Marek Posted October 25, 2006 Well you can understand why I might have missed the point considering that you pretty much said the guy musn't like video games because he doesn't appreciate the hype-machine around Spore. I included what I said about Spore because clearly it's the type of game that, if you happen to not like it, you probably need a slightly more substantial argument than "I yawned" (there are quite a few arguments against the Spore hype that Eckhardt could have picked from that are completely valid and acceptable). Or if he failed to think of any, he could just admit it's a matter of personal taste and leave it at that. It's about the way this writer wrote his piece, not that he has an alternative view.But mainly it's odd how, without a full transcript, he could so easily blast the word "Scenius". He's seen previous Will Wright talks, so he knows the tone of them, and that there's no telling in what context he used that word. To illustrate, in his GDC 2006 talk Wright openly refered to the "Will Wright Generative Drinking Game" and then took words on alternative terms for generative. Here's just a one-line description on someone blog and someone else's kneejerk troll on another blog. The reason all of this matters is that Kotaku isn't just a bunch of people throwing bullshit on their personal site. It's a professionally run (as in: people get paid) publication by Gawker Media. The same goes for Joystiq: all the contributors are paid, and the whole shebang is owned and published by Weblogs, Inc. which is owned by AOL. How is that different from someone at C|Net, Ziff-Davis or IGN posting something on their blog? It isn't, but both are treated differently all the time. I really don't see why the independent blogs should get a free pass on everything just because "hey, they're a blog!". </rant> Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twilo Posted October 25, 2006 I included what I said about Spore because clearly it's the type of game that, if you happen to not like it, you probably need a slightly more substantial argument than "I yawned" (there are quite a few arguments against the Spore hype that Eckhardt could have picked from that are completely valid and acceptable). Or if he failed to think of any, he could just admit it's a matter of personal taste and leave it at that. It's about the way this writer wrote his piece, not that he has an alternative view.But mainly it's odd how, without a full transcript, he could so easily blast the word "Scenius". He's seen previous Will Wright talks, so he knows the tone of them, and that there's no telling in what context he used that word. To illustrate, in his GDC 2006 talk Wright openly refered to the "Will Wright Generative Drinking Game" and then took words on alternative terms for generative. Here's just a one-line description on someone blog and someone else's kneejerk troll on another blog. The reason all of this matters is that Kotaku isn't just a bunch of people throwing bullshit on their personal site. It's a professionally run (as in: people get paid) publication by Gawker Media. The same goes for Joystiq: all the contributors are paid, and the whole shebang is owned and published by Weblogs, Inc. which is owned by AOL. How is that different from someone at C|Net, Ziff-Davis or IGN posting something on their blog? It isn't, but both are treated differently all the time. I really don't see why the independent blogs should get a free pass on everything just because "hey, they're a blog!". </rant> Well I don't think it'd really be valid for anyone to say they don't like Spore, considering it's not out yet. It's alright to say you wouldn't want to play it, though, especially if you're taking Wright's older games into consideration. As for blogs.. Yes, they should be treated differently. There isn't a question of a "free pass" (which you might consider to be licence to act in an unjournalistic manner) because these people aren't journalists (at least not in their capacity as "bloggers"). If you consider something like the "News" bit on Penny-Arcade, which is usually loaded with criticism of games, people, ways of life, directions on a compass, salad dressings etc. Nobody approaches the section expecting unbiased journalistic integrity or fair appraisals of the latest games. You should not expect the same from Kotaku which, professionally run and written or not, is a blog. If Gawker was in the news site game, then kotaku would just be some version of Google News for video games. Or IGN. All the same, Kotaku still has a responsibility to perform fact-checks and research into anything that is posted. Kotaku can be legitimately criticised for failing in this responsibility rather too often. I wouldn't tell them to "Go to Hell" though... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted October 25, 2006 "Go to hell" refers to Kotaku saying "go to hell" to Will Wright. I just copied their headline. But, anyway, first you're saying they should have no responsibility because they are blogs, but, all the same, they still should have responsibility? I'm confused. Most blogs don't offer journalism (even though some, like Joystiq, claim they do, and even get really snooty about it). Blogs are generally about opinion/commentary, news analysis, personal anecdotes, referral links and other snippets. But that doesn't mean you can post blatant trash on a professional ad-supported blog and hide behind the fact that you're editorializing through a relatively new internet format (while still frequently claiming to be in the business of reporting news when it suits you). I'm pretty sick of professional blogs funded by professional blog publishers or even traditional news gathering organizations spewing forth crap while still claiming immunity. Um, what were we talking about again? Oh yeah, a post about Will Wright. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twilo Posted October 26, 2006 But that doesn't mean you can post blatant trash on a professional ad-supported blog and hide behind the fact that you're editorializing through a relatively new internet format (while still frequently claiming to be in the business of reporting news when it suits you). I'm pretty sick of professional blogs funded by professional blog publishers or even traditional news gathering organizations spewing forth crap while still claiming immunity. Sony are cunts. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted October 26, 2006 Yes, but no. IdleNews has pretty much degraded to an amateur personal blog, and I'm definitely not complaining about the likes of UK Resistance, RagnarTornquist.com, RAM Raider, etc. etc. The site isn't published by a real company and doesn't have writers on the payroll. And while it's cool (and somewhat to be expected) that you still associate our past amateur journalistic ambitions with the current Idle Thumbs, the site's pretty much dead and it will stay that way if/until we try to revive it. The two cannot be compared. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brkl Posted October 26, 2006 You break my heart, Marek. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Twilo Posted October 26, 2006 It's like you've got this cake, right, and you're eating it! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Spaff Posted October 26, 2006 Sony are cunts though. Anyways yeah we had two headlines to choose from on that one: "Lik-sang loses legal battle, wins PR victory" or "Sony are cunts". Easy choice. also Thumbs is dead for now... we post when we get bored enough. We'll try and resurrect it some time maybe Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wrestlevania Posted October 26, 2006 We'll try and resurrect it some time maybe Yes, please. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marek Posted October 26, 2006 We had some plans. But everyone is pretty busy with their real jobs right now, so no promises. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
