Someone wants to talk about the state of game criticism? Lord, you've come to the right website.
So many good takes on the Dunkeriy (?) going on.
Just wanted to note that part of unified voice Rob was talking about seems to have disappeared as everyone is in an Artist Collective now. Even if it’s just an independant voice; their contacts, followers, and influences are parts of a collective of a single voice.
Dunk brings up TB and AJ since that’s what his general audience knows and trusts. Dunkaroos might not be in the same MCN as those two, but many of his audience is going to bounce from each person and get the same message they’re looking to get.
Myself, I have a mental pairing of Idea Channel, Campster, Folding Ideas, and Ian Danskin. Watching one video will lead me to different and similar comforting voices even though they’re not in the same network.
Places like IGN, Polygon, and Waypoint are more like Guildhalls in that the guild’s name is stamped on the product. It might be a Patrick or Mike joint, but it’s going out as a Waypoint product in the end. It feels that the people who criticize the critics see everything as a collective instead of a guild.
Dunky can stamp his works with his own name, not realizing that others are beholden to something bigger than just a person.
enjoyed the discussion guys.
I think I was dismissive of this video because changing game criticism is something that I feel strongly about , but he brings absolutely nothing new to the table. Hopes up, and dashed.
Positive takes from this: people obviously are still interested in changing the way we appreciate video games, and in turn other people are also interested in making that content. We all win.
WOW Rob throwing Rowan under the bus. Great podcast though, I really enjoyed the varied responses and approach to his vido.
I was really glad to hear that Rob dunking on Rowan made the transition from 3MA to Waypoint Radio where poor Mr. Kaisar doesn’t even have a chance to defend himself.
The thing that boggles my mind is why so many people in this sapce ("…gamers…") can’t deal with a variety of voices and approaches. I think the scored review definitely has a place and sometimes I check them out if I’m on the fence about a game. On the other hand I think it’s fantastic that there are so many different approaches to discussing games now. The gaming internet would be super boring if everyone was just trying to argue about whether or not something is good. What does good mean? Does it even matter? Sometimes yes sometimes no.
I enjoy following my favorite writers around to their various gigs and I don’t need a publication to be internally consistent with their scoring (re the sonic example). This happens with News Journalism as well. A good publication will write a right leaning op ed on a topic one day and a left leaning one the next day. We learn and benefit from taking in a variety of opinions.
Before I start ranting about the illusion of objectivity I will sum up by saying I think that the gaming criticism space has only gotten richer over the last few years. There is a place for scored reviews and there is a place for wordy long winded think peices. Why does it have to be one or the other.
The idea of doing a documentary of the team playing Subterfuge immediately brought Cool Ghosts’ Subterfuge Diaries to mind. Also because of who/what Cool Ghosts is (a patreon-funded video venture) an interesting tie-in to some of the other topics touched-on: text vs. video, ads-driven youtube vs. patreon-driven, and so on.
Rob’s point about the tone being unclear (“which parts are Dunkey being serious and which parts are him taking the piss”) echoed my own first impressions of the video. Dunkey’s humor tends to rely on him being dissonant and sometimes intentionally incoherent for the sake of a laugh.
It works well in his regular videos, but it really muddles any serious points he was (I’m assuming he released this for more than just kicks) trying to make.
Austin’s point about “traditional game journalism” and “YouTube/Twitch” platforms facing the same funding challenges is an important one because it’s something that Dunkey doesn’t address. he calls out the cozy relationship between journalists and publishers, but doesn’t acknowledge influencers or the ratrace on YouTube to stay ahead of the algorithm. Both are extremely important factors in how content creators structure and approach their reviews.
I haven’t played either, but the talk about subterfuge reminded me of hearing about Neptune’s Bounty on Idle Thumbs (and maybe Austin or Rob have talked about it before as well, wouldn’t be surprised if theres been a 3MA about it). It sounds like things can happen a lot faster in subterfuge though, from what I remember of Neptune’s Bounty, that’s more about decisions that take a while to play out. Still has that real-time aspect and making/breaking alliances naturally (vs in-game mechanics).
Unrelated to that, or to Dunkey, I just wanted to say that, bunnies are great, but Danielle was incorrect about the Hollow Knight protagonist being one. They are a smol bug friend. There are lots of good bug friends in that game. It’s great.
This series got me into playing and buying into Subterfuge! 
PSA: don’t play Subterfuge, y’all.