(2) PC gaming is still largely thought of as a desk-based, monitor-viewed experience, even if Steam's Big Picture mode is slowly starting to change that. And remember who IGN's audience is: most of them are not the hardcore NeoGAF user who knows every little trick to getting their PC gaming going on an HDTV. I think a lot of criticism towards IGN by NeoGAF in general stems from that. A lot of times we write things that you guys already know and you rip us for it. And that's fine. You guys are the power users. You're the hardest of the hardcore. Most people reading ANY of the major media sites don't fall into that category.
Honestly I think this right here is the biggest problem a lot of folks here and elsewhere have with effusive previews/reviews rather than thought-out, even handed examination of games, because a lot of us realize that while WE can differentiate the real from the fluff, the average consumer may not be able to.
As 'hardest of the hardcore' gamers, we take issue with anything that we feel does a disservice to fellow gamers, especially the ones that are more casual and that might be ignorant of anything that isn't fed to them by the usual big-name channels like IGN. I don't mean this completely literally btw. I don't look down on 'casuals' in some narcissistic fashion like they have to be spoon-fed everything. It's just that they don't typically research games they might be interested in, and instead merely glance at big-name sites for info. So if that info isn't even-handed, they aren't getting the real picture IMHO.
Take the whole DRM debacle with the XB1 for instance. Most of my more casual gamer friends had no idea it was even a thing, because the mainstream media was downplaying it. [Seemingly] every major mainstream gaming site was acting like it was 'no big deal' until AFTER Microsoft's 180. And in my eyes to this day the ONLY reason that 180 occured was because their preorder numbers didn't meet expectations. The whole 'we're changing course because we've heard the gamers and we care about you' shtick was balogne, especially when just weeks before that we were told to #dealwithit.
Those of us that are more core gamers, both here on GAF and elsewhere, take huge issue with things like this, or with previews that do nothing to break down the game's strengths and weaknesses, and instead just gush over it. IGN and sites like it are meant to be sources of information for the casual gamers you are saying you target.
If that's the case, then why not be more forthright, more critical, and more even-handed with ALL reviews, previews, system analyses, etc? Why take a gloss-it-over approach on some games, then point to other games you were more critical? That just comes off as playing favorites rather than applying the same philosphy and approach to all of your games coverage.
As a mainstream gaming site the goal should be to give all the info you can, warts and all, so that the average non-GAF, non 'hardest of the hardcore' gamer can make a more informed decision about where to spend their hard-earned money. There is always the disclaimer like: "While we had an issue with X in the build we previewed, rest assured the developers are still working on the game and this isn't a final consumer build. Things can change."
Effusive prose that just says something to the effect of "this game is awesome, you're going to buy it" without saying WHY, what are it's strengths and weaknesses, what recent gaming experiences are most akin to it, does nothing to help those casual consumers that you say are your target to have an idea what to expect.
No one had any idea the extent of the problems that awaited the console when it finally released. When that piece was written, the Xbox 360 had drafted the blueprint for how online on a console could be done, and Xbox Live was a brilliant ecosystem. It was reasonable to think Xbox One would only make the online multiplayer experience (i.e. the games themselves, not the DRM) BETTER. I try to be an optimistic guy, so I'm always going to give the benefit of the doubt. I just prefer to live my life that way. It's pretty easy to put on the 20/20 hindsight glasses and criticize me for that, but so be it.
Also things like this. It's one thing to be an optimist, but the writing was very clearly on the wall for the XB1 to have problems out of the gate. I'm not even in the industry personally, unless you count gobbling up hundreds of games over the course of the past 6 years, and my prior 21 years as a more casual gamer since I was a kid. But even I could tell that a company trying to completely overhaul their OS, let alone putting THREE OS's running simultaneously on the new system, coupled with drastic changes at the last second due to their 180s, meant that there were going to be problems out of the gate.
It's not pessimism, it's realism. And instead of giving a realistic view of the upcoming launch, mainstream sites were basically acting like it was going to be all lollipops and roses on Nov 22nd. Any console launch has hiccups, but a console launch with such massive changes late in the game, coupled with the risk they were taking with the OS setup? That was a recipe that led to pretty predictable results with regards to users' discontent over the way the system functions compared to its predecessor.
I'm not saying it was broken from the get-go because it wasn't. A lot of things they advertised worked, but it certainly wasn't just taking the 360's formula and improving on it. Sure most of the 'new' features worked, but features that have been integral to the Xbox ecosystem you were holding up so high were either missing entirely or only sort-of functional. They tried to reinvent the wheel, and as the old saying goes, if it ain't broke don't fix it. Even a simple disclaimer that "Big changes are afoot so it may be off to a bumpy start. Things will settle down in time, but buyer beware for now." would've been better than operating under the false assumption that everything would be hunky dorey. Maybe it isn't realism after all and I'm just too much a pessimist though...
Thanks for responding here and engaging with us, btw.
