One of the most annoying aspects of modern gaming is that most of the outlets for the discussion of and spreading of information oftentimes act like they are arms of the PR departments of the platform holders and largest publishers. We the readers/watchers receive PR approved statements and fluff that don't amount to anything of use except to convince the easily swayed to spend their money foolishly.
Normally when we're discussing the realm of games journalism most would say this is truly a first-world problem, that it's not important to society at large, and that if you want to attack or call-out pseudo-journalism you should focus on things that truly matter such as a mainstream news outlet like Fox News basically acting as a propaganda machine for the Republican Party. I can't say that the people making these types of statements are wrong, because even though it's common knowledge that many of the reviews you see of major AAA game releases on Metacritic are boosted by publishers gifting ethically bankrupt promoters to write glowing recommendations of products that may not be worth the cost of the optical disc on which they are printed, it's hardly a concern for most when compared to the verbal diarrhea that emanates from the likes of Sean Hannity and Bill O'Reilly every night under the guise of being a news source.
But alas, this is not a blog about politics and world news, this is a blog about videogames, the videogame industry and the culture that surrounds gaming. So when I see something rotting within this culture I feel the need to call it out and expose it because gaming is not a cheap endeavor and there's not many voices speaking on behalf of the average game purchaser. Between the costs associated with acquiring platforms at $350-$500, new games at $60, used or discounted games still sold at higher prices than any other media form out there, nickel-and-diming downloadable expansions and subscription fees for services, this is one of the most expensive forms of entertainment to keep up with.
Within this environment I find that so much of the so-called gaming journalism space is occupied by sycophants; corporate apologists who grovel at the feet of multimillion-dollar businesses out of fear that offending someone in a boardroom may damage their access to free review games, early reveals and previews and all that free swag that gets sent to reviewers to help insure that a favorable number is attached to the grades that get posted on Metacritic. Sure, there are exceptions to the rule even on well-known sites; Jim Sterling of Destructoid would be one example of someone who doesn't pander to the pitiful corporate hivemind and calls out the absurd when he sees it, but he would definitely be in a minority class for his profession.
Sometimes, in order to buck this sort of incestuous echo-chamber and get through the manufactured PR bullshit, you need an outsider to come in and disrupt the process. You need someone who hasn't been groomed in the corporate newspeak and the accepted rules of compliance who can bring some real questions to the table and press for real answers without just swallowing the load like so many want to do. In that regard, YouTube gaming personality Angry Joe officially wins this E3.
In the weeks leading up to E3 Microsoft, facing an intense level of backlash over their anti-consumer DRM in the Xbone, began to circle their wagons and cancel most of their interviews. Only certain outlets would get access to Microsoft employees, and most of those interviewers would go rather soft on pressing the PR puppets too hard. Angry Joe, an unrestrained wild card, managed to get through and snag some time with Xbox Minister of Propaganda Major Nelson.
Angry Joe may not be the smoothest or most skilled interviewer, but his blunt questioning and choices of topics rattled Major Nelson to the point where he became visibly frustrated and annoyed. For someone who has been giving carefully scripted canned PR bullshit to Xbox customers online and pseudo-journalists and podcast personalities inside the E3 halls, this must have been quite a disruption to his message building. It was clear that Nelson had lost all credibility in sustaining his bullshit at the moment he grabbed the microphone out of Joe's hand in an effort to shut him down with some barely contained alpha-male rage posturing. While most of the journalist types at E3 tried to ride on the fence and were afraid to call out Microsoft's bullshit, often attributing the controversy to "misunderstandings", "bad methods of messaging" and in the worst cases blaming gamers for being a bunch of old-fashioned troglodytes, Angry Joe, unpolished as his delivery may be, managed to get in the way of the constant spinning and do more actual fucking journalism than many of the people who claim they are journalists!
If only the professionals who do this sort of shit for a living could grow a pair and perform their jobs with the same earnest effort and honesty as this modest YouTube personality did, perhaps the amount of bullshit that gets circulated around would be drastically lower than it is now.
Kudos to you, Angry Joe.
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