W-Agent Drew, I've known that much of the mainstream media was clueless ever since I read an article about FFVII right after its release that claimed that Cloud had appeared as a young boy in one of the earlier games in the series. If I hadn't by then, I would have known it when I read several newspaper/magazine reviews of Final Fantasy: TSW that reported that its plot was taken from one of the FF games.

I think that the reason for this has been in part because of video games' reputation as the redheaded stepchild of the entertainment industry - they make a huge amount of money and millions of people around the world play them, but when it comes to the mainstream (and especially "sophisticated" and/or scholarly) media, it's still stereotyped as "that kid stuff."

Of course, we do have to keep in mind that much of the mainstream media never grew up with video games. Almost all of the older adults I know think half an hour spent with Super Mario Bros. in 1987 or Mortal Kombat in 1992 means that they know enough about video games to know that they don't like them. Yet these same people wouldn't dream of dismissing an entire genre of movies or books, let alone the entire field, simply because they didn't like the first half hour of a single movie or book in that genre.

To be depressingly honest, I don't think that the mainstream media will change much until either older adults give video games a chance and start playing, or until those who grew up with video games get positions of influence in the media industry.

Yoshitsune

Drew,

Upon reading Mr. Mud's little letter, one thing popped into my head. A good few months ago, I was watching CNN, which was doing a piece on video games--two game in particular. Which two games? Ico, with its almost surreal depth and backstory? Silent Hill 2, and its morbid, eerie feel? Metal Gear Solid 2, perhaps?

No...

...no.

They were doing a piece on two Playstation games. These two games: Barbie Adventurer and Jimmy Neutron, and how obviously great they would be. We'll just let that sink in.

-Lee

MechaDrewzilla (Zero 3 Upper),

'Far as I see it, the mainstream media tends to paint every square millimeter of any topic with subjectivity and ignorance. Even if, by absolute chance, someone happens to get something mostly right, so much is lost in the "news-byte" compression scheme that the information ends up being mostly useless anyway. The only times you consistently see the mainstream give objective coverage of anything is when they're doing sports and finances. Sports being all about black-or-white gameplay where no subjective judgment is necessary, and finances being all about hard numbers & bottom-lines.

So, really, the mainstream jacks up even the stuff they actually care about. Gaming is still a niche thing, and it only appeals to a certain age range, so until that changes we'll continue to see limited coverage. ...And 'limited coverage' will translate to a 98% chance of misinformation crammed into a sidebar or 10 second clip.

I don't think the situation can improve a whole lot. Yes, coverage will grow as the youngsters of today become the not-so-youngsters of tomorrow, which will eventually nix the stigma of games being soul-pervading demon-biscuits; however that won't change the fact that the 'mainstream' is for the C-average, 100IQ Joe with a ring in his nose. As long as the reviewer writes purdy or looks interesting, the content barely matters. People who actually care about any specialized topic know not to look to the mainstream for reliable information.

At least the FFX review didn't say, "It's a pagan-themed killing simulator in which you play as anarchists who steal things from peoples' homes."

-Psiga

Drew:

Mud Pepper asks us how can mainstream VG coverage improve and why it hasn't done so yet.

I cite an excerpt from his letter:

"This same review also encompasses Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance, a game which the reviewer describes as '10 times as much fun' as FFX, and in whose water he frolicked his characters for a full five minutes just to watch it ripple splash. Now, Baldur's Gate was fun, and pretty, and the water was cool, but I think our Mr. Godinez misses the point of an RPG like FFX: the story and characterization. He criticizes FFX as too repetitive and praises Baldur's Gate, a game with infinitely less varied gameplay than FFX, but a tiny fraction of the story and character depth."

Mr. Pepper has just cited the reviewer's opinion. I love FFX as much as the next guy, but I don't particularly think it's appropriate to cite someone's opinion about a game as an example of what's wrong with the mainstream media's attitude towards video games. If the reviewer prefers Baldur's Gate to FFX, that's his opinion, and his right; there's nothing wrong with it. I'm sure you guys know all too well the dangers of daring to have an opinion about a game.

That leaves me with very little to say about this topic other than Mud Pepper also mistakenly claimed that Warren Spector was the developer behind Project Ego. It is in fact Peter Molyneux, of Populous and Black & White fame, who is developing Project Ego.

-Nij

Hi, Drew

I think the main problem with "mainstream" coverage of videogames is that most people who write for the big publications aren't familiar with the subject matter. Sure, I've seen the odd blurb in TIME or The Courant about Final Fantasy 8 or Black & White, but these articles usually just function to call attention to the product or act as an obligatory footnote to something popular and new (and shiny; no matter how horrible the game is in every other regard, it'll probably recieve attention if the graphics are impressive enough). I've never seen anything that was truly objective in regard to games... and on the whole I don't expect it from them. When I want news on the latest console RPG, I come to the GIA or another gaming website--and wait for my next gaming magazine to arrive in the mail. These people know what they're talking about.

Video games aren't really a mainstream news topic in the first place. It's what they call "niche news"-- only significant to a specific interest group. Granted, this could change in the future if video games continue to evolve into a recognized art form rather than than what they are widely percieved as now: a lowbrow time-waster. When they reach the level of public interest and recognition that movies (or at least independant films) hold, then things will change.

All of that is nothing new, though. My own opinion is that video game journalists need to take the initiative in this particular artistic revolution. The writers are the active ingrediant in the written media, after all. If you guys want to turn gaming into an art form, you need to get yourself out into the mainstream magazines and papers. Start throwing out resumes and ideas for gaming columns to the media biggies.

If you can't take yourself seriously enough to write for a mainstream audience, the mainstream audience will continue to not give a crap.

Friarjohn

That Xenosaga card game looks like it's bitchin'!

...

The bunny.... not quite so bitchin'.

El Cactuar

First and foremost, I loathe mainstream video game reviews. But we have to keep in mind perspective and audience. In a large daily paper like the Dallas Morning News, the author has to review a game in such a way that it's suitable for the masses. Just like if GIA (not necessarily GIA, any videogame site) posted a review written by a mainstream newspaper for a mainstream audience, we'd flame the hell out of the. GIA's reviews, while suited for their audience of hardcore gamers, probably wouldn't fly in a newspaper.

First of all, they're too long to print in a newspaper. More words takes up more space, which can be used for ads. Second of all, any paper editor will tell you that every article written in a newspaper has to be written at a fourth-grade reading level. No big words, no complex writing style. The general public has different needs than those of the gaming community, and a large newspaper like Dallas Morning News must cater to the needs of the masses, not a small community of gamers.

While we may be deluded into thinking that the gaming community is enormous and encompasses everyone who plays video games, it is not. I don't know how many unique users a week GIA gets, but take that number and compare it to the number of copies of FFX sold and you'll see that we're a vocal minority. It's a testament to the quality of these games if they can please both the hardcore fan community and the general public. Anyway, all I'm trying to say is yes, mainstream game reviews suck, but at least they're getting reviews at all.

-Ryan