*Brent winds up and chucks a rock at himself.*

Brent: No worries about repetition; I haven’t uploaded my brainwaves to the interwebs yet, so I don’t imagine folks knew about our conversation. :D

I guess my objection to your objection about the demeanor of the gaming press stems from the ‘enthusiast press’ direction. I hold myself to a high standard; I’d *like* to think that I was presentable at GDC this year. (Sigh, except for my facial hair. Damned inability to grow a beard.) Just the same, *other* bloggers may not see games writing as their day job. If they’re not ‘in it to win it’, as it were, why hold it against them if they want to show up looking less-than stellar?

Jamil has said to me in the past that GDC is actually kinda picky about who they allow to show up to the event, so my assumption is that most of the sloppy dorks you saw at GDC were packing a few hundred to a few thousands of listeners in their back pocket. I realize that he may have just been trying to snow me, but he’s always seemed like a standup guy, and I have no other reasons to doubt him.

Now, if you want to have a discussion about the oversaturation of the gaming market with ‘press’ outlets, I’m right there with you. I don’t understand the sheer number of sites that are covering this particular hobby in an informal manner; I’m sure there are other industries with a vigorous enthusiast press (music and movies, certainly), but there really does seem to be a half-dozen or more games writers under every rock you pick up.

I wish every single one of them luck, though. Originating from the same circumstances myself, it’s hard to throw stones at a guy wanting to get paid for what he loves.

Why do so many game ‘journalists’ want to be in the game industry?

I used to think I wanted to make games. Heck, I have made games. I’ve liked making games, but I’ve realized that I’d much rather write about games, talk about games, and actually play the games.

If more game journalists owned up to this realization they wouldn’t be so damn jaded and cranky. Something tells me this might be a “those who can’t do, teach” scenario. And they’re angry about it.

Part of the problem with gaming press folk is probably related to the fact that (like me) they’re not professional journalists. They’re just enthusiasts who write. Most other industries do not work this way, but in the blog-age, you’re dubbed a pundit if you can write clearly and are willing to put in the work. I am not implying this is a bad thing or good thing, but it is a good indicator of why there is some turmoil within the gaming press. When ‘real’ gaming press ends up rubbing shoulders with hacks like me (and worse) it is understandable why there might be some strong feelings coming from the people who get paid to do this, not to mention from the PR and marketing departments within the game publishers.

I do wonder why you say the poor demeanor of the gaming press is not a bad thing. Passable hygiene and manners. That’s all I’m asking for. I do not expect 3-piece suits and tea-time, but a comb, some clean jeans and a smile could go a long way.

But, in all seriousness, I agree 110% with you about the whole journalist thing. I know you take your lumps, but I’m one developer that appreciates what you do. We do need better journalism and more critical thinking from the journalists that cover our industry in order to be seen as more legitimate. Movie reviewers help make films more legitimate, even the summer popcorn-munchers that have little redeeming value besides providing a few hours of air conditioning during a hot summer day.

Too often people do see it as a step into the industry, and I think most big companies exploit that in order to get what they want from the “journalists” covering games. Give the journalist a junket and give them access to developers and they become much more agreeable.

Anyway, good insight that I agree with. Once again, thanks for trying to do real journalism in a sea of amateurs. And, no, we won’t hire you for the game writing position, because we don’t want to deprive the industry of a journalist. ;)

Have fun,