Game Journo who got stuck on Cuphead's tutorial responds - Sensationalist Headlines

[QUOTE=seba079;52663864]TBF he rarely reviews games - mostly tech and vidya business articles iirc - and the video wasn't recorded for review purposes[/QUOTE] The video title was edited after the comments pointed out how bad he was at the game.

[QUOTE=NostalgicBird;52663728]Seriously, how the hell does Trump have anything to do with this?[/QUOTE] donald trump invented video games

[QUOTE=NostalgicBird;52663728]Seriously, how the hell does Trump have anything to do with this?[/QUOTE] It's an easy flimsy shield to deflect from your own shortcomings. It didn't work for Finn Jones, it won't work for you either!

theres a difference between being good at video games and not being able to complete a tutorial how can you trust someone's opinion on anything if they can't even read a basic instruction on the screen?

I have simpathy at the people who can't play videogames, and I think there's space in video games to add accesibility features so people can enjoy more games even if they're absolute trash, but come the fuck on, if you're going to talk about games you should at least understand the darn thing, you don't need to be a cook to tell me the food tastes bad, but you should at least know how to chew the stuff. Also don't try to shoehorn gamergate to try and escape from the fact you're unfit to have a minimal proper experience of the game, if you can't, then you have no place in reviewing it. There are many other games you could be playing that don't require you to have that much motor skill.

The issue is that this guy is claiming that his skill as a gamer has no influence on his skill as a game journalist, but he's also a REALLY SHITTY GAME JOURNALIST. The worst thing about idiots like this is they use Gamergate as some sort of bulletproof shield against criticism and it FUCKING WORKS. The NeoGAF topic on this guy is full of people defending him.

One would argue that the tutorial is not designed to suit non-platformer players, and that would be true: it is quite confusing for those without understanding on how air mobility works. In that case, that also means that person's opinion should no longer be held in high regard when difficulty is concerned, because their performance is well below expected skill level. They should blame themselves then, not the game.

Let's be honest, nothing about Cuphead's tutorial area was a new concept in video games. A journalist should have seen the pattern immediately and knew what to do. This is really like someone not being able to read and starting a career in reviewing books.

I'm reminded of a clip I once saw online from some random Japanese TV show in the late 2000s. They took a Japanese guy who'd never played video games and sat him down in front of Super Mario Bros. on a real Famicom. Dude didn't make it past the first goomba in world 1-1 before getting a game over. Barely made it past the first pipe on his second try. He gave up before he beat the first level. The difference is, that guy wasn't a credentialed game journalist claiming to be an authoritative game critic. :v:

Sure, you don't have to be great at video games to review them, but you have to be at least ALRIGHT at them. I wouldn't want a deaf person to review music, or a blind person to critique art.

[QUOTE=DarklytheGreat;52664054]Sure, you don't have to be great at video games to review them, but you have to be at least ALRIGHT at them. I wouldn't want a deaf person to review music, or a blind person to critique art.[/QUOTE] [url=http://blindfilmcritic.com]Well there's this guy[/url] I don't actually mind people who are bad at games reviewing them, like, anything goes. If they don't mind coming off as unprofessional and untrustworthy, that's on them. If they want to have unqualified people writing reviews, that's fine. If they want to then pin the blame on politicians, that's also fine. Just don't expect me to actually take them seriously after any of that.

I don't understand why he's saying "you're still a gamer if you suck at gaming" like... nobody's disputing that. Everyone plays games. My grandma plays games. You don't have to be great at video games to call yourself a gamer, and you don't have to be great at them to say that you like video games. You DO have to have some level of very basic understanding of very basic game mechanics when you're going to be reviewing a game. Had this guy maybe said "I was struggling a bit with this move but it was funny haha yeah I'm not great at these types of games and wasn't planning on fully reviewing it" or something equally showing some kind of humility, then it probably wouldn't have been an issue. But the fact that they're busting out ten concrete walls of defense is just making it worse. Like how someone said earlier, someone suffering from severe hearing loss or deafness would probably not be the best music review and a mostly or totally blind person wouldn't be the best art critic, someone who has trouble with basic mechanics of certain types of games shouldn't review those types of games. Find something that you're more practiced at and review those. I don't think this dude is totally inept or anything but he's making himself look worse and worse by the day by claiming that it's not him who is the problem, but the people critiquing him.

[QUOTE=LeonS;52663719]i think you absolutely should be good at video games to be a gaming journalist. we're not talking about cooking, directing movies or writing books. you just need to be somewhat skilled at playing a damn video game. and with how fucking easy most video games are nowadays, that shouldn't be an issue. he does deserve the flak he gets. i'm not asking that he's some guy who knows every video game mechanic inside out and that he can clear dark souls at level 0 with fists only or that he collect every single treasure and all bonus objectives (incl. hidden ones) in Thief but jesus dude, the guy had troubles fucking jumping in a tutorial and had no clue about the very obvious talent points given to you in Mass Effect.[/QUOTE] A movie or book reviewer doesn't need to be an excellent director or author, but they should at least have an understanding of what makes a good movie or book good. There's some people on Youtube who might not have made the best blockbuster in the world, but they can post informative video essays about certain director's or actor's styles, and why they work so well given the conventions of the medium. They have a level of prerequisite knowledge that allows them to articulate why good movies are good. A car reviewer doesn't need to be a race car driver to write a good review, but I would expect them to be able to actually drive a car in the first place, and have a basic understanding of how a car functions so that they could be able adequately convey to me whether or not this car is a good buy or not, and for what reasons. If I saw a video review of a car, and the person reviewing couldn't drive stick or something, and then said the car was bad because he couldn't drive a stick shift, I'd feel like the publication who ran the article isn't worthy of my time and respect because they allowed someone who doesn't know how to drive inform people about car purchasing decisions.

[QUOTE=] He used me to condemn all game journalists, raising the smoldering issues around Gamergate and its focus on game journalism ethics. His post was political propaganda for the disenfranchised gamers, the sort who went from Gamergate to the alt-right and elected Donald Trump as president.[/QUOTE] I was used as example by the community to broach the topic of the importance of skill in gaming journalism! Oh no! But in all seriousness, all he would have had to do is say "Well I suck, but I also represent a subsection of the market. I am non-biased and keep in mind with each review that I'm below the intended skill level."

[QUOTE=MedicWine;52664148]I was used as example by the community to broach the topic of the importance of skill in gaming journalism! Oh no! But in all seriousness, all he would have had to do is say "Well I suck, but I also represent a subsection of the market. I am non-biased and keep in mind with each review that I'm below the intended skill level."[/QUOTE] These types of reviews can even have value. Maybe I don't understand RTS games, and someone who also isn't an RTS gamer reviews it and says that as someone who doesn't play RTS games they enjoyed the game, that says that maybe I'll like it. It could say to seasoned RTS gamers that maybe it's not up their alley. Maybe he only plays games casually and a game is too hard for him, this can tell casual gamers that this isn't for them. There's a transparency involved there that makes it acceptable. What you don't do is say is "I suck at video games and review them, and if you don't like it it's because you elected a literal facist into the White House."

Lol this guy This is the same guy who said W40k was copying gears of war, then proceeded to apologize by saying he doesn't actually need to research his article because hes a "professional." [quote]First, this post is not research-backed journalism. I walked into a room, looked at a game, and offered what I thought about it. I’ve been doing that professionally for around 15 years. It’s my opinion. I just wanted to walk into this room and decide whether this game was good and whether it was original and fresh. What happened? I walked into the room and thought, “hey, this game looks like something I’ve already played.” That’s the point that I wanted to hammer home.[/quote]

Whoever employs this guy should fire him, honestly. I can actually let the gameplay video slide on the basis that maybe he's just never played a platformer and maybe he wasn't planning on actually reviewing it, but after seeing his response to both the video and the WH40k thing, I can see he's just a hack. Dude needs to get into a different industry, as he clearly has no place in the games industry.

As many people in this thread and elsewhere have rightly said If you're going to review games for a living, you need to have an understanding on how to play them correctly. If you can't play them, then you can't experience the game in full and you can't give your readers/watchers a correct and unbiased opinion on the game. Maybe this guy should review books instead

[QUOTE=Pascall;52664092]I don't understand why he's saying "you're still a gamer if you suck at gaming" like... nobody's disputing that. Everyone plays games. My grandma plays games. You don't have to be great at video games to call yourself a gamer, and you don't have to be great at them to say that you like video games. You DO have to have some level of very basic understanding of very basic game mechanics when you're going to be reviewing a game. Had this guy maybe said "I was struggling a bit with this move but it was funny haha yeah I'm not great at these types of games and wasn't planning on fully reviewing it" or something equally [B]showing some kind of humility[/B], then it probably wouldn't have been an issue. But the fact that they're busting out ten concrete walls of defense is just making it worse. Like how someone said earlier, someone suffering from severe hearing loss or deafness would probably not be the best music review and a mostly or totally blind person wouldn't be the best art critic, someone who has trouble with basic mechanics of certain types of games shouldn't review those types of games. Find something that you're more practiced at and review those. I don't think this dude is totally inept or anything but [B]he's making himself look worse and worse by the day by claiming that it's not him [/B]who is the problem, but the people critiquing him.[/QUOTE] I think this is the key to everyone's anger surrounding the whole thing. A few days ago I saw the video here, watched it, and after maybe 10 minutes thinking about it, forgot about it because it was just another example of someone being bad and people giving them shit for it. Could've easily been an open shut case if he ignored the response around it like other journalists. I'm sure there's other videos with tons of comments about how the reviewer played wrong and thus had a negative effect on the review. But because he came out and not only defended his actions, but then proceeded to add all of this other fluff trash to deflect the embarrassment, now everyone is pissed because he can't admit it was a bad joke. If we take the argument seriously, that he did know the gameplay was bad but uploaded it anyway as a joke, then it could've been such an easy drama killer to say, "hey guys, yes this was a joke and it looks like it didn't come across the way I thought, because this isn't my kind of game I was not planning on reviewing it fully, this was just a showcase of how bad I am." Then it's over, no gamergate shit needed, no retarded discussions about how games should be more accessible to non gamers, and people being obsessed with skill in games, none of that is relevant to this. It was a shitty joke and the comedian is trying to blame the audience for calling it a shit joke, and cowers behind buzzwords to make the audience look bad. For someone who 'loves' the industry and wanted to create a joke to entertain, really turned around quick to throw the people who follow it under the bus, calling them skill obsessed douchebags that can't take a joke. That's what really pisses me off about this whole thing, it is another case of dividing gamers on a trivial issue that really doesn't matter to the layman. Now it's just reinforcing the stupid division of casual gamers vs serious gamers that really shouldn't matter in the first place. There are games for everyone but not every game can be for everyone. While he is right that people shouldn't be so aggro about people not being good at games, he is the one in the hot seat because it is his responsibility to show off the gaming mechanics in a fluid way that doesn't interrupt understanding the game. I don't want to see a review of the shitty gamer showing how the experience of this game will be like if you are a shitty gamer. I want a review of a competent gamer who has played games similar before and can show off what the game has to offer, rather than show off the stuff only a beginner can do. That is a very crucial part of game reviewing, understanding the audience that will be looking to buy the game and showing them what the game can do. "I'm into platformers, let me check out this review. Oh man this guy is struggling on the tutorial, is there something wrong with the controls, is there lag? He's having such a hard time on the beginning I can't imagine the unfairness of the rest of the game, fuck it, I'm not buying." That is the worst case scenario of writing a crappy review, someone being mislead to believe it is harder than it is because of the reviewer's inexperience. That's why you want competent reviewers, we want to see if the game has functioning gameplay that works with the story and has as few bugs as possible.

[QUOTE=Te Great Skeeve;52664363]Lol this guy This is the same guy who said W40k was copying gears of war, then proceeded to apologize by saying he doesn't actually need to research his article because hes a "professional."[/QUOTE] He also gave mass effect a bad score because he didn't realise he could allocate skill points. At least he owned up to that one though.

[QUOTE=Pascall;52664092]I don't understand why he's saying "you're still a gamer if you suck at gaming" like... nobody's disputing that. Everyone plays games. My grandma plays games. You don't have to be great at video games to call yourself a gamer, and you don't have to be great at them to say that you like video games. You DO have to have some level of very basic understanding of very basic game mechanics when you're going to be reviewing a game. Had this guy maybe said "I was struggling a bit with this move but it was funny haha yeah I'm not great at these types of games and wasn't planning on fully reviewing it" or something equally showing some kind of humility, then it probably wouldn't have been an issue. But the fact that they're busting out ten concrete walls of defense is just making it worse[/QUOTE] That's the thing that's bothering me, he's making all these arguments about how gamers are "elitist" and they "fetishize skill" but really... The bar has to be set SOMEwhere. You can't call yourself a professional in the field when you are so extremely out of touch. One detail I haven't seen anybody pointing out (probably because it's much smaller than things like his WH40K article and all his talk about fetishizing skill) is that he thinks Cuphead having a tutorial is some incredibly rare thing. He says "How many games even have those anymore? They're not popular" when really, [i]almost every[/i] game made since the days of physical printed manuals ended has included a tutorial. That's how out of touch he is with the field. A person who reviews a car shouldn't have to be a former racing champion, but they should at least know which pedal makes you go and which pedal makes you stop. Journalism in any field is about more than eloquence and writing proficiency.

[QUOTE=Steel & Iron;52663691]There's been a couple of journalists with articles who have come to defend him. From Dante Douglas, for [url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/09/videogame-culture-needs-to-stop-fetishizing-skill.html]Paste Magazine[/url] :what:[/QUOTE] Replace video games with books and "skill" with understanding and this reads fucking hilariously.

to add on whether or not you should be good at video games - i think it should be included that its also ok to not be good at particular types of games/genres. not everyone is gonna be good at shooters, RTS', puzzles, stealth games or other types of games, but they might be good in a different kind of game. you should obviously try to keep at what youre good at if you review games, and if for some reason you [i]have[/i] to play a type of game youre not good at, you should disclose that and keep that in mind when criticizing the game. it wont look good for you if you shit on the game and whoops turns out its just you sucking (like with this guy) for example, brad shoemaker at giant bomb isnt particularly good at hitman which becomes kinda obvious the more you watch their premium videos of him playing, and although he never really says that he sucks at it, he still doesnt shit on the game and still ends up really liking it.

Is this guy secretly DSP?

[QUOTE=psychofox67;52664480]Is this guy secretly DSP?[/QUOTE] I would like to see a comparison of the Cuphead struggles with this guy, DSP's barrel struggles and the pigeon challenge combined. I would do it but I am too lazy to find the clips and move them together.

[QUOTE=Te Great Skeeve;52664363]Lol this guy This is the same guy who said W40k was copying gears of war, then proceeded to apologize by saying he doesn't actually need to research his article because hes a "professional."[/QUOTE] Imagine being a journalism student, putting in hard work and realizing retards like this guy actually have work.

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;52664498]Imagine being a journalism student, putting in hard work and realizing retards like this guy actually have work.[/QUOTE] it's all about [del]circlejerking[/del] networking these days

[QUOTE=Sir Whoopsalot;52664498]Imagine being a journalism student, putting in hard work and realizing retards like this guy actually have work.[/QUOTE] Don't have to be a genius to get an English Major which is what most of these companies only ask for.

So he's further solidifying the fact that he's a bad gamer and bad journalist? Easily the best Polygon resume to date.

Oh wow the guy actually wrote that? Incredible.