Games Journalism

Games journalism at the moment seems to be causing a certain amount of consternation to some people. The main point of frustration seems to be about the journalist’s eagerness to count themselves as part of the games industry. A journalist is a journalist, be they reporting on a new computer game, the FA Cup final or even reporting on a court case. They are no more in the games industry then the people behind the counter in Gamestation.

For the writers and reporters to be considered part of the “Industry” they certainly need to offer more then they currently do. Fans of certain genres or characters or even certain developers will purchase whatever product is put out there regardless of how much you urge them to “Try before you buy.” A case in point being the Mario games. Originally a platform game stalwart, Nintendo’s mascot is now appearing in seemingly everything, the Nintendo fanbase being as protective as it is they will buy the games regardless of the dubious quality of some of them. Therefore a review of a game can be irrelevant to some people. An expert games journalist will then recognise their audience and realise how best to get their attention.