Git Gud
As i commented in a previous page, Polygon released a video with the first 30 minutes of Doom, and whoever was playing was so bad at it, that countless jokes arised through the internet. This was just poking some fun at them, but then the media began to publish a miriad of articles (with just hours or a day of difference, much like the “gamers are dead” articles) about how “git gud” mentality is ruining gaming, defending the idea that game journalists don’t need to know about games in order to review them… Seriously. This people are seriously defending the idea that someone doesn’t need to know about something in order to write about it. They don’t knew to have a minimum knowledge about the topic they write about in order to work at a place related to that topic. Do we conceive that a sports journalist can work in a sports tv program or magazine without having knowledge of sports? but it’s normal that game journalists don’t have knowledge of games?…
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Yeah, man, you’re totally right. Polygon is a fucking joke.
You’d think someone who reviews cars would, I dunno. Be able to fucking drive.
In the same way a games journalist should be able to handle a controller better than a 90 year old Amish with the manual dexterity than Stephen Hawking.
Hawking can handle a controller to a degree, while an Amish would just require time with a controller to learn what to do. Only by combining the two can you reach the level of incompetence that is otherwise reached through the union of massive incompetence and supreme arrogance.
“You don’t have to GIT GUD SKRUB, GIT GUD is dead.”
“Do we conceive that a sports journalist can work in a sports tv program or magazine without having knowledge of sports? but it’s normal that game journalists don’t have knowledge of games?…”
Having knowledge of sports and being actually good at a sport one is commenting on are two different things, and the sports journalists aren’t required to be capable of the latter.
Much like movie critics aren’t required to be good directors or actors themselves, food critics aren’t required to be good at cooking, and most judges in all these tv talent shows couldn’t do half of the shit they offer their opinions on.
Your comic would be more fitting if the critic in it was complaining about quality of food, and the waiter was instead telling him, “ha ha but you can’t even hold the spoon right”. Except you know, that’d show how dumb this whole thing is.
A sports commentator is required to at least have watched a lot of matches and know the rules, characters, and all details of the trade and to know how easy or difficult is to do X thing (and many times they are ex-players). A movie critic is required to have watched a lot of movies and know all the details of the trade, and how easy or difficlt is to record a scene. A food critic is required to have tasted a lot of food, know about ingredients, methods, and how easy or difficult is to do a dish. And a videogame critic is required to have played a lot of games, know the details of the trade, and know how easy or difficult a game is.
If you are bad at even the basics of a game with a very easy mechanic, it means yo have actually not played much, so most probably don’t know shit about the trade, and of course you can’t judge if the game is difficult or not.
There shouldn’t even be a debate about this. It seems like videogame is the only media where it’s aceptable for writer to not know shit about the medium.
If a sports commentator doesn’t know the rules of the game, or doesn’t know the teams and players, how can they talk about the sport?
If a food critic can’t taste food, how will they be able to tell people if the food is good or not?
If a movie critic isn’t able to formulate an explanation about why a movie, or even just a scene, is good, how can they critique movies?
If a talent show judge can’t tell if someone is actually singing in key, how can they judge the singing?
If a games journalist doesn’t know how to play games, how are they supposed to accurately describe how a game plays to gamers? If they can’t even on games, then how can they even do their job?
This is why, egg avatar, your argument is just a pretty poor attempt at defending the indefensible.
One of Gordon Ramsey’s shows in America is Master Chef. One year one of the contestants was a food journalist, specifically a photographer. She did last a long time in the competition. She was a good cook.
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There was an exception to the rule where a sports journalist benefitted from his ignorance. When American football was put on British TV the commentator was nearly as ignorant as the audience so in his reporting he was learning the game while teaching the audience.
Oh, please. Eggy, you’re reaching so hard you’re going to fall right over that wall, and I’m fresh out of king’s horses and king’s men.
Your argument is a great example of a half-truth being mistaken for a whole truth. Let’s take your movie critic example; a movie critic, you insist, need not be an actor or a director in order to critique. This is true. However, you wish us to conclude that this means that a game critic need not be a gamer. This is a completely different example; to be a true parallel, your argument should be that a game critic need not be a game designer. To which the answer would be a resounding “duh.”
I’m a fiction editor. To be an editor, you need not be a published author. Sometimes it helps, but I know many authors — big name guys and gals, in fact — who absolutely SUCK at editing. There are fantastic editors who equally suck at writing. The common denominator, also shared with good fiction critics, is that you must know how stories work; not as a science, not as a checklist, but as an art.
Which also leads me to disagree with you, too, Kukuruyo. Gaming is not the only industry where the critics seem not to be required to know what they’re doing. I’ve run into this far too often with SF&F. I think I recall you doing a piece on the Hugo Awards, yes? 🙂
The SF&F critics are the same social justice group who act as critics for games.
It depends on what you’re watching them for. Myself, I watch Conan O’brian play video games BECAUSE he’s terrible. His reviews don’t mean anything and he’s usually pretty darn funny. But then again…he’s a comedian. His job is to make people laugh.
If you’re trying to be a serious reviewer and you can’t play the game…well, you just have to admit it, I think. There are some games I saw Angry Joe play and never review, mostly just cause I don’t think he could actually beat them. Seriously, you should watch his Evil Within lets play. It’s so terribly bad. I would still consider him an actual game reviewer, however.
Your complaint doesn’t match your image. For it to be an accurate analogy, it would have to be someone complaining about a food-review because it doesn’t match their thoughts, then someone scoffing at the idea that food reviewers must be expert chefs to be able to review dishes.
Yeah, because selling stuff to others is literally the same as playing the game as a hobby for your enjoyment. Aha. Genius, are we?
Like, literally 100% of this comic is false narrative and bullshit. Looks like author can’t thing straight.