Video Game Sandwich

Here we go. Dotted line well and truly signed. I am now an IGN Insider. It was a difficult decision to make; IGN vs. Gamespot, and the head to head of my two biggest sources of information. Ritualistically, since the age of about 13, I’ve been visiting these two heavyweights pawing my greasy little digits through information like some sort of knowledge scavenger. Never in all that time, however, had I settled on one home, one resource, one side with which I would pledge allegiance (in the form of a nominal monthly/quarterly/annual fee) but now I have done it, and I’ve picked IGN.

Why?

Patience, would be the best answer. Or a lack thereof. Gamespot, for all its guile and harshness of critique, is just getting too lazy for my liking. The beauty of the internet is its sharp, immediate effect, and Gamespt operates with all the urgency of a print publication. In fact, in a lot of circumstances most print mediums beat Gamespot to reviews, and that’s saying something. IGN on the other hand is on the ball; its there, it’s fighting the front line. It knows that just because a game doesn’t contain Halo or Grand Theft Auto in its title it still deserves the same rapid critique.

Plus, IGN is firing on other cylinders too. It’s been focusing on most aspects of electronic entertainment for a long time now; from movies and music to anime, comics, and scantily clad chicks. Gamespot, in a somewhat underwhelming attempt to keep that ol’ steam train rolling along, has launched Filmspot. An ugly Gamespot clone which looks like it was thrown together by a group of tech-savvy teenagers in a bedroom somewhere, and runs in very much the same vein.

Finally

I have, for a long time, looked upon IGN as some sort of evil Murdoch-headed monster. One with crooked, unreliable information, and no real concern for anything other than that omnipotent, green friend, Mr. Benjamin. But spending more time here it’s easy to appreciate that sometimes capitalist enterprises actually do work. Excellently. There’s money in IGN, but for a good fucking reason; and that’s to bring us all the information we deserve as and when it matters.

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