The Halo article in Time

Status
Not open for further replies.

CMax

Member
I'm sure by now everyone (or most) have read the overly biased article in Time Magazine about Halo, and gamers in general. If not - Here it is in full.

And here is the backlash from the article.

After reading the article I just wonder if anyone here thinks if Gamers will ever stand-up as a group and demand that the ignorance about games and gamers stop infiltrating the media and casting us in bad lights.
 
JT needs his ass kicked. The sad thing is, no one's said a damn thing to his face.
Who better to do this that 405th?
AN ARMY OF FRIGGIN MASTER CHIEFS???
 
That would be sweet, if we were to all march up to his office in full Spartan armor, remove our helmets, and give him a Spartan finger. Then replace our helmets, turn, and walk off.
 
I'm not sure the gaming community needs the recognition of idiots like that guy. What needs to be addressed is the fact that when he writes "most people consider an unhealthy amusement for children," almost every single member of his readership with no preconceptions now views videogaming as such. This is basic psychology and a technique which is frankly unacceptable in a respectable magazine such as Time.
I think this article is written with a full knowledge that it's biased - he skirts stating facts when trying to justify ludicrous statements like "more respectable media" and tries to disguise thinly veiled opinion, his misinformed and biased view, as fact and popular opinion.
A few things I picked up on that weren't mentioned in the backlash, because their articles didnt present an appropriate circumstance:
Firstly (this is a bit weak) he doesnt actually specify who would mob Bungie if it had a sign outside. However, because any hyper-devoted fans of bungie wishing to make a pilgrimage to our "ghetto" would almost certainly find it, it implies that it would be mobbed by people with strong anti-gaming biases.
Secondly, his emphasis on the commercial aspect of the franchise - as if Harry Potter or Star Wars isn't commercial at all, but merely exists intrinsically because it is not a game. Of course Microsoft are doing it for money - no one pretends otherwise, and if the first Halo was a megaflop, we wouldnt be seeing Halo 3. The happy by-product of Microsoft wanting a success for their investment is that us, the lucky excited gamer, gets a copy of what i fully expect to be the best videogame published yet.
And finally, the choice Bungie staff quotes. I surmise that if he were interviewing a maker of any other narrative or art medium, he would not choose to add the quotes "We actually are insane" and "he had to drink a Diet Coke just so he could kill his cravings enough to fall asleep" coming from what he carefully sets up to be a uber-mega-hardcore gamer ("They become fans of the games. And then they become rabid fans. And then they become employees of Bungie.") This clearly denotes an attempt to swing the bias of the audience - look at these gamers, they are mad and anally retentive - we wont mention that these things improve the gameplay experience or the tremendous pressure on bungie employees.

I was shocked to read this article from a publication as respectable as Time. This, I concluded, is not impartial journalism or indeed informed opinion, at its finest.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top