#Gamergate isn’t unique to gaming

I have to admit something: I had no idea who Zoe Quinn was before all of this happened. I didn’t know what Patreon was either. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or if it makes me a cheap bastard. I’m now well-informed on the matter, and the only thing I can take away from that whole mess and #Gamergate is the quote from Cypher in The Matrix, “Ignorance is bliss.” It’s kind of true. Sure, I knew readers had passionate opinions on articles I would write, often calling me a “f*ck and not a scholar” or telling me to “die in a fire,” and going as far as to say they hope my “wife and kids know what a terrible person I am.” But I didn’t know the level of hatred and distrust before all of this.

Before I was writing about games, I was just playing them like most of you. I actually didn’t visit many gaming websites. I was more into print media (kid of the 80s, don’t blame me) and visiting genre-specific sites. I’d occasionally go to a site like IGN to get an idea of how a game is before purchasing it, but I usually just relied on word of mouth. When I got this gig, that’s when I had to start paying attention to other outlets. Everything is so recycled in this industry — with just a bit of spin — that Captain Planet could be in games journalism. Oh, and I hate Twitter. I hate using it and I hate how a lot of people in the industry become Twitter famous. But, again, I’m forced to use it because social media rules all. I doubt anyone would find my articles without Twitter and Facebook and N4G, so it’s a double-edged sword.

With us being in South Florida, we don’t have many friends in the industry; we do know people as acquaintances, but friends we are not. We don’t see anyone out on weekends because everyone is in San Francisco and Los Angeles. We’re a group of five friends that have a passion about video games of all genres and we love to cover them, write about what’s happening and give our opinions. Our opinions aren’t more important than anyone else’s, but some people just might like to read our personal experiences (there’s a reason livejournals were a thing). While it sucks that we don’t get to make connections in the industry as easily, I feel kind of sheltered from this whole mess, probably because I’m a bit naive.

I don’t have friends that make video games. I don’t have friends that are publishers or that are in PR, but I’ve met some very nice people in my few trips out there. As an outlet, we do receive review copies. We accept them because it would be insanely hard to cover everything without doing so. We don’t get all games. We actually joke quite often that when we don’t get a copy, it’s because ours went to IGN as one of their 25 copies. We buy plenty of games, but yes, we get a majority of them for free. We have also gone to a few press events where there are free drinks, t-shirts and food. I’ve never felt compelled to write good things about a game because they put some alcohol in my belly, but yea, there’s perfectly good reason for readers to not trust what they’re consuming from games media right now. It’s easy for me to say you can trust us because getting a free game doesn’t affect our work, but you don’t have to believe it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that coverage can be bought in this industry with money, alcohol, freebies and, apparently, sex — but that’s not the industry standard.

What intrigues me about Zoe Quinn and #Gamergate isn’t about sexism and exploitation. There’s tons of that. As a male, straight, married father of two, it’s obvious. Women aren’t portrayed fairly in a majority of games, but I don’t think every instance is sexist. But I guess it’s the same way I view sports — there are things blatantly racist in sports but I don’t think everything boils down to racism. Then again, I’m a white male, so what do I know. Gaming isn’t a niche thing anymore that only the unpopular kids in school do; it is ingrained in our culture. It has evolved and will continue to evolve, and we will see social issues reflected in the games we play and the politics of the industry. To fight that is stupid. And why would you want to impede progress? I’m also not intrigued with the rift between media and readers. What intrigues me is that we are having this discussion as if it’s unique to gaming.

The closest comparison to the clusterf*ck we as a community are going through right now is the movie industry. I had a brief conversation on Twitter about who should be covering games, and the person said that gamers are the worst people to critique games. It should be non-gamers. I don’t agree with that at all. Even my parents are considered gamers now. It’s so mainstream that it would be hard to find someone that would be able to critique games without being a “gamer.” Also, why would you want to read the opinion of a game from someone that doesn’t like games? With movie critics, I wouldn’t want to read reviews or critiques from someone that hates movies. I want to read criticism from someone that loves movies so much that it’s harder to impress them and they expect more from film. That’s where we should be with gaming now. We should expect more and be a bit harder to impress.

When a movie critic reviews a movie, they’re usually at a private screening, getting a pre-release review copy, or they’re seeing it for free somewhere. Kind of like outlets reviewing games. Also like movies, I don’t understand how there isn’t room for all of the above: artsy games, games that address social issues, and the play it just to play it games. Movies are like that — you can find a movie that addresses anything, from indie films to blockbusters, but there’s also room for three mindless Expendables movies. Games don’t have to just be one thing. If there’s a game with females with busty bodies in little clothing being rescued by the scruffy, buff, male hero, there’s an audience that will buy it, play it and enjoy it. Each demographic, genre, style should be able to be represented. If women feel that they aren’t being portrayed fairly then that’s legitimate. If men feel like they can’t disagree with something because they get labeled as a misogynist right away, then that’s also legitimate. You can’t tell someone that the way they feel is wrong.

#Gamergate isn’t unique to just gaming. Now that I look back at my E3 article about the problem with Gaming Journalism, I realize I was wrong to call it journalism. Journalism doesn’t exist anymore, and that goes for every industry. Everything is about viewers, ad dollars and headlines. It’s tabloidism. ESPN is guilty of this. CNN is guilty of this. Everyone is guilty of this. Gaming journalism isn’t journalism and never was. It’s criticism, regurgitation, recycling and opinion. We are closer to Buzzfeed than we are journalism. When Twitter is a source, it most definitely is not journalism. No one can be completely unbiased and objective, because we are covering what we are passionate about. That doesn’t mean that we can’t expect more. More from us, more from the games we play, and more from the developers. Those that provide the coverage need to be more than just an extension of PR. It’s okay to provide news and updates on products, but we need to discuss and ask questions. Have conversations that push the envelope. And there need to be different opinions on topics that open the door to healthy discussion. That goes for both the media and the readers. If the old saying “the customer is always right” is true, then gaming journalists should not be freaking out. The customer is demanding more and we need to give them what we want.