A Nostalgic Look at Game Journalism
Mauricio Alegretti
Game Industry Executive | Chief Technical Officer (CTO) at Ortiz Gaming | Founder and Investor at Industria de Jogos | Advisor at Guidepoint | Former Microsoft Xbox MVP | Game Development | Business Development
( vers?o em Português deste artigo disponível aqui )
Greetings, developers and game enthusiasts!
This week, a handful of news from the gaming market made me a bit nostalgic about game journalism. After all, it was a reasonably quiet week in terms of major news, the traditional "calm before the storm" that repeats every year in this pre-E3 period.
But wait... E3 no longer exists!
And there's the first dose of nostalgia that hit me these days. I remember so well the days of 2007, when I was one of the administrators of a website called Portalxbox, and we would be preparing for the expo at this moment - planning content in advance, writing special features, scheduling team times to watch the conferences live and chat with the community (in our case, with an special attention to the Microsoft conference for Xbox).
It was a magical time when it seemed that absolutely all companies saved their trump cards to present to the gaming public all at once.
I never had the opportunity to cover the expo in person and live, but those who did say it was indescribable, almost like (proportionally speaking) covering a World Cup for a sports journalist.
I intentionally use the term "cover" here because the E3 of that time was an event closed to journalists and industry members. This gave the expo an even greater aura of mystery, with "the chosen ones" sending news directly from the front lines to gamers eager for every detail of upcoming games and consoles. Securing a pass to enter the theater for a press conference of one of the big companies was a real trophy.
Rightly so, as the press conferences were a delight. Those who only know the "Direct" model that dominates today's broadcasts, pre-recorded and highly rehearsed, don't know the fun of anticipating the inevitable gaffes when a nervous, inexperienced game developer was put in front of an audience to demonstrate alpha-stage game versions. Even the master of all game creators, Miyamoto-san from Nintendo, had unforgettable moments of embarrassment with Zelda Skyward Sword at E3 2010. And let's not even mention other entirely bizarre presentations like Konami's that same year.
Even at that time, one of the most talked-about subjects was how the speed of "game portals on the Internet" in delivering this news was killing print game magazines. Little did we know that the game portals of the "distant 2024" would also be too slow for an audience now accustomed to Instagram, TikTok, Shorts, and 60-second videos at 2x speed.
But let me take the cue from this topic of game magazines and comment on the second reason I'm feeling so nostalgic.
On May 29th, the excellent site Gaming Era published an interview by Pablo Miyazawa with André Forastieri, two living legends of game journalism in Brazil.
For those who don't know them and for friends from other countries, let me explain: Forastieri, or "Forasta" as he is better known, is a veteran in the Brazilian editorial and journalistic market, having created magazines that marked generations like "Herói" in 1994, "Nintendo World", "Pokémon Club" and the great "EGM Brasil", the national version of Electronic Gaming Monthly. Miyazawa is perhaps the most influential game journalist of all time in Brazil, having been the editor of IGN Brazil, Rolling Stone Brazil, as well as the aforementioned "Nintendo World" and "EGM Brasil".
The interview is a treasure and well worth reading, and doing so brought me a lot of memories and emotions.
Reason being: if the "Micro Sistemas" of the 1980s was the magazine of my childhood and my "programming school," and "A??o Games" of 1991 the magazine of my adolescence, "EGM Brasil" of 2002 was definitely the magazine of my youth.
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The feeling I had when buying the first issue of this magazine was incredible. I already had occasional contact with Electronic Gaming Monthly, thanks to a game rental store in my hometown of Guarulhos, which subscribed to the American edition (as well as GamePro) and received it by mail with about a month's delay. It didn't matter: when the magazine finally arrived, there was a real line at the store, where everyone wanted to read it cover to cover to be the "guy who knew the most about games at school." Even the ads were fun!
Therefore, when the local EGM came out, there was an aura that "now Brazil has entered the first world of games." And that all that technology and innovation that previously seemed so distant was now a little more within our reach.
I found myself reflecting today on how our current model of game release and promotion, so fast and fleeting, has transformed the game as an art form, culture, and, I dare say, lifestyle. Speaking for myself (and I suppose many people of this generation), I experienced video games differently - it wasn't just playing but.. breathing games. How many times did we see a news item in text-only form in one of these magazines, without any reference images (videos? pfff), about a game or console that would come out only in a few years, and we found ourselves daydreaming about what it would be like, thinking about it all day. Imagination is a powerful thing, and it made us fill in the gaps of possibilities, creating theories to discuss with colleagues and friends. Often the released game or console wasn't even that good (Atari Jaguar, I remember you). But all this anticipation and surrounding universe definitely were.
To those who are just arriving in this gaming market, I apologize for this nostalgic ramble that might not make any sense to you - after all, it's a content model that has absolutely no chance of existing again, not at least with the same level of success and influence. But I'm sure that although the scene has changed, the passion for video games remains, transforming itself along with new forms of communication and entertainment.
One thing I can guarantee: the memory of these golden times remains alive in the hearts of those who lived that magical era of games.
Warm regards, and see you next week at your nearest newsstand! ??
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With information from:
Lead Network Programmer | Ubisoft Reflections
6 个月Excelente artigo Malegra! Bem depois da minha afilia??o de andar com a carteira e tudo da Super Game Powers, uma publica??o que mais senti falta já na fase adulta foi a da Edge brasileira que sempre trouxeram ilustres colunistas brasileiros com uma.proposta diferente dos "detonados". Senti um golpe profundo quando produto de qualidade ímpar foi descontinuado no BR. Para minha surpresa, ao mudar para cá em UK descobri que ela continua viva e a um pre?o honesto, assinante a 3 anos agora. Continue esse trabalho incrível, meu caro!