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[therapist]

WSJ blog isn't written for gamers, it's written for non-gamers who play games. I don't see anything wrong with their perspective or viewpoint, even if I disagree - they're entitled to their opinion from their side of the tracks and that's okay. This isn't some massive slight - this is just the way the game is perceived.

I agree, except they say COD of MOH sp is better , when those are short and shitty compaigns. Thats just inexcusable.

 

[shiv_]

Hey Gaf: Your reaction to this article is why game journalism sucks. When mainstream press covers your hobby, you nerd rage because they don't like the same things that you do or "they don't get it." So the result is that we get niche publications that get all of their financing from videogame companies, and then you throw your arms up when they're biased or influenced by game publishing dollars. Fact is, we can't have it both ways.

The reaction this article is receiving is directly related to the lack of knowledge the reviewer has of the genre. Knowing a little something about what you're writing about does not make it a 'niche publication' nor does it mean that your review is being impacted by video game company financing.. it simply means that you're informed.

Comparing BLANDS2 to COD/Halo, and then raising a stink about its lack of matchmaking capabilities would be like me writing an article comparing Soccer to Basketball, and then claiming that Soccer is boring because you can't use your hands. How is it useful or informative to compare two almost completely unrelated things? The reviewer makes those comparisons as if they were something that Borderlands was ever meant to do, which obviously it wasn't.

 

[ScrabbleBanshee]

Well I don't buy COD ever, and I bought BL2 for my PC. I'm far from hardcore these days, I hardly get to play anything any more being a parent... If BL2 was just COD again I wouldn't have even considered it.

They should be comparing it to D3 instead.

 

[marrec]

Well I don't buy COD ever, and I bought BL2 for my PC. I'm far from hardcore these days, I hardly get to play anything any more being a parent... If BL2 was just COD again I wouldn't have even considered it.

They should be comparing it to D3 instead.

"Diablo 3 doesn't even have Guns or a way to view the enemies in first person mode. All you have to do is click on them until they die and pick up loot."

 

[ScrabbleBanshee]

. He even points out that game having a fault which is what the entire game is compromised of.

Comprised.

 

[SolarPowered]

Has this guy never even heard of Diablo or something? It's kind of hard to imagine...

Give him stubble and that would be a modern day Fred Flinstone. Luckily Cavemen didn't have the internet back then.

 

[TriGen]

It seems to me that the game wasn't linear enough for him, and he had no idea what to do with the RPG elements, so basically having to grab quests was what he hated. I'm not a Borderlands fan, but damn, that's the point of the game. I wonder what else this guy will review? I'm hoping for ZombiU, he would probaly lose his mind on that one.

 

[Alex]

Well of course it's not COD enough, it's a fantastic sequel filled with creativity and blinding polish that has far exceeded it's prior on every level.

Been a long fucking time since we had a COD like that.

Hey Gaf: Your reaction to this article is why game journalism sucks. When mainstream press covers your hobby, you nerd rage because they don't like the same things that you do or "they don't get it." So the result is that we get niche publications that get all of their financing from videogame companies, and then you throw your arms up when they're biased or influenced by game publishing dollars. Fact is, we can't have it both ways.

What is option b, though? We have enthusiast advertising arms for COD or mainstream press advertising for COD?

Not that I have any real qualms with it, I hardly care, I can just go to niche outlets like RPS and just ignore the sad reality of everything else.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

Hey Gaf: Your reaction to this article is why game journalism sucks. When mainstream press covers your hobby, you nerd rage because they don't like the same things that you do or "they don't get it." So the result is that we get niche publications that get all of their financing from videogame companies, and then you throw your arms up when they're biased or influenced by game publishing dollars. Fact is, we can't have it both ways.

People are not angry about the opinion or because he doesn't like the game. It's because he came up with a thesis that on the front is complete nonsense, and then went on to defend that thesis by slathering ignorance across entire genres of games.

It's not that they're writing about games with a "casual perspective," but that they're writing about games without even enough basic knowledge about the gaming market to actually make their gaming market thesis make a lick of sense. What this guy does would be bad writing in a review of any medium, not just games. Garbage writing is garbage writing.

 

[creid]

This is the part that gets me:

I had to go back to Wikipedia descriptions of the original game to remember all the intricate twists and turns of the Borderlands backstory, which involved a couple of mega-corporations, called Dahl Corp. and Atlas Corp. Atlas set up shop on Pandora one fine winter, hoping to find a vault filled with high-tech alien weapons after finding a similar one on a neighboring planet. Alas, Atlas didn’t realize what a hellhole Pandora was in summer, when horrifying alien monsters come out of hibernation, and abandoned the planet. Enter Dahl, which basically pillaged Pandora for the sake of mining its resources, using convict labor that it shipped in. Complicating the already complicated plot, a xeno-archaeologist working on Pandora while Dahl was in charge, actually did find the mysterious vault.

Who the fuck is confused after three sentences? I feel like anything more complex than "see spot run" is a "dubious, convoluted plot" to him.

 

[chertipros]

Well that was a dumb article

 

[Lagspike_exe]

Borderlands 2 if filled with so much content that's so insanely awesome that it's definitely worth the price tag. There's a very smal number of games that can rival its value. I haven't even gotten to the mid game and what I experienced to this point alone would be worth 60€/$/whatever.

Yes, I probably won't get 100 hours of gameplay that I got from some CoD games, but 40 hours of high quality singleplayer content is worth as much as 100 hours of Call of Duty multiplayer to me. Which also gets repetative unless you buy the DLC packs.

 

[The Bookerman]

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/09/18/game-theory-borderlands-2-fails-to-generate-joy-puke/
As a $30 impulse buy, priced about the same as games like “NASCAR Unleashed,” I wouldn’t have a problem recommending Borderlands 2 as a fun diversion. At twice that price, though, I think it’s fair for players to demand the whole magilla – cutting-edge development, engrossing campaign gameplay, scads of downloadable content, a rich social media/community experience, sharing of loot and gear and online multiplayer modes that keep you and your friends coming back until the next version of the game comes out.

That's the kind of idiot thinking that makes stock go down.

 

[TheDanger]

 

[HamPster PamPster]

Has this guy never even heard of Diablo or something? It's kind of hard to imagine...

Is Enchanted Arms better then I've heard? I mean if its the cupcake or puppies of RPGs then maybe I should pick it up... Probably has lots of super hip manga in it

 

[SmokedMeat]

Maybe CoD should be $30 since it doesn't have a Bajillion guns like Borderlands 2.

 

[ttocs]

Is Enchanted Arms better then I've heard? I mean if its the cupcake or puppies of RPGs then maybe I should pick it up... Probably has lots of super hip manga in it

Eh, it was a little too weird for my taste. At it's core it was a generic RPG though.

 

[marrec]

Eh, it was a little too weird for my taste. At it's core it was a generic RPG though.

Generic RPG with offensively stereotpyical characters and a superficially interesting story. The battles would literally fight themselves if you allowed it.

 

[Dorfdad]

WOW who ever is this mans boss should hand him his last check and proceded to force him to punch himself sensless.

 

[Aaron]

This is like asking someone to review a car when they've only sat in one as a passenger while browsing a car lover's forum.

 

[commish]

Gamers should expect more articles like this as gaming expands further and further into the mainstream.

 

[Tex117]

What a pitful review.

Sure you can not like the game, but to not like it because its not like another generic shooter (especially when its really not even going for that) is beyond bad.

 

[RS4-]

I look forward to the 50/10 review of Black Ops 2. I'm sure it'll make me want to buy the game

 

[barugon]

I have to warn you guys, this game isn't Halo either.

and Halo is a great game.

 

[Subitai]

Kind of giving his pre-explanation as to why it won't sell as well as CoD.

I hope it sells enough to break even and let the developers build on it in a sequel.

 

[kodt]

Despite the valid criticisms of this review, if this game is anything like the first Borderlands, then his critique of the boring repetitive missions is spot on. My eyelids got heavy every time I played Borderlands for more than 20 minutes.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Well that was amusing. The idea that cooperative gameplay is worthless in the face of head to head DM is...novel, to say the least.

 

[enzo_gt]

World Star Journalism

Perfect.

 

[MormaPope]

At least post the thread.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=467732

Not going to lie,

This dude is rad.

 

[Incendiary]

They trolling. right?

This has to be satire or parody. I just can't see anybody actually believing this...right? Right, guys?

 

[patapuf]

Hey Gaf: Your reaction to this article is why game journalism sucks. When mainstream press covers your hobby, you nerd rage because they don't like the same things that you do or "they don't get it." So the result is that we get niche publications that get all of their financing from videogame companies, and then you throw your arms up when they're biased or influenced by game publishing dollars. Fact is, we can't have it both ways.

It really isn't, people aren't upset because he finds borderlands boring (plenty of people do) it's because he gets numerous facts wrong and attacks the game for not being something it isn't.

You don't critisize and action movie for not being a drama. It's just as stupid to critisize borderlands for not being a competitive shooter.

It's a bad review by any standart.

 

[Tookay]

I like reviews like this, not because of their (in)valid criticism, but because they usually offer insight into the arbitrary standards/biases that a "mainstream gamer" (the kind who buys CoD/Madden every year) brings to the table in reviewing a game.

Suddenly the seemingly anti-enthusiast decision-making of a lot of developers partake in makes a whole lot more sense. Most devs/publishers are trying to capture this guy's heart and mind, not the internet fanboy.

 

[Takeda Kenshi]

If you want to make your game better, make it more like CoD.

-WSJ

 

[jwhit28]

I wonder if every book written in first person is compared to each other, no matter the subject or theme.

 

[MrT-Tar]

Upon reading that article, I realise that 'gaming journalism' still can get worse

 

[Cerebral Assassin]

Hey Gaf: Your reaction to this article is why game journalism sucks. When mainstream press covers your hobby, you nerd rage because they don't like the same things that you do or "they don't get it." So the result is that we get niche publications that get all of their financing from videogame companies, and then you throw your arms up when they're biased or influenced by game publishing dollars. Fact is, we can't have it both ways.

Blindly apologizing for a review which contains factual inaccuracies & uses terrible sources just because it is "in the WSJ" is a terrible attitude to take.

 

[remnant]

I would be much more excited for Borderlands 2 if it was 30 bones, so props to this guy

 

[FStop7]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3Iurd6kst0

Thank you!! <3

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Oh wow...
I thought this was satire... I mean... I just... there are no words.

 

[Kaldea]

The game isn’t manga-like enough to be super-hip, so instead, it just feels cartoonish.

Holy fuck, what.

 

[Blitzzz]

Troll of the year. 10/10. Internet posters take note. This is a professional at work.




This yearly cod circle jerk is becoming very iphonesque. Activition has done something very impressive to keep people hyped over small things.

 

[thezerofire]

The issue is not that we're getting all "nerd rage" up on that article, but that the writer clearly has no idea what he's talking about and has done almost no research whatsoever

 

[Uncle AJ]

lol

 

[Orayn]

The issue is not that we're getting all "nerd rage" up on that article, but that the writer clearly has no idea what he's talking about and has done almost no research whatsoever

This. It's like someone is trying to do a legitimate review of an action movie and bases the whole thing on comparisons to Transformers and Avatar.

 

[thezerofire]

This. It's like someone is trying to do a legitimate review of an action movie and bases the whole thing on comparisons to Transformers and Avatar.

It's more like he's trying to do a review of an action movie and keeps comparing it to In Bruges or Drive. Sure there are action parts, but that's not really the point.

 

[fallagin]

World Star Journalism

World star hip hop should start doing game reviews. That would be fun.

 

[Orayn]

It's more like he's trying to do a review of an action movie and keeps comparing it to In Bruges or Drive. Sure there are action parts, but that's not really the point.

Yeah, that's probably more apt. I was thinking more of how banal the comparisons were.

 

[Nekki]

An angry turtle could bite you.

 

[fallagin]

An angry turtle could bite you.

I don't know why nintendo Is copying Ideas from ios developers, they really need to come up with more original ideas for themselves.

 

[Harlock]

Nah. Look at his stupid face.