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Worst "Games Journalism" article of 2014?

C

cacildo

Member
Sheroking said:
Yup.

graphwrite.aspx
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what i dont like about this joke is that its almost too good
 
S

Servbot24

Banned
prwxv3 said:
I am saying that he probably was not the right person to review the game. What if someone who did not want x game to be made reviewed x game. I dont really care about his dislike of the game. Most of gaf probably agrees with him.
Click to expand...

They could have had someone who was excited about the game review it, and there would have been positive bias.

Reviews are opinions. Opinions are biased by definition. And that's a GOOD thing.
 
A

andymcc

Banned
Kade said:
If we're counting reviews as journalism, the Breitbart Dragon Age: Inquisition review is probably the worst, most pandering review for anything I've ever read. If the reception from gators is any indication (the review is littered with buzzwords and everything they want to hear), it acts as a window looking into their vision of what game "journalism" and critique should be: devoid of any actual criticism, the bare minimum amount of research and experience with the subject matter, emphasis on aspects of the game that actually don't matter in the grand scheme of things and pandering to the views and opinions of a target audience rather than neutrality. Politicizing games journalism is only okay when they agree with the views. All other views are corrupt and unethical!

https://archive.today/Z3Mxz
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This is it.
 
O

Orayn

Member
Brofield said:
I was going to suggest Hernandez's "Is killing female players online equivalent to rape?" article, but just remembered that was in 2013. I'd like to nominate that same article as worst of the 2010s, though.

Probably the Sonic Lost World porn is right up there. That is some shit I never wanted to know nor did it deserve to be shown in a public light.
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There is no such article, it only ever existed as a photoshopped straw-man. She wrote an article about the use of "raped" in trash talk, but that's not even remotely the same thing.
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
Lionel Richie said:
Think about it as an Iggy Azalea or Nicki Minaj performance. Why is it different? And why does it indulge holier than thou articles over it? You could dislike it, but spending a whole review explaining why you disliked it isn't missing the point?
Click to expand...

A game review is a subjective opinion piece wherein you talk about your feelings on a work, your likes, and dislikes... Whether those have to do with gameplay, aesthetic, theme, or content. It matters simply because it's something the reviewer didn't like about the game. His duty is telling you what he enjoyed and didn't enjoy and his greater thoughts on the piece. If anything, I think you're missing the point of a review.

I like Bayonetta 2 a lot, doesn't mean his opinions and experiences aren't valid to me.
 
J

JDSN

Banned
This one is hardly related to gaming, but Polygon tried so hard to use it as a pitch for Watch_Dogs and body cameras that it deserves a spot:

BvAy8u2IcAAt6RO.jpg:large


Article here (But seriously, dont read this shit)

This disgusting article essentially uses the Ferguson protests and tries to equate this very complex racially-fueled situation to the flimsy world of Watch_Dogs and argues that the sole focus and solution of this situation could have been body cameras, and then proceed through the rest of the article to talk about them, it is the most shameless and embarrassing segue into a pitch that includes an interview with the CEO of the company, then the articles ends with your usual "CNN: The truth lies somewhere in between" bullshit by implying that both sides of this conflict are too emotional and the truth will never be known because there was no tape.....except for that other time a black man was killed by the cop on camera, or that other one time with the kid.


It is one of the vilest, clueless articles ive seen, and im never going to Polygon again.
 
A

andymcc

Banned
Orayn said:
There is no such article, it only ever existed as a photoshopped straw-man. She wrote an article about the use of "raped" in trash talk, but that's not even remotely the same thing.
Click to expand...

i'm going to need a hastily compiled image of screengrabs and paintshop arrows to believe you.
 
P

Percy

Banned
Oh, just remembered one... was it Polygon that did that Wolfenstein "concentration camp experience" headline?
 
U

ultron87

Member
Moofers said:
My pick is for "Kissing vs Killing: How Shadow of Mordor fails to explain the difference".

I won't link to it, but it's over at Polygon. Maybe you can see a Google cache version of it, I'm not sure how clicks work with those. But to save you time, the gist of it was that because the start of Mordor teaches you to sneak by sneaking up on your wife with flowers and a kiss, gamers are somehow missing the difference between that and slicing throats because the input is the same on the controller. Derp!
Click to expand...

You see, this wasn't the gist of the article at all. The article was a game designer (ie not a journalist and therefore not even valid for your thread title) writing about how he thinks that a game mechanic and an emotional reaction lining up is a very powerful thing that games can do and how this moment went against that. I had never even considered game mechanics from that perspective so I found it pretty interesting.

This was the central point of the article:

Games can make us feel those different emotions. They’re that powerful. They have the tools to do that through their lighting and their animation and their context and most importantly and sneakily, through the way we actually control them. When a designer or animator gives up and decides to use the same controls and animations for two actions that couldn’t be more different it’s a giant wasted opportunity.
Click to expand...

I think the only real problem with the article is the headline which makes everyone assume that it is some "oh no violence is bad and this is conflating it with everyday actions and ah!" morality police article.
 
SerTapTap

SerTapTap

Member
UGH I clicked a Polygon article in this thread (I know I know I'm sorry) and they're talking about erotic Alf fan fiction in Elegy for a Dead World. Fuck them, that game is an amazing way to explore writing and focusing on ways to abuse it is terrible.

nrvalleytime said:
This. This article singlehandedly introduced videogames into a situation that has absolutely nothing to do with the genre. Ferguson was volatile, and the article read as click-bait of the worst kind.

It was an embarrassing editorial decision, and I actually enjoy reading some of Polygon's pieces (even if we tend to disagree).
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'd rarely say I'm offended by news articles and editorializations, especially ones based around consumer products, but that one...urg. It'd be one thing to bring in a serious game that actually directly mentions the issue (there ARE games about serious topics like racism, sexism, being trans, etc), but that article was so grossly shoehorned on such a sensitive topic

joe2187 said:
SENRAN KAGURA is destroying the games industry. Here's how to stop it!
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Forgot that one. The whole "don't expose yourself to the game at all!" thing is really terrible. Basically anything telling people to be LESS INFORMED can go fuck off in a hole.
 
M

Markitron

Is currently staging a hunger strike outside Gearbox HQ while trying to hate them to death
fuzzyreactor said:
Recent Eurogamer The Order article comes to mind
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Yea that was weird, I mean you could apply that to almost any upcoming game. It was like when EG took issue with Infamous SS not having next game gameplay, as if the likes of Ryse and Killzone SF were revolutionary experiences.
 
M

Mr Git

Member
Chalk another vote to that Mario Kart pie chart. At least it provided an easily created visual joke that can be used at Polygon's expense for years to come.
 
Lionel Richie

Lionel Richie

Member
Inferno313 said:
A game review is a subjective opinion piece wherein you talk about your feelings on a work, your likes, and dislikes... Whether those have to do with gameplay, aesthetic, theme, or content. It matters simply because it's something the reviewer didn't like about the game. His duty is telling you what he enjoyed and didn't enjoy and his greater thoughts on the piece. If anything, I think you're missing the point of a review.

I like Bayonetta 2 a lot, doesn't mean his opinions and experiences aren't valid to me.
Click to expand...

I disagree with the tone of the review and thought it sounded sour and oddly patriarchal. But fair enough man, I respect your opinion, let's agree to disagree on this one :)
 
M

Mman235

Member
If it counts as game journalism (pls no) then the Breitbart Dragon Age Inquisition review by a mile.

If not then one of the Polygon articles here is probably an easy winner, I think the Mario Kart one edges it out because that fucking chart. That Yahoo games one is pretty bad too.
 
J

Jito

Banned
Menome said:
Wasn't it the case that MCC worked fine before general release, when reviewers were playing it? The matchmaking problems thus couldn't have been included in the review as they hadn't yet occurred.
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There are plenty enough bugs in the single player to not warrant that score. Still, it's the fact he has the cheek to write an article about buying broken games when people probably bought MCC based off his review.
 
W

WanderingWind

Mecklemore Is My Favorite Wrapper
JDSN said:
This one is hardly related to gaming, but Polygon tried so hard to use it as a pitch for Watch_Dogs and body cameras that it deserves a spot:

BvAy8u2IcAAt6RO.jpg:large


Article here (But seriously, dont read this shit)

This disgusting article essentially uses the Ferguson protests and try to equate this very complex racially-fueled situation to the flimsy world of Watch_Dogs and argues that the sole focus and solution of this situation could have been body cameras, and then proceed through the rest of the article to talk about them, it is the most shameless and embarrassing segue into a pitch that includes an interview with the CEO of the company, then the articles ends with your usual "CNN: The truth lies somewhere in between" bullshit by implying that both sides of this conflict are too emotional and the truth will never be known because there was no tape.....except for that other time a black man was killed by the cop on camera, or that other one time with the kid.


It is one of the vilest, clueless articles ive seen, and im never going to Polygon again.
Click to expand...

Jesus. This gets my vote. What the holy fucking hell were they thinking?
 
B

Beelzebufo

Banned
Lionel Richie said:
Thing is, Bayonetta is a game conceived as a sexualized extravaganza. It was created like that. He can dislike it, but spending 10 paragraphs rambling about it before even talking about the game is awful. It's like criticizing a FPS for making you shoot stuff.

Think about it as an Iggy Azalea or Nicki Minaj performance. Why is it different? And why does it indulge holier than thou articles over it? You could dislike it, but spending a whole review explaining why you disliked it isn't missing the point?
Click to expand...
What do you think the point of a review is? I would argue that it's to explain to people what you liked/didn't like a game and why, so other people can be warned. The FPS example also isn't really accurate, because that's a core part of the gameplay. Bayonetta's gameplay is action, not sex haha. It's like criticizing an FPS for starring an in-your-face hyper sexualized female.

I mean personally, that part of Bayonetta is why I haven't even played the demo. I'd feel uncomfortable playing it when my roommates are around.
 
F

funkystudent

Member
Not as bad as Polygon stuff but honourable mention should be made to when Patrick Klepick was calling out the maker of 2048 for making a clone of Threes, starting posting the dudes contact info on his twitter and told the internet to attack him, THEN finally shut up once people called him out on it because it was only a issue because he was friends with the dude that made Threes and at the time shared office space and also how dumb and hypocritical it was he was acting like a 4chan troll while also writing anti bullying speeches for Ted X

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/meet-the-clones/1100-4891/

http://patrickklepek.tumblr.com/post/81715518097/the-line
 
I

Inferno313

Banned
funkystudent said:
Not as bad as Polygon stuff but honourable mention should be made to when Patrick Klepick was calling out the maker of 2048 for making a clone of Threes, starting posting the dudes contact info on his twitter and told the internet to attack him, THEN finally shut up once people called him out because its only a issue because he was friends with the dude that made Threes and share office space.

I don't remember this happening. Please post proof?

Ah, see you edited in a blog post about the situation. Cheers.
Click to expand...
 
JohnnyFootball

JohnnyFootball

GerAlt-Right. Ciriously.
Tapejara said:
I don't have a problem with Gies' Bayonetta review. If the overt sexual content was enough to detract from his experience, then I think he was justified in giving it that score. I've read worse articles/reviews this year.
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Yes. If a reviewer is offended by something in the game it is their right to drop the score for that reason.
 
R

RibMan

Member
Polygon Mario Kart 8 sales article. One of the most idiotic articles in the history of games 'journalism'.

WanderingWind said:
Jesus. This gets my vote. What the holy fucking hell were they thinking?
Click to expand...

They weren't.
 
P

prwxv3

Member
funkystudent said:
Not as bad as Polygon stuff but honourable mention should be made to when Patrick Klepick was calling out the maker of 2048 for making a clone of Threes, starting posting the dudes contact info on his twitter and told the internet to attack him, THEN finally shut up once people called him out because its only a issue because he was friends with the dude that made Threes and share office space and how dumb it was he was actling like a 4chan troll while also writing anti bullying speeches for Ted X

http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/meet-the-clones/1100-4891/

http://patrickklepek.tumblr.com/post/81715518097/the-line
Click to expand...


oh wow
 
K

Kazerei

Banned
The Mario Kart pie chart article hits a nerve with me because as an engineer, I've seen far too many poorly-made graphs. Graphs are supposed to be a simplified, intuitive way to present your data, not some sort of enigma your audience has to decode. If your audience is confused you know you fucked up.

Edit: Oh yeah the stacked area graph in that article doesn't make sense either. Dammit people, stop trying to be fancy and just use a fucking bar graph, it makes sense and everyone knows what it is.
 
J

Jackpot

Banned
So many Polygon articles.

  • The pie chart one they doubled down on as "heavily researched"
  • The use of the Ferguson protests to write a fluff piece on watch_dogs
  • Saying they now know what it's like to be in a war because of This War of Mine
  • Saying they now know what it's like to be in a concentration camp because of Wolfenstein

Special mention to EGM's review of Aliens Colonial Marines which was either bought and paid for or written without ever picking up the game.
 
SerTapTap

SerTapTap

Member
funkystudent said:
Not as bad as Polygon stuff but honourable mention should be made to when Patrick Klepick was calling out the maker of 2048 for making a clone of Threes
Click to expand...

67b.jpg
Click to expand...

The ironic thing is apparently the 2048 guy didn't even know he was cloning threes and was just making a free simple web based version of some android game (1024 which was quite probably actually a threes clone).
 
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