The problem with covering the gaming industry

Erik Kain of Forbes.com tackles the thorny issue of business journalists who cover the gaming industry and are forced to write positive reviews of new games.

Kain writes, “Gamers and game journalists want games to be good – and I don’t blame anyone for this impulse. Indeed, it’s a uniquely optimistic stance.

“In other forms of journalism, scandal is the prize. If you cover politics, you’re always secretly hoping that a candidate or politician will do or say something stupid or scandalous. But in games, we all want the game we’re covering to be fun and exciting and groundbreaking.

“I like writing nice things about games or beer or movies because, among other things, it means I’m having a good time. I’d much rather play a game I enjoy than play one I can’t stand.

“Still, I think there’s merit to some claims of conflict of interest.

“The case of Jeff Gerstmann, who was fired by GameSpot for a bad review of a game, is simply the most obvious way this conflict has played out.”

Read more here.