I think I’ll share the editorial posted two days ago by the video gaming review giant IGN’s PS3 editor, Colin Moriarty, before I move on to the bulk of my piece...Wow! Mighty interesting I’d say. In fact it’s interesting on so many levels…
First, to have someone who is purportedly the editor of the entire area of coverage of a particular platform take to the site with a diatribe against a large segment of people who actually provide him with something to cover; without the game buying public there are no video games and thus no need for video game news or reviews. I suppose in a world like that Mr. Moriarty would have to get a job that actually involved real work as opposed to one that, to a great extent, is just talking or writing about games. You know? A real job like the 95% or more of the people, who purchase Mass Effect 3, have to hold down in order to purchase games and the systems needed to play them on.
Yes, obviously we here at TGG write and talk about games (obviously of a different nature) but we also happen to have day jobs and are involved in this endeavor because of our love of the hobby. In fact, it’s because we have real jobs that allows us the privilege to operate this site.
To have someone who is an important lead editor for a website that I greatly respected – up unto this point obviously – release a video editorial that, in no uncertain terms, calls everyone who disagrees with his opinion an idiot is extremely insulting to the video gaming public. I’d expect that kind of nonsense from a forum, or message board, or a YouTube video but surely not from a website which claims to be tackling video games as journalism.
Second, I’m not overly fond how Moriarty injects the poor soul who took to YouTube to vent his frustration over Mass Effect 3 having some release day DLC available. Obviously, this inclusion is done to underlay the impression that unless you agree with Moriarty’s views you must be just like the overweight lispy guy ranting. Not only do I find including the clip extremely mean spirited but doesn’t advance Moriarty’s argument in the least. Honestly, it defeats the argument even more because, as we only see fifteen seconds of the lispy guy, we’re left with the editor ranting throughout the rest of the video. Moriarty makes himself look like a bigger idiot than he ever could of the lispy guy.
Third, Moriarty tells the viewer that going online and starting petitions or vocally dissenting on the outcome of Mass Effect 3 is going about things the wrong way is laughable. Truth be told, I have absolutely no investment in the Mass Effect story; I don’t care if the universe is destroyed, Shepard gets laid, gets killed, or ends up returning to the Planet of the Apes… I played the first game in the series and enjoyed it but didn’t come back for more because it just didn’t grab me enough. Which is simply my opinion and I know of a lot of people who really loved the first two games and were anxiously awaiting the conclusion to the series. Now everyone I know who has purchased ME3 and played it to completion is not just disappointed with the ending but downright disgusted with the outcome and feel not only cheated emotionally but monetarily as well.
Yet Moriarty’s option given for those people who aren’t happy is to simply not buy the game. Don’t take your grievances to the internet but simply don’t buy the game! That’s a pretty tough thing to do because the people who are upset have already bought the game. Doh! I think that’s how they came to the realization they didn’t like the end, bubba. Add to this the fact IGN encouraged people to purchase the game by calling it “amazing” and giving it a 9.5 overall score out of ten makes the “vote with your wallet” line of thinking nothing less than asinine! Not only asinine but pretty disingenuous if you ask me.
I especially dislike the tone of the video where the viewer is being told by all means they can disagree with the subject’s viewpoint as if he’s magnanimously allowing that. Please…
Lastly, Colin Moriarty states that when he “was a kid” games were a lot more expensive than they are now; that games are the cheapest they’ve even been as compared to 1995 as he displays. In inflationary dollars that is certainly more than likely the case. Yet he doesn’t factor in the economic times we live in. Right now more than 85% of Americans are spending over half of their take home pay on rent or mortgages. We’re not even including food, clothing, or utilities in that equation. As of this moment people are spending the largest percentage of the money in their pocket on rent and food than at any time in American history. Ever! This means a much larger portion of disposable income has to be spent in order to enjoy video games; a fact of which “old man” Moriarty doesn’t make mention. It’s no wonder video gamers are pissed they’ve spent $150-$200 dollars (or obviously less if they bought them used but they still paid something) playing through an adventure only to find everything they’ve invested their time, emotions, and money into is invalidated during the last 10-15 minutes of gameplay.
That okay with IGN’s PS3 editor though. He told you he didn’t like the end to Resistance 3 but you didn’t hear him crying about it. Then again I’m sure he didn’t pay $79.95 for a limited edition of it either. Actually, I’m sure he didn’t pay anything for the game as it was a complimentary review copy. I know this for a fact because, even though we tackle a completely different genre of gaming, that’s how we receive a great many of our review copies and we may get 1% of the traffic numbers IGN does. Oh, and he didn’t like the ending to Rosemary’s Baby either but I’ll take a stab he didn’t have to pay a hundred bucks to watch the film to its final credits either. I suppose I should point out to Colin that Rosemary’s Baby is actually a sly social commentary of the late 1960s filled with quite a bit of black humor. Maybe he’d like the ending a bit more if he understood that. I guess Moriarty was expecting It’s Alive instead…
Overall I’ve made my last visit to IGN. Regardless of the weak disclaimer at the beginning of the op-ed video stating it may or may not reflect the views of IGN the reality is that it does reflect their views. Does IGN take everyone as idiots? Colin Moriarty is the website’s PS3 editor and inclusion of his (although bleeped) profanity laced rant as one of their features tells me a lot more about what they consider critical journalism, and their opinions, than I ever needed to know. Not only is the video completely off the deep end as far as tone and mean spiritedness but it also displays a complete lack of respect for the site’s very own audience. I was a bit older than a kid in 1995, as are a great majority of the people who spend their hard earned money on video games, so I think I’m mature enough to have an appreciation of what sort of gaming coverage I’d like to be exposed to.
If IGN feels Colin Moriarty’s video is good gaming journalism then IGN no longer needs my traffic nor do their sponsors need my business…
