PSPricing

Man, it's easy to write headlines with PS in them.



Anyway, GameJournalism.com seems to have beat me to the punch with a write-up about recently circulated reports citing a $349 price point for the PSP. Game Journalism takes a skeptical stance and shows the whole affair to be a simple hoax propagated by speed-of-light Internet journalism.



Well, lots of folks fell for it, and it illustrates how "news" can travel around the Internet without ever being checked. It's important to note that it's not only gaming sites that are susceptible to this; supposedly "mainstream" media have made the same mistake. A nugget of information appears in an obscure corner of the Internet, and begins to circulate and build buzz, appearing on additional blogs and news aggregators. As the item moves up the food chain, the source appears increasingly credible. Before you know it, it's a news story on GCAdvanced.



I've covered similar hoaxes on this blog in the past, and I don't have much to add this time that can't be found in those posts or in Rich's GJ post.



I will say, though, that the same Internet technology that allows these rumors to spread maks it easy to follow the document trails and check the facts when hoaxes like these come up. Whether or not the truth is able to get a foothold once the lie has been publicized there is another matter entirely.

PSTwoubles

I know it's been a long time since some of you took the SATs (and a long time before others of you will take them), but try this analogy on for size:



PlayStation (1) : PS one :: PlayStation 2 : ?????



If you answered PStwo (Or PSTwo, or PS two, etc.) then you probably aren't Sony.



Yes, despite the collective will of the games journalism community in the weeks leading up to the announcement, Sony's new, slimmed-down version of the PS2 is not officially being called the PStwo. At least not yet. Somewhat surprisingly, much of that same journalism community seems to have picked up on that fact:

• "What's still unclear is whether this unit is the oft-talked about PStwo. ... So far Sony hasn't used the PStwo moniker - which they've trademarked - in connection with this new machine. Instead, it's being referred to by the not-so-sexy handle of PlayStation 2 model SCPH-70011 CB."
  
  -The Edmonton Sun
• "Sony has confirmed the wide-held suspicions about the remodelled PS2: which has not yet been officially dubbed PSTwo (and judging by pictures of the box, perhaps it won’t be)"
  
  -Spong
• "A remodelled, slimmed down version of the PlayStation 2 - dubbed 'PStwo' by the press, but not yet referred to by that name in Sony's press literature - is due out this November 1st across Europe."
  
  -EuroGamer
• "Oh, and another thing, it’s not being called the PStwo. Nope, we’re to refer to the new model as the SCPH-70000(CB). Excited, aren’t you?"
  
  -Joystiq
• "But the expected name, PStwo, looks like being ignored. The new version - SCPH-50000, if you must - is simply being referred to as a 'completely new look PlayStation 2.'"
  
  -Games Asylum
• "We're all tempted to call this new wonder system, which has a flip-top loading design like the old Turbo Duo, the PStwo. But, Sony Computer Entertainment master Ken Kutaragi would probably get very cross were we to make such a slip. So, we'll have to be content with calling it the new model PS2, or the SCPH-70000. In Japan, the actual model number for the launch version of the system is SCPH-70000CB, with CB standing for Charcoal Black, the color of the system."
  
  -IGN
• "The new PlayStation 2 replaces existing models and won't, as rumored, be called the PStwo."
  
  -WindowsITPro

Did this order come from on high, or is the entire press corps just more observant than usual? (If any Tokyo Game Show attendees heard something official on this matter from Sony, please let me know.)



Of course, some of the first reports used the PStwo moniker without comment and probably without knowing any better, and the name was used all over headlines, both with and without quotes.



The PStwo is pretty obviously a great name for the system. It differentiates itself from the original PS2 without signifying a change in underlying hardware, and it matches up historically with the officially-named PS one. But like Driver 3 and Ultra Nintendo Entertainment System, it's a great name that isn't officially supported by the company making the product. So, do we rebel against this latest corporate naming fiat or do we keep writing out "redesigned PlayStation 2" until our poor typing fingers bleed?



Observant readers should be able to tease out my opinion from the preceding words, but observant readers should also know by now that my opinion doesn't matter too much. I am interested to hear what you think, though. Leave your comments on this latest stylistic not-really-a-controversy-but-still-fun-to-whine-about issue using the link below.

Where do Sega fans go online to get game info?

Surfing around this afternoon, I noticed an interesting poll in the bottom right corner of Sega's of America's web site. Here's the question and the results as of 2:35 EDT on Sept. 27.



Where do you go online to get game info?



1UP.com - 87 (6%)

GamePro - 123 (8%)

IGN - 300 (21%)

GameSpot - 474 (33%)

Other - 471 (32%)



This poll is far from scientific of course -- the sample is self-selected from Sega.com visitors. Still, it's interesting to see the results skewing so far towards GameSpot and IGN (Which was not listed as IGN/GameSpy -- how old is this poll?). Is there some specific reason that Sega fans aren't visiting 1up?



I'd love to see a breakdown of the sites that make up the "other" category. Would it be dominated by major news and review sites, blog-style link outlets or small, independent-minded sites? Hard to say.



One thing's for sure... if I was an advertising manager at Gamestop or IGN, I'd be expecting a call from Sega pretty soon.

Games is Games

Flipping through the channels last night, I stumbled across the very excellent documentary Word Wars on Discovery Times. Directly inspired by Stefan Fatsis' also-excellent book Word Freak, both will appeal to anyone interested in games.



Watching the movie got me thinking about two things. First off, why haven't there been any movies like this made about various videogame subcultures? Any decent filmmaker could take a video camera to QuakeCon, PAX, heck, even their local DDR Machine, and find plenty of quirky characters that would make for some great stories. Or are these movies already out there and I'm just unaware of them (if so, please tell me about them?



My second thought: why are videogames usually held wholly apart from other games in the specialized press coverage? Why can't the same magazine cover videogames and board games, or tabletop role-playing games, or collectible card games? Surely the overlap in interest among readers is high, and an expertise in evaluating one type of game should transfer easily enough to another. Is there something unique about videogames that warrants their seperation? I'm seriously interested in your answers to these questions, so drop me an e-mail or use the comments link below. I'm going up to Philadelphia for the weekend and I'd love to see an overflowing comments thread when I get back.

Flippity Flop

Thanks again to Ombudsman reader Sally Jacques for sending in her concerns about the headline for this GameSpot article. The headline reads, "New KumaWar level reenacts John Kerry's Swift Boat mission," with the subhead, "Downloadable mission lets you step into the senator's shoes--or at least his flip-flops." Sally asks, "do you think the 'flip-flops' reference was totally necessary? Should a game site really get political like this?"



For those who are too busy playing Doom 3 to follow one of the most important elections in years, the flip-flop line is a reference to a persistent charge by President Bush and the Republican party that Democratic candidate John Kerry often wavers on key policy decisions, flip-flopping between positions. The label has become almost omnipresent in national political debate, and the Republicans went so far as to hand out John Kerry flip-flops at their national convention.



Before I give my answer to Sally's question, here's what the article's author, GameSpot reporter Chris Kohler, had to say when asked about the subject on Instant Messenger:



"The use of the line 'shoes, or at least his flip-flops' is a reference to the two different scenarios in the game - Kerry's version of events, and the Swiftees'. Obviously, it does play off of the political debates that are currently going on. But clearly not in a way that endorses one candidate over another."



Kohler went on to say that the line wasn't intended to be an endorsement or an attack on either candidate, and said he doesn't feel that it reads that way. He added, "it's not only a well-known label, it's indicative of the whole nature of the video game. That there are two vastly different stories."



First of all, I disagree with Kohler's assertion that the flip-flop label doesn't endorse one candidate or the other. While the label is well known, it's definitely casts John Kerry in a negative light that I'm sure he and his supporters do not accept or appreicate. Saying the comment is completely politically neutral is not really accurate.



That being said, I feel this particular "political attack" is pretty innocuous. Kohler doesn't harp on the label, mentioning it almost in passing only once in the article's subhead. In the text of the article, Kohler calls the events "controversial," but doesn't make any statements about the truth of either version of events, or on the character of the parties involved. The use of the label serves a journalistic purpose too, highlighting the game's two different versions of events in a cute, concise way that most readers will understand.



With political games becoming becoming increasingly popular, issues like these are likely to keep popping up. In general, it's important for all journalists to keep their personal politics out of the mix when writing news stories. For game journalists, this means covering controversial games fairly, but also covering government laws and decisions regarding games with a balanced eye.



This policy only applies to news reporting, though. Reviews and commentary pieces represent the author's own opinion, and the author's personal politics can factor greatly into that opinion. To take political considerations out of the equation in these cases would be an unecessary limiting factor on the author's free expression and could lead to some rather bland opinion pieces. This is yet another reason why it's important to keep news and opinion writing clearly seperate, especially in the videogame realm where the two often mix together.

Quote of the Moment

"When you talk about the martial arts [videogame] genre, you have these stories about guys who can shoot fireballs. In my experience, never once have I seen a person throw a fireball."

-Martial artist and video game enthusiast Way Yin Yuen, on the realism of today's fighting games

From today's New York Times

The Best of What's Around

Ten bonus "coolness points" if you recognized the headline as a song title.



Anyway, just to prove I'm not a bitter, negative crank towards videogame journalism all the time, I thought I'd take this post to point out some of the better examples of videogame writing I've seen recently.



The first is an interview with GameSpot's Brian Ekberg that ran on NPR's Morning Edition last week. The subject was NFL Madden 2005, a game that Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep gamely tried to play for the first time on the air, with Ekberg's help.



Now, I'm a little biased because I spend eight hours a day working for NPR's communications divison, but I'd like to think I'd enjoy this piece even if I had never heard of NPR. The outsiders perspective Inskeep brings to the interview is a welcome respite from the predicatably jaded been-there, done-that coverage that most videogame outlets give to Madden games. Be sure to listen to the piece all the way through to the end; the sounds of that desperate touchdown run are priceless.



Next we have an article on game sequels in Monday's New York Times that was sent to me by a few readers (thanks to all of you, by the way). While I am getting a little tired of the endless comparisons between the videogame and movie industries, I feel this one is pretty apt. The article itself is full of the kind of data and quotes that can make a reader care about an issue they may not have considered before, and it manages to cover both sides of the issue well.



Amidst all the PSP and Nintendo DS stories popping up around the Tokyo Game show this week (look for more on those next week, by the way), I came across a surprising little analysis piece over at PlanetGameCube. While the site could have gotten by posting the Nintendo-generated sheet by itself, they went the extra mile by adding some explanatory commentary to the technical details. In doing so they add important context for readers that might not know how good "256 x 192 pixel resolution" actually is.



And finally, I was a little tickled by a recent article on yet another PSP press conference over at GamesIndustry.biz. The article itself is pretty standard, but one line in particular made me smile:



"We won't announce the price of the PSP today," Kutaragi told the assembled hacks yesterday ..." (emphasis added)



Just between us hacks, that's not usually how we refer to each other. But if the shoe fits...