The Validity of Reviewing

“An art whose medium is language will always show a high degree of critical creativeness, for speech is itself a critique of life: it names, it characterizes, it passes judgement, in that it creates.” – Thomas Mann

I figured today I might step down from this soapbox and actually take a look at what I and many others attempt to do within this world: critique things. There are many of us who wear this hat: movie buffs, book critics, political pundits, even the lowly video game journalist sits among them.

But why do we feel that we are privileged enough that our opinion should matter to those who do not take up the mantle and put their thoughts and writing skill on the line? What even makes us think that you care about our opinion in the first place? In a world where opinions on whether someone likes or hates something and why are a dime a dozen these days. This especially comes with the ease and anonymity the internet gives us that anyone now can be John Q. Reviewer and start standing up for what they believe to be…L33t. (I think that God kills a puppy every time that word is used)

What it seems to boil down to is little more than 3 things: articulation, experience, and popularity. Today we’re going to break these down and why they actually matter in hopes of shedding some light on how exactly this industry seems to garner such popularity and such hatred at the same time while also managing to stay profitable enough to keep people employed within it.

The first point is an interesting one and is quite a relative term. The style in which someone writes, as long as it follows the general rules of grammar, of punctuation, and of spelling can be molded and enjoyed by different people in different ways. This point builds on to the popularity section as well since those who enjoy how you write will want to read more. How you write though, as long as it follows those standard guidelines, will not make your opinion any more or less valid than another but may mean that you cater more to specific crowds. I won’t critique my own writing and say “well I cater to those people and everyone else” because I most likely don’t. A twelve-year-old will probably find my reviews boring whereas an older teen to adult might be able to settle in a bit more with the language, ideas, and references I make. Going higher up the age ladder most older readers would most likely find the topics I discuss here shallow and immature and really not holding any relevance to the world at hand. These are three very different groups of people that will never all be pleased at one time and all that I or any other writer can hope to do is at least make the topics informative and interesting enough to grab one of those demographics and maybe a little bit from the other two. So in that aspect writing and articulation, while helpful at becoming a successful writer in the long run because you can adapt to certain crowds and environments, will not make you a successful or even popular “opinion-slinger”.

Experience, our second point, is one that I think falls into that all-important “have to have it” section. While anyone can write, not just anyone can write about video games in a way that makes them sound like they know what they are talking about. A lot of “famous” (and I use that term very loosely) writers in the industry have years upon years of being in the middle of it all. Contacts with developers, all-access passes to early releases of a game and to a slew of other perks can make someone seem like their opinion should be the end-all be-all when it comes to gaming but how does that matter on a game-by-game basis or even to those who only care to know about a game and not about the industry itself? Also, with gaming experience can come biases and an overall hatred of certain development companies, publishers, even consoles and game franchises themselves. I wouldn’t expect someone who gives nines and tens to Final Fantasy games to also be reviewing Madden 2010 and take him seriously when he gives it a four because it “just doesn’t have enough depth to the game”. This brings up the question: “if you’ve beaten the game why wouldn’t your opinion be just as valid as someone else who beat it as well?” That does boil down to the experience factor: those who have been not only playing games for a long time but have been playing them specifically to find something wrong with them will be able to look for if a game is good or not with better accuracy than those who are new to the business or those who just play games for enjoyment. This can be a double-edged sword as those who are so used to picking out little flaws and mistakes can become entirely too picky or forget that gaming is a hobby that is supposed to be fun more than a serious sport (although don’t tell anyone that in South Korea where gaming is their unofficial  national sport). The good of that can be that they know how the industry and its fans works and can appeal to them more with their reviews: they know what people like and know what to look for in games that appeal to the crowd. They understand the trends and know to an extent what will be considered a “good game” at the time. Experience, if handled right, can be a valuable tool to the video game journalist but can also be a person’s biggest albatross.

The third and final point that we’ll talk about is one that wraps the other two points together: Popularity. Reviewing and critiquing games (and anything else) boils down to appeal and sounding like you know what you’re talking about whether involved within the industry or not. Many people would venture that reviewers are unnecessary weights upon the industry and that people should form their own opinions without someone else influencing them. This, in all honesty, is true but those who have advanced access to games, get to play them for free, and can deliver you news that you care about is a great resource because let’s face it: it sucks to drop 60 dollars on a game that you were hoping is good and then turns out to be one of the biggest piles you’ve ever played (we’ve all been there). Finding a reviewer who your tastes meld with and who seems to like the same things that you like is a very great help to making those tough gaming decisions. Chances are that if you both like the same things and he hates this new game you will probably hate it too. This means that as a reviewer biases will be made and should be slightly adhered to: if you review a game that is completely out of left field for you and that you have no experience in you may find yourself quickly losing the audience you’ve worked so hard to gain. While there are some people who can keep their ideas and opinions in a strictly professional manner those are few and far between in the gaming industry.

To sum it all up, anyone can give their opinion on video games, but the fact that reviewers such as myself and a myriad of others are willing to put themselves and their skills on the line (and not hide behind anonymity on a forum page) is what makes us who and what we are within the industry. This does not and should not make us famous but instead should make us humble servants of the industry and its consumers. We work for both the suits and the public in order to get the good games out and rolling and also to let people know they can’t release a bad game without some repercussions or someone noticing. So next time you agree with a reviewer, next time you see a magazine that you like don’t shun it but instead pick it up and use the tools that are given to help make your gaming experience the best one possible. This does not mean you have to agree with everything we say (and you should let us know when you don’t and why) nor does it make our opinions any more important than yours but the fact that we are doing this because we enjoy it and because we want to help you enjoy it as much as we always have means that you should take advantage of it before you too become an old salt of the gaming industry and start to go numb from the bad games that will always be released. Becoming popular, even when you can consider yourself a great writer who is experienced with playing games or who is involved within the industry is still more than anything a lucky break. It takes being noticed by the crowd you’re pandering to and even then falls to nothing more than pure, absolute luck. This should not be a deterrent to people who are attempting to get into the industry but is definitely one hurdle that they should be aware of.

Alright, I’m climbing back up on my box.