So in my blog-crawling this morning I discover there's a thing called "New Game Journalism." Supposedly, it does for game journalism what Hunter Thompson and Tom Wolfe did for music journalism in the seventies. Here are a couple examples. I particularly like that last one, even if Tom Chick is reviled by my friends for dissing on Deus Ex. In fact, if it wasn't for the treacly ending, that last one could stand out as an example of the kind of modern day literature I love, a Microserfs for game geeks. (And I'm not saying that because he mentions Spider-Man 2, I'd decided that before I even got to that part. I swear.)
I try to tell Mark about it.
"I still don't understand what it is," he says.
"They have a manifesto," I say.
"Oh my god. That tells volumes," he says.
Ignore Mark's cynicism. This stuff excites me for a couple of reasons. One: I've read four pieces so far, and three out of the four have been quite entertaining. Two: this kind of journalism only works on nondisposable games. To be able to tell a story about your experience in a game, your experience has to be different from other people's. It won't work for the linear thrill-ride sort of console game that is the bulk of the industry.
For example, a review of Prince of Persia that says, "And then I ran along the wall and jumped and just barely grabbed the ledge!" is not interesting. As interesting as it might have been to experience at the time, it's not a story worth retelling, because everyone who played Prince of Persia ran along the wall and jumped and just barely grabbed the ledge.
On the other hand, Deus Ex is a fine target for New Games Journalism. To wit. It's second person instead of first, but I think it should be considered a good example of the style. None of the "best of New Game Journalism" articles I've seen so far actually mention this one, and that is an oversight.
So: if this kind of writing starts to take off, it might encourage the making of more games that allow the possibility for emergent stories, emergent gameplay, and custom content. And I think that's a good thing.
But don't get me wrong. I actually love games that are linear thrill-rides. I'd just like to see more balance between them and the others.
The Guardian has 10 good examples (though they seem to mostly be by the people who picked them or their friends, but still...)
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/game_culture/2005/03/ten_unmissable_examples_of_new_games_journalism.html
Posted by: Paul Herzberg | April 09, 2005 at 07:44 AM
And via the Video Game Ombudsman (http://vgombud.blogspot.com/ ) I remember reading a look back in the past year of New Game Journalism by the guy who coined the phrase. Here it is: http://gillen.blogspot.com/2005_03_01_gillen_archive.html#111158640502988507
Posted by: Jeffool | April 09, 2005 at 08:05 AM
Mentioning that some kids Dad had something (probably bad) happened to him in Iraq for unique hits is the most morally disurbing thing I've seen all day.
Posted by: zachary. | April 09, 2005 at 06:32 PM
Huh?
Posted by: Zack Hiwiller | April 10, 2005 at 04:14 PM
Obviously, Zachary was reading the secret code message embedded in your post. If you read the first letter on every line, you end up with "SS Spiito iot ftons gb", which literally translates into "This kid's dad had something bad happen to him in Iraq".
Posted by: Chris Weiss | April 11, 2005 at 01:23 PM
http://www.quartertothree.com/inhouse/columns/82/
What jamie linked to, the last couple lines of which I was talking about being terrible:
"I'm hoping Lisa will think it's another girl on the other line. It sort of is. It's Donny's mom. He has to come home because she just got the call about what happened to his brother -- her son -- in Iraq."
Posted by: zachary. | April 12, 2005 at 03:45 PM
You need to keep reading. There's a "Next" button - that isn't the last line. It gets better.
Posted by: Jamie Fristrom | April 12, 2005 at 05:32 PM
Duh, I missed the tiny next link. Great, I get to read about some kid's personal life, how much the author wishes he didn't break up with some chick. The kid is pretty funny though:
"It's okay, 'Jesus' isn't a cuss word since we're Methodists."
But man, that kid is being exploited for hits. He might think it is cool or whatever, but seriously, his brothers arms got burned up and that has what to do with games?
I don't care if people think games are helping recruit people. It is as relevent to games as if I started talking about my cat in the middle of a game review,
My cat loves watching the screen whilst I play Doom 3: Resurrection of Evil (amazon affiliate link), it's great, please buy ad space on my web site!
Posted by: zachary. | April 12, 2005 at 08:11 PM