I'm Glad the Internet Gives Everyone a Chance to Be Heard, But I Still Wish People Would Shut the Fuck Up Sometimes

Rage. It's like cocaine for people who know better, isn't it? Nothing is more invigorating that perusing YouTube and reading about people saying religion is for people who would suppress science, when these same people still believe space and time are two separate things altogether. This isn't about anything as pretentious and uncouth as religion though, a person's private beliefs are theirs and theirs alone.

I used to be a writer for both www.uraniummusic.com and maelstrom.nu, writing about music. They were both eye-opening experiences, and a pretty nasty look inside the world of actual journalism. Admittedly, whenever I read any place doing critical or journalistic work, I tend to be lenient. It's a tough job keeping the fickle population of the 21st century happy word-for-word, and getting death-threats after saying an album with a heavy marketting push "just isn't that great" will give you a quick lesson in how nasty things can be. Still, though, I read certain things that I just can't let go.

I can vivdly recall the days of playing Bump'n'Jump on my father's ColecoVision many moons ago, and the day my hands grasped a Genesis controller ready to take on Sonic 2 was a day that I was changed forever. Games have advanced in leaps and bounds since then, and these days it's no longer a niche thing. If you don't eat Cheetohs while using the P90 with double-tap on Call of Duty 4, you're behind the times. However, I feel like I'm part of a dying breed of gamer. Not to sound like I'm trying to identify myself with over-priced miniature PC's built with DRM in mind, but there isn't anything I isolate myself with. I remember spending my time speed-running through Metal Gear Solid in the 90's during the day, and spamming "show me the money" on Starcraft at night. To this day, I'm still amazed how people can spend all of their time on Team Fortress 2, raising their brows high above console titles that they feel to be inferior (Gears of War withstanding, shit's pretty inferior (I kid, I kid (But seriously though, Gears of War is too brotastic for me))).

Where this segues into journalism is this: gaming blogs and newsfeeds have superceded tech sites such as Slashdot; it's clear where the public mind is set. From being involved with writing, there're normally two ways to approach journalism when it comes to consumerist products:

First--and most frequently--you have the everyman, John Doe writers. These guys don't let their own opinion of games interfere with things, because they're seeing it as if they're trying to sell you something. Monster Hunter Freedom Unite may be one of the most rewarding games in years, but not everyone is man enough to deal with there not being a lock-on button. Regardless of whether or not it's in context, these guys are trying to garner readers and establish a certain credibility. While I can't blame them, you easily realize how easily that mentality can marginalize things in the long run.

Second, you have the authors trying to relegate games into the niche category. One read through Kotaku, and you can easily get the idea that it's garbage. I don't care about staff e-mails, and I don't give a shit that Treyarch's lead producer on Call of Duty: World at War thinks one-shot kill sniper rifles are for fags. I don't go to this site for anything nonspecific. However, this breeds a much bigger issue. This raises the potential for journalists to emerge that guise themselves as having individual prerogatives or different takes on things, when that couldn't be further from the truth. It's a venue for masturbation via-lexicon, where you can safely enjoy the sound of your own tubby digits as they taka-taka-taka against the keyboard. You can convince people that yes, somehow Gunstar Heroes is inferior to Triggerheart Excelica and, oh yeah, make sure women have their hands around dirty dishes being cleaned, not an Xbox controller. I bet they'll even want to vote here soon.

When I write this blog, I don't intend on more than maybe one or two people reading it. While, I'd like to talk about video games, if I feel like elaborating on why Bianca Beauchamp's chest is a clear sign that art is alive and booming in this post-modern era (art is man-made, afterall...), I'll do so. When I say that I'm writing an honest opinion, it's clearly evident that it's the case because I don't expect anyone to read any of this. I do it because I both enjoy writing and grow weary of both of the above.

Of all the things that you could have an agenda about writing, why have one about video games? Is there really a reason to be elitist about items that practically don't exist in the first place? The sort of self-felatio is practically laughable, especially when you're butchering the English language while discussing lesbian Touhou in the process.

In the digital age when you can demo everything and easily hack whatever console, there is no excuse to base everything you read on websites that appeal to one or two people: assholes or idiots.