CamHostage
Member
But games journalism is also not the dregs of anti-consumer shilling either. Shitting on the people you're asking to join in on talk about a thought makes them just want to avoid getting shit on.
I think the fight against complaints on journalism from journalists comes from knowing that credit is hardly ever given for getting the job done, and the few public instances of breakdowns in policy (a number of which have been breakdowns in management rather than a specific journalist abusing his position) have smeared a business that has striven to be open and honest and professional (despite market conditions that have made such an approach to be less and less financially lucrative over the years.)
Yep, it is difficult to have an honest conversation. Unconscious influence is a real factor that journalists naturally have to contend with, and talking about it actually bubbles up awareness of its effects on both sides. Unfortunately, since so many think that journalists are dirty, mooching bottom-feeders and because journalists think they're fighting for their lives to get any story actually read, we cannot have a direct and even-handed conversation about it. Each believes that one side is all wrong, one side is all right, and no progress gets made.
And I think the question journalists would have is, what can I do about it other than do my job? Journalists didn't ask for these press packages, and it's not like they'll go, "What, no fancy pack-in book? Screw you Uncharted, you get a 2!" It's part of the job that shit shows up at your desk, some of it is good shit and some of it goes right in the trash. You can set firewall principles up and tell publishers that you will not accept anything but a disc or code, or you can use that time spent arguing and mailing shit back to just pull out the disc/code and go do your job, maybe play with some of the tchotchke when you're all done with work.
Either way, there is no way to be entirely "objective" of the surrounding hype for a game if you love gaming. Myself, I will never be professionally reviewing The Last Guardian or have any connection to its development, yet even I as a consumer have an emotional connection to this project and designer Ueda and all the history behind it. I'd think you had a screw loose if you looked at FF XV and SteinsGate on the new release chart and thought they were equally impactful game releases. You'd be bad at your job as a journalist if you were surprised to see a game manufacturer put a ton of PR effort into a big game.
There is no objectivity. There is only discipline in seeing what really matters, which is the game that you or somebody else will have to spend $60 on.
and most ads are made either for promoting a marked price or for brand awareness, so you'll remember seeing a logo often and therefore have more trust in the brand, even subconsciously. It's all about targeting people and hoping their demand and your supply are a match.
