Today at QuakeCon, developers speaking on a “Building Blockbusters” panel took issue with “stone-faced” games journalists at product demos, as if the absence of emotional displays in a journalist is somehow a bad thing. Sports journalists never cheer during ballgames — so why should we?
…I was at one of Microsoft’s “X” events in Barcelona a couple of years back, and CliffyB was taking folks through Gears of War 2 in small groups of five or six. With no disrespect to Cliff, who was as friendly and as entertaining as ever, it felt like we were being herded in for a bit of informed market research.Essentially, it was a case of “Look, you can do this with a grenade…what do you think about that?” followed by “What do you think of the textures? What did you like from the first game?” whilst an unnamed Microsoft employee sat in the corner, taking notes. The other five folks were sitting there with erections, too scared to talk, such was the amount that they adored Cliff and the previous game he made. Not one person said a bad thing, especially not after one journalist shakily asked why there weren’t more gun types, only to be met with a steely-eyed stare from the MS employee. These companies WANT the validation, the feedback, the applause. They don’t want to make good games. They want everybody…
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No Cheering in the Press Box & Rules Games Journalism Needs
