A few months ago, I reviewed a scond-tier collection of mini-games for the Wii (that I would have otherwise never played) for a different site. The game was less complex and fun than games released decades ealier. Despite being so apocalyptically awful, it still managed to obtain a 70+ metacritic score. Was I just getting too old? Maybe I'm just not into video games anymore. Then I came across this article at Insomnia.
It wasn't just me. I have no illusions that Alex Kierkegaard would approve of even my opinions on games. If he ever deigned to browse my writing, I'm sure he would just shake his head and sigh.
"Today, "serious" game writing is all about little kids desperate to have their little hobbies validated by their moms and dads in order to feel good about wasting so much time on them, instead of going out in the world and doing, you know, something useful."
And yet, here's a guy who runs one of the most insightful, enjoyable video game commentary sites. He's a cocky jerk most of the time, but you should forgive him because he's almost always devastatingly right. If Yahtzee Croshaw is gleefully chucking molotov cocktails at the industry's bloated egos, Kierkegaard is scrubbing mainstream journalism's grimy streets clean with napalm. Comprehensive, caustic and uncompromising.
A good place to start is "The Basics", an ongoing collection of essays about the nature of gaming and the incompetence of major gaming publications that should be mandatory reading for anyone interested in talking about games on the internet. You might be offended, and you'll probably find something to disagree with (I don't share his arcade fetishism or his views on sequel ratings), but he treats us like adults and cuts through the bullshit. Go ahead and call him an elitist, but be grateful that there's at least one journalist out there who isn't interested in holding your hand.