Relationships and politics created Gamergate
The Gamer gate is far from shut tight.
Gamer gate as a movement is becoming more rampant by the millisecond, and it’s becoming more apparent that there is no way for us to trust certain sites, and their opinions based off of their relationships within the industry.
At one point we were certain that sites such as Polygon, Rockpapershotgun, and Kotaku weren’t biased, or swayed by these relationships within the industry but now we can see clearly that’s no longer a decision we weren’t persuaded to make.
Having an opinion about gaming and its impact upon our lives is an experience only one who has been through the different generations to witness the changes can make. There will never be a final word on why a game was awesome, or why it failed. It’s the luck of the draw due the sales generated for the game.
As gamers, and gaming journalists it’s our job to document the details of games, and their impact on the demographic we represent for those who can’t afford to buy the title yet. Through let’s play’s on Youtube, reviews on our own mediums, or even letting friends borrow our game.
We share that experience and the exuberance of the hard work the development team poured their hearts and souls into.However recently we’ve seen evidence of the opposite happening.
People are displaying biased behavior in exchange for exposure, and monetary gain for their websites, and articles. We’re seeing the same people’s opinions we trusted getting into bed with politicians, and gaining their support in exchange to push their campaigns for re-election, and getting their causes onto the voter ballot this November.
The "#NotYourShield" movements mascot "Vivian James".
Brianna Wu, is a prominent example of this with her relationship with Elizabeth Warren. Elizabeth Warren is a senator, and is lending her support to their cause in the hope that her election will be backed by the Feminist political party. Brianna Wu contacted Elizabeth Warren, to discuss legislation to make it easier for police to track down online threats.
"I am not getting bullied out of this industry," she said. "I love my job, and I am damned good at it,” says Wu in a press release after speaking with Elizabeth Warren.
Polygon has showed that they have allied with Brianna Wu, Anita Sarkeesian, and Zoe Quinn the Triforce of Feminism by giving a biased review of Bayonetta 2. After being accused of showing favoritism in the industry toward politics, and industry influence, Ben Kuchera of Polygon created an article that he claims was an opinon piece that debunked these allegations against himself, and Polygon as an entity.
The problem with this “opinion piece”, was that a short time later on the same day, another author on Polygon posted an article about Damsel Tropes, and it clearly showed that their biased was a prevalent as ever with Sarkeesian and company. Now if you’ve seen one thing as clear as we have with this problem it’s that these relationships cause distrust amongst the consumers, and the companies with these representatives of their brand.
Intel Vs Gamasutra. Round 1, fight!
Intel was one of the few companies who decided to take action against Gamasutra for comments made by Leigh Alexander in her controversial article issued this statement when an uproar was created over them:
"We take feedback from customers seriously. For the time being, Intel has decided not to continue with our current ad campaign on the gaming site Gamasutra. However, we recognize that our action inadvertently created a perception that we are somehow taking sides in an increasingly bitter debate in the gaming community.
That was not our intent, and that is not the case. When it comes to our support of equality and women, we want to be very clear: Intel believes men and women should be treated the same. And, diversity is an integral part of our corporate strategy and vision with commitments to improve the diversity of our workforce.
And while we respect the right of individuals to have their personal beliefs and values, Intel does not support any organization or movement that discriminates against women. We apologize and we are deeply sorry if we offended anyone." - Intel
This shows us as consumers that we still have the power to change how ethics and journalism should be separated just as church and state with politics. If we can Keep opinions as opinions, and not let them become influenced and swayed for monetary gain maybe we can start taking the first steps toward trusting these sites with our visits for the right reasons again.
This decision, however would be completely dependent upon them delivering the news we tune in to read and listen to the first time—at the right time.
What are your thoughts on the Gamergate movement? Let us know in the comments!
