertise the very same title for the next view editions.
Ashtear@piefed.social 2 days ago
Maybe it’s because my experience with it goes well back into the print era, but very little of it is actual fact-finding capital “J” journalism, and even that part has only come on in the industry more recently. I’ve always put the games press in its proper buckets of “previews for access” and then game criticism. Quality for both varies, but I’m rarely disappointed when I stick to a publication I like (until the inevitable EIC churn, anyway).
Credibly_Human@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Absolutely agree. A youtube video where you can mostly ignore what theyre saying and just see the game and problems with it along with some benchmarks is all you need.
If its online, watching someone play online to get a feeling of how the community is also works, particularly if its just them playing solo for a long stretch of time not editing out toxicity.
dukemirage@lemmy.world 2 days ago
Very tiny outlets that try to do better should be supported.
bleistift2@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
Remember how Cyberpunk got hyped across the board? Not a single critical voice before launch (as far as I’ve heard). If that’s the “journalism” you’re providing, then I’m sure as hell not paying for it.
Chozo@fedia.io 2 days ago
It's hard to be critical of something that hasn't been released yet. All anybody had to go off of were statements from the developers, until the product was actually released and people could get their hands on it.
setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 2 days ago
That might be exactly part of why gaming journalism is irrelevant.
If the “news” is just repeating developer hype, then it’s just useless noise. At that point the only thing that matters are reviews, and independent YouTubers are beating the professionals in quality and trustworthiness.
So what’s left? Actual dry industry news? I suppose some small amount of people care, but not enough to support the amount of gaming journalists out there.
Little_Urban_Achiever@piefed.social 2 days ago
PC Gamers’ review was titled “Cyberjank” and the reviewer got slated for it by overhyped fanboys.