I’ve been reading and writing game articles for several years now and thought it was about time I published a list of my 5 favorite game related articles of all-time. We’re currently in an era that many experts describe as “new games journalism”. While some people think we need to stick to traditional writing rules, I feel that gaming journalism requires writers to think outside the box. Methodical structures are a thing of the past. My criteria for considering an article “great” include integrity, creativity, lasting appeal, humor and originality. If an article excels in at least 3 of those categories, it’s definitely a winner. Feel free to comment below and let us know what your favorite articles (with links) of all-time were.
From my own vast collection of bookmarked articles:
Ten golden rules of online gaming by Jim Sterling (2008)
One thing I love about Jim Sterling is the fact that he’s almost always funny in his articles. He also has a bit of an attitude to him that leads me to believe that he could care less what people think about his opinions. In some cases that could be a bad thing, but it works for his articles. He’s actually a nice guy, like most of the Destructoid crew. While some may not agree with him, his writing continues to be original and honest on a daily basis. In this particular article, Jim lists his “10 golden rules of online gaming”. While the article is actually poking fun at online gamers, there’s actually a lot of truth hidden behind the joke.
The 15 Most Annoying Video Game Characters (From Otherwise Great Games) by Tim Lovett (2008)
Typically, I despise “top lists”. They are usually recycled from past work or just thrown together without much thought in hopes it will make it to the front page of Digg.com. In this case, the article was well-written and a very funny read from beginning to end. If you love retro gaming comedy, this is an article I hope you didn’t miss. Unfortunately, this is the only article Tim Lovett ever wrote for Cracked.com. You can find more of his work at Golden Literature.
Sex in Games: Rez+Vibrator (2002)
This will probably always be in my book of great gaming articles. Not many articles from this long ago are even still in my mind, but the author used humor, sex and a well-written story to turn this into one of the best game news articles of all-time. This may be one of the first times a video game was considered a sex toy.
The Diary Of An MMO Virgin by Stephany Nunneley (2008)
Some of you probably recall that I worked for Gaming Today in 2007 and 2008, but I chose this article on it’s own merits. To be honest, I’m not really a fan of most GT articles, but Stephany’s work seems to typically stand above the crowd there. In this article, the site editor asked her to play LOTRO, which was the first time she ventured into the world of MMOs. So many gamers and journalists have had their lives consumed by MMOs,making it hard to get a fresh opinion on them. This article gave me a good look at how a “noob” in the world of MMOs saw things. The second part of the story can be located HERE.
Fear And Loading In Game Journalism by Christian McCrea (2007)
I simply love articles that try to figure out what’s wrong with game journalism. It’s easy these days to avoid the real important matters and simply post crap that you know is going to get a ton of easy traffic. I’m not the biggest fan of ‘the Escapist’ probably because of the fact that I simply cannot stand Zero Punctuation, but I’m in the minority there. I do admire the fact that their regular articles often touch on the important topics in gaming. These are the topics that most blogs tend to avoid. The article also mentions the fact that game journalism has yet to find their own Lester Bangs. I have a feeling we may never find one…
June 9th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
you must have read Juan’s comment on Digg
June 12th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
You only put my article on here because you are in love with me, William.
*Just kidding* I don’t want your wife driving hundreds of miles to my house intending on kicking my ass only to find that I have hidden myself in a cave somewhere in Uzbekistan out of fear.
Thanks for raising my self-esteem and plugging me though. It is much appreciated.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:30 am
Ha, august company! It bugs me when people try to think their way out of where gaming is. Its gaming. We know the problems. Lets not make lists, lets play and work to make it better. Stop the analysis, I want to get off!
October 13th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Gaming is a very young industry. To say that it doesn’t need analysis is silly. We actually need more analysis in my opinion. How could things ever improve if we don’t think about these things?