System wars and fanboys drive the web gaming news industry? it seems so......

most sites these days rely on one thing...clicks! its how they get payed...the more clicks the more they can charge for advertising...or at least inusure their adverstisers stay with them.

it's in this fact that the conflict occurs...and any promised journalistic integrity is compromised.
most gaming sites like kotaku,news4gamers,gamersfeed etc.etc. would probably like to be seen as a legitimate source of gaming news. but there isnt alot of clicks in that. for example, which of these headlines do you thinlk will get more traffic?

a. "we look at a new build of warhawk"

or

b. " the 360 may be the new dreamcast!!...at least thats what a random analyst from some company somewhere says...."

the latter headline will no doubt get clicks and start an insuing flame war in the comment section....all of which serve one purpose...putting money in the wallets of the site owners.

think im crazy or just overthinking this? look at some of the headlines fromtoday.

"GTA IV delayed to make MS give in? "
and whats their source???....xboxfamily.com. pfft what a great source!

"GTAIV Delay : More Conspiracy theories - Sony bribed Rockstar, Rockstar ... "
the source for this even and fair piece??? games-digest.com

"PlayStation 3 Complications Caused GTA IV Delay - Michael Patcher "
"GTA IV delay may force another PS3 price cut "
source???....drumroll please .....360-gamer.comlol... im not kidding

"Four GTA Delay Conspiracy Theories "
"The Format Wars are Over... Blu-Ray Wins? "
more and more useless debating over a format war that we wont know the outcome for years....but hey why not pour over it until mind numbing minutia sets in right?

this is just an example of some of the lame typical headlines you find on these blogs and "news sites".

kotaku seems to be in the middle as they fluctuate between their utter love , respect, and undying devotion for everything Wii and japanese....and their usual contempt for the 360 and PS3 and their corporate juggernauts!

then theres news4gamers...i didnt realize until like day two, that almost 95% of their headlines are pulled from other sites, that are just forums posts from anon forumers on obscure threads....in fact news4gamers is basically a site that allows usres themselves to create the stories and headlines on their own. this means that if you happen to find some obscure thread that makes some outrageous claim about sony or microsoft....then you may just be able to get that tidbit out to millions and millions of gamers.

all of these sites seem to hang on the every word and opinion of micheal pachter, mark rein and any other brash corporate talking head who may slip up and release some vague quote that can be chopped and misconstrued to call the deathbell of a system or console.

go to system wars here...where do you think 95% of the fanboywrs get their ""flamewars" info from.....the blogs, the newsites.

its ridiculous....

feel free to discuss o debate.

I would have to agree with you on this one. Why can't people just enjoy the games they own and not worry about some random guy on the internet's business?

bampEscobahr

I know this is immature but...:lol:

Not making fun of your misspelling but...."bamp" that sounds so ridiculous. New word for my vocabulary! :)

its very hard to even think of how to regulate this problem.

i just wish people would quit condoning this horrible trend by not trafficing the sites that deal in this type of destructive activity.

its especially hard not to go to these sites.....when you consider thatpages like gamespot so seldom update their sites with fresh news.

on the flip side news4gamers is putting up new fresh headlines every 1-3 hours...thats hard to ignore.

the internet has really effected the politics of gaming thats for sure

Of Course!

Why?....it generates the most amount of hits with the least amount of effort towards composing a well thought out article....also in forums, it generates the most hits without having to compose an intelligent point.

Ever notice which forum moves the fastest here at Gamespot?.....it's System Wars.

Its a lot easier to simply post "PC gaming is dying" or "Xbox 360 sucks" or "PS3 sucks" or "Wii is kiddie" and generate fast an equally unintelligable responses, then it is to do a well thought out thread here in GGD where the responses will actually be intelligent.

Same thing with these gaming sites....it's easy for them to post some article bashing a platform which will generate quick hits, or to feed into rumors again and again....then it is to put out a well thought out article examining the nature of games and gaming.

Don't get me wrong.....I think gaming sites need to do criticism, but it needs to be criticism in a way that benefits ALL consumers and doesn't tread into fanboyism. I honestly think one of the few columns to ever achieve this was Gamespy's Resident Cynic, a truly excellent column that actually informed the consumer in ways other sites didn't....his article about KOTOR II was probably the only one to point out the rushed ending was a major problem and his E3 Awards are especially true. Too bad we no longer see any informed columns like that on any of the major gaming sites.

I would have to agree with you on this one. Why can't people just enjoy the games they own and not worry about some random guy on the internet's business?

Swiftie101

controversy sells plain and simple

[QUOTE="Escobahr"]bampDencore

I know this is immature but...:lol:

Not making fun of your misspelling but...."bamp" that sounds so ridiculous. New word for my vocabulary! :)

To add more immaturity, when I first saw it I thought of it as the sound of Nightcrawler loving a woman ...

To add more MATURITY, to the OP I'd like to say that this is a condemnation that should just not be leveled against gaming journalism. This is the case with ALL journalism. We see it on 'news' sites everywhere, on the nightly news and sportstalk radio. Its all about generating public interest and securing their revenue feeds (sales, hits or ratings).

Sadly, what honestly CAN you do ... ?