When it comes to running a video game website I am constantly finding myself questioning the tactics of the major media sites we compete with. Major media sites like IGN, GameSpot, and Polygon(among others) are constantly finding new types of non-gaming content to fill your browser with in their attempts to win some faux popularity contest among the gaming community. At their core, all of these sites are gaming sites. But many of them are adding Movie, TV, and Comic Book related content to their news feeds in an attempt to generate more traffic. GameSpot has even gone as far as reporting on politically charged content no matter how loosely it is based on gaming.
It’s not a secret anymore, video game websites are a dying breed. But I find myself asking if this is because us gamers are no longer interested in the gaming content theses gaming sites provide? Are people really more interested in a website that combines multiple forms of geekdom in one low quality site? Or is it because gaming sites have largely focused on catering to one particular subsection of the crowd? I often find myself asking the same question over and over again, and becoming part of the media has only made me ask this question more often.
Why is it that so much of the gaming news announced to the public gets ignored by the gaming websites?
We’re all gamers here, and from my perspective we have a very broad group gathered on this site. We’ve got people who love Xbox, Playstation, Nintendo AND PC here, all getting along I might add(I really like this). But when you go on GameSpot, which is where a lot of us came from, much of the news I get from my various sources seems to be left out.
I went to the main source I have and copied a list of todays press releases.
- PC – Soda Dungeon
Issued By: Armor Games
Title: Latest news from Armor Games
Includes: A logo, 3 screenshots, a video and one piece of artwork. - Droid/iOs – Lords of the Fallen
Issued By: CI Games
Title: Mobile edition ready on Thursday
Includes: A release date trailer. - Droid/iOs – RPS Saga
Issued By: Magic Cube
Title: Casual card battler uses the age-old rules of Rock, Paper, Scissors.
Includes: A promotional image. - PC – WWE 2K17
Issued By: 2K Games
Title: PC edition now out.
Includes: A season pass infographic and a PC edition video. - Mac/PC/PS4/XO – Splasher
Issued By: The Sidekicks
Title: “Splatformer” now out on PC, Mac and Linux, so prepare to get messy. - All Platforms – Hitman
Issued By: Feral Interactive
Title: Linux edition hitting home next week. - PS4/WiiU/XO – Ghost Blade
Issued By: Hucast
Title: Bullet hell title gets the Gold seal of approval, coming later this month at last. - PC/PS4 – Paragon
Issued By: Epic Games
Title: ‘Carnival of Hearts’
Includes: Event video and event image. - Mac/PC/PS4/XO – Splasher
Issued By: The Sidekicks
Includes: A cascading trailer. - PC – Phoning Home
Issued By: ION LANDS
Title: Sci-fi adventure places a call to your Steam wallet, asks if it’ll accept a one-off charge.
Includes: A flurry of downloadable trailers screens and GIFs. - PC – Anthology
Issued By: Lewis Denby
Title: Richard & Alice co-creator working on series of short adventures set “in a faraway city”.
Includes: Some collated screens. - PC/PS4/XO – The Golf Club 2
Issued By: Maximum Games
Title: Ready for another round, friends? First let’s study the course with a new trailer.
Includes: A bulging fact sheet a few logos, plenty o’ packshots and a relaxed ‘First Look’ video. - Droid/iOs – Jack The Miner
Issued By: Ravindra Krishna
Title: Jack be nimble, Jack be quick, Jack be released on your mobile device.
Includes: A lonesome logo, a voluminous video and some screenshots. - All Platforms – Various Assets
Issued By: KOEI TECMO
Includes: Some tinged screenshots, a few logos and some exciting artwork. - PC – Lightspeed Frontier
Issued By: Crowdwork Studios
Title: Early Access phase begin on March 7th for sandbox spaceship builder/exploration title.
Includes: An Early Access video, some screenshots, headers and logos. - Droid/PC – MOBIUS FINAL FANTASY
Issued By: Square Enix
Title: Final Fantasy VII collaboration event begins today.
Includes: Some hairy artwork, a millionth promo. - PC – ‘Atelier Sophie: The Alchemist of the Mysterious Book’ and ‘Nights of Azure’
Issued By: KOEI TECMO
Title: KOEI TECMO games now on Valve’s platform.
- PC/PS4/XO – Forgotton Anne
Issued By: ThroughLine Games
Title: We almost forgot to mention this 2D puzzle/platforming adventure.
Includes: Some… er… hmm, no, we can’t remember. Logos agogo. - All Platforms – InnoGames results
Issued By: InnoGames
Title: German publisher boosts turnover 25% to €130 million in 2016. (French announcement)
Includes: ‘Celebrating 10 years of InnoGames’ video and thumbnail, ’10 years of InnoGames’ logo, team photos and a revenue infographic. - Droid/iOs/PC/Web – Albion Online
Issued By: Sandbox Interactive
Title: (French press release about new cities in the ‘Galahad’ update.)
Includes: A galant video. - Droid – Gunship Battle 2 VR
Issued By: Joycity Corporation
Title: Taking the fight to Samsung Gear VR.
Includes: A new YouTube video, some screenshots, a cinematic video, a lonesome logo. - PC – Narborion Saga
Issued By: Liber Primus Games
Title: PC launch date is March 21st.
Includes: A new YouTube trailer, PC screens, a downloadable trailer, a lonesome logo. - PC – Pizza Delivery: The Game
Issued By: Jenito
Title: Free even if it gets to you in less than 30 minutes.
Includes: Some piping hot screenshots. - Mac/PC The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
Issued By: Bethesda
Title: Property prices in Tamriel set to go through the roof with ‘Homestead’ DLC.
Includes: ‘Homestead’ video. All GEEK Festival 2017 Replay Events.The LARPers are descending on Margate. Promotional materials. - PC – Jalopy
Issued By: Excalibur
Title: ‘Bulgaria’ update appears on the sat nav with an estimated arrival of February 13th.
Includes: Lokomotiv Screenshots, CSKA Trailer. - PC/XO – Forza Horizon 3
Issued By: Microsoft
Includes: ‘Playseat’ car pack visuals. - All Consoles – LEGO Dimensions
Issued By: Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment
Includes: Batman, Robin and Batgirl pictures. - All Platforms – European Halo World Championship 2017 Qualifier: London
Issued By: Gfinity
Title: Will take place at Wembley Stadium’s ‘Great Hall’ next weekend.
Includes: Lots of photos. - PC/PS3/PS4/X360 – PES 2017
Issued By: Konami
Title: 16 players confirmed for the European Regional Finals of the PES League ‘Road to Cardiff’ competition.
Includes: European Regional Finals line-up. - WiiU – WordsUp! Academy
Issued By: CoderChild
Title: Wii U edition launched.
Includes: Some screenshots. - All – Milestone and Koch Media
Issued By: Milestone
Title: Distribution partnership signed to help support former’s 2017 line-up. - Web – MU Legend
Issued By: Webzen
Title: Second closed beta runs from February 21st for a week.
Includes: Some screenshots, logos and key art. - PS4 – Mahjong Deluxe 3
Issued By: EnsenaSoft
Title: Tile-matching title out on PS4.
Includes: Some screenshots, a new YouTube trailer. - All Platforms – Symphony of Eternity
Issued By: Kemco
Title: Now part of the Humble Mobile Bundle of RPGs. - Mac/PC/PS4/XO – Warhammer 40,000: Inquisitor – Martyr
Issued By: NeocoreGames
Title: ‘The Founding’ public alpha going live on Friday.
So looking at the list of press releases issued today, I only see maybe 3 that have been reported by news outlets. I can see how a few of these can be ignored, a handful are just issuing screen shots or showing off a new logo, but the majority of them have news that may interest gamers. The press releases that got covered were for games like Forza Horizon 3, PES 17 and Mobius Final Fantasy, but what about The Golf Club 2, Ghost Blade, Warhammer 40k, Hitman on Linux and other articles that never got shared? I think some of these other games should get covered by the media as well, even if they’re only a quickie, so that people who may have interest in a game can be informed.
I see this almost every day and it is the reason why we have an Open Source forum on this site. I know many of these games are not games we would all play, but I do know that at least 2 of our users here are fans of the Warhammer 40k universe. I’m not saying we should prioritize reporting on press releases for The Golf Club 2, but I don’t see why it can’t get a quickie added for the handful of gamers who might find it interesting. Most sites today are still sitting 30 or 40 games short of the 77 games we found for the Nintendo Switch so far. I think this is a disservice to Nintendo fans and game fans across the board.
Should gaming sites cover as much gaming news as possible regardless of how popular the related game may be? Or do gamers simply want to be informed about games that win popularity contests only? Let me know your thoughts on the subject, I want to hear how you guys feel.