by John Walker on May.25, 2005, under The Rest
Stuart Campbell has coined the phrase “New Furious Games Journalism” to describe the phenomenon of recent weeks where slightly grumpy games journalists try to sound REALLY CROSS while not actually having anything to say.
It probably begins with the appearance of “RAM Raider” – a hilarious pun we’re all agreed. April this year he viciously leapt onto the web, all full of venom and hate, ready to reveal the hideous Truth of the games industry. And he has so far torn the establishment apart with news that, “games are sometimes reviewed too quickly” and “PR companies are a bit wasteful with their envelopes.” Keep an eye on Future’s shares.
And now up springs Gameslag. It’s another angry blog, but this time furious about the lack of quality in games, rather than in journalism. Posts are attributed to ‘AK’, who is presumably the same guy who posts as AK on Kieron’s blog regularly. This doesn’t seem very important – this isn’t a hatchet site focused on the excitement of its own secretive existence. However, it still appears to be upsetting RR who has seen fit to call him names and say he’s a bit like a girl. Sigh. But most bestest of all has to be Mr R. Raider’s complaints that “AK” is being anonymous, and how cowardly this is… More sigh.
I kind of wish these people would put their efforts into getting their passion into the magazines they write for, rather than the websites they hide behind. It’s possible, but it takes some effort.
.
EDIT: The last thing I wanted out of my post was for AK to stop or remove the site. And indeed, it’s the last thing I expected. About 60 people read this site a day, a few thousand visit RAM Raider’s. I was merely observing the new trend, riding high on the zeitgeist as I am only able, and lamenting that people seem to spend a lot of time complaining about magazines, and not much time actually trying to improve them.
I can’t see any reason for AK to take down his site. With RR being named all over the place now, I doubt his site will last the day. It would be good to have the more entertaining grumpiness of Gameslag continuing, I think.
May 25th, 2005 on 10:33
I put as much passion into my work as I do Gameslag.
More in fact.
But you’re right. So I’ve decided to take the bastard thing down.
It’s a waste of time and energy that could be spent on the magazine.
May 25th, 2005 on 11:04
At last, someone has made a website to write about laggy games.
Huzzah!
But it’s gone.
Huzzoo!
May 25th, 2005 on 12:13
Nah – I think you were onto something. I liked the posts that weren’t about how average games are average. There’s no reason to not keep going.
Don’t get dragged down in the spin of RR – you weren’t writing an anonymous blog, and there’s no reason to not keep going with the observations and entertaining vitriol.
May 25th, 2005 on 14:57
I can’t think of a better way to express disappointment than ‘Huzzoo!’
May 25th, 2005 on 18:38
‘Bugger’ perhaps?
May 25th, 2005 on 20:03
AK: That your site had infinitely more respect from the people that matter than RR should be reason enough.
May 25th, 2005 on 22:24
Well, I think they’re *both* twats. Shit, I mustn’t matter.
May 25th, 2005 on 22:58
Erm. Okay, most, perhaps.
Though your decision to personally pick up on that baffles me.
May 25th, 2005 on 23:03
Take no notice. He doesn’t matter.
May 26th, 2005 on 21:10
NOW LOOK WHAT YOU DID.
PS. Could you accuse Steve Ballmer of putting too much enthusiasm into his speeches and not enough into Microsoft? I think the results might help us all.
May 27th, 2005 on 01:09
Andy: How would you pronounce “Huzzoo!”?
May 27th, 2005 on 09:42
Like Huzzah! but with a drawn out, frowning, inconclusive oo! at the end to replace the definitively joyful release of the original ah!
The huz must be kept exactly the same, to impart a poignant sense of optimism dashed.
The ! is, of course, secretly ironic.
May 27th, 2005 on 15:31
No one else, anywhere, has better commenters than me.
May 27th, 2005 on 15:50
Even when facing a wall?
May 27th, 2005 on 15:55
ARGH! Cross pollination!
May 27th, 2005 on 16:46
Ah, I love being mind-bendingly annoying.
Apologies. Carry on…
May 29th, 2005 on 11:14
And on an unrelated note: It’s been a *very* long time since Brian happened. I’ve built you a fanbase. It’s becoming restless.
(Seriously, though, I sent the link to a couple of friends, and since then it’s pretty much gone right round everybody. A friend’s dad’s office has actually blocked the site because it was getting too much traffic in working hours.)