Christ Centered Gamer

So, #GamerGate is a thing that's going on right now and, frankly, I find it refreshing. I've long had a problem with game journalism's leftist slant and I'm glad to see that people who I'd think are being served by that slant are equally annoyed.

For those not aware of what's happening, I'll briefly recap (my understanding of it): Zoe Quinn is an independent developer and was outed by her ex-boyfriend for sleeping around with a bunch of people including, most important to the drama, her boss and a writer for Kotaku.

This revelation is also tangled up with pretty much anything YouTuber Anita Sarkeesian says any time ever. Anita Sarkeesian, if you do not know, is a feminist gamer who ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to produce videos demonstrating why games are, for the most part, misogynistic, sexist, and whatever else box of genital-gazing toys the left are playing with these days.

What do Zoe and Anita have to do with one another? Well, they've allegedly come under vicious attack online for their views. It has gotten so bad, reportedly, that Ms. Sarkeesian as stated she needed to move out of her home.

Of course this does nothing to elaborate on Ms. Sarkeesian's own less-than-clean background as it relates to gaming, or the voices who accuse her of willfully misrepresenting games and gamers to her own financial benefit. Really, to talk about the legitimate criticism that can be leveled at her would require much more space than I'm willing to give it. And a short Google search will turn up volumes by people inclined to go into detail.

There is no excuse for harassment. But neither is there for lying.

Anyway...

This then gets tangled up with the cozy nature game development has with game journalism, nepotism, and the reluctance for game journalism to come clean about its relationships with developers (Patricia Hernandez of Kotaku has published positive reviews of Anna Anthropy's games, despite the fact that they are close friends who have lived together in the past. Ben Kuchera of Polygon published an article about Zoe Quinn's claims that she was harassed, despite the fact that he gives money to her on a monthly basis through Patreon.). Rather than do that some have instead decided to lash out at gamers with the familiar labels (sexist, bigoted, misogynists - who are all likely white, male neckbeards).

The problem is, many gamers didn't find the criticisms unwarranted and thus #notyourshield was born. Gamers, in whose name these "journalists" acted (gays, trans, ummmm gay trans?), spoke up and declared that they wanted no part of their shenanigans.

They wanted nothing to do with the #SJW - the Social Justice Warriors of gaming journalism. Want to know how to identify an SJW? Google whoever gave Gone Home good press. That's likely a SJW.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered that all kinds of people thought the glowing response to Gone Home was tripe! I thought my review was the lone voice of sanity in the wilderness.

So, why is all of this good?

Gamers want diversity of opinion. They want to hear all voices, as long at those voices don't berate them for disagreeing to certain ideological agendas. Further, I think gamers don't have a problem with biases so long as those biases are acknowledged and whatever is being talked about is treated fairly. The problem with games journalism (and journalism in general) is that, I believe, the people in it truly to not think they're biased. When you live in an environment where everyone agrees with you (See: Media in New York) it's the dissenting voice that looks out of touch.

I think now is a great time for Christ Centered Gamer to press its brand and expand its reach. What we what about games here is fair but with a point of view. We're not playing at being unbiased. We wear our bias on our sleeve and we're a stronger outlet for gaming news and reviews for it.

I'd really like to see CCG partner with larger media outlets and provide coverage to a multi-billion dollar industry whose customers want transparency and true diversity in reviews and news.

Red this article on #GamerGate

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Great post, we should definitely step up to the task. The question is, who will partner with us?

selderane wrote: The problem with games journalism (and journalism in general) is that, I believe, the people in it truly to not think they're biased. When you live in an environment where everyone agrees with you (See: Media in New York) it's the dissenting voice that looks out of touch.

Having worked for a local newspaper for eight years, I can certainly attest to this. I've seen it. The people who work there do believe that they are balanced, even though their bias did have a tendency to show through (and was obvious to those outside the newspapers).

selderane wrote: I think now is a great time for Christ Centered Gamer to press its brand and expand its reach. What we what about games here is fair but with a point of view. We're not playing at being unbiased. We wear our bias on our sleeve and we're a stronger outlet for gaming news and reviews for it.

One thing that I've talked about the site is that they provide an aspect to their game reviews that most other game sites lack - a moral perspective to the games themselves. It's a unique element to the reviews posted on this site. And yes, it is biased. But you know what? We are willingly ready to admit that it is biased, that we're looking at the games from a Christian perspective. And it works. Other people want to know about these aspects of the games - especially parents with children.

So yes, Christ Centered Gamer, in my opinion, does serve as a great counterpart to a lot of the other review sites out there. Sure it's a smaller site and most of the staff are unpaid volunteers, but it offers a perspective and opinion that differs from all the other sites out there. That's where its strength lies (well, that and the amount of skill and sweat our generous hosts put into it). I'm glad to be a part of it, and I hope to see it continue in this vein for many years to come.

ccgr wrote:Red this article on #GamerGate

http://www.slate.com/articles/technolog ... _they.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Great post, we should definitely step up to the task. The question is, who will partner with us?

That's a good question, but I think another thing to think about would be would we want to partner with them?

Let me back up to one of my previous statements - that most of the staff are unpaid volunteers. We aren't professional journalists, and I think few of us have had training to be so. I think that is where part of our strength really lies - we don't do this for a paycheck (barring ccgr and IBJamon, of course). We do it because we are game enthusiasts who like to share our own interests and perspectives with others. If we were paid for our reviews, it could change the nature of our reviews in itself. If we were pressured for a deadline, it could alter the amount of time that we put into the games in order to analyze them.

So while I think that growth could be good - especially if given the opportunity - I would caution that it should be measured with faith and judgment, too. After all, we don't want to start compromising our principles in order to gain more money.

Reasonable concerns, Sstavix. As far as monitory compensation, I think the best way to avoid that is to avoid compromising entanglements. Reject money with strings. Maintain editorial independence.

That said, there's nothing wrong with treating CCG like a professional shop. And, to a degree, I think that happens. For what CCG is now, it works fine. But if CCG offers its services to interested outlets things would necessarily have to tighten up. But then, hopefully, by that point money is involved and people can be compensated for their time.

I've given CCGR a short list of outlets I thought she might reach out to. Some may be better fits than others. Also, there's the possibility of consolidating resources that exist. What can we do that, say, FamilyFriendlyGaming, can't? Or vice versa? Perhaps a merging of the two brands to better serve the readership? Are there other Christian-friendly gaming sites we can approach?

Or just Christian organizations in general we can reach out to? Focus on the Family comes to mind. Do they have an arm that covers the things CCG does? Perhaps that's a service we can provide?

It seems to me that there are Christian organizations out there keeping an eye on television and movies, but few, in any, cover video games with any real knowledge. It's easy to knee-jerk react against Grand Theft Auto.

They don't really tell parents why Diablo 3 might have objectionable content.

But who is reached out to and how is really up to CCGR and whomever owns CCG because no one else is authorized to speak for the site.