I like to read Kyle Orland's "PressSpotting" column at GameSpot (journalists are vain Narcissi on the edge of a shallow pool), and I particularly like what MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo had to say in the latest column. However - and I swear to god I'm not ripping off Mitch Krpata here - the best part of the column were the comments. In response to a very thoughtful interview, here's what user "illkillyou" had to say:
sorry, but i cant help but feel like the 'videogame style guide and reference manual" is both a gigantic ripoff and a huge mistake. Yes, I would like to see more hard-hitting, investigative journalism coming from game journalists, but there's not a single gamer in the whole world who is going to question a writer's credibility any more than they already do because the author put a hyphen between X and Box.And you don't need to read any kind of book to know that videogame is one word to gamers. The New York times and their likes need style books for good reason: it cleans up the text and boosts the author's percieved credibility. but come on... seriously... videogame-journalism-specific stylebook? This is just one more link in the long chain of people in the game industry trying to rip off their consumers.
You heard it here first! Journalistic style is a ploy by the video game industr-- oops, the videogame industry, to nickel and dime you for everything you've got. In fact, I just got off some calls with Microsoft, and they tell me they're going to charge every single one of you every time I hyphenate "X-Box." Take that, Kyle Orland and his expensive PressSpotting column! Take that, Stephen Totilo, and your foolish, pricey ideas about "doing things that people are going to find compelling and interesting." Haven't we wrung "illkillyou" enough?
