Actual real-life reasons why GamerGate makes no sense
GamerGate conversation has devolved to insults from both sides. Let's get real.
If anyone in GamerGate truly, honestly believes in their hearts that the issue here is ethics in game journalism, they either 1) don't have a basic understanding of journalism or the industry of writing about games or 2) are delusional.
Here's why: the "games journalism" that people are complaining about is not journalism. They're reviews. Coverage for a game. It's public relations. Kotaku is not a journalism site. It brings you rewritten press releases and other things that game companies want you to see.
This quote from William Randolph Hearst is relevant here:
"News is something somebody doesn't want printed; all else is advertising."
GamerGaters complain that certain reviews weren't 100% objective because the authors were friends with the developers. The problem here is that reviews are by definition subjective. They are the reviewer's opinion of a game at a single point in time. It's not journalism.
If you want to actually look at the rigged part of writing about games, look at the way it's structured. Big-time sites with huge traffic numbers like Kotaku and IGN get advance review copies of games because studios know it'll get readers thinking about the game.
These sites get special gifts and other incentives to review the game and maybe give it a good score. They'll get X game in special packaging with all the special merch that comes with it.
They don't have to give review copies to small-time websites that might not give them good scores. Why would you send an advance review copy to someone who has a niche set of readers and probably won't give your game a good score? You wouldn't.
Finally, let's look at the tangible things that GamerGate has accomplished: harassing women. That's it. It hasn't done anything to change the way people write about games (because if game reviews were objective, game reviews would not exist).
No one is conspiring to sell you a low-budget indie game. They are using millions of dollar in advertising budgets to get you to buy Battlefield of Duty 20XX, though.
The best possible outcome for GamerGate is that people stop and think about how people in the games industry are treated, and make it better for everyone. Maybe you wake up five years from now and cringe and how silly you were to support GamerGate.
Go play a game, because we live in an awesome time where more people than ever are making games, and there's an insane amount of creativity among them.
Games are cool. People are cool. Have fun and stop taking everything so seriously. And stop harassing people! Jeez, you guys.
izzy806
vaporwave
snowghoul
germansingergirl
