The Ombudsman Lives

Here are my favorite theories for why there have been no new posts here since I left for E3 nearly two and a half weeks ago, as proposed by the imaginary readers who have been e-mailing me asking what's going on.

1. I realized just how horrible the video game journalism industry was at E3 and decided to give up.
   
   
2. I got trampled to death when the U.S. Army invaded E3 and the government covered up the story.
   
   
3. I had finals, graduation, an apartment hunt, a new fullish-time job and trips to Philadelphia and New York to worry about first.

Feel free to decide for yourself which theory is correct.



I do have some coverage planned for my first trip to the show, including a first-time journalists guide to E3, reviews of some of the 27 free game magazines I managed to haul away from L.A. and some analysis of the coverage. The news hasn't stopped either, so there are quite a few non-E3 stories filling up in my queue. They'll all have to wait till next week, though, as I'm going away for the Memorial Day weekend tomorrow morning.



To hold you over, here's Dan Hsu, executive editor of Electronic Gaming Monthly, as quoted in a New York Times story on movie-based games. Discuss!



"These licensed properties get a lot of mainstream press because they are easily recognizable to the masses," Mr. Hsu said. "Most of the mainstream media are new to covering games and so they're going to want to cover the The Lord of the Rings or Spider-Man game before they are going to want to cover Zelda or Metal Gear Solid."

E3-mail

The Personal Information that we collect is used to process your registration or may be used by E3 for marketing and promotional purposes to keep you informed with the latest news about the event.



The people at E3Expo.com weren't kidding when they put this notice in their privacy policy. Since my registration for my first ever E3 was confimed on March 18, I've received at least 53 e-mails from companies asking me to see their wares at the show. This doesn't include at least 27 more forwarded by my editors and co-writers at GameCritics.com (many of which duplicated messages I had already received).



There's no larger point to this post... just thought I'd share those quick stats as I prepare to jet off to sunny L.A. (just in time to miss the big three press conferences, unfortunately). If you want to look for me there, I look like this only in color. I'm sure the show itself will give me plenty of fodder for the blog (I've had a few story suggestions already), so be on the lookout for my thoughts, impressions and opinions (and other synonyms) when I get back. Ciao!

Announcing... an Announcement!

** SAVE THE DATE ** SAVE THE DATE ** SAVE THE DATE **



SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT ON DAY #1 OF E3

May 12, 2004 in SEGA Room



Mark your calendars for a "mystery briefing" event in SEGA of America's E3 Room.



This is your opportunity to hear the latest 2004 title announcements from company executives in addition to some explosive news -- something even YOU won't be able to guess!



If you're lucky enough to be attending E3 and you're a member of the press, you probably got a message like the one above in your e-mail box recently. If you're not an E3-attending member of the press, you still might have heard about the event from any number of sources (including at least three that posted the exact same article by Bryan Dawson.)



Now, if you're a member of the press planning on attending E3, the value of this announcement is apparent. If you're an average reader of a video game news site... well... it's not quite as apparent. The question then: Is the mere announcement of an announcement enough to warrant a news item?



The decision to run a story about the announcement is definitely justifiable. Even though Sega is not in the hardware business anymore, they're still an influential third-party and a major player in the video game business. When a company of Sega's stature says they're gonna talk, we should say we're gonna listen (A point I made when I linked to the GamerFeed story in today's GameCritics news update).



One could also make the case that, by helping publicize the information, the media is putting pressure on Sega to live up to their lofty promises. We're merely making sure the spotlight on Sega so everyone notices if (and when?) they trip up. If Sega can't deliver, they have no one to blame but themselves.



On the other hand, it's pretty easy to look at these pre-anouncement stories as nothing but free advertising -- unearned hype about an anouncement that we only think will be big because Sega says it will be. Despite having no idea what will be announced, journalists are all too willing to parrot Sega's words and call the announcement "explosive." If a smaller, no-name company made the same claim, would the media be so quick to believe them?



One could argue that the increased attention to Sega's announcement distracts from other developments in the busy pre-E3 season, giving an undue spotlight to a company simply because it had the time to craft a breathless press release. One could also say the attention helps make Sega's promise more of a foregone conclusion ("Hey, look at all the people at Sega's booth. They must be announcing something BIG!")



In the end, I think the decision comes down to one of audience. If your site caters to a hardcore crowd that really follows the industry closely and wants to know everything before it happens, then a small news item could be warranted. Most general sites, though, should probably wait until Sega actually makes their "explosive" announcement before deciding whether it's worth the readers' time.



Comments Question (A new end-of-post filler inviting answers in the "Comments" thread): Despite Sega insisting that the announcement will be "something even YOU won't be able to guess," everyone is already guessing what the announcement will be. Leading contenders right now seem to be the announcement of Shenmue III for the Xbox, a revival of the Dreamcast, or a shocking re-entry into the console business. Of course, if Sega's statement is true, then the mere act of guessing something automatically eliminates it from possibly being in the announcement. Ironic, no? Anyway, post your grossly irresponsible guesses about the announcement using the comments link below.

"Production Updates" Section Gets (Game)Spotted)

I was checking out the Gamespot News section this morning and was more than a little surprised to see a "Production Updates" section below the "Top Stories" headers. A whole separate section for Gone Gold announcements and shipping dates, set apart from the other news.



Long-time readers may remember that I recommended such a system way back in September. Apparently, Gamespot has been doing these things since back in early February and I've just been oblivious. So consider this a belated "thumbs up" to Gamespot for no longer trying to mix oil and water.

Putting a spec sheet back in Pandora's Box

So here's the situation. Review these facts carefully, because there will be an quiz later.

• A picture has been posted on the forums for Chinese website GZ Easy. The picture shows what is allegedly a leaked system specification and schematic diagram for the next Xbox system. The picture bears the name of Michael Dougherty, head of Xbox Advanced Technology Group.



• There is contradictory information about whether or not the picture is real. One anonymous source says, "I'm sure Microsoft is freaking out because this is the same stuff [developers] have now." Another expert, however, says, "there's some really surprising missing detail, like the twin-core architecture and a few other really crucial things... I'd have to guess it was a fake."



• You work at a major video game news site. Microsoft's Legal Department has specifically asked you not to post pictures of the alleged schematic.



• Some of your competitors have already posted the picture on their site, and some other mainstream technology sites have posted it as well.

The big question: Do you abide by Microsoft's request? I'll give you a few line breaks to think about it.



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If you haven't guessed by now, this situation is not hypothetical. It happened recently to IGN, who did not post the picture with their story on the leak. The competitors that posted the picture included GamePro and Xbit Labs. The quotes above come from the IGN article and a GamesIndustry.biz article which also didn't post the picture.



I have to give IGN major kudos for their decision. It would have been pretty easy to ignore Microsoft's request and defend the decision by saying the picture is already available to the public elsewhere and is therefore fair game for further publication. This would also be a practical decision, seeing as IGN might be losing readership to the other sites that either didn't hear or didn't listen to Microsoft's request.



Nonetheless, given that the picture can't be confirmed as authentic and could in fact be protected proprietary information, I think the decision not to republish it is the right one. Just because a document is available elsewhere doesn't mean you have to help publicize it, especially when you're not sure if it's reliable or not. There's nothing you can do to prevent readers from going to less scrupulous sites to view the material, but at least you're not adding to the problem. I applaud IGN for taking the high road on this one.



Anyone think IGN actually made the wrong decision? Feel free to defend your position using the comments link below.

Why can't Kojima insult journalism in this country?

Thanks to Jeff Bridges (no relation, he assures me) for sending a link to an excerpt from Hideo Kojima's comments on the state of video game journalism. "It is shit," the Metal Gear creator succinctly explains in this months Edge and VideoGiochi magazines. "I am certain that most game reporters in Japan are not really journalists, they are useless idiots."



As for the rest of the world, the excerpt is cryptic. "It's easy for us to compare the quality of reporters from Japan and other parts of the world when we visit E3 or ECTS, and this fact makes me hard." Does this mean other parts of the world are better? Worse? Exciting?



Anyone want to defend the industry against Kojima's obviously baseless accusations?

News of The Ombudsman and the ombudsman

For those who don't think that headline doesn't make sense, this blog is The Ombudsman and I am the ombudsman.



If you didn't notice, I gave the blog a spiffy new template just now. It doesn't seem to cascade across the archives, but at least the italics and right-side links will be readable from now on. (Never mind. I figured it out.)



Also, regular readers of GameCritics.com may have noticed that I now hold the title of News Editor on that fine site. Many of you will no doubt see this as hypocritical given my past tirades on the subject of "link-and-quote" journalism. I ask that you consider the following:

1. That GameCritics.com is mainly a reviews site and doesn't have the resources for original reporting.



2. That I provide analysis of the news items and not simply a copy-and-paste recitation of the headline and important quotes.



3. That providing links to important news gives the site readership a common basis of understanding for the state of the industry, which in turn engenders community building.



4. That I am, in fact, a giant hypocrite.

I'm heading into a bit of a crunch time in my life right now. Besides E3 coming up, I'm trying to prepare for finals (and finish my end-of-year projects), prepare for graduation, find a job, find an apartment and plan a European vacation. I'll try to keep up with regular Ombudsman content, but don't be surprised if the daily updates stop without warning for a while.