Games and Negativity: Why Do We Build Our Hobby on Hatred?

Critically Sane discusses why we've allowed our hobby to be surrounded by all sorts of unfortunate anger and vitriol.

[admiralvic]

Like the article mentioned, this really is all about fanning the flames of hate, probably because anger is one of the simplest and strongest emotions out there. To give you an idea, look at how the bubble system works on N4G. If you want to gain a bubble, it's probably going to take you hundreds of posts / comments before you cobble together the right words in the right situation to get the right response. Now if you want to lose bubbles, you can get down to 1 in a day if you make enough posts. This all relates to how powerful anger is and why so many sites go for it.

With that being said, I take it that the author (I can't find their rank) either has a boss that is, well I am sorry if it sounds offensive, but lets say unambitious or he himself is unambitious. I say this because I've written for a number of sites and I can outright tell you that you were ALWAYS encouraged to post things that would get views and discouraged to post things that would appeal to a select minority. This is because there was always more money to be made, companies to wow and status to obtain. Even once you have it all, there are still people who want to become the "best" and really don't care how they get there. This also relates to why YouTube channels and such are up.

Generally speaking, a lot of the rise in YouTube popularity relates to the fall of "game journalist" creditability. We're getting to a point where writers will ignore countless facts just so they can make their claim in a way that will get views. This all relates to larger issues I am sure most people are aware of, but generally speaking, their fall has simply given rise to another group.

[creatchee]

@admiralvic

I agree that gaming journalism has been in the toilet for a while, with certain exceptions. However, even though many YouTube personalities are independent, they are still motivated by hits - especially with monetization in play. Eventually, they'll turn into the same thing that written journalists have become. As you said, the fall has given rise to another group.

[admiralvic]

"However, even though many YouTube personalities are independent, they are still motivated by hits "

You have to keep in mind that YouTube doesn't have (as far as I'm aware anyway) any method to distribute your stuff for hits like N4G. This results in less inflammatory headlines / video casts / whatever you want to call them. Like, I can't imagine some no name YouTuber would get 1,000 views on a video about how The Last of Us is a shameless cash grab, but an article about that on N4G scored 800+ ( http://n4g.com/news/1554090... ) degrees no problem.

On the flip side, doing guides is a fantastic way to get views and in a way shows how bad some sites can get. For the most part, I use to do video guides on my YT channel and would post them in articles for JPS. The interesting thing was every now and then I would have sites "steal" my videos. AllGamesBeta, PS3trophies / PlayStation Trophies, PS3trophies.com and more used my videos in guides / articles without my permission. I mean, I don't really mind or honestly care, but that doesn't mean I don't want to know. The only REALLY bad one was GamingBolt, which OUTRIGHT plagiarized my guide on JustPushStart, stole my videos and didn't give me or JPS any credit until I called them out and even then it was poorly done. Anyway, my point is that sites will constantly steal things like that or from PowerPxy, which ultimately makes it more advantageous for YTers to do Let's Play and or guides, because sites will cover those and basically give you free views. This also decreases the need or perks involved in misleading headlines, bold claims and so forth.

Thats not to say they might not become corrupt over time, but I do think it's important to note how the two are almost fundamentally different.

[B1uBurneR]

I think the question is directed to PS4 extremist. This generation is going to be about games.

[user9558903]

Because Sony fanboys cry everytime there is good news about anything other than their precious Playstation 4

[MegaRay]

And they get angry when someone's opinion dont match with there's.