Kotaku
Once again, further proof that mainstream press shouldn't let just anyone cover games! National Public Radio's Chana Joffe-Walt has an interview with Halo: Contact Harvest author Joseph Staten. The book was a New York Times best seller, but Joffe-Walt couldn't care less. Not only is she ignorant about gaming, she's brings her own ill-informed prejudices to the the interview. There are exchanges like this:
Joffe-Walt: "Yes, my fellow non-gaming Luddites, there is a story to Halo. I know, I thought the same thing. Isn't gaming all just shoot'em up? Why do you need story?"
Staten: "I think to understand why stories are important in games, you need to actually play them."
But wait, there's more! That, after the jump.
Joffe-Walt: "Which brings me to another frank and ridiculous question, 'Do gamers read?'" (Keep in mind, she's asking a NY Times best selling author this.)And lastly...
Staten: "You're dealing with an internet connection, high savvy audience." Joffe-Walt: "Geeks, you're dealing with geeks."And we're dealing with a hack journo. We're not asking you to be an expert, just respectful. Listen Here [NPR via Joystiq via Go Nintendo]
Comments
Wow. What a nice lady.
I guess, geek that I am, I better put down this copy of "The Fire Next Time", and forget about reading "Gastby", I need to go shoot some stuff up. And I think I'm talking about with bullets.
What an ass. Maybe they honestly expected that we don't read, and wouldn't know we were slighted.
What the... oh come on, surely the radio station that hosts "A Prairie Home Companion" can't be responsible for this. They're supposed to be one of the most intelligent radio stations around, right?
what a bitch
@CK20XX: Different departments. Also worth a listen is "Wait wait, don't tell me."
Of course we read. We are reading Kotaku, other gaming sites, some read sports sites, and there are those RPGs as well!
I read all the time and I'm a hardcore Smash Bros gamer =P
@Maldron: Alright, so further reading let me know that this was on the radio. But I got offended reading the transcript, so that's... all good.
Would somebody mind reading me the article?
Sorry guys, I'm giving you the bad rep. I still can't stand to pick up a book and read it for fun, I've read one book since I graduated (Harry Potter, yeah yeah). I just had to read too much in school, completely burnt me out.
Does playing Phoenix Wright count as reading a boo...
OBJECTION!
What a bitch and what an ass have already been said, so I'll just say what a douche.
Considering we, as a community, may have crafted a story out of MGS2 that Kojima and co. didn't even think of just by purely speculating and interpreting based on singular experiences placed into the collective whole I would say I like Staten more.
I mean how we gamers approach stories, when we feel like actually discussing them rather than get a few laughs out of nit picking the flaws, is vastly different than how the average movie going crowd views movies.
Or Harry Potter. Seriously, Harry Potter is so derivative and bland that it makes Halo look like it's done something unique.
Warning: Above opinion does not, in any way, reflect truth. Though if some truth slipped out it is completely unintentional. Racists on Live need not apply to savvy.
@Saxboy: You read the article. gg, gamers read.
@Brian:
You sound hurt, here: *hug*
That journalist is just jealous of gamers because he doesn't have the Windows Home Server.
@Furious_Liver:TF2 name i_have_fleas. Frag me!:
@quemador:
Your mothers know you talk like that?
@okenny :): Didn't you read the article?
She's a girl.
Lazy, no good video game players, never read anything...
bah.
Ok, I heard the tail end of this when I got in the car, and it was pretty stupid. In all fairness though, I've never heard this chick's voice before on NPR and I'm a fairly regular listener (radio and podcasts), so I don't consider it indicative of their usual content. In fact, usually they are smart enough to leave gaming alone, what with their focus on politics, world events, etc.
The dude who voices the grunts and wrote the book was kinda funny though, and you could tell she was saying it more in the tone of "I know I'm ignorant, tee hee!" than anything directly negative against gamers.
@Brian Ashcraft: I feel as if my foul mouth was excluded. So... thanks.
I listen to NPR sometimes on my way to work. I don't like being insulted. I haven't read the Halo books, but I have read the Splinter Cell books, along with others that she might not think I'd even know about such as Paradise Lost, Les Miserables (unabridged no less) and more.
Lot of thing get blew up real good in dem. I am so stupid. Bang, bang.
I'm a geek what can't read all good.
Hmm, I'm a gamer with a degree in English Literature... oh dear, I fear I may implode now.
Games don't always tell good stories. Bioshock and Mass Effect have turned that around a little last year. Both mature, dense, story driven games.
(disclaimer: games don't have to tell good stories to be good games)
I think perhaps a better question is do today's gamers read books?
I spend more time online reading than I do playing games, but my book reading time has decreased drastically in the last few years.
Me no reed gewd need blow up thinfs in halos.
In all honesty gamers are probably more strict about stories, especially series.
@WillUnwise: It was done before then as well. Darn kids these days and their two-minute memories.
And yes, I write that fully acknowledging the fact that you might be older than me. Don't let that ruin the joke.
This woman offends me.
Wtf? I read 5 novels over the past two weeks. -_-
@Kirbytheslayer: Proud Norwegian Defense Force Supporter: Unlike you... I don't see race! *cries*
...that's not the right reply...
What I mean is it's not like I did it on purpose... my "s" doesn't work and my parents never showed me love. I have a bum eye and I'm on my period!
...
*she
there! happy now. I hope you are because you just killed Christmas!
Heh, I wonder if that girl has read half of what I've read in my life.
Meaning just books, because scripts of Final Fantasy VI, VII and VIII, Dark Earth, Planescape Torment and Deus Ex also translate to quite a lot of reading (even though, admittedly, some of it says '100HP' over some poor creature).
Why does a shoot'em up game need story?
Dunno, but some of us don't get hard without a story, which is strange, I know, but that is why we have "9 1/2 weeks".
aiight check it, me play shoot em up games all the time and be quite smart and gots perfect gramma. me favorite book be Clifford da Big Red Dawg and that's a litteritatiture... book classic. me be readin kotaku all the time and learn lots from games and da like. granted, when me not be playin games me be shootin up them stupid kids on me lawn, and me neighbors lawn, and them crackers in the stores, and pretty much anyone that gives me a funny look. if that dum meedja girl called me a geek, i'd give her face a new smile. goodnight moon be anotha good book. respek.
Screw Atlas Shrugged, the Covenant are coming! Not only that, if I don't do something fast, those Lemmings will be stuck walking back and forth...forever. Also, gotta keep playing Call of Duty. Wonder how WWII turns out!?
@Brian Ashcraft: Unfortunately, yes. >_>;
I say mean things when I'm mad. ):
My douche of a sister is always leaving bowls of cereal in my room to get moldy, so she gets called a douche from time to time. My mom hears me saying this, and she dies a little inside knowing her son calls people vaginal deodorants. But I blame society. SOCIETYYYYYYYYYY!!!! *raises fist in anger*
Oh and woot! Brian responded to me! I feel special. xD
(But on a more serious note, apologies for that. I suppose what I did sets a bad image for gamers by responding to a disrespectful journalist with more disrespect, making Gandhi cry. I'll try to be a bit more careful before jumping on the first bandwagon I see. :/ Sorry Brian.)
@Cruithne: Same here. I used to read incessantly, but I've grown accustomed to a different kind of storytelling.
games are fun! i like guns! *piow!*piow!*bang*bang*. i'm not sure what else to comment on, i couldn't read anything but the words "halo" and "shoot'em up"
*piow!*piow*bang*bang*
Let's see:
Here There Be Dragons, Search For The Red Dragon, Star Wars: The Courtship of Princess Leia, Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Tempest, and Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Bloodlines
So I got a lot of Sci-fi and Fantasy... but that's still over 2000 pages of text.
@ShirtGuyDom: Are you really THE Shirt Guy Dom?
@Scioptic: You, sir, are the statistically improbable margin and therefore may be omitted.
More time reading than overall gaming? No. I know I do read more than the average person. I just finished Terry Goodkind's latest series, now I'm picking back up with Robert Jordan on Lord of Chaos. Maybe when I'm done with Jordan I'll finish the original Dune series or I'll finish Kings Dark Tower series. The point remains, gamers read and this blithering idiots should lose her job for her arrogance.
Sounds like the interviewer is just angling for a sound bite. Typical media bias. Move along, Nothing to see here.
How ironic. Bashcraft misspelled Luddites. I bet we are, in general, a less literate bunch than the average educated person. I mean, seriously, how many of you read for fun? I'm NOT talking about Star Wars novels, paperback thrillers, blogs, or magazines. I'm not even talking about books you read for class. I'm talking about literature - Tom Wolfe, Toni Morrison, or Octavio Paz - that you read on your own time.
@LucasKane: "Wonder how WWII turns out!?"
Two words : Nazi lost.
I CAN'T READ! /cry
FUCK! THIS BOOK ISN'T CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE FAR RIGHT REPUBLICAN WHITE CHRISTIAN MALE SOUL, SO I DON'T FUCKING LIKE IT! GAMERS DON'T READ BOOKS YOU SILLY BITCH, THEY READ INSTRUCTION MANUALS AND CHAPTER UPON CHAPTER OF IN-GAME TEXT...OH AND BOOKS ABOUT GAMES!
Silly Bitch, Kicks are for cunts!
Interesting opinion, i don't think i've ever not had a "Geek" say to me "Read the books, the movies are good but simply just don't do them enough justice" on the subject of lord of the rings.
And on my frontline. Why i just simply can't wait until a dance with dragons finally comes out. I don't think i'm ever going to read another series of books untill A song of ice and fire concludes.
@dimmujed: Yes. This helps.
@Corey: Get the torch and pitchforks! We'll storm the castle! Possibly hassle her with sass, quips, and verbal conundrums!
:D
@Barts_706: That and Robot Hitler took up residence on the moon with the other Cyborg-Despots.
Someone is bound to hack her computer someday.
I listen to NPR all the time and I never heard such ignorant reporting.
@Furious_Liver:TF2 name i_have_fleas. Frag me!: Damnit, just about everything is taken. I guess I'll have to go with: What a cooze.
@Corey: oh god, what dark tower book are you on? stop after 3 if you can... nothing good can come of going further than 4, though.
as for the topic, this really isn't that indicative of most NPR programming. even when they've covered games before(which is very, very rare), it's hit the mark pretty solidly.
I just listened to the interview and NPR. I have to defend her. She is ignorant. Yes. However, she is this way because she has no experience with video games. Oh and Kotaku, the quote "Which brings me to another frank and ridiculous question, 'Do gamers read?'" - She says that it is a ridiculous question. The last quote, while a really stupid comment, whoever plays the video games and then reads the book - kind of a geek. (This is includes me.) I loved the vgs of Halo and the books, although Contact Harvest had many grammatical errors.
@Mico is here, Mico is great. Deal with it.: And when that day comes, she probably won't even notice.