Gaming Journalists Found Wanting

Well it’s been over a week now and I’ve given up waiting. Waiting? For what? Perhaps some background detail is in order first.

Despite seemingly all predictions to the contrary, Blizzard Entertainment, the developers behind the ridiculously successful World of Warcraft, announced last week that their next game would be a sequel to their ridiculously successful real-time strategy game from ten years ago, StarCraft. The lead-up had been an exciting few weeks as gaming web sites debated what exactly Blizzard had in store. Maybe it’s just the sites I visited but the consensus at the time leant heavily towards a StarCraft MMO (ie, World of StarCraft). The logic was perhaps epitomised best by Penny Arcade back in June.

Yet you’d hardly think it based on the reactions of the gaming press to the formal announcement. ‘Picked it’, seemed to be what everyone felt. I suppose in a sense they did. They suggested it was going to be a StarCraft game and while its a different StarCraft game to what they all suggested it’s still StarCraft and not one of the myriad other franchises apart from Warcraft that Blizzard oversees.

(And by ‘myriad’ I mean ‘two’.)

(And by ‘two’ I mean ‘1 + Rock’n’Roll Racing’.)

I don’t mind that people got it wrong. I was thinking MMO as well. But the complete lack of any introspection has left me a little bewildered. Isn’t there a story here? Why has Blizzard decided to turn its back on a revenue stream that would have arguably exceeded World of Warcraft? People are dying for a sci-fi MMO and you can count the current contenders on one finger. Why were so many people wrong? Is a StarCraft MMO still in the works and this is just a ploy to get people back into a universe that is ten years old? Blizzard prefaced World of Warcraft with Warcraft III. Might StarCraft 2 simply be leading the way for the MMO to come?

Well I don’t know the answers to any of those questions because no one’s asked them, let alone suggested answers. Instead all we’ve been given in terms of ‘coverage’ is the standard press release regurgitation one comes to expect from the gaming press. I guess asking some of these questions might require, I don’t know, work. Just imagine how arduous all that questioning could be. First, you’d have to pick up the phone. Then you’d have to dial a number. Presuming of course you already knew the number. If you didn’t you’d have to look it up! Of course operating the phone is the easy part. After getting through on the phone you’d then have to talk to someone. On the phone. My head is spinning just writing about it.

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t read every gaming rag out there. If someone is talking about this please let me know. I would love to read the analysis. As it stands, as far as I can see this is yet another example of an opportunity gone begging. I understand that most people involved in the industry aren’t involved as journalists. That’s OK. I don’t have a problem with that. Just don’t call yourself journalists if that’s the case: game critic is perfectly acceptable and a lot more honest.

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Published:
28.05.07 / 10pm
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Technology
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