Thursday, January 27, 2005

Welcome to Renaissance Gamer

If I am going to create a gaming website, I have to start somewhere. I know Blogger, and therefore I'm getting something on web right now. Here is a mini-manifesto:

Consider the literary review. A book, reviewed by a serious publication, will speak about much more than whether the book was good or not. They will talk about previous similar books, what the book means for society, where the book fits into its time structure, what makes it work, what makes it special, and, if need be, the reviewer will go into lengthy descriptions of what the book does not do.

Consider the game review. The reviewer will tell you if the game is good or not. Maybe if the graphics are shiny. They can be improved, fairly easily. It doesn't require an independent press, though that wouldn't hurt. The mainstream gaming press can improve on its own - and it might do it without pressure as the industry matures.

We can do better. A generation of people has grown up as gamers, but also has the intellectual ability and training to analyze the games at a higher level. My goal is to become involved in a community of such people.