Hmm, that sentence ain't gonna win no grammar awards. Eh, whatever.

So, remember gaming media?! Remember when we would rage about poor reviews and inflammatory editorials? Or poor editorials and inflammatory reviews?

I can remember, kind of. Bits and pieces. But I've been out of that world for so long. I can't even recall the last time I went to, say, IGN.

I do still check out reviews for things like e-Shop games at places like NintendoWorldReport. And I'll browse the occasional E3 coverage. Most of my gaming info probably comes from podcasts these days. I'm like one those guys who gets all of their news from The Daily Show! Now that I think about it, though, almost all of the podcasts that I listen to are from independent, enthusiast sources. And you know what's nice to hear, every once in a while? Enthusiasm! Honestly, it's refreshing to hear people talk about games that weren't contractually obligated to play.

I dunno. Reading about recent layoffs at GameSpot kind of got me thinking about the current state of gaming media. With the proliferation of free online soapboxes, in addition to things like Nintendo Direct, I'm not really sure about the place of gaming media these days.

Maybe it's just a personal thing, though, since I don't really care enough to keep up with every single bit of gaming news like I used to. Perusing the Top Stories on GoNintendo once a week is enough for me.

Also, if traditional gaming media IS on the way down, it's probably due more to the rise of Youtube channels than anything else. I haven't really watched too much of that stuff, but I read some article about how many hits they generated, and it was quite eye-opening.

tl;dr - Do you still go to IGN?

It's all about Quick Looks for me. I can't get enough of them.

Whether it's the OG source, Giant Bomb or YouTube personalities that I've come to enjoy. It's my primary source of info outside of playing the games myself.

Sometimes I use them as a buying guide. Sometime I'm too tired to fire up a game I'm currently enjoying myself and will run a commentated gameplay session in the background just to see what other fans have to say about it.

Traditional trailers and reviews are dead to me (both written and video). I just want to see immediate gameplay/impressions commentated by personalities I respect.

I might read articles or news but I almost never read reviews for anything.

Answer: Never. Video games are kid's stuff.

IGN was probably my most-visited website on the entire internet from about 2000 to 2008 or so. Eventually there was a last-straw redesign that made their front page utterly useless. I haven't browsed the site since about 2010 probably.


My RSS feeds are...
- Kotaku for their daily deals roundup and their too-infrequent longreads with real legit video game journalism
- Destructoid because they're a pretty good no-nonsense news outlet usually
- Siliconera for kawaii Japanese games that sometimes I hope come abroad
- Gamasutra for dev blogs and serious business statistical analyses
- Rock Paper Shotgun because they occasionally find some niche indie PC games

I also visit Gametrailers.com somewhat regularly to check out their reviews and feature shows.

I go to IGN for Greg and Colin and the excellent PlayStation coverage, I also read Kotaku, Giant Bomb, Polygon, and Destructoid on almost a daily basis. So I guess I consume a lot of traditional media.

Twitter, basically.

Also, USgamer.net. It's basically Retronauts: The Website. Most of the people I loved from 1up.com are there.

Mostly the NWR forums talkback threads. Outside of Zach's recent obsession with bad top 10 lists they have been pretty good.

@pokepal148

You mean Zach's?

Ah, better fix that

Negative World totally like... counts as... media... sort of. Not really.

I pretty much never check out gaming media nowadays, outside of Nintendo Directs and such. I honestly feel so disconnected from games lately, despite the fact that with my long commutes and such I play a TON of handheld stuff. I guess because it is always here and there, I never really get to sit down with a game and go at it.

With a knife and fork.

@Guillaume
USGAMERS seems really cool, I didn't realize that Rogue Legacy was finally out on PS Vita, yay!!!!!

None these days. I will sometimes stop by to see reviews of a Steam game that's on sale maybe, but otherwise none.

I remember fondly the good old IGN days, though. Remember the N64 Mailbag? Where Matt would answer reader questions? I LOVED those! Actually I think that's where Cubetoons got its start... can't remember now. Anyway, loved those.

The only one I really even pay attention to anymore is Jim Sterling.

Yes, I still consume traditional gaming media. I go to IGN multiple times per day. I like many of the personalities there. Greg, Colin, Brian, Peer, Jared, Megan, Marty, Vince. I like some of Gametrailers' features stuff.

I mostly hover around GoNintendo, which is pretty much a news aggregate site of Nintendo stuff. The guy who runs it is pretty enthusiastic and the community there seems mostly level-headed. I haven't been to IGN in a long time, with the exception of their occasional early review that I might check out. Their site navigation is a complete mess.

IGN's site navigation is a breeze. You can also customize their main page to filter out topics you're not interested in. Not sure how anyone can complain about the current site navigation there.

@nacthenud

To be fair, I floated back over there after seeing your post, and I have to say that they've improved it quite a bit from before, at least.

I've never really visited IGN, aside from a seldom link or two that someone might post. Unless forums count as "gaming media" then I don't pay much attention to it. I'm only interested in the Nintendo stuff, and it's tough to come by any good Nintendo site these days, and has been for at least a decade. I still check some reviews from time to time, using links from GameFAQs for comparitive purposes, but I don't usually read them word-for-word. I never bother with podcasts.

I also think most websites have terrible designs these days, though I hear it's because they display better on phones. Handhelds always ruin things for the rest of us...

I get my news and such from GoNintendo, and my forum fix from Negative World. That's pretty much it. Well, I also check Nintendo Life and Nintendo World Report on occasion, but just for a quick scan of things. I never, ever visit IGN anymore. It was a grand place way back when - back in the Peer, Matt, Fran, and Craig days. Now it's just a generic mess.

Oh, and I'm also a proud print subscriber of Nintendo Force, or rather NF Magazine. It may not be on the cutting edge of info, but it makes up for it with lots of Nintendo love.