I agree with you Crecente. If anything, the gaming press needs to take a note from the real press. For the most part, the gaming press essentially takes the spin from the briefing room and never digs deeper or goes further. What do we call political coverage that takes releases and briefings at face value? What's that term? Oh yeah, hackery.

One of the interesting things is that these awards will be decided by the industry. So, on that, how many votes is Kotaku going to get from Sony over the Home story. Whatever, maybe I'm cynical (who would have guessed), but if I can't trust a company to provide steady review copies or access because I thought cheap cash-in game #58 was a 5.4/10.0 at best, how am I supposed to trust that same company with voting on awards for the journalism industry? When these hit, it'll be interesting to see who actually gets a vote, and then to compare which companies voted for what sites based on review composites.

Right on, Brian. I've been writing about games for nearly seven years on some level, and you're absolutely correct.

And besides, what good does this do anyone?

I applaud the sentiment, but I seriously think most game "journalists" need to take some classes on both ethics and, well, writing before we see real quality "serious" stories about the medium.

I mean it might sound snobbish (though why, I don't know), but there's a reason why so-called "old media" journalists win all of these awards and game journalists don't: it's because most of them spent years of their lives learning how to be journalists, and then more years practicing "in the trenches". Real journalism is not something you just pick up and start doing, any more than you just pick up and start being a doctor. There are skills that need to be mastered, knowledge that needs to be imparted. Most game writers have neither.

Don't take this comment as completely negative. What I am saying is that there is no shortcut to quality journalism, and if you really want to see quality journalism coming from the game sector, then we're going to need journalists willing to put the time and effort into truly learning and mastering their profession. That doesn't mean just doing it 24 hours a day; all that does is cement bad habits and mediocrity. Journalists need to spend the time learning how to be journalists.

Wow,

I might actually have a chance in writing about what I love?

I've wanted to be a journalist for awhile now, and I have a blog that I use for practice until I head to university. It's good to hear that the blog medium is advancing.

Although I AM a little weirded out by the industry deciding who wins. It seems like in that case it would be less of "good writing" and more of "who gave my game the best review."

The industry being in charge creates bias, no questions there. The argument that game journalists should be trying to win writing awards on the existing playing fields is also valid, especially since the majority of what I've read in magazines and soforth become opinion-laced editorials. And there's nothing wrong with writing that way if it still informs, but giving out awards for well-written opinions seems to go a step below giving awards for journalism.

((Not trying to generalize or anything.))

Hmmm, when I read this news story, I'm more than a bit concerned for the state of gaming journalism. Many of the writers for IGN, 1up, Gamespot, and all of the mainstream gaming sites rely on rules and regulations that have been installed since their inception. Flexabilty is difficult to find, so gaming blogs like kotaku, joystiq, and destructiod have jumped in as the "new games journalism", contantly up to date with EVERY bit of news, rumors, and commentary. This is a bit tabloid-y. Anyone who can remember Robert Summa getting fired from Joystiq for a hyped news piece can see my point. And forget print magazines. Half of the time, they are corporate schwil and appeal to kids, and the other half of the time they are just too out of date....
Jeez, there is some really big growing pains going on. There needs to be a clearer distinction between news stories and opinion pieces. Kotaku's done pretty good, but rumors need to be done with care throughout the industry.
I think serious features and opinion pieces are a good way for writers to go. There is plenty of focus on news and reviews, but features and opinions that don't bait flame wars and trolling, but actually develop thinking and the stretching of the audience's mind would really be a good way to go.
As of right now, gaming reviews need to be like the movie, music, and book reviews. Rumors would be in the rumor section, (which they often are, thankfully), and be completely divided from other sections. More op-ed to allow the writer to vent their feelings could really let less opinion bleed into other segments. Magazines could try to be like Entertainment Weekly, and also use feature stories that are both timely and useful for years.
God, I just want to read from some writers who have actually written 'real' journalism. Police ride-alongs, political and social issue beats, film, music, book, and art reviews could really make an impact on the quality of writing.

@topgeargorilla: I definitely would've loved to read an Okami review written by an art critic.

Big sites don't pay any more attention to "ethics" then the little guys

IGN has plagiarized and not credited the "orignal" stories multiple times.

1up.com had the whole DOA 4 guide they charged for which they blatantly ripped off from a fan site.

But I totally agree with Crecente the last thing we need is to create awards. There are already tons of media awards that many writers already qualify for. You would get far more credit for one of those then these.

I can see it now ...

For best strategy game guide writing the nominees are ...

Ya maldros, that's exactly what I'l saying. Imagine if you get your sunday morning paper, open up the reveiws section, and see intellectual reviews of games next to the books and cds. That'd be great! Now that you mention it, why don't kotaku give that a try? get some art instructors to actually review okami. Katamari? Killer 7? A perfect feature story that necessarily doesn't acknowledge games as art, but forces real artistic aspects of games to be analyzed. That's the way to go.

Actually, I'd write it if you want....

@topgeargorilla: Check, check, and check.

I think it's known I covered police for more major dailies for more than a decade, lead and helped with investigative journalism pieces (including on politics and social issues) and won awards doing so.

But I don't think everyone who writes about gaming needs a journalism degree and experience in the field, I'm just saying they need to know the rules before they run around breaking them. You can't have new journalism or games journalism or any journalism without journalism first.

@endlessmix: "I've wanted to be a journalist for awhile now..."

A little bit of critical nitpicking, but I felt an urge to say something about this. This reminds me of how I always hear someone saying "I always wanted to be an artist...". You can't WANT to be an artist-- whether you're doing it professionally or as an amateur/hobbyist, you already ARE one. It isn't a title you gain, it's one you participate in. If you "want" to be a journalist, just DO it. If you want to be a PAID journalist, then you need to focus on it and recognize it as your craft.

I'm sympathetic to the argument here, but I think the issue is more these particular awards rather than awards themselves. Normal journalism awards are all well and good, but I don't really see gaming getting real recognition from the establishment here, especially, since typical reporting (like investigative journalism) just doesn't have a real analogue in the gaming space. If nothing else, having star journalists would actually give more power to the journalism industry and help keep them at arms length from industry.

-Geoff
http://www.alinktothefuture.com

@topgeargorilla:

Well, if you get down to it, Kotaku/Joystiq/Destructoid/other sites of that ilk are tabloidy. Yet, I wouldn't call them the "new" game journalists out there since the "old" ones are by and large hacks and the field as a whole has never developed from Press release copy/paste jobs, ad-money-for-review-scores, and (my favorite) the 7 to 10 review scale.

Summa, however, deserved to get fired over that garbage. Dude crossed lines, misrepresented the "news" and made it seem like a huge deal. He acted like a hype-tool and got busted by the readers and his bosses for it. And he shouldn't be the only one fired for that. The major sites have people still working there that should have been fired long ago for inconsistent review scores, questionable review scoring rationale (how many times have you read something that makes you wonder if the guy played it), faulty reporting, and a list of other offenses that shouldn't be tolerated (Plagerism especially).

Coming from a traffic standpoint, I've found that sites tend to get more traffic from screenshots than anything else. Previews are hit-monsters too. Same with reviews. Features? Depends what it is. Often times, you'll find features on the major sites buried under mountains of "OMG NU SCREANS," "REVIEW OF GAME X" and "NEW INFO OF BLAHBLAH" (which is essentially a fluffed up press release that's probably sitting in my mailbox, unless they have hands-on, in which case its the press release I'll get in a few weeks).

One of the problems I think the gaming press has in establishing any sort of legitimacy is that it's hard to tell the legitimate sites from the amateur-hour, I-get-200-hits-a-month sites.

@crecente:

I wouldn't say the full-blown, four year degree should be required either. I mean, I know people working for dailies that have a high school diploma and haven't looked at a book since.

However, that being said, I think the level of simple writing talent is often lacking in gaming journalism. Having a few more guys that survived a 4-year degree program and possessing the writing skills that come with it (well, at least in the lib-arts/journalism areas) would only make the gaming press better. Let's put it this way: how many times have you seen a piece at a major site that looks like it was written by some drooling 16 year old fanboy.

@macdeth:

Totally agree. What is this, like twice in a week?

nikolii, man, i totally agree with you. look at any major gaming news site. What do you see? Flashy images, pithy news stories, and shallow commentary. Half of the time I think basic journalistic practices are not in place. Do they follow the AP Style guide, or some disconjointed mess that lacks cohesion? Do they even reread the 100 word "news story" to check for grammatical and spelling errors (like I just didn't)? Is the "USA Today" standard of images and captions over legit news stories take precidence in game journalism? Have many of these writers have even had experience with the basic freakin Inverted Pyramid? The Nut Graph? Proper attribution to quotes and info?
I suspect it's more common than we'd like to think that there are writers out there who have had less experience than a middle schooler. Do you guys realize that many of the writers at your favorite sites, (and this applies to all facets of the media) are no more qualified than you are. And they are determining where you spend 50 bucks?!?
I've spent almost two years trying to get to the level of skill that I (passibly) have now. It is so damn frustrating when my favorite sites resort to posting screenshots rather than doing something interesting with a news story. Plus, when they do have news, it's often a full of blistering and cheeky commentary and the self-referential "I". Award winning journalism will NEVER refer to themselves in the way that is soooooo popular in the gaming press.
The major problem with gaming is that it is so relient on information from publishers, with copy-and-paste PR bullcrap and big, obnoxious, expensive, and over-hyped events like E3. There are no accidents in gaming news: it is as orchestrated as a tv show.
When real journalists, with a degree or not, step up to the plate and get off there asses to actually do some gum-shoe reporting, then we'll deserve awards. Until then, gaming journalism will languish in pithy news and whiny commentary.

Crecente, you are my hero and i want to be you when I grow up!!

P.s. I don't know how to do the @whoever thing. I'm new to this ok. I'd love sum tips
P.P.S. If anyone wants a really timely gaming magazine, with features that last forever and reviews that are slowly whittling away the number system, read EDGE magazine. It's expensive, but worth it!

oh, i figured it out.......

Are you SERIOUS? Look, there's no such thing as "real" journalism.

Just take a look at the whole Knut polar bear fiasco for proof of that.

So trying to make "games journalism" like "real journalism" is a crock.

There's nothing newsworthy in gaming.

There's nothing newsworthy in 99% of stuff that gets passed off as journalism anyway - it's just stuff put out there to sell advertising.

The Printed Media started as as advertising on shipping poles on docks and it's primary interest has always been about maximising the profit for it's publisher.

"Real journalism" never existed, and was just an effort by media owners in the C19 to influence policy by tying it with "democracy".

When Carlyle said "there sits the fourth estate, the most important of all" he was wearing his satirist hat, but unfortunately most people fail to recognise that.

@FunkyJ:

Yes, because we can base an entire critique on the entire journalistic spectrum based on some silly tack-on story from Germany. Right?

Deep Throat and the Pentagon Papers were to get ads? Maybe. But maybe there's a few other underlying things in journalism. Things that aren't journalism but poses as such (Katie Couric, Faux News) are around, sure, but eveloping yourself in a corporate elite conspiracy theory that recycles impractical Marxist paranoia that essentially assumes that mankind is too stupid to understand things and grasp truth and instead needs to have things spoonfed to them by an elite is simply wrong and unrealistic.

As for no news in gaming, you aren't going to see things like, say, Deepthroat. It isn't that type of journalism. It's sort of a combination between tech journalism, business journalism, and entertainment journalism (depending on which area you focus in). There is news out there, and there's more to simply regurgitating press releases.