Starting a blog is something I never thought I would do, so I feel that it is necessary to explain why this one exists to begin with. Of course, this is also for my own selfish desire to justify this to myself in writing.
Several years ago, there was LiveJournal, and if Maddox has taught us one thing in life, it's that people will post anything online regardless of whether anyone is reading it. Then MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, and the “blogosphere” happened and I began to realize that there were almost as many post-birth abortion candidates responding to this material than were actually producing it. When it first started, I could see the potential of having a powerful piece of mass produced news, unrestricted in their scope and unrestrained by money, political affiliations, or corporate pressure. Yet, it was also obvious how this development was going to take the long respected news standard and flush it down the toilet.
Not too long ago, Adrian Beltre of the Seattle Mariners was subjected to scrutiny because some blogger with a baseless opinion of steroid use got picked up by the national media. Of course, having an opinion is all well and good and I personally agree with the critics who blame said media for even running the story, but this is what we've created for ourselves. We, the Internet, have graduated those LiveJournal hacks and given them national attention, because apparently anyone with a computer and half a brain can make money and garner attention from their useless opinions. All I have to do is cite the name Perez Hilton (gracias, will.i.am), and you begin to realize what we have created for ourselves.
The idea was good, but the results have been bad. Don't get me wrong, there are great blogs out there. The Cheapskate, for example, is a terrific little blog that serves a great purpose for techies like us, ticking off great online tech steals when they happen. Trent Reznor takes the time to use this technology to reach out to his fan base, and I'm all for artist interaction. If Shaq wants to use Twitter, I'm also all for it, so long as he stays entertaining.
When CNN, FOX, and MSNBC decide to let the Internet report for them on bad news days, it's gone too far, with the lone exception being the circumstances surrounding Iran and the lack of media coverage allowed in the country.
So I generally hate blogs, and yet I have one. Why, you ask?
Because I watched E3: 2009.
I have one colorful opinion when it comes to most things in the world, but when it comes to video gaming, I generally try to do my homework because I happen to enjoy the industry for the most part. Ever since I was a kid, trends were my interest in this new field of entertainment, and it wasn't long before my tiny brain could comprehend what gaming was going to become. Everything I projected would happen HAS happened or is going to happen in the next 10 years. Not that this took a genius to figure out, but I could have wrote a dissertation on the economic aspects of it all when I was twelve, and despite the fact that I would have been laughed at by my teachers, every bit of it turned out to be correct in some way or another.
Just for the record, I am not actually a master of video games. I have never “wavedashed” anyone to death. I have never posted a speedrun. I have never participated in any tournaments. I will never dominate an online Halo match. The longest I've held a WoW account was for a week long trial period, after which I refused to pick up the game again. I was a member of a thrown together clan on LOTRO for half the month I played, but I never participated or even came back to that game as much as I tried to enjoy it. I also suck at Madden.
The experience is there, though. I have racked up a few 32-4 runs in Counter-Strike. I always go for gold in Burnout. I never play games on easy, and I'm starting to think I should only play games on hard mode as a rule. I don't play Mario Kart, I dominate it and piss on the weak. I will always take Terry Bogard's brand over Ryu's. You may not like where I'm coming from, but at least you know I'm in the game.
When E3 happened, I was generally livid, because with the exception of the potential of Project Natal (and the general backdoor opinions stating that the demos actually worked as advertised), it was the worst E3 I can remember. I'll have to get back to you with some research on that statement, but if Sony spent their time making obvious attempts to rip off of Nintendo who was busy putting together a showcase making even last year's effort seem like gold, then you know there were problems.
That's what made me want to do this. I've seen enough speculation, reviews, and glowing acceptance of gaming as-is to sit by and watch the fans basically forget that their voice isn't being heard. I am an avid listener of ESPN Radio, and when things happen in the world of sports, there's a voice speaking out on performances, trades, and the like. We simply don't have an answer for that. If Sonic goes Nintendo, sure there's a cry of message board terror, but IGN, GameTrailers, and GameSpot will simply add it to their top 10 list of anticipation rather than get their editorial muscle moving. None of these sites really put the cross hairs on Nintendo over E3, and that's what got me moving towards this blog.
In this blog, you can expect me to treat the industry the way it should be treated, and it is my goal that at some point in the future at least one person in the industry reads just one article posted. If that happens, then this is a success to me. This exists only so that gamers can be heard, strong language and everything (provided Google doesn't shut me down for it). If there is mail sent my way, it will be read, and I will make an honest attempt to respond to as much as I can.
