Popular theory now is, spurred by the man at the center's latest words, that a large publisher like Square/Enix was actually the root of it. He seemed to hint that whats-her-name was bought and paid for by Square, which probably got them pissed off and worried about how that looks.

His latest piece was actually decent, saying people need to focus on the fact gaming news is written by publisher PR and no one else. I agree with that. I just disagree this is news or that there is any real alternative other than solely doing commentary like giantbomb does.

Gaming journalism is something I have shunned ever since Black And White 2 was awarded 95% by just about every initial review. There and then I understood it was all a lie.

I just ask friends who've taken the plunge with a release day purchase what they think of it. There's usually someone either at work, or that I know, or on here, who can just tell me the highs and lows. It's more trustworthy than a published review.

I'm thinking of this as I remember watching the video of Angry Joe's "interview" with Geoff Keighley at the 2010 Spike VGA Awards (something that someone here referred me to). The lack of integrity of the vast majority of "journalists" covering the video games industry is definitely one of the most onerous problems with the industry as a whole today.

I feel like the gaming industry is trying too hard to have drama and scandals.

I think of gaming as a refuge from the b.s. in other aspects of life, news, society, etc. So I don't like seeing these conflicts and scandals.

Unfortunately, yes. English libel law is absurdly restrictive. In the past few years politicians have finally started to wake up to this and it looks like there's going to be some sort of reform, though some people are worried that the government won't go far enough.

I tend to get my game news from game politics, they just give a brief blurb with maybe some commentary and provide a link to the source. Other than that, I just get my news from general news websites. If there is anything ground breaking in the game industry they'll probably have a small article covering it as well.

I was never an Angry Joe fan, but I lost whatever respect I had for him after seeing that fiasco.

Joe really did drop the ball on that, and least he had the ability to own up to it to some extent, though he was really asking for it by approaching it in the way he did. Nevertheless, that doesn't in the least excuse Keighley for his behaviour, and it baffles me that people defended behaviour so brazenly rude and arrogant.

I can't tell: am I supposed to care about abuses in a sector of "journalism" that I'm not supposed to care about?

Oh right, because Penny Arcade Report is not corrupt at all.

Yep. Gaming journalism is surprisingly even worse than it used to be.

I've bought recently the biggest Polish gaming magazine and I just can't stand the awfully low level of their reviews. No insight, no deeper thoughts, no analysis, only plain "this is so awesome!!!!" but in slightly bettter language.

Calling it a journalism is a huge exaggeration.

I think there is a huge difference between "not take it seriously" and outright corruption. What goes on in this article is blatantly abuse of power and worse of all, it's from other journalists. I hate to sound misogynistic here but that female writer sounds like one of those hipster douchebags that gaming industry has attracted in the last ten years. It should be blatantly obvious to anyone that working with a company whose game you are supposed to review is a huge no-no. Winning prizes from companies whose products you review is also a terrible practice because it is essentailly corruption - even if it's in an indirect way.
I don't take sport journalism serious either but I don't expect a sport journalist to be sponsored by Nike or NY Giants.
So this is abuse of power of the worst kind and that female writer is a fucking cunt who will probably go on to be hired by IGN AND Activision to review Black Ops 2 - yes, I would sure trust that review! But I do agree with StinginvVelvet that most people are so used to this type of power abuse by now that apathy is the only way to go. Welcome to our brave new world!

Did you watch her youtube videos? She is the very definition of a spoiled child who never knew how the real world worked until now. That has nothing to do with her gender.

As for the rest of your post I do agree she crossed a line, a thin line in gaming journalism, I just think it happens all the time. They don't even hide it, if you read blogs or listen to podcasts they always talk about partying with PR and their friends getting jobs in game companies. It's a standard part of the industry and is allowed to be because no one cares about gaming journalism.

There has always been very little journalism in game magazines. I stopped reading game rags in the late 90's after it came evident that they aren't anything else but marketing devices for companies. Too much hype and not enough actual content.

This is a good article by Klepeck at giantbomb about being enthusiast press. I like a lot of what it says and can't really blame people like him and John Walker for trying to be more than their genre really lets them be.