Power-Off
an alternative look at gaming

Lets Burn The Papers

I really hate the media. I hate national newspapers. I hate the over-confident, over-educated journalists that do reports on things that they or their colleagues know little or nothing about. I hate 'news' websites which state their own opinions rather than facts. The National Press can lead the sheep - like public of today to believe anything that they want them too.

One example of this is the war on Iraq - rather than giving facts and letting the people decide for themselves on where they stand on the issue, they told the public that this war is all unnecessary and that the government is in the wrong. In retrospect, they might well have been wrong, as, in my knowledge, no nuclear weapons have been found yet, but how were we supposed to know that? Was I supposed to be confident in the Iraqi leader who killed thousands of people every year for little to no reason?

But this is not another rant about the war, oh no - this article is about gaming and its press coverage. Games journalism is the reason why Nintendo are no longer cool, the reason Sony now own the market and the reason why the X-Box is perceived as cool. I love games magazines as much as the next man - there is nothing I enjoy as much as soaking in the bath whilst reading news, previews and reviews of the latest games and what Redeye thinks of the whole situation, and I am not starting an attack on Games magazines here. I am starting an attack on games being covered in Newspapers.

Quite simply put, I believe that all games should never be put in anything that covers major issues like Politics and how a 43 year old woman from Wycombe got stuck in a pothole for 6 months, surviving only on a packet of Polos in her pocket. A newspaper is for one thing and one thing only - the news. News articles are facts, not something someone believes in - how would you feel if you woke up and found the front cover of every paper stating 'The Government is a load of crap and should be abolished'? I'd be appalled - it's not news, so why should anything other than that get in a paper? People buy the paper for facts, and when they see statements like 'X-Box Live allows you to play the best console games online' they take it to heart. No, we not all be feeble minded, but when a Mother is looking for her kids birthday present, what would she pick - a console that has the 'best console games online' or one that has been branded childish, if even getting that much media attention? The fact is that only gamers like us - ones that bother to read the latest news, find out release dates, look on official sites - make up most of the minority that aren't blinded by media attention and film licenses. And the rest? Well, look at the sales of Enter The Matrix and FIFA for your answer to that.

Mario Sunshine is a good example of newspaper journalism badly covering a game - instead of getting the rave reviews that it deserved, the press brushed it off as a Childs game, branding it too colourful and immature, whilst leaving it blatantly obvious to anyone who'd actually played the game that the reviewer hadn't even unwrapped the case. Anyone who's actually tried to play and complete Mario Sunshine will agree that in no way could a Child without superhuman reflexes and powers get anywhere near completion. I'll admit that it does entertain children - my 4 year old cousin and 2 year old brother often just sit and mess around on the game, but they never get anywhere.

This is the reason the PS2 sells so well - not because it has good games, but because it has great media attention and is the 'in thing' to have - yes you could argue that the 18 month advantage had a large part in the advantage, but without the coverage it would have sold little during those few months. As Newspapers told the masses that it was an adult console, the masses went out and bought the black box.

I can't wait for 5 years time - by then gaming will be for geeks only once again, and only a few will survive from the gaming craze of recent years, for now consoles are nothing but a fashion accessory, and once nobody thinks they are cool, nobody will want one. When that day comes, great games will be truly appreciated and not mocked for having a colourful exterior, Nintendo and SEGA will be the 2 biggest players again and Newspapers will stop trying to pass on their views to the public