Why Gamespot is invalid
Scott H
gamers are attempting to rewrite the history of the Video Game Industry.
This rewriting is a seriously big push to make it look like the most
popular console (worldwide or "overall"), which also gets the bulk of
the good press today, was actually far and away the best system of its
generation (in graphics, sound, games with "good" gameplay). Most of
the regulars of RGVS also know that the likes of Gamepro, Game Informer
and Gamespot have been some of the more outspoken proponents of this
historical fallacy. I've personally felt that, while the former two
were obviously just tabloids for the company with the deepest pockets
all along, Gamespot was merely flirting with the idea and occasionally
demonstrated that they were still "on the fence". I was wrong.
It turns out that, much like Gamepro and Game Informer, the "burning
questions" mailbag section of Gamespot reveals even more of their bias
than their previously griped about Sega reviews already did. Reviews
like Shenmue 1+2 (7.3, 7.8 out of 10), ToeJam&Earl III(5.0 "mediocre"),
Sega GT (7.3 for "poor control" compared to GT2, ha!), Spikeout
Battlestreet (5.2/10), Sonic Adventure DX (5.7) and the like being
ranked on a scale 1-2 points lower than other websites' reviews of the
same games. Gamespot has consistently rated other "mediocre" titles in
the same genres higher (i.e. 'Ty2' 7/10, State of Emergency 7.8/10),
apparently for just not being made by Sega. That is, there isn't
anything intrinsically better about these games than the Sega games they
rated lower. These last two weeks of "Burning Questions" really take
the cake though.
In response to whether Gamespot would do a Sega Master System feature
like the ones they did for the PS1 and NES already, Gamespot editors
replied with the first linked quote below, in which they title
"Inferiority Complex". In response to my friend Garret's reply to the
first, they assigned him the title of "Nutjob of the week" and claimed
they were "obviously" only joking. That's the same Garret who has the
720p Dreamcast set up using the VGA box, and who has over 1600 games,
the majority of which are PS1 games for which Gamespot awarded him the
"bad taste award". He has his collection cataloged on Gamespot, and
just read their vehement accusation against him for pointing out their
position of influence and that the SMS had its advantages to the NES.
If you all don't think this kind of thing needs to stop, that's fine, I
won't bother the group with this stuff any more. I just don't see any
way that the majority of the media proporting this fanboy view of
History won't lead to that view being what goes down in the history
books. They'll leave Sega as the "generic" which never put up a real
fight to the popular brands. It's not true, and it's not right.
http://www.gamespot.com/features/burningquestions/index.html?story=6147341
"Inferiority Complex
Where is my Sega Master System Flashback?!?! Everyone that owned and
enjoyed an NES got one. Now it is time for us fans of that wonderful and
admittedly better system to be given a flashback. How about now!!! OK, I
will be nice now.
Robert "Clay" Branch
Granada Hills, California
For those of you not in the know, our friend "Clay" is referring to our
system-flashback features, like our looks back at the NES and the
PlayStation. As much as I'd love to help you out "Clay," I'm afraid
GameSpot only has time to flashback systems that actually mattered.
OOOHHHH BURRRNNNNNN. YOU GOT FACED, SON. ALL UP IN YOUR FACE.
GASSSSSSFACCCCCCE. OOOOOHHHHH.
*cough* Right, anyway. So, for serious, let's ask the lady who handles
all these freak features of ours. Carrie, earn your paycheck and answer
this fella's question!
Hey "Clay",
Thanks for showing interest in our Flashback series. It's too bad that
you're completely and utterly crazy! While the Sega Master System had
both Snail and those super cool 3D glasses, it can't even hold a candle
to the awesomeness that is the NES. However, since we love all our
readers, even the loony ones, you can expect to see an update to the
Flashback feature some time this year. The question is...will it be for
the SMS? Will it be the Vectrex? The world may never know (until the
feature comes out, at least). Keep your eyes peeled to find out! --
Carrie Gouskos "
http://www.gamespot.com/features/burningquestions/index.html?story=6147735
"NUTJOB of the week."
"Why is it that the biased and ignorant always seem placed in a position
to poison the well of public opinion? Anyone with sense knows that the
SMS was a technologically superior console to the NES. Both consoles had
good, bad, and great titles (I personally own and have played hundreds).
The NES had a crucial head-start in the North American market and
highly-restrictive 3rd-party publisher contracts with virtually every
publisher worth mentioning at the time, which all-but ensured their
dominance throughout the 8-bit generation.
To say that the SMS was not a system that "actually mattered" or that
fans of SMS games are "completely and utterly crazy...loony" reveals
your collective ignorance or at least lack of couth. Based upon your
responses to Robert "Clay" Branch's question, I highly doubt that either
of you have played an SMS game (and glitchy emulation doesn’t count),
and that is probably the source of the problem. Passing off unresearched
hearsay or overheard opinions as your own in a public forum presents a
sort of willful shying from the truth; this is a dangerous trait in a
journalist. When influential editors (and that's what Alex Navarro and
Carrie Gouskos are) let their opinions cloud their integrity, gullible
and less-informed site visitors remain poorly informed. I challenge you
both to do better for the sakes of people who aren't old enough to
remember the NES and SMS as living systems or diligent enough to
discover the truth for themselves. I don’t visit this site to read
revisionist and faulty views of history.
Garrett
Texas
You were probably one of those kids that would fly into a fist-punching
rage whenever some kid would tell you that Transformers were better than
Go-Bots, weren't you? You'd have to be to get so pissed off about what
was clearly a lighthearted joke. Like, clearly. If my using the term
"gasface" wasn't enough to clue you in that I wasn't being serious, then
you're beyond help, friend. And Carrie was also kidding--but given some
of the letters that came into the mailbag this week, maybe she was
right. You guys need to lighten up.
There is nothing particularly wrong with the SMS. It's a good system,
has some legitimately great games. But I stand by the notion that
anybody who thinks it's a superior system to the NES is out of their
cotton-pickin' minds. You can sit there and spit stats at me about how
the SMS had one advantage or another that Nintendo didn't for their
system, but that doesn't change history. The NES still had one of the
best game libraries of all time, and regardless of how it accumulated
that library, that library still very much exists and is still very much
superior to that of any other system from that era. Hands down.
Inarguable fact. Technological superiority does not always make a
system's legacy, my friend. And while the SMS is, again, a fine system
that I do actually remember pretty fondly, no way, no how is it better
than the NES.
So, again, I have no problem with the SMS. Carrie has no problem with
the SMS. I'd even go so far as to say that one day in the future, you
might see an SMS flashback feature from us "biased" types. You, however,
seem to have a problem registering facetiousness. Perhaps that sentiment
of not letting one's opinions cloud integrity is one best directed right
back in your own direction, eh? -- A.N. "
--
Scott
Useful Usenet definitions:
Hypocrite
Gr: Hupokrites;
1. an actor, stage player
2. a dissembler, pretender, hypocrite
Dissembler(Synonym of hypocrite);
1 : to hide under a false appearance
2 : to put on the appearance of
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_%28law%29
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fact_(law)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanboy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamer
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Logical_argument
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Straw_man