Today Ron Workman posted a spirited rant on his personal blog, against video game media folks who instantly reblogged a Youtube video he posted under the laughably illegitimate username "puffdaddysucks". The video featured two-year old footage of Alan Wake and an intro claiming that it was ultra-secret video to be released at the upcoming Game Developer's Conference:
When I can come up with an idea in Ventrilo and then shoot a shitty photo camera video of a 2 year old game that nobody remembers, and mutter some BS about GDC in the background, and a fucking journalist thinks it somehow ‘proves’ something is legit, it seems that the gaming industry needs to wake up.
So, a bunch of journalists ostensibly paid by the word cooked up a news piece around the "leaked" video.
This is what I wrote about the video: Let me be the first to post this before the internet shitstorm hits. This video titled “Leaked Alan Wake footage” popped up on youtube a few hours ago. Everything else you read, was concocted by journalists that had nothing to write but needed to fill in some blanks.
This little prank illustrates how eager the video games press is for a scoop. Rather than checking the facts or even ringing up the developer, they linked to the video and waited for the hits to roll in. FAIL.
Related Links:
1UP and the State of Games Journalism
You Should Be Reading Sore Thumbs
Whose Side are You On?