So this here post is my first post on this here blog, and sure, the theme is not yet built yet, and sure, the pages aren’t constructed… but, really, what makes a blog? Content. So here is some content that really bugged me out tonight.
I read Joystiq a lot. It’s my favorite videogame-related blog. In general, quality writing on videogame websites is nonexistent. Truly, it is some of the worst editorial writing on the internet. Videogame journalism more-often-than-not relies on a series of cliches and tired phrases that bring the entire genre down (I have yet to ever read an article about a new iteration of a videogame series that does not begin with the phrase, “this is not your daddy’s insert game name.” I just want to hit every author who uses that phrase — obviously this is not my daddy’s Fallout, or Madden, or Prince of Persia; my “daddy” is a 60-year-old man who had never played any of those games, let alone their latest iteration). Obviously, I am digressing from the point. To return, I love Joystiq, I think that it is the best videogame-related website on the internet, and I love it precisely because it does not succumb to those videogame journalism pitfalls of overused cliches and hopeless obscure historical/popular references (seriously, read any article on TeamXbox.com, the writers practically sell their souls to come up with the most obscure, wikipedia-orginated historical references in non-historical videogames; they make me want to gauge my eyes out). In general, I love Joystiq.
However. And yes, there must be a caveat to this adoration. Joystiq is a general gaming website, which is fine most of the time. I understand that they do not focus on sports videogames, just as they don’t focus on MMORTS or some other genre — they give an overview of the videogame scene and don’t try to cover sports. Quite apparently, when they do it is usually reason for scorn of the editors in the comments, as readers of the blog will joke about how the editors and authors are trying to appeal to a sports gaming audience and seem so out of touch. Even the Joystiq cast, from time to time, poke fun at themselves for how little they follow sports and sports videogames. This, of course, is fine and great… I actually like it, even as a fan of sports videogames, because Lord knows, there are plenty of genres that I feel the same way about and can’t begin to understand.
Except (yes, another caveat). This does not bother me except when they go out of their way to denigrate a sports game or a company that makes sports games. Take for instance our shining example of Joystiq’s coverage of the recent NCAA Football 2010 announcement about some new modes that the game added. The top line:
EA’s lock on the world of video game football continues with NCAA Football 10, and they’re still of the mindset “if it sells well, don’t fix it.”
This sentence is, first of all, irrelevant. Second of all, it is contradictory — as the article goes onto list additions and changes to the game. Finally, it is simply inaccurate and untrue. It is easy for non-sports gamers to ignorantly relent that every iteration of a sports game is simply a roster update — slightly improved graphics with a few new players and ratings adjustments (although to be fair, EASports, as of late, hadn’t given us much else when it comes to Madden). It’s an old joke about sports games and something that fans of sports games have come to drone out because it is usually untrue — the seemingly insignificant changes to a sports game generally reap huge consequences for fans of sports games. To a general audience, reading about blocking lanes, pocket protection, or breaking up passes, will carry very little interest as it’s not usually something that they’d even notice while watching sports, let alone playing the videogame replica. Yet, for sports gamers, those subtle additions often make or break a game. This generally explains why many sports games get away with a lot of mistakes and then get sequels and excuses made for them — like the MLB 2K series which has been one of the crappiest sports games for some four years, but had gotten by on pretty graphics and a home-run heavy outsider friendly baseball game.
I was a little put off by the inaccurate remark by Joystiq and responded aptly in the comments. About four or five comment threads down, you see my reply:
“EA’s lock on the world of video game football continues with NCAA Football 10, and they’re still of the mindset “if it sells well, don’t fix it.”
This is a ridiculously unfair and inaccurate comment. I know that Joystiq doesn’t care about sports games, and that’s fine, but if you’re going to report the news about it, report it accurately. If you don’t like sports videogames and don’t want to spend any time reporting it accurately, then simply don’t report it… there are plenty of other sites that will cover that for you.
Most Football and Madden fans have been sour on EA for a few years, but Madden 2010 has shown more work in these early builds than any other version to date… never has more attention been paid to the game than it is this year, and the back-and-forth with the community — on Madden forums, twitter, blogs, etc — has been awesome. NCAA is not looking as robust as Madden, but that remark is nonsense… Ian Cummings & crew are puting more work into this year’s football games than any other in the history of the series… so far.
All I am asking for is that the editors be accurate. Sure, you may not like sports games, nobody cares if you do or not, but if you have no interest in accuracy, don’t bother reporting about it. Needless to say (though I am saying it anyway), Joystiq readers generally do not care about sports games, so if the editors have no interest reporting accurately and if the readers are indifferent, just leave the story out. However, if the editors and authors are going to report about it, then they may as well report about it with integrity and accuracy. The Madden and NCAA crews, this year in particular, have gone out of their way to connect to the community, report developments, and really listen to the gripes that hardcore players have had for years. Undoubtedly, the interaction between the Madden crew and the community surpasses the interaction between any developers and any gaming community that I have ever seen, in my decades of following videogames.
Without a doubt I am going to be lambasted and criticized in my defense of EA and sports games. I am not typically a strong EA-defender, but in this case, with these two games, I am going to give credit to the company for delivering in this development cycle. The final product may just be a rouse and it may not be as great as we’re expecting, but at least they’re putting a serious effort into communicating the developments with fans of the series and, from the looks of it, manicuring their relationship with the hardcore players of the game. Be sure to follow that thread on Joystiq to see how upset the non-sports-gaming fans will get at my attention to accuracy. I will be genuinely surprised if my comment is not voted down to “opaque obscurity” and bereft with insults.
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