This may contain material you find offensive. If you are argumentative, then don't read it.http://www.familyfriendlygaming.com/New ... %20We.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
What Are We?
Cordova, TN; October 7, in the year of our Lord 2014--Family Friendly Gaming, the industry leader in covering the family friendly video games is posing a thought provoking question in the form of three little words. What Are We? What is the gaming media really? What should gaming journalists actually be? Are we puppets for large corporations? Are we pass throughs to publish all of their propaganda? Are we filters to sift through the bad and only publish the good? Are we supposed to be fan boys of certain companies? Are we supposed to be anti-fanboys of other companies? What Are We? What do you think we should be?
I should clarify one important thing. An anti-fanboy is someone who hates on a certain company. Take all the Sega fanboys for example. After the Dreamcast went under they had nothing new to support. They were not fond of Sony or Microsoft. One thing they knew - they hated Nintendo. So they became anti-fanboys of Nintendo. Any time someone hates on Nintendo, ask them what they thought of Sega. Most of the time they were Sega fanboys bitter that Sega stopped making hardware. Other times you will be talking to a Microsoft or Sony fanboy.
Talk to any of the gaming companies and they want us to be their cheerleaders. They want us in the gaming media to spend all of our time, and financial resources making them richer. Want to know a secret? They don’t share. They don’t reciprocate. They are selfish, self centered, and self absorbed. They are like Daffy Duck screaming: “MINE, MINE, ALL MINE!” There has been accusations that sites like IGN have been paid off. There is certainly enough evidence to warrant a good look at that accusation. At the same time we are missing the boat here. Where are the thought provoking ideas coming out of the gaming journalist arena?
The gaming media too often is subjected to politics and discrimination by PR employees. These people hand out information on their clients product in a way that gets their client exposure. That exposure turns into sales. A good review normally provides more sales than a bad one. So they are looking out for the self interests of their clients. That makes too many gaming sites regurgitate company propaganda in reviews. After all the path of least resistance is what too many are doing in the gaming media. They don’t want to burn bridges, so they compromise their integrity. Christians have been discriminated against in the video game industry for decades. I don’t need to go over all my personal experiences. Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony have all been guilty of it against Family Friendly Gaming. We don’t sulk, instead we continue to try and work with them - despite their poor treatment of us over the years.
Family Friendly Gaming is not just another gaming site. We filter the press releases. We remove the idolatry of political correctness whenever we find it. We are not just a pass through. We do our original works. Yes we still use some of their content. Our standards have gone up in 2014. Whereas others are lowering standards and lowering expectations, we are increasing them. So What Are We? We are gaming journalists who point everyone to God. That means a road less traveled. A harder road to take. It means we get denied reviewable copies sometimes. It means we get treated like dirt by PR employees at times. We are not their pass throughs. We are not their cheerleaders. We are not their fanboys. We are not their anti-fanboys. We report on the good, and we report on the bad. Like calling a sporting event. When the defense intercepts, we are not there to make that offense look good. We are there to report what happened. As long as it is family friendly we will utilize all of our resources to report on them. We will continue to follow the parable of the talents in dealing with companies. We encourage all other gaming journalists to do the same. Be fair minded in terms of reporting on, covering, and reviewing all companies and products. Don’t give them a good review because they are a huge advertiser. Don’t give them a bad review because their PR employees are just a bunch of moochers, and liars. Be even handed. Be fair minded. At the same time call a spade - a spade.
God bless,
Paul Bury
Family Friendly Gaming
