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[publicpwnerer]

You have to kidding me. It's absolutely a journalists job to inform. It's silly to think otherwise.

The thing is, they're only journalists when people want to spit venom and say "lol video game journalists".

It's a hybrid job of blogging, journalism, being a critic, and content production. One misunderstood tweet, or an article with a slant that doesn't agree with someone...and their lives / careers are made hell. A single review either gets your organisation blacklisted by publishers, or hordes or morons abusing you.

What a shit job, straddling the line between so many different things...as well as trying to keep all parties happy.

 

[Kingbrave]

Yup. It's the very description of a journalist even. Someone who collects, writes, and distributes news and information.

He's essentially saying that the only people who deserve News are people who pay. Isn't that the same thing as saying they should be a mouth piece for advertisers?

 

[jschreier]

The thing is, they're only journalists when people want to spit venom and say "lol video game journalists".

It's a hybrid job of blogging, journalism, being a critic, and content production. One misunderstood tweet, or an article with a slant that doesn't agree with someone...and their / careers are done for. A single review either gets your organisation blacklisted by publishers, or hordes or morons abusing you.

What a shit job, straddling the line between so many different things...as well as trying to keep all parties happy.

Ha ha. It's not so bad. At least there are a lot of cool stories to find and tell.

 

[robertsan21]

The thing is, they're only journalists when people want to spit venom and say "lol video game journalists".

It's a hybrid job of blogging, journalism, being a critic, and content production. One misunderstood tweet, or an article with a slant that doesn't agree with someone...and their / careers are done for. A single review either gets your organisation blacklisted by publishers, or hordes or morons abusing you.

What a shit job, straddling the line between so many different things...as well as trying to keep all parties happy.

yes, that is why we need a new type of review site, someone that DOES NOT TAKE SHIT FROM ANYONE and still gets the attention, followers, inside scopes from insiders and can put pressure on these publishers and companies with information that has leaked out and are breaking NDA etc etc.

This shit has to happen. Sign me up!

 

[Kingbrave]

The thing is, they're only journalists when people want to spit venom and say "lol video game journalists".

It's a hybrid job of blogging, journalism, being a critic, and content production. One misunderstood tweet, or an article with a slant that doesn't agree with someone...and their lives / careers are made hell. A single review either gets your organisation blacklisted by publishers, or hordes or morons abusing you.

What a shit job, straddling the line between so many different things...as well as trying to keep all parties happy.

I totally understand this, I just take issue with saying that journalists aren't around to inform.

Hell, I don't think the gaming press are really journalists. They are enthusiasts like we are and I'm totally fine with that. As long as we are informed of the conditions of said content.

 

[RedAssedApe]

Prob already posted but penello Twitter says today's internet explosion is nothing to do with Xbox.

Its pretty funny how they are feigning ignorance. Seems this overblown review issue has slightly diverted attention away from 720p.

 

[Metfanant]

When "growing a pair" involves voluntarily crippling your main source of income, it becomes less pretty.
Also, game journalists are traditionally not idiots. Even if they are going to review events, they might work to take that into consideration within the review. If they're consciously aware of potential bias caused by setting, it negates said bias.

trust me, I understand your point...and I understand the thin line these guys walk...I'm just pointing out UNFORTUNATELY that you can't have it both ways...either your integrity is number 1...or maximizing the paycheck...

their choice to make...I won't judge them for making either choice...but if you choose to play along with the publishers...then don't cry on twitter about your integrity...and same goes the other way

Maybe if review events were more common, this would be a conversation worth having. They're not, really. A couple of big games a year, maybe - mostly multiplayer shooters - and often review copies are sent out in addition to the events.

This conversation, BTW, is predicated on the idea that the PS4 "review event" involves journalists sitting in a room and playing PS4s for X amount of time, when for all we know it might be nothing like that. Maybe it's just an event for Sony to hand out PS4s to reviewers.

Just some context, here, before everyone goes jumping to conclusions.

I agree completely...I also think that these guys need to take a step back and think about things....the games themselves can be reviewed on a dev kit regardless of the system software...but if they are going to be reviewing the PS4 itself for the first time at this event them it's important that true retail hardware, as well as the PSN and firmware 1.5 is ready and available for them to experience...this event is likely the only way that is possible given constraints...

 

[Monty Mole]

From what I gather it seems to be the PS4 launch/review event the journos are so upset about.

Seems like Sony is trying to turn videogames in to Hollywood yet again, but this time with 'premiere' events. Let's hope it's a one-off for launch and not a trend.

Also, perhaps like Hollywood, they'll only allow several video snippets of the game to be shown as part of media reviews.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

Because if that kind of integrity mattered to a vast majority of the people who consume video game media, Gamespot would have been bankrupted by the Gerstmann scandal. Sadly most people don't care.

But here is my arguement to that. Do you really think people will be happy just going to one or two sites for previews/reviews in the long term?

Lets say Sony is saying "You have to be a site of X size with X amount of readers before we give you a dev kit" and "Youtube montization is not allowed of our copyrighted content"

Do you really think everyone in the long term is just going to drop their subscriptions and only go to these two sites?

This why I think this is all silly.

If exclusive/early reviews, no matter what is written is the only thing that made you matter to people, then you didnt matter anyway.


I understand it may effect revenue in the short term, but thats revenue that didnt exist this time last year anyway.

If this has shown anything, its shown how utterly worthless gaming journos view their own coverage of anything that isnt a review of the newest games.

 

[Ovek]

I wonder how the gaming press feel working in an ever more irrelevant field?

 

[Pristine_Condition]

I think it may just be time for Sessler to hang it up. I don't like to jump to conclusions, but it doesn't seem healthy for him. Been thinking that ever since he looked like he was seriously going to die on E3 Day 3.

 

[disastermouse]

I think it may just be time for Sessler to hang it up. I don't like to jump to conclusions, but it doesn't seem healthy for him. Been thinking that ever since he looked like he was seriously going to die on E3 Day 3.

Is this 'concern trolling' or are you serious?

 

[The Dutch Slayer]

yes, that is why we need a new type of review site, someone that DOES NOT TAKE SHIT FROM ANYONE and still gets the attention, followers, inside scopes from insiders and can put pressure on these publishers and companies with information that has leaked out and are breaking NDA etc etc.

This shit has to happen. Sign me up!

http://www.youtube.com/user/AngryJoeShow/videos

Then you are looking for this:

Youtube is THE place people who are coming to gaming and gaming internet for the first time now.
Youtube gaming celebs are increasingly more important then any other video game website.

Problem is that coverage will always be "late" because they are not part of the PR and review cycle.
If you want everything and be part of PR cycle I do not think that is possible.

 

[Dr_Boris_Goltz]

Is this Justin Mcelroy? If My Brother, My Brother, and Me has taught me anything it's that he's a joker and you probably shouldn't take this gif seriously.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

Sorry if mentioed before but we have a GAF insider how knows more:


From the Max left rev3games topic.

I guess will know by January.

Still think its very strange, because before Adam got to rev3games it was doing like OK in term of viewer ship.
But now with Adam its skyrocketed and really is doing very well, youtube subscriptions are up few 100%.

It is doing very well, but things are going to likely change soon on decisions made in the industry. Rev3Games, TotalBiscuit, Angry Joe, and all these other guys and gals who rely on Youtube and don't get taken as seriously by the industry in comparison to sites like IGN are going to be in trouble probably.

That's what I'm reading into this. Could it be that video capturing has to come directly from the system? Are there new Youtube copyright issues being presented courtesy of the publishing studios?

While that doesn't affect us in gaming, it does affect the landscape on how we receive our information and gather opinions. If things are being put in place to try and bottleneck information through certain avenues, that is a bit worrisome.

It's probably not that bad as I'm putting it according to what Jason is saying, but it's obviously something not exclusive to just Sessler and Rev3Games.

I think it may just be time for Sessler to hang it up. I don't like to jump to conclusions, but it doesn't seem healthy for him. Been thinking that ever since he looked like he was seriously going to die on E3 Day 3.

He had a sore throat from trying to talk over the crowds and music from the other 2 days, plus the content leading up to E3. Also, you'd be surprised how easy it is to get sick at cons. If you go to a lot of these really crowded events, you have probably 50%-70% chance of catching something, just because of all the people there and the strains of whatever the hell they have from all over the nation/world all in an enclosed space.

 

[machinecaliber]

Prob already posted but penello Twitter says today's internet explosion is nothing to do with Xbox.

I don't know about that, this weeks upcoming event seems awful late to have the press just come casually check out some X1 games and especially with that embargo too. Sounds a little dicey to me. I mean at least that PS4 thing was almost two weeks ago at this point.

 

[Pristine_Condition]

Is this 'concern trolling' or are you serious?

Serious. Did you see him at E3?

 

[Racer1977]

Probably been posted, but I've only just seen it.


Jeff Gerstmann Of GiantBomb Blog Post


Perhaps I’d be a little more worked up about things if I was running the sort of site that was going to try to write reviews of every single launch game, I don’t know. The only thing I can think of that’d be bothering people at the moment is hardware distribution or the lack thereof. I’ve been around plentifully of other writers recently and no one’s been too worked up about anything. So either I’m out of the loop or… yeah, I don’t know.
Console launches are always incredibly fluid situations and everything comes together late. There’s never enough information and clarity is hard to come by. I try not to get too worked up about things that are completely out of my control.


.....................................

 

[bbalde]

Thoses consoles can share videogames content by evryone with a decent connection without beein a techie. This job of theirs, the way they are doing it now is already in danger.

 

[securitypigeon]

nvm

 

[RulkezX]

I think it may just be time for Sessler to hang it up. I don't like to jump to conclusions, but it doesn't seem healthy for him. Been thinking that ever since he looked like he was seriously going to die on E3 Day 3.

I'm thinking GAF has blown this out of proportion. Adam says in his tweet it something that will only affect a handful of people , Jadon above doesn't seem to think its much of anything to worry about.


You can add Jeff Gerstmann to the list of people not worried.

 

[Mushroomer25]

Thoses consoles can share videogames content by evryone with a decent connection without beein a techie. This job of theirs, the way they are doing it now is already in danger.

That's not really a new thing though. Sure, the PS4 makes it easier - but amatur gameplay videos are no new thing. People are mostly coming to channels like Rev3 for the heightened production value & critical opinion.

 

[The Dutch Slayer]

Thoses consoles can share videogames content by everyone with a decent connection without beein a techie. This job of theirs, the way they are doing it now is already in danger.

But you can't really edit, do long form content have multiple people talking over a video or have multiple videos edits in the same shot etc etc etc.

The video sharing on the new consoles is VERY limited so not really competing with folks who have nice setups/video game journo websites.

 

[Dreamwriter]

Am I just being dense here? Why dont they just not go, tell Sony its not on and make it clear on their websites/blogs/Youtube channels why?

Seems to me they hold the cards here but are annoyed they arent getting their usual freebies. If it affects your livelihood, take a collective stance. Even if one or two break ranks, you have made a big enough statement to gamers and publishers alike.

Honestly, all this shows is these gaming "journalists" have no faith in having a loyal and faithful readership that seek them out to see what THEY have to say about a particular issue, console or game.

If all that matters is who writes first, the whole lot of them are disposable and the equivalent of written fast food.

You have to think of the business end of things. A console launch is BY FAR the most moneymaking time in game site lifetimes, where they get the most page views, ad money, and equally important new regular visitors to their website. And if the website that customers go to doesn't have content about new system X, those customers won't care about the site taking some sort of stand, they'll go to another site, and perhaps become a regular there. Just being a week late on content can totally kill income from that content.

This is like Black Friday for retailers, except it only happens once every 5 or 6 years.

 

[Chinner]

Is this Justin Mcelroy? If My Brother, My Brother, and Me has taught me anything it's that he's a joker and you probably shouldn't take this gif seriously.

ps3 skrim scandal proves otherwise

 

[Data West]

But you can't really edit, do long form content have multiple people talking over a video or have multiple videos edits in the same shot etc etc etc.

The video sharing on the new consoles is VERY limited so not really competing with folks who have nice setups/video game journo websites.

Spoiler alert: Most people don't care about that stuff. They just want raw gameplay. And most of the most popular streamers are just one person talking over the game rather than multiple.

 

[Pinbot]

We need a Jimquisition immediately. Emergency

 

[Mxrz]

Video-centric types are going to have a rough year. Dunno if that is what has Sessler's freaking out, but its hard to think anyone who has been around would be upset about a launch 'review event.'

 

[robertsan21]

http://www.youtube.com/user/AngryJoeShow/videos

Then you are looking for this:

Youtube is THE place people who are coming to gaming and gaming internet for the first time now.
Youtube gaming celebs are increasingly more important then any other video game website.

Problem is that coverage will always be "late" because they are not part of the PR and review cycle.
If you want everything and be part of PR cycle I do not think that is possible.

Yeah I know about joe and I am not new to games, I been a gamer since 80s

However, we need a step up from this. hopefully joe will get the right connections that are willing to leak stuff to him and sent copies of games that he can use to review before the PR CYCLE websites have right to publish them.

 

[Yoday]

Haha what? It is their job to provide content. It is NOT their job to even inform. Sure they'll so better if they do inform and do so honestly, but unless you are paying for some sort of subscription fee they literally owe you nothing. Don't act like they owe you something because you simply gave them a pageview.

And that right there folks, is why games press has gone to shit.

The gaming press is in a position of power within the industry. It is the responsibility of the press to inform the public. It is fucked up if being part of the games press means nothing more than providing content to get clicks.

With great power comes great responsibility, if you can't handle that responsibility, then give up the power and get the fuck out.

 

[Dr_Boris_Goltz]

ps3 skrim scandal proves otherwise

What happened there if you don't mind me asking?

 

[Mushroomer25]

Spoiler alert: Most people don't care about that stuff. They just want raw gameplay. And most of the most popular streamers are just one person talking over the game rather than multiple.

Even basic LPers usually have a certain degree of polish to their videos that these consoles couldn't include. Honestly, besides sharing between friends - I don't see the Share function making any big waves in the content industry.

 

[Guevara]

Games journalism suffers from a fatal conflict of interests:

Access = page views = revenue

It doesn't matter how noble the intentions, eventually a site either falls in line or loses access.

 

[BasketCasket]

Was this posted yet?

All these threads are moving far too quickly today. I wonder if we'll hear some information from Shuhei to clear some of this up.

 

[MeBecomingI]

I don't know.. this is bizarre. Personally, I'm leaning towards that "PS4 Review Event" ultimately being the thing responsible, assuming that is legit (and isn't fake) and the event is for the sole purpose of letting outlets review launch games in controlled environments. It would also make sense that Sessler (and Rev3) and places that seem to rely more on video content rather than written content would upset as they can't take proper footage on their own accord with their own systems. If that is case, that is a seriously bogus move on the part of Sony.

I'm not a fan of "review events."

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

nvm

Im going to reply anyway.

Its not his issue with the review events.

Its his crying over it coming purely of self interest (My livelhood is threatened) than informing the consumer.

I dont like like the idea of review events either, but rather than taking a stance and saying "Hay guys, Sony is preventing me from keeping you informed so I cant review PS4 games until further notice" He is saying "The way I make money is threatened, im scared"

Reviews can be made without a lick of footage, You can cover a whole world of gaming without even mentioning next gen systems and Youtube content ID doesnt cover User created content that doesnt infringe IP.

So in other words, it comes down to at this present moment in time he doesnt know whether he will get a PS4 and Xbox one that he can play review copies 2 weeks early and talk about before launch.

And if that is all it takes for him to think about shutting up shop than ive got one word for him. Bye.

 

[plufim]

Is this Justin Mcelroy? If My Brother, My Brother, and Me has taught me anything it's that he's a joker and you probably shouldn't take this gif seriously.

That'll fall on deaf ears, as always. It was patently obvious day one that this was a goof. He had been looking forward to the game, and when it finally arrived, he did a silly bit about dancing with it.

It was not meant to be taken as anything else.

If Brad Shoemaker had filmed the exact video, but with Starcraft 2, no-one would have said a thing.

 

[bbalde]

That's not really a new thing though. Sure, the PS4 makes it easier - but amatur gameplay videos are no new thing. People are mostly coming to channels like Rev3 for the heightened production value & critical opinion.

And you think out of a few 80 millions users down the line, there wont be someone that can be critical and give better insigth ? We already have thousands here alone that I'm sure will try at least once to leverage that feature.

 

[Data West]

That'll fall on deaf ears, as always. It was patently obvious day one that this was a goof.

If Brad Shoemaker had filmed the exact video, but with Starcraft 2, no-one would have said a thing.

You guys remember that kooky nut Justin McElroy giving Nier a 0 because he was having a silly on us and pretending he didn't know how to fish?

 

[j0hnny_385]

I still don't know what the fuck is going on here... Everyone, just STAHP...

 

[Mushroomer25]

And you think out of a few 80 millions users down the line, there wont be someone that can be critical and give better insigth ? We already have thousands here alone that I'm sure will try at least once to leverage that feature.

There will inevitably be one or two talented people who become accustomed to the medium through the built-in tools, but they'll jump ship to "real" capture equipment once they start gaining an audience. Mainly because I doubt Playstation will allow you to monetize videos recorded through their service. (Twitch Streaming is another conversation).

 

[madblazer]

has Adam Sessler seen Titanfall.

 

[Mondy]

Reading the responses to his own tweets, Sessler has clarified it's definitely not about Microsoft.

 

[gogojira]

Was this posted yet?

All these threads are moving far too quickly today. I wonder if we'll hear some information from Shuhei to clear some of this up.

Ha, what the hell does that guy expect to response to be? He just gave Shu a bold assumption made by a message board based on some overly dramatic tweets. There's not going to be any insight outside of his "???" response.

 

[Defunkled]

That'll fall on deaf ears, as always. It was patently obvious day one that this was a goof. He had been looking forward to the game, and when it finally arrived, he did a silly bit about dancing with it.

It was not meant to be taken as anything else.

If Brad Shoemaker had filmed the exact video, but with Starcraft 2, no-one would have said a thing.

Haha, didn't that actually kinda happen? Remember the Mailbag when they received Starcraft 2 and Brad held it while running around the office?

 

[plufim]

You guys remember that kooky nut Justin McElroy giving Nier a 0 because he was having a silly on us and pretending he didn't know how to fish?

Well sure, but that's not relevant. Justin was doing a comedy bit.

His ability to review is completely irrelevant to the gif.

 

[Metfanant]

Was this posted yet?

All these threads are moving far too quickly today. I wonder if we'll hear some information from Shuhei to clear some of this up.

Somebody should tweet him the picture of Mr. Gies offering to break an NDA for Albert Panello

Ha, what the hell does that guy expect to response to be? He just gave Shu a bold assumption made by a message board based on some overly dramatic tweets. There's not going to be any insight outside of his "???" response.

It is bizarro though...considering how much Shu interacts with the community on twitter...yet Sessler claims he is being ignored...

 

[Persona7]

I am trying to think of certain scenarios related to this.

 

[ThoughtsOfSpeaking]

You have to think of the business end of things. A console launch is BY FAR the most moneymaking time in game site lifetimes, where they get the most page views, ad money, and equally important new regular visitors to their website. And if the website that customers go to doesn't have content about new system X, those customers won't care about the site taking some sort of stand, they'll go to another site, and perhaps become a regular there. Just being a week late on content can totally kill income from that content.

This is like Black Friday for retailers, except it only happens once every 5 or 6 years.

Im not disputing that, nor the potential loss of revenue. But Rev3games didnt exist 5 or 6 years ago. There is no precedent here. Youtube montization is all relatively new.

I dont understand how they have been trucking along so far and all of a sudden they potentially will go out of business. If they are continously putting up unique content that is related to gaming on their youtube channel, they will have a viewership. People are not going to unsubscribe enmass because they cant review COD 3 days early. Its a massive overreaction.

As ive said before, if the only thing thats keeping them afloat is covering next gen consoles (which they still can do perfectly fine btw) , then they arent relevant anyway.

The only thing at stake her is reviews of launch hardware and games for one system, with a possibility of it continuing for at least the short term. Thats it. There is at least one other next gen platform with less restrictive policies, one Sorta next gen platform with no current restrictive policies, 30 years worth of retro platforms with no restrictive policies and a whole world of video gaming to cover that doesnt directly cover any particular game in detail.

So sorry. Im just going to see this as much ado about nothing.

 

[bbalde]

There will inevitably be one or two talented people who become accustomed to the medium through the built-in tools, but they'll jump ship to "real" capture equipment once they start gaining an audience. Mainly because I doubt Playstation will allow you to monetize videos recorded through their service. (Twitch Streaming is another conversation).

Well thats how successful stories begins