GameSpot has always been a personal favorite of mine when it came to gaming web sites. Sure, there were sites with more “street cred,” but GameSpot always seemed to present a universal level of quality. That was then, and this is now. Ever since GameSpot fired Editorial Director Jeff Gerstmann, the Internet has been ablaze with discussions of their imminent demise. Perhaps.
But all of this is missing the bigger issues, which 1Up.com Editor Sam Kennedy details in a very good blog entry. Sam’s observations about the behind-the-scenes leading up to Gerstmann’s dismissal are as fascinating as they are sad. Personally, I can’t say I was too surprised when it happened; nor would I be surprised to find out that it has happened in the past at both GameSpot and other gaming journalism outlets.
Make no mistake, there are many within the industry who take gaming journalism quite seriously. But it has rarely, as with other entertainment journalism, risen above the level of PR rubber stamping. Previews for games rarely do anything but laud praise. Most review scores fall in the seven or above range, which realistically skews scores in most readers’ minds. Woodward and Bernstein the gaming press is not.
Still, with the occasional exceptions the rest of the entertainment industry follows a similar pattern. When was the last time you read a negative film preview in Entertainment Weekly? Games aren’t serious business (as the cool kids say the Internet is), but they do deserve respect. Respect comes from those covering them treating with the intended level of respect. Only then will others follow. In other words, if gamers want to be taken seriously, they’ll have to start demanding journalists take games seriously. If they fail to, well, there’s always plenty of other sites to click over to.
Loading ...