So I recently came in possession of a stack of old issues of Game Informer. Started reading them today. Maybe its because I'm reading the E3 issues, but it really makes me feel like something has been lost in the post social media internet age. Modern gaming sites aren't about journalism or previews as much as they are about news, and click-bait. A lot of sites still do long form reviews, which is good, but that's usually the only vestigial part of what were once great websites. 

I really like Destructoid, but most of their content is just the same recycled news that I see on here. Their reviews are great thanks to Chris Carter and crew though. Occasionally they'll have a unique or insightful article to read. (The comments section of Destructoid is hilarious though.)

Eurogamer's digital foundry often puts up good articles. But their taste in games is... bad. https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-05-30-best-ps4-games-playstation-4-games-2026

Notice the lack of God Of War, Persona 5, Horizon, etc. And the inclusion of virtual unknown games like Hohokum. I get that games are subjective, but jeez. 

I read PC gamer daily, but I sort of have a love/hate affair with them. Occasionally they'll cover something that no other site bothers to cover, because they are damned near the last standing PC gaming site (that doesn't have a skeleton crew working for it). Most of their content is pretty bad though. They constantly cover Fortnite, or PUBG. They write jealousy articles like "When will RDR2 come to PC?" I love them for their occasional unique content, but hate them for their awful taste in games. They are called PC Gamer, yet almost never put up articles about 4X games. 

IGN has a revolving door that spins so fast it could serve as a prop engine for a helicopter. In the last decade they've expanded to covering every aspect of pop culture possible, and it just feels like they are spread too thin.

Gamespot died in 2007 with the Kain and Lynch review fiasco. 

Anyway, right now I'm sitting here reading up on how the NX will be released in 2017, how Nintendo only had BotW for E3, and how God of War has a "Son Button". Good times. 

I don't really follow a lot of game jounalism these days. I read the news updates here on VGC, as well as some of the articles. I read totally random articles from time to time as well. Mmaaany....probably most, linked in threads on VGC. I was an avid EGM reader for an extended period of time. From 1989 to 2008, I missed maybe, MAYBE 5 or 6 issues. Next Generation was a great mag for a spell. I would even buy Gamepro every now and again. I had a smattering of all the North American publications really, but mostly EGM. I never really glommed onto one specific website the way I did with EGM in the print era. Currently, the closest I get to games consistently following game journalism ( aside from VGC news stories and articles ) is Jim Sterling. I really like him. I don't always agree ( of course ), but I respect his candor, and ability to entertain.

And since I have the opportunity to do so, I would like to say that Edge Magazine is a ****rag.

I'm supposed to swear less. For the kids.

Anyway, for the reasons I've outlined, I can't make as good of a comparison between now and various other time periods as some others would be able to. But. Things sure do seem worse. More clickbaity. And I sometimes question the integrity of certain sites, as well as individual journalists. Probably a bit more than I did in the past.

Its kind of strange for you to trash Eurogamer for not including all of the predictable choices in their lists. Like, seems to me that every list only including the games that everybody knows about that have sold millions of copies would be something to criticize games media for, not the fact that their lists actual denote some semblance of taste (whether or not you share that taste).

That said, I don't know if its changed. I mostly stopped caring about games media several years ago. I much prefer to watch a video essay about a game than read an article at this point (and even then, you are more likely to find me watching essays about movies or anime).

As a former game journalist/critic I agree. However, the guy who writes all the Vita articles for VGC deserves a Pulitzer Prize for his dedication to a dead platform.

I don't know. I don't really follow gaming news as closely as I did back in the 90s when I bought EVERY magazine, even if I didn't own the platform!

There were times when it was horribly bad. PSM was running an article about how the PS2 would look like a Dreamcast and let you receive daily missions via the Internet--the exact same month that OPM had the PS2 on the cover! There was lots of misinformation (Die Hard Game Fan would just straight up print lies) back then in an attempt to be first with whatever news was breaking.

The interviews were usually well done, though. It just sucks living your whole life thinking something was fact only to grow up and find out it was misinformation.

I like how you complain about games media are doing all the same and click bait people and then go on to criticize them for covering games that are not in the mainstream consciousness.

Game journalism has been in the shithole for very long time....from reviewers who know jackshit about topic/IP they're reviewing to sites like Polygon, Kotaku and Eurogamer who go for clickbaiting and pushing agendas - like that idiot Stephen Totilo from Kotaku once said in interview with late TotalBiscuit (paraphrased) "game journalism is boring, so we have to shake it up a bit"

Game journalism lost their way a long time ago. Negativity will always generate more revenue than positivity, so that is what they will spin more often than not. Everything has become political and less about the gameplay itself rather than a source of compelling articles about what really matters. It is no better than any other form of media now.

It's a list for the best PS4 games.  

Can't be all bad. I mean, they put Bloodborne, Spider-Man, and Monster Hunter World on there.