Reviewing in a Vacuum.

Reviewers have a tendency to make comparisons with other examples of a medium. There are many reasons for this practice, but for newcomers to a medium it remains exclusionary. Whether the author is using it as lazy shorthand to aid understanding or from a desire to laud an expansive knowledge over the audience, the reader must be informed about the point of reference for it to be of any use. This use of references is as common a practice in the gaming press as any other, perhaps more so thanks to the era the industry has grown up in allowing … Continue reading Reviewing in a Vacuum.

Share

Due Diligence.

Different sites have different mandates on the subject of at what point a review should be written. I used to believe that a reviewer should experience a game in its entirely before they could reasonably pass judgment. It is a view that has slowly eroded recently, leaving me unsure as to my own principles and questioning at what point I am qualified to write a review. Initially my concept of finishing a game before reviewing was solid, every game on my own site has always been completed before anything was written. But playing Ultimate Band for review on Game People … Continue reading Due Diligence.

Share

Children and Violent Games

It seems that governments and parents regularly become fixated on the content of games. They talk about gaming as though it is the corrupter of youth, the new source of society`s ills. Television and cinema are probably laughing themselves to sleep after being the target of similar complaints for the last thirty years because the news media has finally found a new target. It is an easy way to score points for politicians: target the gaming industry as it is starting to establish itself and blame it for a social problem to distract the voting populous from real issues. It … Continue reading Children and Violent Games

Share