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I Hate the Video Game Industry

Posted by Cole Stryker

I suppose I've developed a reputation for being something of a curmudgeon. Most of my posts here are accusatory and caustic, and I spend more time writing about things I don't like than things I do. That's why I consider Patrick Alexander over at Eegra to be a kindred spirit. 

Like Patrick, I play precious few video games. I guess that would seem odd to readers, considering that game journalists are supposed to be experts. There might be one or two games released each year that capture my heart. Desktop Tower Defense was the last game that really brought me to my knees, and that was released years ago. 

Furthermore, I can't relate to those who really get off on game industry stuff. News! Previews! Screenshots and Trailers! All the marketing and wooing and it's all so much fluff and grandstanding.  If I were to quit writing about games, I would only follow a few websites that focus more on game theory and serious criticism. I don't care if Capcom employees are bisexual. I don't care if the Xbox is being released in a special color. I don't care about cosplay or Olivia Munn or Jonathan Coultan or Jack Thompson. And if I see one more gaming-related cake...

Patrick explains:

You see, I love videogames, but I hate... I hate the videogame industry, I guess. That includes the ‘enthusiast press’ – I hate this contrived idea of ‘gamers’ and ‘gaming culture’; I prefer the idea that videogames are a thing, and all sorts of people have individual experiences with this thing, among many other things, and a person’s experience might overlap with many other people’s experiences, and another person’s might not. And thus, videogames are culture; they are a part of culture. I prefer this idea because it is the correct one. When people say ‘gaming culture’, they should be saying ‘gaming cult’. They could also easily say, ‘religious nuts’.

There are denominations and everything!

Ugh, I know, right? Shut it down. All of it.

One of the things that I always thought was so tragic and true and hilarious about the Simpsons Comic Book Guy is that you never see him smile. He never derives joy from his massive collection of nerdy paraphenalia, as if he doesn't do it for the love of the thing, but rather for the ability it gives him to lord his superior taste and awareness over those pathetic philistines who enter his shop. This is how I see most readers and writers of the enthusiast press.

I'm bored of all the chatter. I want to recapture those feelings of adventure and freedom that video games brought me as an eight-year old, when video games were nothing but fun.

Related Links:

Patron Saint of Games Journalism Departs

Ron Workman Calls Out Destructoid for Sloppy Journalism

The Future of Games Journalism


+ DIGG + DEL.ICIO.US + REDDIT

Comments

thompson said:

first: a giant yes to desktop tower defense.  that game ate astounding amounts of my time.

second: complete agreement on situating games as culture instead of focusing on "gamer culture."  beyond the obnoxious noise generated by it, it only serves to further ghettoize the medium.

it seems to make more sense to think about a culture surrounding a genre of game, similar to subcultures forming around genres and subgenres of music. we don't think of "music culture," we think of the culture surrounding punk or free jazz, for instance.  even then these are only specific to certain times and places where that culture manifests.

the argument over RE5 is really indicative of this mess. the conversation i see going on in the "gamer culture" seems to lack any focus on the artifact in question being situated in culture broadly.  whether it is racist or not, judgment on the subject has to come from the position of the game in culture broadly. these things don't exist in some corner of media experience only inhabited by the initiated with deep knowledge and, often myopic, investment in the medium.

ok. done with the rant. enjoying the curmudgeonesque tone as a point of balance.  carry on.

March 6, 2009 4:03 PM

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John Constantine, our superhero, was raised by birds and then attended Penn State University. He is currently working on a novel about a fictional city that exists only in his mind. John has an astonishingly extensive knowledge of Scientology. Ultimately he would like to learn how to effectively use his brain. He continues to keep Wu-Tang's secret to himself.

Derrick Sanskrit is a self-professed geek in a variety of fields including typography, graphic design, comic books, music and cartoons. As a professional hipster graphic designer, his recent clients have included Hooksexup, Pitchfork and MoCCA, among others.

Amber Ahlborn - artist, writer, gamer and DigiPen survivor, she maintains a day job as a graphic artist. By night Amber moonlights as a professional Metroid Fanatic and keeps a metal suit in the closet just in case. Has lived in the state of Washington and insists that it really doesn't rain as much as everyone says it does.

Nadia Oxford is a housekeeping robot who was refurbished into a warrior when the world's need for justice was great. Now that the galaxy is at peace (give or take a conflict here or there), she works as a freelance writer for various sites and magazines. Based in Toronto, Nadia prizes the certificate from the Ministry of Health declaring her tick and rabies-free.

Bob Mackey is a grad student, writer, and cyborg, who uses the powerful girl-repelling nanomachines mad science grafted onto his body to allocate time towards interests of the nerd persuasion. He believes that complaining about things on the Internet is akin to the fine art of wine tasting, but with more spitting into buckets.

Joe Keiser has a programming degree from Johns Hopkins University, a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, and a fake toy guitar built in the hollowed-out shell of a real guitar. He writes about games and technology for a variety of outlets. One day he will stop doing this. The day after that, police will find his body under a collapsed pile of (formerly neatly alphabetized) collector's edition tchotchkes.

Cole Stryker is an American freelance writer living in York, England, where he resides with his archeologist wife. He writes for a travel company by day and argues about pop culture on the internet by night. Find him writing regularly here and here.

Peter Smith is like the lead character of Irwin Shaw's The 80-Yard Run, except less athletic. He considers himself very lucky to have this job. But it's a little premature to take "jack-off of all trades" off his resume. Besides writing, travelling, and painting houses, Pete plays guitar in a rock trio called The Aye-Ayes. He calls them a 'power pop' band, but they generally sound more like Motorhead on a drinking binge.


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