Game Media to Mainstream Media: We're Scared and Immature

As game journalists, often I think we gain an exaggerated sense of self-importance regarding our coverage of the industry we canvas. It's become commonplace for many to smirk at the troubled reporting of the mainstream media as they attempt to cover a story within the gaming industry. We downplay the mainstream's significance in this realm by considering their coverage nothing but a hackneyed attempt by a bunch of over-the-hill news anchors, blissfully reading words like "Xbox" and "Nintendo" off prompters. After all, what do they know, right?

In the past, mainstream coverage seemed different solely because it was deemed inadequate by comparison. With the advent and rise of Nintendo's Wii and DS, however, the distinction between "hardcore" gaming outlets and the CNNs of the world has taken on a whole new flavor. The mainstream press are celebrating the virtues of the Wii, blaring their trumpets from on high at every opportunity... Dr. Phil is giving them away on his show, for instance. Meanwhile, Nicole Kidman is touting the usefulness of the DS' More Brain Training in a special print and television campaign over in Europe. It's essentially a "Be like Nicole and train your brain for minutes a day" deal, and hey, who doesn't want to be like a filthy-rich, award-winning actress with pleasantly high cheek bones? (Did I really just mention "pleasantly high cheek bones"?) And none of this is to mention all the stories of mothers sharing delighted stories with the press over how their young x-amount of pounds overweight teenaged son/daughter is now staying "active" through Wii Sports.

With all this feel-goodness going on in mainstream land, what are the talking points among the traditional, gaming-only media outlets and associated entrenched industry pontificators? Obviously, there is still a lot of love for the Wii out there, but there's an undercurrent of... something else.

It was prevalent before the Wii even arrived and judgment could be passed, with the likes of IGN PlayStation editor Juan Castro sounding off against a lack of "Wii hardcoreness":

"How is the Wii the only right choice for gamers? Contrary to what you believe, Wii games for the most part ignore "hardcore" gamers. Just look at its lineup. It's filled with games like Elebits, Super Monkey Ball, Duck Hunt and Excite Truck. It has a handful of promising games, take Super Mario Galaxy and Wario Ware, but the rest hardly qualify as hardcore, if that's the point you want to make. Hell, even its best games, like Mario, Zelda and Metroid, wouldn't really qualify as hardcore."

"The Wii may outsell it (PS3) at launch, but no one cares about those numbers...With the Wii, on the other hand, developers hesitate calling it a next-gen system now, which isn't so hot...and this is something both hardcore and casual gamers will definitely notice."

There's a strong hint of derision above, and even Castro's attempts to sound logical are blown when he says that neither Mario, Zelda or Metroid can qualify as "hardcore". Really? I think those who've plunked dozens of hours into Twilight Princess or obsessively attempted to achieve a 100% completion rate in Metroid Prime would care to disagree.

There are more recent examples of a sort of sheltered paranoia from those that have long been within the industry, too. Tyler Bleszinski , older brother of Cliff Bleszinski of FPS (and most recently Gears of War) fame, perhaps demonstrates it best in his blog entry in early June:

"If Nintendo has its way, young males will no longer be the dominant segment of the console audience--and this transition appears to be happening faster than I expected. The other day I was in Target looking to pick up some games when I saw an older woman--very likely a grandmother--waiting for the clerk's attention. She wanted him to get her a couple of games from inside the locked glass cabinet. When he asked her which ones, she stated Cooking Mama and Wii Play.

I could barely stifle a groan. Don't get me wrong; I think it's cute that someone who likely had no idea what a video game was would suddenly plunk down her Social Security money so she can cook virtual meals, play a rousing game of table tennis and shark her little grandchildren out of their milk money in billiards. But honestly, I had refused to believe that grandmothers were buying these things as so many news reports have claimed until I saw it with my own eyes."

"I'll repeat this again: I am not saying that the more hardcore games are going to die out. Smart developers and publishers will realize that they can make a mint off the hardcore, especially if more developers move towards the quick, jump in-jump out type of experience that many Wii and DS games offer. But they will be in the minority. Valve, Epic and others won't turn to making mini-game compilations, but I can definitely see companies like EA and Ubisoft realizing that they don't need huge development teams and hundreds of people working on a game to make a ton of cash in the land of mini-game moneymakers. It's like suddenly discovering that business plan behind McDonald's is applicable to video games."

Why be afraid of a grandmother buying these items for herself? And if there is no chance of gamers dying out as Bleszinski says, what's wrong with a healthy mix of more casual games being slotted in with hardcore releases? If it's what the consumer wants, it should be all good. And worrying about companies like EA throwing away their major development teams to work on "mini-game moneymakers"? While this year's NCAA installment may be a bit different, I'm pretty sure EA's football franchises have historically been massive moneymakers that receive miniature updates each year. I'd much rather see them just release a roster update online for each season (and a new game bi-annually), and instead focus on some of these oh-so-threatening "mini-game money-makers". At least we'd be getting something new. Of course, that will never happen due to the huge profits associated with their yearly sports franchises, but I guess it's nice to dream.

Both of these above instances help demonstrate the more extreme stances taken by some within the entrenched gaming media - which apparently range from casual game paranoia to ageism. The funny thing is, with the Wii's success with casual gamers, there's a lot of people who simply aren't listening to the IGNs of the world anymore - or at least the Juan Castros and the Tyler Bleszinskis. We can scoff at the mainstream sources all we want, but they're the ones who are definitely making the most impact on Nintendo's campaign towards achieving a majority market share. The Dr. Phils and the Oprahs and whatnot are the ones helping Nintendo break records and expand the industry.

To put it simply, the old school gaming media's opinion probably doesn't matter as much anymore... and that's something that has their ire up. It's a brave new world out there. Time for the traditional game media to stop being so xenophobic and open up.