We’ve hit a new low

Look! We’ve taken every negative thing said about a game and woven it into one review! It’s the nega-review.

I know it’s supposed to be cheeky and funny — I get the joke, honest — but I truly don’t find it funny to intentionally take the words out of context. When I say the Rock Band drums are “not indestructible,” that’s a fact. No game controller is indestructible; you’re still going to have to approach it with respect, and treat it like the piece of consumer electronics it is. But the review’s original line is “They’re not indestructible, but they were built with abuse in mind.” That’s consumer advice — don’t boil it down to hate when it’s not intended as such.

This kind of remixed review also assumes that the reader cannot comprehend the original article. I don’t need you to edit down the words to bite-sized chunks; I believe the audience is smarter than that. I didn’t call for an interpreter, nor did the reader. So, you know, fuck off.

Sure enough, this edit of just the bad bits has created confusion and — exactly what our industry needs — more mocking. Please note the reader comments where people take issue with some of the OXM comments, as if that’s all we said.

I’m tired of all the negativity in this industry. The web breeds it like cancer — comedy cancer. I left GamesRadar partially because I didn’t agree with the negative editorial vision — they seemed more interested in shooting down good things than celebrating them. I knew I couldn’t do that on a daily basis. So I’m not thrilled to see my words showing up in someone else’s project about how everything sucks when you look close enough.

If you disagree with my reviews, that’s fine — we can always disagree and we can even discuss it. But I take immense pride in choosing the right words and putting them in the “right” order. I sweat over the flow of my articles; I want them to be entertaining and informative and above all clear. I don’t give you permission to destroy their very specific and carefully considered meanings for your joke.

Leave my words out of your cynical hack job next time.

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