New Game Journalism

Although i have explored various video game blog, online and print articles i have a very negative view on the direction of strategy guide previews and printed magazines such as Edge, Play and Official PlayStation Magazine. Video game journalism is a branch of journalism concerned with the reporting and discussion of video games. It is typically based on a core reveal/preview/review cycle. There has been a recent growth in online publications and blogs which in my opinion will eventually lead to a decrease in the number of video game magazines published, or being completely abolished.  

"New Games Journalism....argues that the worth of a video game lies not in the game, but with the gamer." 

New Games Journalism (NGJ) is a video game journalism term, coined in 2004 by journalist Kieron Gillen, in which personal anecdotes, references to other media, and creative analyses are used to explore game design, play, and culture. It is a model of New Journalism applied to video game journalism. Gillen's NGJ manifesto was first published on the now defunct state forum/website, a community of video game players often engaged in discussion and analysis of their hobby, from which an anecdotal piece, Bow Nigger, had appeared. Gillen cites the work as a major inspiration for and example of what NGJ should achieve and the piece was later republished in the UK edition of PC gamer. 

A recent blog entry from Blogcritics suggest that games don't have great writing because they don't have to. This is an on-going argument as other journalists believe a great action adventure game needs a good story line making a great write up and anything being uninteresting, however others think any modern genre game now can have an equally as good write up. Personally i wouldn't buy any official printed magazine as i think the journalists have a certain limit and are governed buy the company they work for. It is common sense to know that if PlayStation develop a Game the possibility of them giving them giving the game a bad review is very low. 


I value writing about this subject and in doing so believe i learn so much more about the industry as i progress, I think many others would agree when i say i would prefer reading personal online blogs and reviews on video games, i feel the post will deliver an honest opinion even if this will be bias towards the gamers needs. I have also come across other forms of video game writing which include: 

• Blogs - often carrying rumours and hype
• Online - cater for a larger audience and contain huge amounts of information
• Video Based - game trailers and recorded game play
• Strategy Guide - walkthroughs, previews and reviews
• Printed - Magazines such as Play, PC Gamer and Nintendo Power
• Television - Game Trailers TV and X-Play