Why Mainstream Media Sucks at Video Games

Every day I read the regular news from aol, Huffington Post, New York Times, ABC news, yahoo, and when I come across articles related to video gaming I always cringe. I don't believe I have ever read an article from mainstream media about video games that had anything remotely accurate to say. From games make our kids violent to very simple when does the game release, mainstream media gets it wrong and gets it wrong all the time.

Just this morning I saw an article in Huffington Post, Top 5 Video Games and of course I come across an immediate error in which the author believes Mario Kart 7 comes out 04/12/11...Now I get that he is doing that stupid thing where he puts the day first then the month so he's technically correct, however, he also lists Saints Row 3, Dance Central 2, and Lego Potter all of which say "Out Now." So...what Mario Kart 7 isn't "out now?" I don't get it? Why be so inconsistent. This was written TODAY, it's not like he wrote the article weeks ago and then posted it.

Still, that is a minor gripe...the real travesty is the games he listed. Like, seriously Dance Central 2? Lego Pottter? Heck, I wouldn't even put Mario Kart 7 up there. Not ONE game he put there deserves a top 5 spot as a universally acclaimed top 5 of the year game. It's not that it's just an opinion, it's that he's SO off base with his picks that he is clearly just plain wrong. It would be like picking Batman and Robin as a top 5 best picture of the year or something. Now, I absolutely hate the Modern Warefare games but even I would put it in a top 5 for games of the year, or at least not bat an eye at someone else doing it. That pick makes sense, it's the most sold game of the year clearly it's not utter trash like...Dance Central...

I see this all the time though. Yahoo will post articles like best games of the 90's and have games from 2000's in it, or they'll go on to exclaim the death of Nintendo during their peak years of the Wii. Annalists will declare gaming overall to be a failure opposed to the onset of iphone gaming and farmville... Wild claims, inaccurate information, and overall poorly written articles from people who clearly know nothing about video games.

So why doesn't mainstream media carry video game industry experts? I mean really, it's a billion dollar industry and growing. It surpassed gross revenue's of the movie industry a couple years ago and still mainstream media knows more about what George Cloony had for breakfast than what caused the infamous Red Ring of Death in Xbox consoles...which was akin to reporting on a big box office bomb, or the death of a famous actor. Everyone knew about it...except mainstream media still touting Microsoft's unwavering dominance.

I wish I knew why they sucked so hard at covering the video game industry. It isn't difficult, they are an open book of nerds and polygons. But it is clear they don't take it seriously. Probably because of a lack of an audience is my only guess. Us gamers are growing up though, reading the real news and interested in the business end of our hobbyist interests, and they can't get it right! Why report on it at all then? Just stay out and let the gaming media handle it.

On my way to work in the morning I have to endure talk radio as my only means of entertainment since I really hate pop music and commercials. Why is there no video game radio? Maybe it's on satellite radio, I'm not sure. I would love to start up my own video game radio if I knew it'd be a success. Plus it would help to have a co-host...meh.

Point of the story is mainstream media needs to either hire ME or quit reporting news on games all-together. Thank you!

*Go Squirtle, attack NBC with watergun!*