So I did a search for the Burnout Paradise Cagney Expansion (released on the PS3 July 10/08) and I noticed something. First of all, I was searching for information on the update because they added some great features to the game and I wanted to be sure about the information I was passing on. Okay this is what I noticed:
All of the tops hits I saw on the internet search page were about the delayed update. Is that all the gaming news there is these days? Delays? Surely there is something more to report on than to just jump on board with the negative reporting of “yeah another delay”?
Negative reporting. It has become a tenet of our Society. Good news does not sell papers or as it has become, get hits. Getting hits is pretty much akin to selling a newspaper now. I guess controversy and negativity will always get noticed more and I wondered about that.
I guess I could say that we as consumers of newspapers and news sites would rather read something that makes us feel better about ourselves rather than look at the greener grass (shut up Mike) on the other side of the fence.
I always wondered why people would rather look at what they don’t have rather than appreciate what they do. Why not just be happy with what you have, who you are and who you interact with? I guess complacency would come into play here.
I was always afraid of realizing that I was in a rut since that is one of those signs that I might be suffering from, oh I don’t know, Depression? Well what about all those people who are thriving and are “happy” to be depressed? Those people bug me. I don’t understand wanting to be miserable.
I guess since the pervasive tone of negative news reporting is simply to be read, it does make sense (I guess and accept with some reluctance) that if you want to be read, you need to stir up some controversy and that works for pretty much anything that is newsworthy. Newsworthy, now there’s a title for another blog. =) But I will get back to the title and gist of this blog.
When you go to a gaming site or a forum and notice that the discussion is around all these delays, would you consider that to be a legitimate gaming site? I mean I could post that SOCOM Confrontation has been delayed a month and leave it at that but this is me and I won’t.
Delays are there for a reason. Release dates seem to be arbitrary, put out there for a timeline that is at best, just there as a placeholder. I can wait. I am a patient person who understands that delaying a game for release is done to ensure that the game is ready to be released on a global level and won’t crash and burn, or in the case of a next generation console, burn down your apartment. =)
So I guess after some reflection and writing (I love this site), I guess it is worth reporting but I wish that after the delayed game is released that more would report on how much better a game is for being delayed rather than just jump to the next game that is being delayed to ensure that it is the best possible release.
To be blunt, I consider most internet gaming sites to be little more than pseudo-journalistic wastes of time. I find that they cater to the very worst element when it comes to the conveyance of ‘news’ or information. More often than not, any articles possibly worthy of interest are riddled with speculation, rumour and innuendo. “Source” links generally lead back to another pseudo-news site, which links to yet another. When the final links opens, it is to little Bobby’s weblog which describes how his Uncle Wilbur was cleaning windows at the Sony building and divined through lip-reading the “fact” that Resident Evil 5 is being delayed so that it can be the launch title for the Playstation 4 this Christmas.
=/
I think that most game sites focus on the negative reports, such as game delays and company executives badmouthing the competition, for exactly the reason you mention: to generate hits. I completely agree that today’s news site webpage hit is the equivalent of yesterday’s newspaper sale. Unlike the newspaper of yesterday, however, the possibility exists on news sites to funnel readers toward real time on-line purchases. This potential for instant revenue has, in my opinion, created a new form of yellow journalism where information is disbursed without much thought given to fact checking or source vetting. After all, if a reader really wants to know the truth, they can do their own digging through the vast resources provided by the internet.
I do not mean to paint all on-line journalistic sites in such broad strokes. I’m sure there are even some reputable gaming news sites … somewhere. However, unlike other specialized news sources, those dedicated to the gaming industry have the unparalleled opportunity to feed off of the almost insane ability of gamers to argue over the most ignorant things: console preference, franchise preference, company bias, etc. The gaming community seems to have a natural desire to turn on itself and go beyond simple debate or idea exchange in to the realm of full blown flame war. Such an environment is ideal for less than ethical news sites, of any focus, to seed negative stories; the site just throws up a message board or forum and almost ensures a steady stream of potentially profitable mouse clicks. In short, it’s in their best interest to stir the pot.
What is truly fascinating is something you touched on early in your post: the idea that we, as human beings, seem to thrive on negative news. Don’t mistake me, we all love the cute stories about kitten rescues and communities banding together to raise money for dying children. It is the other stories, though … the stories of random feet washing up on the Pacific shoreline, the stories of pig farmer serial killers, the stories of drive-by shootings, the stories of people who go missing … that make us look at the screen and think, “Damn, those bastards are worse off than me.” It’s a sort of ghoulish survival instinct. The dark stories we are bombarded with in the media serve to give us pause and think a little less about our parking tickets, how we should have gotten that promotion or the illness that devours us from within. Those dark stories also serve to keep the masses in a state of fear; we are kept guessing and afraid so that we do not question what is going on in the world.
Wow, my apology for going off on a rant.
This is one of the topics that (as Mike would say) I am rather passionate about. Actually, it is a blend of topics that I feel passionate about: pseudo-journalistic gaming sites, manipulation by mass media and the human desire to escape personal accountability.
To get back to your original topic, from which I completely went South, I agree that a little more patience would serve the gamer community well. A little patience might curb the appetite of the average gamer for wild speculation and rumour and possibly encourage a degree of harmony. With each day, there is fresh hope.
Just my half-cent.
pEaCe,
By: Rain on July 11, 2008
at 10:42 pm
No that was two full cents there this time Rain. That was wonderful. =)
Patience is a virtue and unfortunately you cannot unlock patience. It is one of those things that you have to hone like your strafing or your ability to get headshots in a first person shooter.
I know that in some games my patience is tested to no end but I get through it. I know that with some online games my patience is broken and I leave a game as soon as we get back to the lobby since I cannot listen to the crap coming through my headset anymore.
I have no patience for the “professional video game reviewer” though since I cannot get away from the big business aspect that surrounds these sites. I mean if one site has the rights to a video game coverage, that was bought and paid for right? What other than getting coverage and media does the game developer or publisher expect?
Good coverage? Meaning a positive review right? I mean how many review sites will want to shoot themselves in the foot by being honest? Sure there are games that suck and I sometimes use that as a base line when I do visit a site and I don’t visit them much on my own. It is usually by following a link.
By: E_Dragon on July 12, 2008
at 5:48 pm