On the changing nature of communications in the video game community

[badinsults]

I thoroughly enjoyed following the Retro VGS/ Coleco Chameleon threads on Atari Age, and it got me thinking about the ways that we talk about video games in the gamer community. Atari Age appears to be one of the only gaming forums from the "golden age" of forums (the early 2000s) that is still active. I kind of lament about this, because I think that message forums are an ideal way to share experiences and information about video games, in a troll free environment. Anyways, I have written an essay on the changing nature of video game communications, I hope that people find it interesting. Writing it was inspired in part by the Coleco Chameleon debacle, so I thought people here might be interested.

 

http://www.snescentral.com/article.php?id=1093

 

 

As I mention in the article, I don't really have any focus on pre-crash era communications, as this happened before I was old enough to know about video games. I apologize in advance if people think this is a major oversight, the article was already quite long!

[Jess Ragan]

The only communication between gamers I can think of in the early 80s were fanzines, user clubs, professional magazines, and of course just ordinary chats with like-minded friends. Having said that, there were references to video games on Usenet as early as 1985. Dig around and you'll find a conversation about that "hot new arcade game" Gauntlet.

[Albert]

I've been online since the early days of BBSs (and ran several myself on different platforms), so I've watched group communications evolve over the course over 30 years. I will read this essay with great interest.

 

..Al

[badinsults]

The only communication between gamers I can think of in the early 80s were fanzines, user clubs, professional magazines, and of course just ordinary chats with like-minded friends. Having said that, there were references to video games on Usenet as early as 1985. Dig around and you'll find a conversation about that "hot new arcade game" Gauntlet.

 

I actually have these in the article, so I guess I covered my bases!

[godslabrat]

I thoroughly enjoyed following the Retro VGS/ Coleco Chameleon threads on Atari Age, and it got me thinking about the ways that we talk about video games in the gamer community. Atari Age appears to be one of the only gaming forums from the "golden age" of forums (the early 2000s) that is still active. I kind of lament about this, because I think that message forums are an ideal way to share experiences and information about video games, in a troll free environment. Anyways, I have written an essay on the changing nature of video game communications, I hope that people find it interesting. Writing it was inspired in part by the Coleco Chameleon debacle, so I thought people here might be interested.

 

http://www.snescentral.com/article.php?id=1093

 

 

As I mention in the article, I don't really have any focus on pre-crash era communications, as this happened before I was old enough to know about video games. I apologize in advance if people think this is a major oversight, the article was already quite long!

 

I really enjoyed this article, and think your observations about the now-outdated forms of communication are well-presented, in particular your points about Usenet and gaming magazines. I also once used those as my primary methods of communication. As for IRC, I often found it frustrating to go to a group called (for example) #nintendo, only to find that that people online wanted to discuss anything BUT video games. Forums, even unmoderated ones, seemed to have better channels for directing off-topic posts.

 

I will say, if you're seeking constructive criticism, that the point about Gamergate just seems out of place.

[Keatah]

I believe that message forums (BBS on steroids) are the best forms of communication, not only for videogames, but for many other topics. Far superior to social media platforms because forums are more stable & permanent, evoke thought, work on the users' time schedule, and they can tie-in other formats like videos, and pictures. And it's all more or less centralized. And a moderated forum is less flighty

 

Back in the pre-crash era we had magazines, newsletters for computers, some BBS'es, and word of mouth. I believe word of mouth like talking with your buddies in school was a huge form of exchanging strategies. BBS'es were great for posting cheats and small hex mods. Mine had a whole section for exactly that. And magazines were like paid-for 100 page catalogs. The advertising was cool! The pre-views of upcoming consoles and games were simply magical.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Keatah

[Keatah]

"The thing I really like about about forums is the breadth of discussion and the possibilities for collaboration. Would the Coleco Chameleon have been revealed as a scam without the collective efforts of Atari Age? I am not so certain."

 

Of course it would have. Absolutely. And if for some reason it didn't, people would realize it was bogus when it failed to materialize into a real product.

[Mord]

Of course it would have. Absolutely. And if for some reason it didn't, people would realize it was bogus when it failed to materialize into a real product.

 

I'm certain it would have as well, although whether or not it would have been figured out as quickly - not quite so certain.

[jaybird3rd]

Of course it would have. Absolutely. And if for some reason it didn't, people would realize it was bogus when it failed to materialize into a real product.

Well, it certainly would have been discovered eventually—most likely when Mike and Co. failed to deliver, as they inevitably would have. The more interesting question is, would it have been discovered in time to prevent the first IndieGoGo campaign from succeeding, or to prevent the second campaign on Kickstarter from happening in the first place? Somehow I doubt that. We all know that the mainstream gaming press didn't do their jobs: sites like Gizmodo and Engadget ran nothing but the most uncritical puff pieces that Mike could have wished for.

 

As Pat said in the #CUPodcast's Coleco Chameleon wrap-up, it would have been an absolute disaster for our little community if that $2M IndieGoGo campaign had reached its goal and then failed to deliver a real product. Discovering that it was a scam then would have been too late. So, at the risk of patting our collective backs, I think the work that was done here and elsewhere to expose the RVGS and Chameleon for the frauds that they were was enormously important.

[cimerians]

As a kid around 11 years old 1981/82'.....the biggest news source to come out in the US was Electronic Games magazine by Kunkel\Katz\Worley. Other than that there was no way for us to know what was going on. That magazine was so important at the time I can't even express it.

 

Since Kunkel passed away a few years back IMO it seems the importance of that magazine is disappearing as time goes on. Luckily they have been archived on archive.org for people to check out and read.

[Keatah]

EGM set the cadence and direction for us fledgling gamers in many ways. I was thankful they didn't focus on programming for micros, there were thousands of publications for that already. Instead they had a nice writing style that a pre-teen could understand and soak up along with a bag of potator chips and soda.

 

We'd always keep some issues at hand during gaming sessions when playing things like Video Pinball. Wonderfully eliminated the boredom till it was your turn. And it provided us fodder for discussion at school about which cartridge was coming out next. EGM and similar magazines were essential to any gamer. They cleared the path and showed us a map and set reasonable expectations.

[Keatah]

"When you look at the coverage of the Coleco Chameleon by corporate websites (example here), they glossed over the potential downfalls of this system. They really dropped the ball here. Even after it became pretty clear that the Toy Fair prototype was just a SNES, there were still very softball articles being published in mainstream websites. A quick Google search should have revealed the Atari Age thread, and the many spin-off videos showing this, so really it comes down to a lack of good journalism. I think we should all remember, though, that the purpose of commercial sites is ultimately to sell video games. They were not going to bite a potential hand that can feed them, even with a rag-tag operation like Retro VGS. Only when it became very obvious that it was a scam (i.e. the PCI board "prototype") did they start to report on this. The people who work on these sites have tight deadlines and are encouraged to put out as many stories as they can, so perhaps it isn't entirely surprising there was no investigation."

 

This is why I don't pay much attention to mainstream blogging and online articles. EGM had this sort of attitude, too, and there was some vaporware, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the RVGS story. No way. And most of what EGM reported on came true.

 

Because it is their job to sell games and not critique them, they are prone to making up bullshit and telling fibs and making things look better than they are. I really have other and better things to do than stuff my head with bullshit from bloggers.

Edited April 4, 2016 by Keatah

[omegadot]

I still flip through my EGMs from time to time because they are enjoyable to read. Sites like IGN and Gamepot are miserable to navigate and read. And now a lot of content is in video form which I find hard to pop between tasks to ingest. I tend to just avoid any video content other than a few like Zero Punctuation that actually make me laugh. I much prefer forums where I can just get basics from fellow gamers.

[phoenixdownita]

Amen to the mess that is video delivered content.

I hate it .... not inherently, but because it is used to slow me down and inject all sorts of adcrap that I can't skip.

 

It's so annoying to me that almost 100% of the time if it is a video and it doesn't have the "skip this ad in 3 sec" I just skip the whole fuxxing video .... because no I don't want to enlarge my penis, the one I have has given me enough troubles as it is!! (or whatever professional junk they interject these days).

[BydoEmpire]

EGM set the cadence and direction for us fledgling gamers in many ways. I was thankful they didn't focus on programming for micros, there were thousands of publications for that already. Instead they had a nice writing style that a pre-teen could understand and soak up along with a bag of potator chips and soda.

Let the record show that "EGM" heretofore shall always stand for "Electronic Games Magazine" and not "Electronic Gaming Monthly," which had a few really good years up through early-mid 90s and then went downhill. Electronic Games didn't have a long enough life to go downhill...

 

The video game community I remember growing up was hanging out at arcades, going to our neighbor's house to play the games we didn't have, going to other friends' houses to play and talk about games, and probably most of all swapping c64 and Apple ][ disks with friends. I remember sitting around for hours chatting about stuff as we copied piles of disks. As far as internet "communities" go, Atari Age is about as good as it gets.

 

 

 

it comes down to a lack of good journalism

I don't use "video games" and "journalism" in the same sentence very often. Enthusiast Press is probably a better term for 90% of what's written. An occasional book, an article here or there over the years. Edited April 4, 2016 by BydoEmpire

[phoenixdownita]

... most of all swapping c64 ... disks tapes with friends. I remember sitting around for hours chatting about stuff as we copied piles of disks tapes. ....

I didn't have the cash to even look at disks until the Amiga 500 came out

[Keatah]

The video game community I remember growing up was hanging out at arcades, going to our neighbor's house to play the games we didn't have, going to other friends' houses to play and talk about games, and probably most of all swapping Apple ][ disks with friends. I remember sitting around for hours chatting about stuff as we copied piles of disks.

 

Yup. This is what made the good times the good times! We'd copy disks, shoot the shit, read EGM, play VCS, and make grand plans for mods to our BBS'es. We'd theorize on just exactly how fast we could transfer disks over the phone. We'd talk about using the Z80 card to beef-up graphics. All sorts of good and crazy things.

 

This was a really big deal back then, we'd even tote our systems around by any means necessary. From pulling it behind our BMX bikes in a RadioFlyer, or backpacks, or mom's car, no method was spared. And we got our stuff where it needed to go!

 

It was a craze. It was an obsession.

[Keatah]

I don't use "video games" and "journalism" in the same sentence very often. Enthusiast Press is probably a better term for 90% of what's written. An occasional book, an article here or there over the years.

 

That's right, you can't. The two terms are mutually exclusive.

 

Some odd number of years ago I needed a technical writer for a one-time project and put out a call for resumes. If videogames were at all mentioned I skipped right over them. The decision was correct.

[BydoEmpire]

 

Yup. This is what made the good times the good times! We'd copy disks, shoot the shit, read EGM, play VCS, and make grand plans for mods to our BBS'es. We'd theorize on just exactly how fast we could transfer disks over the phone. We'd talk about using the Z80 card to beef-up graphics. All sorts of good and crazy things.

 

This was a really big deal back then, we'd even tote our systems around by any means necessary. From pulling it behind our BMX bikes in a RadioFlyer, or backpacks, or mom's car, no method was spared. And we got our stuff where it needed to go!

 

It was a craze. It was an obsession.

When I was a little older, I'd haul my A500 over to a friend's house who also had an Amiga, and we'd hook them up to play multiplayer games like Psygnosis' Armour Geddon (I think that was it?).