Not only that, this newest member wasn't voted in by the gaming press, it was voted in by our very own Gaming Age Forum. Let's give good 'ol Pretentious some applause, shall we?
We whine incessantly about how the state of the gaming press. The very idea of gaming journalism makes us snort with laughter like junkwaffles' caricatures. This is all good. We want the games media to improve itself. Stop pandering to the lowest common denominator we say. Stop disguising the bullet points in press releases as hands-on previews. Stop giving us five page "Top 5" articles every week. For the love of all that is holy, stop treating us like we're still twelve years old. However, every time anybody tries to break the mold and take the job seriously, it's considered "pretentious". Analyzing a game as more than just a toy? Pretentious. Reviewing a game as more than just a product? Pretentious. Using a word that we didn't learn in grade school? Pretentious.
Hypocritical? Undoubtedly. But that's not where this ends. When the mainstream media cover games as for children and balk at the idea that they could be considered serious contenders for an adult's entertainment time alongside film and literature, what do we do? Bitch and moan. Hey, guess what? Maybe if we let our reporters, critics, reviewers, and editors actually cover games in a way that appeals to adults, we wouldn't have the mainstream press thinking that they're children's toys.
Yes, although I'd been thinking this for a while now, this topic was finally brought upon by the latest N'Gai Croal thread where instead of focusing on the editorial, people decided to talk about whether or not the usage of the word "verisimilitude" was pretentious. I understand games are going to have to become more mature before they're taken seriously by the mainstream press as well, but gamers aren't helping matters. We seem to want them to be covered as children's toys but have the legitimacy of a mainstream entertainment medium.
We whine incessantly about how the state of the gaming press. The very idea of gaming journalism makes us snort with laughter like junkwaffles' caricatures. This is all good. We want the games media to improve itself. Stop pandering to the lowest common denominator we say. Stop disguising the bullet points in press releases as hands-on previews. Stop giving us five page "Top 5" articles every week. For the love of all that is holy, stop treating us like we're still twelve years old. However, every time anybody tries to break the mold and take the job seriously, it's considered "pretentious". Analyzing a game as more than just a toy? Pretentious. Reviewing a game as more than just a product? Pretentious. Using a word that we didn't learn in grade school? Pretentious.
Hypocritical? Undoubtedly. But that's not where this ends. When the mainstream media cover games as for children and balk at the idea that they could be considered serious contenders for an adult's entertainment time alongside film and literature, what do we do? Bitch and moan. Hey, guess what? Maybe if we let our reporters, critics, reviewers, and editors actually cover games in a way that appeals to adults, we wouldn't have the mainstream press thinking that they're children's toys.
Yes, although I'd been thinking this for a while now, this topic was finally brought upon by the latest N'Gai Croal thread where instead of focusing on the editorial, people decided to talk about whether or not the usage of the word "verisimilitude" was pretentious. I understand games are going to have to become more mature before they're taken seriously by the mainstream press as well, but gamers aren't helping matters. We seem to want them to be covered as children's toys but have the legitimacy of a mainstream entertainment medium.