New Gaming Blog Blasts GamePolitics
In the interest of full disclosure, I feel obligated to point out that all of us here at GayGamer actually like Dennis McCauley's website, GamePolitics. This comes from a number of reasons: McCauley does an excellent job of covering a news genre so often overlooked by the rest of us, he occasionally posts links to some of our stories, and he regularly manages to piss off a certain Miami attorney for nothing more than reporting the truth. I've been particularly enamored with him ever since we met at E3 a couple of years ago and sat together at Sony's press conference, mainly because he's a nice guy who has a mature and sensible head on his shoulders.
Now, in the wake of recent news regarding about Jack Thompson and his reaction to a certain mission in GTA IV, a new gaming blog has sprouted up and blasted the overall GamePolitics community for some members' comments regarding the story:
Oh how ironic! The herd of morons commenting over at GamePolitics again prove the majority have no mind of their own.They show they are as easily swayed by sensationalist stories about the “war on video game violence” as those they are complaining about.
How? By posting some, quite frankly, vile and completely argument-deflating comments about JT appearing in the next GTA game.
Yes, the comments that GameTwat (wow, how utterly edgy and British... you guys don't come across as being a bunch of immature louts with a name like that; nope, not at all) are focusing on were moronic, but they were also banned by Dennis pretty quickly. Even Dennis admitted that the remarks were out of line, which is why he removed them from his site. However, he (and I, personally) disagrees with the description of his story as "sensationalist news":
...we’re not quite sure if gT is saying that the story (broken here on GP) about Jack Thompson perceiving himself to be a mission target in GTA4 is sensationalist. If so, we strongly disagree. The news value of the JT-GTA4 item is obvious and its relevance was validated by the amount of interest the story generated around the Net.
While I'm generally supportive of gaming blogs, particularly those written by folks who work within the gaming industry itself, GameTwat is already rubbing me the wrong way due to its reliance on overt hostility. In particular, their ranting against the GP community seems particularly redundant because -let's face it- just about every gaming blog has a couple of trolls which occasionally pop up and make nasty comments and/or threats. Seriously, have you ever read an article on Kotaku linking to us? We've all stopped paying attention to the comments because, after a while, they just devolve into homophobic sniping.
Oftentimes, people feel a sense of safety thanks to the anonymity a keyboard provides. As a result, they say stupid or hateful things because they know that no one is going to hold them responsible and the worst that will happen will be the removal of their comments. When a website featuring such comments actually encourages their authors to make more of them, then you're welcome to harp against the site at large. But, until then, let's try to play nicely with each other, OK?
More news on the GamePolitics thread of Jack Thompson appearing in GTA4… [GameTwat]
[via GamePolitics]
Boy of Tomorrow
Posted to Miscellany on 25 September 2007
· Comments (5)
Other stuff like this: can't we all just get along?, editorial, gamepolitics, gametwat, rant
This is gonna end SUPER!
Hey guys don't lump all us Brits together, please? Yes there are lots of pillocks (a good British insult that you might like to try for yourselves) but there are plenty of nice guys and girls and some of us are gay, too! So please don't describe gT as "edgy and British", cos it really isn't in any sense other than the geographical. And yes I apologise on behalf of all the people who read the Sun and the Mail and other like-minded rags for their ineptitude.
JoeTom
"edgy and British" was supposed to be sarcastic, I think...
Just checked their DNS registration, they've given false names and addresses. Serious journalists don't hide who they are, which I think shows that gT really isn't done by the professionals it claims to be written by.
Thankfully, trying to write that abrasively does tire very quickly, so they will either have to find quality (hint guys, sarcasm is best done with class, not crass) or stop updating.
Poor writing aside, they did have some interesting material, such as an analysis of an interview with the Frag Dolls. There is potential, however they need to take more inspiration from The Escapist's Zero Punctuation, the early series of Red Dwarf, and the enjoyable episodes of House. An educated twat is actually enjoyable, and more likely to be clean and free of disease :P
To be honest, I suspect their laying into gamepolitics was more of a stunt, look at all this free press you've given them?
Mike - thanks for the support and the kind words about GP.
I wouldn't want to paint this as some kind of brewing feud between GamePolitics and gameTwat, though.
I think the gT writer was a bit overboard and I said so in my response. I think it's always best to air the dirty laundry right up front.
All in all, though, I think gT has some interesting content. I'm looking forward to reading their stuff.
I read the Sun and am not a raving lunatic! Sorry off topic, but had to be said.