Hey Fediverse -

I’ve been seeing a lot of discussion around the lack of game outlets that people like to follow nowadays. I used to follow a decent amount, but with how many of them have changed - Giant Bomb, PC Gamer, RockPaperShotgun, Game Informer - I also have been looking for a new outlet/community.

I’ve been working towards starting an outlet myself, and I’m wondering what folks would like to see out of one. My list:

  • Independent, or more so. Referral links make it hard to trust an outlet being unbiased if they have a financial incentive to promote things.
  • Discourse focused: Modern coverage, especially from influencers, is a lot of a singular person speaking. Giant Bomb especially had great dynamics between the various perspectives when covering a game.
  • Diverse Coverage: By this I mean, not just focused on AAA titles and the yearly release calendar. Covering mods, older titles, different communities (speedrunners, small multiplayer communities, etc.)

Other questions:

  • Would you be interested in supporting an outlet financially? Would you even if all content was available freely, eg. public media as opposed to “premium access.”
  • Do you have any preferred platforms? Would you be interested in an outlet that prioritizes the Fediverse over Twitch, Youtube, etc.?
  • Do you have a preference between written content, video, audio?
  • raccoona_nongrata@beehaw.org
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    1 year ago

    I’d personally be less interested in game reviews (we have plenty, and none of them really determine if I’ll try a game or not) and more so in seeing some critical examinations of the industry and gaming culture etc.

    It would be interesting to see thoughtful deconstructions of topics like how community management can effect the long-term health of a game, predatory monetization, investigation into the persistent, lingering fallout from things like Gamergate, the long-term consequences of megacorps buying every new IP etc.

    It would be nice to have a voice of reason that generally tries to get people to think about standards and perhaps points towards possible alternative paths.

    • houseofkeb@lemm.eeOP
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      1 year ago

      Would you be interested in perspectives on it from developers themselves?

      Very interested in the topics you point out, I think for myself I’d cover them mostly in writing. There’s a larger amount of that style of content popping up these days, but largely in longer video essays that end up being released more sparsely. I used to turn to podcasts for this sort of coverage, but I’m not as aware of gaming podcasts right now.

      • raccoona_nongrata@beehaw.org
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        1 year ago

        Sure, I think it would only be logical to include their perspective on that kind of thing along side others. Admittedly I do not follow any particular gaming publication as a strict routine so maybe I’m not the best demographic to aim for, but the content I find most interesting is probably a bit more abstract discourse.