Week 5 assignment

It is true to state that a mojority of games journalism now exists on the internet, rather then through magazine publishing in current times. I even remember when i use to purchase game magazines for my N64 and then slowly transitioned over to the internet to read reviews (though i didn't really notice it). However i feel that game magazines have one strong advantage over internet reviews which wasn't mention is that they have demos. For instance i remember when i was young always buying game magazines just for the demos, especially if they aren't accessable elsewhere. I even have a friend that buys xbox360 magazines so they can recieve the demos which aren't downloadable through xbox live.

As there are now more innovative ways of reviewing games that are present over the internet and less consumers purchasing games magazines the question now is how do publishers make profits? I feel that even through the internet there are various ways in which publishers can achieve profits. The first is through memberships, there are various site available that have free membership. However there are always advanced memberships available where customers pay so much a month, and get exclusive downloads and other goodies that are for these specific members only.

However just like in game magazines the developers of games know that consumers will read reviews on games before buying them ( i am included in this category of people). Therefore wherever there are games journalists wheather it be through magazines or the internet, there will always be advertisements. Even when on an internet games journalist site attempting to read a review, you are always interrupted by pop ups advertising the latest release.

I think that giving scores to games is an impossible task, as these opinions are usually determined by a certain point of view. As I've noticed all publishers have different opinions that differ from others, sure they many be similar but just like with all individuals we all have different tastes. Also with graphics increasing with each generation of gaming you can't necesarilly grade a game with full marks for visual effects, as within the year there will always be a game with increased graphics.

However I do enjoy how these new games journalists have found new ways of reviewing games. like for instance the context in which the article 'A rape in cyberspace' was set really struck me, whereas if it had presented in another way it may have made me laugh. Which shows that this form is of writing is very powerful yet very opinionated.

For me i feel this is a reason as to why im more of an objective writer rather than a subjective one. As i think that subjective writers always try to influence the way you are thinking, to side with their points of view. whereas objective writers just give you the facts and lets you create your own decisions.