New Games Journalism

New Games Journalism

During our lecture with edd we looked into several articles of Old Games Journalism and one in particular I found to be a very enjoyable. This was:

always_black [Ian Shanahan] (Sept 2003) “Bow, Nigger” 

Reading this article felt nostalgic, as the way Shanahan describes his experience felt similar to what I felt when I used to play my first MMORPG, (Yes, it was World of Warcraft).

If you simply look at the mechanics of a game, that is all you will see, just the mechanics. However it is the dynamics that are brought out that give games their aesthetics, which make them a special experience for players.

From the mechanics point of view, the game Jedi Knight II as is described by Shanahan, is an online massively multiplayer game which makes use of a skill based dueling system and allows all players to communicate through a chat system. This is a technical description of the game, however what Shanahan does in his article is that he paints a story in our head, one you feel invested in, and by the end I felt like I was in his place, hoping for a certain ending to the story.

The author, takes the role of a good guy, while his opponent acts like an ass simply to gain an advantage in the duel. Imagining this makes me understand how the dynamics bring out emotions from the players, creating their own epic stories while playing the game.

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After having read the old games journalism articles, we then moved on to look into what New Games Journalism look like. These are what I would refer to as technical game reviews. 

This new style of journalism give important details covering all of the game's mechanics, which is quite useful as people generally have an idea of the type of game they are looking for. However reading this style is nowhere as gripping as an old games journalism.

Even though I get a better understanding of what the game does, I am given no images of the possible experiences and emotions that the game might bring out, in a way that the "Bow, Nigger" article did.

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I would not argue that one is better than the other, I would instead say both are effective in their own manner. Perhaps newer games journalism will adapt to include a bit of both style, then again it may have already happened when you think about it.

As an interested player, I have the option to check reviews to get a technical description of what the game does, and if intrigued, I can carry on over to youtube and watch real player experiences in game. 

Maybe that is why new games journalism has taken over the older style, who knows?