The Innevitable ImpassesupergiantninjaDecember 5 2004, 01:24:25 UTC
Welcome to Chucktown, population 2. Beyond my "personal problems," the real reason my output is so low, and the reason for my "personal problems" to begin with, is the sort of brick wall you run into doing this. Let's face it, Lucard could move on if he wanted to, but he doesn't seem to want to. For the rest of us, it's rough water. The person I have most respected in the video game journalism field is Dave Halverson of GameFAN, Gamers' Republic, and Play. He has a unique voice and has shown reluctance to tow the industry line. Sad thing is, he's on his third magazine, his "unique view" suddenly feels very dated, and I can feel the need to pump up smaller companies become de rigour instead of purely out of merit. In other words, he's been fighting the revolution so long, keeping up the revolution is more important than the end of the revolution. That realization is what really struck me. At the end of the day, most people who play games don't read reviews. Those that do read the most easily accessed and mainstream outlets. This sort of preaching to the converted is what killed the dream for me.
Do you want to continue writing for a specific, and tiny, audience or try and stretch out for more? My dream, of a serious place for game discussion, where games are treated as an art form and not as cheap entertainment, is not the dream of most, leading to disenchantment. Your dream seems to be of a video game industry in which everything, no matter how dirty, is shown in the light. Neither of these ideals can be viewed as commercially viable or advertiser friendly, can they? So, I have to ask the real question:
Re: The Innevitable ImpassetherhombusDecember 5 2004, 09:08:49 UTC
Chuck, you read my mind like it's a children's book. When I wrote the Black Friday feature, I wanted it to move people, and I wanted them to react so strongly that it'd be revolutionary in attitude, if not numbers. By that extension, I figured I'd have to get noticed by the right people, even if it was just for controversial reasons. But it hasn't happened, and I guess I feel a little let down by that.
My goal with my writing is, much like you said, to get people thinking about things they haven't really tried to comprehend yet. This is why I felt the need to write 27 single-spaced pages about the ESRB. I realize that my particular niche isn't exactly mainstream. But I also feel like I'm really good at what I do. The combination of those two points basically leads to one fact - that I've got much more to offer than I currently can, but that it's not really the kind of thing that people can make a living off of.
To answer your question, yes, I want a revolution. But I don't know what I can really do given my current means. I want the revolution's written word to end up on the desk of every company in America. That's not going to happen at my current rate, which bothers me. But I'm also not going to do something stupid like sell out - what's the point of being heard when you can't truly speak your mind?
What it comes down to is that I want to reach my full potential as a writer and start something special in the process. I don't want to look back at age 40 and regret not going for it. I'm not sure that the audience size is the issue - most sociologists actually make careers off of one central theory that they explore and expand on throughout their lifetimes, so you can imagine how limited those audiences can be. But power and influence definitely is significant. It's hard to muster power when I'm working two jobs and can't devote the time to reaching the next level, and it's certainly tough to have any sort of influence when you're constantly working in the shadow of the wrestling guys, you know?
The bottom line: I don't think I have any idea of how to go about getting what I want. So it's a Catch-22. I just feel like I have so much more to offer than what I'm currently able to.
Re: The Innevitable ImpassesupergiantninjaDecember 5 2004, 12:12:06 UTC
The problem breaks down, to me at least, like this:
There are myriad mainstream magazines and sites There are myriad websites that cover game news There are many websites dedicated to the viewpoint of an oligarchy of bitter gamers
The problem is this: I feel that IP is made up of people from all three traditions and who want to go in all three directions. To keep us from being a bunch of cranky losers we need to keep on top of news and reviews. That is hard to do without appealling to the game companies. How do you appeal to the game companies? By proving you have readers and towing the company line. Do that too much and the cranky and opinionated writers get angry. Try to stay punk rock and those who want free stuff get upset. It's impossible to keep everyone happy. My reccomendation? We try and fight the good fight from within the system. Hype the hardcore and bash the weaksauce until we are both blue in the face. Am I naive? Probably, but what's worse than not trying? Nothing.
Do you want to continue writing for a specific, and tiny, audience or try and stretch out for more? My dream, of a serious place for game discussion, where games are treated as an art form and not as cheap entertainment, is not the dream of most, leading to disenchantment. Your dream seems to be of a video game industry in which everything, no matter how dirty, is shown in the light. Neither of these ideals can be viewed as commercially viable or advertiser friendly, can they? So, I have to ask the real question:
Do you want a revolution?
Reply
My goal with my writing is, much like you said, to get people thinking about things they haven't really tried to comprehend yet. This is why I felt the need to write 27 single-spaced pages about the ESRB. I realize that my particular niche isn't exactly mainstream. But I also feel like I'm really good at what I do. The combination of those two points basically leads to one fact - that I've got much more to offer than I currently can, but that it's not really the kind of thing that people can make a living off of.
To answer your question, yes, I want a revolution. But I don't know what I can really do given my current means. I want the revolution's written word to end up on the desk of every company in America. That's not going to happen at my current rate, which bothers me. But I'm also not going to do something stupid like sell out - what's the point of being heard when you can't truly speak your mind?
What it comes down to is that I want to reach my full potential as a writer and start something special in the process. I don't want to look back at age 40 and regret not going for it. I'm not sure that the audience size is the issue - most sociologists actually make careers off of one central theory that they explore and expand on throughout their lifetimes, so you can imagine how limited those audiences can be. But power and influence definitely is significant. It's hard to muster power when I'm working two jobs and can't devote the time to reaching the next level, and it's certainly tough to have any sort of influence when you're constantly working in the shadow of the wrestling guys, you know?
The bottom line: I don't think I have any idea of how to go about getting what I want. So it's a Catch-22. I just feel like I have so much more to offer than what I'm currently able to.
Reply
There are myriad mainstream magazines and sites
There are myriad websites that cover game news
There are many websites dedicated to the viewpoint of an oligarchy of bitter gamers
The problem is this: I feel that IP is made up of people from all three traditions and who want to go in all three directions. To keep us from being a bunch of cranky losers we need to keep on top of news and reviews. That is hard to do without appealling to the game companies. How do you appeal to the game companies? By proving you have readers and towing the company line. Do that too much and the cranky and opinionated writers get angry. Try to stay punk rock and those who want free stuff get upset. It's impossible to keep everyone happy. My reccomendation? We try and fight the good fight from within the system. Hype the hardcore and bash the weaksauce until we are both blue in the face. Am I naive? Probably, but what's worse than not trying? Nothing.
Reply
Leave a comment