MEDIALITERACYCase StudyWriting about Games

A host of opportunities await talented writers interested in pursuing a career in gaming journalism. Gaming publications provide information on news, games, and peripherals associated with a popu­lar platform. Some, like PlayStation: The Official Magazine and the Official Xbox Magazine, are sanctioned by console manufacturers. Others, like Edge and Game Informer, report on a broader spectrum of the digital gaming industry. Almost all follow a reveal/preview/review cycle, whereby periodicals announce, promote, and evaluate new consoles and games.

Whereas the origins of gaming journalism were dominated by manufacturer publications and fanzines (magazines written by gamers for other gamers), in recent years the gaming press has grown to include more traditional journalism practices, such as those on online sites like Kotaku, Gamasutra, and Eurogamer. Like other forms of journalism, the relationship between reporter and subject can affect credibility as well as create some complicated ethical situations. For example, some indepen­dent gaming artists rely on the site Patreon (like a Kickstarter site for patrons of the arts) for financial support, and then release material first to their backers from the site. As some gaming journalism sources create policies preventing writers from donating, others have to balance this principle with the journalistic goal of getting the story first (see also Chapter 3’s discussion of journalism values and ethics on pages 88–95).

Another problem some gaming journalists have experienced is pushback from gamers who have seemingly grown used to the more fan-based style of reporting, which was less likely to include any critique of gaming culture. As Vox writer Todd VanDerWerff suggests, this has led to a “fundamental disconnect between what those who read gaming media believe journalism to be and what it actually is.”¹ This disconnect probably helped contribute to the #GamerGate controversy, as some gamers responded to criticism of the treatment of women and minorities in games and gaming culture by launching deeply disturbing attacks on journalists and critics (see also “Converging Media Case Study: Anita Sarkeesian, #GamerGate, and Convergence” on pages 342–343).

Another new trend in the gaming press is New Games Journalism. An article published in PC Gamer, a British magazine, provided the inspiration for the movement. In the piece, Ian Shanahan (who uses the screen name always_black) relates the story of how a random online opponent opened a lightsaber duel with a racial slur because he assumed Shanahan to be a player of color. Shanahan then transports the reader into a fleeting gaming moment when, for him, winning a routine match carried special meaning and significance beyond the fantasy of the game he was playing at the time of the challenge, Jedi Knight II.²

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Kieron Gillen, a fellow British writer, found Shanahan’s article so compelling that he wrote a widely read blog post calling for the establishment of New Games Journalism—an intensely personal form of game writing that would embrace the human side of gaming. The idea of writing about games in the manner of the New Journalism of the 1960–1970s attracted the attention of game writers on both sides of the Atlantic. Citing the examples of Tom Wolfe, Truman Capote, Norman Mailer, and Hunter S. Thompson, Gillen argued that “the worth of a videogame lies not in the game, but in the gamer.” If done correctly, New Games Journalism would resemble travel journalism, but would take readers to imaginary places instead of real ones. “Our job is to describe what it’s like to visit a place that doesn’t exist outside of the gamer’s head,” writes Gillen, and to “go to a place, report on its cultures, foibles, distractions and bring it back to entertain your readers.”³

Video game fans may be prepared to write professional articles that follow the reveal/preview/review rituals of traditional games journalism. However, all media students have something to say about their own experiences with digital gaming and the digital playground. New Games Journalism thus counts as a provocative development. With its focus on the player experience, it gives a voice to anyone who wants to comment on this emergent medium.

APPLYING THE CRITICAL PROCESS

DESCRIPTION Investigate New Games Journalism by reading some well-known examples of the movement at http://www.theguardian.com/technology/gamesblog/2005/mar/03/tenunmissable. For purposes of comparison, also read a game review posted on GameSpot or IGN.com.

ANALYSIS Does always_black address you as a consumer, a citizen, or a fellow gamer? What part of the gaming dynamic is important to always_black? How does the standard game review address the reader? What part of the gaming dynamic is emphasized at GameSpot or IGN.com? What type of reader would be attracted to New Games Journalism? What type of reader would be alienated by it? Why?

INTERPRETATION Which form of games journalism—traditional or new—seeks to discover what it means to play digital games? Which form is devoted to reporting information about digital games?

EVALUATION Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of New Games Journalism.

ENGAGEMENT Write your own New Games Journalism article. Report on a particularly meaningful experience you had with digital gaming, or go to a video arcade on a busy night and record your opinions about what arcade gaming means today.