Twitter really amplifies the shitposting in ways that were only really concealed in /v/ and I get that it can feel oppressive, but there has to come a certain time in your life where you realize: MS doesn’t give a shit about you lmao, it’s you that’s investing into a one-sided brand commitment. Overthinking about the optics for something you don’t even get paid to do is just maddening to me.
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While I generally agree, I also think there’s nothing wrong with wanting the media that covers the hobby you enjoy to be better in how they cover the medium. Bias is always going to exist, it’s inescapable. But, while it’s not always malicious, I truly believe that many in the games media get caught up in their own narratives and fall victim to the zeitgeist that can form around these games and companies.
The problem though is that far too many in this industry wear their bias on their sleeves. It also doesn’t help that many sites have figured out the best algorithms for getting clicks and ad revenue involve being disingenuous, or in some cases, toxic fanboy f****heads.
Since things aren’t really going to change, I decided a long time ago to simply stop going to gaming websites and stopped consuming their content. Now, I just have fun pointing out how silly and ridiculous these people look.
A great example I came across today was the headline for IGN’s “Daily Fix” which read “Sony announces Playstation handheld to put Razer Edge to shame”. I literally laughed out loud when I saw it because of the sheer absurdity of it. A device that can seemingly only stream from your PS5 console (since we know nothing concrete about it yet) vs a device that can run emulators all the up through PS2, can run android games, can run Xcloud and stream games from your PC, and can, oh, also stream games from your PS5? Ok, sure thing guys. 
Ultimately they just look like morons making tailored content for even bigger morons. I wish they would wake up and decide to “do better”, but we all know they won’t. And it sucks. I don’t like getting my gaming news from forums and Twitter, but alas it’s what I’m stuck with.
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Whoops, there’s that quiet part out loud again
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The weird part of journalists is how they remember the best of Sony past before going into PS Showcase while either they remember the worst or complete memory erase Xbox past.
For instance, when PS showcase was announced, everyone thinks E3 2015/2016 and bits of best part from other decent showcase. With that mentality, the hype for the showcase is through the roof.
Now when it comes to Xbox, they only remember the bad times like Kinect demos, third-party only titles, and lackluster first party. Recall, we had couple really good ones, great even. I remember the poll from Geoff and others rated A or solid B. For some reason, those showcases are erased. Therefore, they always have the hype very standard (ironically enough) level and say “Xbox flubs many times.”
I don’t get it.
You know what I’m gonna cause a scene and be controversial by stating Crackdown 3 was unfairly judged. Yes I said that. As a Crackdown fan people were judging/playing Crackdown for the WRONG reasons. Not only was the art style of Crackdown suppose to mimic a comicbook style(its not suppose to be a graphical showcase), but you are suppose to play it for MINDLESS “stupid” fun. Nothing more nothing less. But the media gangpiled on it. I agree the destructive environment was a flop but everything else? Crackdown 3 was how a Crackdown game was suppose to be played.
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While I agree with your assessment of the game and what it was going for, I think Xbox made the mistake of marketing the game as a big “Tentpole” style release. I think people were judging it more on that basis, which unsurprisingly did not go over well.
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I do agree with this. It was marketed as a big game.
They did the same thing with ReCore, Scalebound and Everwild (you could also throw in the cancelled Fable game as well). I think these games are particularly why they got so much heat for the “Craig” meme Halo stuff and for Redfall.
Xbox has definitely earned the skepticism they’ve received over the years. But, their releases lately, minus Redfall, have all been great. I’m hoping that most games going forward are fantastic so we can all leave the dark times behind us.
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I think ReCore, Scalebound and Crackdown 3 had more to do with Xbox during most of the Xbox One gen not having that many studios and thus not much games and so they had to use as many exclusives as they could if that makes sense.
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I’m okay with s*** posting from s*** posters.
But we’re talking about the gaming media, here.
And I’m all for that stuff being posted in here. There are too many doubting the thesis that Sik has proposed here.
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I think the biggest misstep with Crackdown was tying it to the cloud destruction thing. For one Crackdown was never about leveling the whole city since how the hell would you platform if there were no buildings to jump onto. Then when it did not deliver it gave people the ammo they needed to shit on it.
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Oh definitely, that was in the dark times of Xbox where they had to do that sort of thing.
This too. The fact that it was only going to be for multiplayer made it that much stranger and it definitely hampered development on the game.
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I don’t think it’s productive.
Only Xbox can change their reputation and the perspective of their presence in the market. In the early 360 days they were hitting the right notes that resonated well. Their major tentpole releases and third-party deals won a lot of mind share because they were innovative and relatively well polished.
I believe that constructive criticism from enthusiasts aimed at the Xbox and Bethesda teams can drive change.
We’re not talking about constructive criticism. We’re talking about double standards.
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And I’m saying none of that changes until Xbox does better.
Have they not been?
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Looking at just the XSX era, it’s a mixed bag. I think it is relatively much better than the Xbox One gen. I just want them to grow out of middling releases and issues.
I’m glad they cleaned house at 343 and the team is regularly updating Infinite. It’s a shame they didn’t follow up in a way to keep launch momentum up.
Everwild shouldn’t have been shown if it was in such a state that they had to bring in a new creative director to course correct.
I wish Mojang would aim a bit higher with the Minecraft spin offs. With both Dungeons and Legends there is some fun to be had, but with shortcomings and issues that could be worked out with more time and care.
Ghostwire Tokyo releasing the way it did on XSX shouldn’t have happened. It should have had effort put into it so that it shined on XSX.
How did the issues with The Outer Worlds: Spacer’s Choice edition even happen?
Redfall should have been delayed for additional work. There is a good or even great game there.
Is it too much to ask of Xbox leadership that they raise the bar on what’s expected of first-party?
a fact that you thought that xbox or even Obsidian had anything to do with Spacer’s Edition is pretty much telling.
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It’s a first-party IP at this point.
If the original game being with Private Division means it was out of the hands of Xbox and Obsidian to do anything about it then I’ll just say it was an unfortunate situation.
Yeah, it was out of their hands and it was all private division. Microsoft will have full control of sequel though
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