For what? It's subjective anyway. They're a lot better than most gaming websites.
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Good gaming journalism? Europe's got you covered.
- Thread starter Larsen B
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Hot Coldman
Banned
The UK's got you covered, you mean.
It's only the american gaming press who bring up "Euro-Jank" right?
That's because (most of) the rest of Europe doesn't produce content in English, which is why it isn't linked or brought up on an English-speaking forum in the context of a pleasant reading experiences.
An extremist blanket-statement. Both EDGE and Eurogamer (Digital Foundry comes to mind) produce great and interesting articles and reviews.
Ravensmash
Member
The Guardian is also really good as far as mainstream newspapers go.
Hot Coldman
Banned
Eh, as far as mainstream papers go, sure. But they still come off as a bit too "VIDEO GAMES ARE AWESOME, YEAHHHH!" in the way a lot of games writers in mainstream press do.
Metro's got the old Gamecentral guys writing their games column now, which is neat.
Absolutely. They alone make the OP title true.
Canis lupus
Member
I don't trust no one. I remember those Eurogamer reviews from few years ago.
Also an extremely valid statement because they constantly prove it as well, Some parts of the sites may produce good content but both sites as a whole are terrible.
90% of the content is not online.
As for value I don't think it's particularly expensive and "worth buying" is person specific and not a universal opinion.
There's a reason why other print mags failed and Edge is surviving and remains the gaming mag that others look up to.
The only quality that has dropped is the new size of the magazine is definitely inferior.
not to brag but...yes
Eurogamer is overrated, though. RPS is where it's at. i wish those chaps covered console gaming too
WascallyWabbit
Member
Good stuff OP
There is at least one good america games critic though:
Tom Bissell's stuff has been a revelation to me
http://www.grantland.com/contributor/_/name/tom-bissell
He just posted his thoughts on Dishonored, and his piece on Spec Ops: The Line is awesome
There is at least one good america games critic though:
Tom Bissell's stuff has been a revelation to me
http://www.grantland.com/contributor/_/name/tom-bissell
He just posted his thoughts on Dishonored, and his piece on Spec Ops: The Line is awesome
Well, people from the US/UK represent the majority of GAF (probably?), so what use are German/French/Dutch/... sites to them/you?
grimshawish
Banned
Eurogamer are great but recently theres been a bit of bull shit showey off stuff creeping in and some pretty OTT headlines.
However recently I've seen the editors/writers actively stamping this out/making their content much better.
However recently I've seen the editors/writers actively stamping this out/making their content much better.
Hasn't Eurogamer had just as many questionable reviews as any other site out there? Maybe I'm talking out of my ass here, and will promptly shut up if so, but I vaguely recall a review for an MMO that the reviewer didn't even play, and accusations of paid reviews.
In any case, the LA Noire article was fantastic.
In any case, the LA Noire article was fantastic.
You don't see a lot of good reporting in actual press either. How many times have you seen a political interview where actual hardhitting questions were asked? How many journalists spend their lives reurgitating the same articles over and over again about accidents, wars, ... never questionning the manner to improve it? Even in bigger stories most journalists will get a quote of someone who is pro, someone who is against and call it a day.
Steve McQueen
Member
I'm an EDGE subscriber and buy Games now and then and these mags are the only mags worth reading besides gathering information on internet. Everything, well almost everything, you read in other mags has been published before on the internet, but these mags still have interesting news and scoops. I must admit I'm not that familiar with GameInformer , it's kinda hard to get a copy over here ( bookstores in my neighbourhood/Netherlands )
I do think European journalism, should be replaced by British journalism though. The articles of Edge, Eurogamer, RPS and Games are very well written and I just love the British humour
I do think European journalism, should be replaced by British journalism though. The articles of Edge, Eurogamer, RPS and Games are very well written and I just love the British humour
It's all in one of the first paragraphs:
Should be enough information for anyone even half familiar with the series. The rest of the review is just to get into how huge (if young) fans feel about the new incrementation and their score is presented at the end in that context. All to avoid the situation given in the first sentence of the same paragraph:
It's basically just a way to cut the fat from a "proper" review and instead give a different perspective on the series.
Edge doesnt really have a great circulation, if we take the numbers of other cancelled magazines as a metric. Future have a reputation for that.
I don't think Edge is that expensive either. Maybe for a magazine it is, but its no longer an interesting read I find which is why I stopped buying it earlier this year after sticking with it for 8 or so years.
I would argue that Games TM has certainly matched Edge, but I'm convinced that is more a case of the two meeting in the middle rather than Games TM catching up.
In short, Retro Gamer is the only mag I buy now and they are far more interesting to read than these navel gazing industry types.
Great if you want to see hilariously granular ratings though. I mean, look at this shit:
http://www.gamestar.de/spiele/xcom-enemy-unknown/wertung/47658.html
It's like they don't want you to read the text. IGN's got nothing on them.
Hero of Canton
Member
An isolated case with a freelancer who the site never used again - he allegedly played the game for less than 4 hours, though he insisted the time logs were incorrect. Either way, the EG editor commissioned a second review from another critic who still slated the game.
Not really. Thier no mainstream things theyy cover like Indie Music, Architecture and Gaming is what you would expect an avarage joe would think.
I still can't bellieve how much the fawn over The Vaccines...
Just reading the bolded headlines makes my head hurt.
Eurogamer and Edge are both great but do have a tendency to make silly mistakes every now and again. Especially the former in regards to news reporting.
I'd say there's a small pool of great UK games journos that you can usually trust to be good whoever they are writing for (Donlan, Parkin, Schilling etc.)
I'd say there's a small pool of great UK games journos that you can usually trust to be good whoever they are writing for (Donlan, Parkin, Schilling etc.)
What reviews were alleged to have been bought?
Many US outlets are no different.
I also love how the rumor of the doctors leaving Bioware originated from a German magazine and many US game journos were like "eh whatever, European press is shit" and it turned out to be true.
But NGamer is dead. D:
WrenchNinja
Member
Thats not what I critcised. Theyre very vague about what's new. It's a poor review. A different perspective being "oh look how much fun these kids are having. Let's just say that instead giving any substance in the review". Yeah...okay.
I don't care about the opinions of some kids who will enjoy it regardless. A good review of the game should address all the new stuff. That's not fat, that's what separates it from the latest games. How's the world tournament, is it good, is it bad, is it too difficult, is memory link integrated well, is the story better or worse than the last games, how about addressing the challenge mode and assist mode and making it known that difficulty settings are version exclusive, is it easier to transfer old pokemon, does the new content warrant a purchase, etc. But no, Pokemon is fun, here are some kids talking about sprites and how fun the games are.
It's spirit will live on in the Wii U redesign of ONM if Matthew Castle gets his way, I expect.
I think it's partially historical. British games mags have been good for a long time. People loved Zzap, Amiga Power, Super Play, Your Sinclair, and I *think* the people who worked for them in those days had actual journalistic credentials (I know Marcus Berkmann wrote for newspapers since and - as a fun aside - has turned up in this series of Round Britain Quiz!. Stuart Campbell, while he can be a bit vitriolic and outspoken, is still a supremely good writer on the subject. Charlie Brooker is doing okay for himself these days...). I think that's still somewhat true today; I did a bit of a double-take a little while ago when I saw an official BBC news report being delivered by Eurogamer's Ellie Gibson!
So, yeah. It might be enthusiast press still, but I'd argue that it's always had at least the roots in 'proper' journalism.
10:30pm every weeknight on BBC2?
And that's being strict on 'seen'. I could happily expand it to "6-9am every weekday on Radio 4"
"This is who these games are made for. What do they think?"
People normally complain about reviews being too similar or being rehashed press releases but when someone does something different (see also: Tom Chick reviewing XCOM), the complaint is that it's not like every other review.
So one television broadcoast, one radio broadcast. So about 5% of the journalists that exist.
Oh, I'm not disputing that... but their interviewers are known for being aggressive. Paxman and Humphreys in particular, but by no means just them. If you *want* aggressive interviews in the UK, they're very available to you.
Stephen Stills
Member
Eurogamer and RPS are the only videogame news/criticism sites worth visiting. Ever.
1UP used to be good (and I still quite like Jeremy Parish's writing). But other than that there is nothing.
1UP used to be good (and I still quite like Jeremy Parish's writing). But other than that there is nothing.
WrenchNinja
Member
These games are made for everyone.
People complain about vagueness in reviews all the time, you're the one who this was "good game journalism". I haven't actually seen many reviews even go into that depth with all the new things about this game, I expected Pokemon fans to actually mention stuff and say if it works or not. But hey, what I got instead was Pokemon fans talking about how much fun they're having, as if that would ever be in question. If different is being gimmicky articles, then I'm going to have to pass.
Strummerjones
Member
I think it's more to do with attitudes to journalism in the UK in general. Releasing any publication in the UK - especially pre-internet was just plain different logistically than in the US. I remember reading a good article about this years ago, but just plain getting magazines shipped across the country in the UK was cheaper than the US. As a result you needed far lower circulation figures to break even and it cost less to get the mag out there, so more risks could be taken editorially as you were less beholden to advertisers.
Then you've got the first few waves of games magazines being heavily influenced by THE big youth journalism explosion - the NME and other music magazines covering punk rock and its offspring during the late '70s and early '80s, and then the subsequent smarter, revitalised coverage of pop in earlier period Smash Hits etc. This lead to new ways of thinking and writing about youth culture and especially the Your Sinclair/Amiga Power lineage (which extends right through to modern day RPS and Eurogamer) was heavily influenced by those magazines. I think very few if any of these writers had any formal journalistic training (which is always a bizarre red herring when people talk about games writing), they were merely impassioned and learnt from the masters before them, and embracing the same culture of championing the marginalised and pioneering aspects of popular culture. By contract I'd honestly argue the vast majority of videogames writers today grew up with an urge to give the latest COD and Halo games 10/10 so that's what they do (and that's before any corporate bungs come into play).
I don't think something as punk rock and controversial as Amiga Power in particular could have ever have come from the US as it just wouldn't survive. As it was a lot of people didn't like Amiga Power as GASP they sometimes gave hyped up games bad reviews. The bizarre idea of games getting the "correct" review score (brought to its logical conclusion by the 100% accurate and never ever wrong Metacritic) is hardly something new after all.
Did you see this the other day?
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2012/10/18/skylanders-giants-review
I wonder where IGN got that idea from!
(Not that I thought the Black/White 2 review was good, in fact I totally agree with Crewnh's comments above)
Thought this was kind of relevant. The Games Media Awards took place last night, and some notable winners were Edge for Best Games Magazine, Eurogamer for Games Site, Hookshot Inc for Blog, Christian Donlan and Simon Parkin for Print and Online Writer (respectively) and Keith Stuart for his newspaper writing for The Guardian.
drkOne
Member
That's the standard for sites with review scores, sadly.
normalmode
Member
hmmmm