Day 28: Why G4TV Sucks (but it's not their fault)

This was a rebuttal to a discussion about G4TV's bias against Japanese games and the gamers that play them. Also, this covers why G4 sucks by design and not because of the cast members involved.

First, let's limit our scope to include only XPlay and AOTS (G4's only real content). AOTS is a poorly written, boring variety show that serves only to stir up ad revenue and launch careers for pretty faces (i.e. Olivia Munn). Most everyone on that show is obviously fake but it's an easy gig and if you're loud enough it seems to get you noticed eventually. It's just a platform.

XPlay is the only true video game series on cable, at least that I know of. Considering that fact it shouldn't be a surprise that it's a 20 minute video game advertisement and little more. What constitutes an episode? Trailers (an ad), previews and interviews (an ad), reviews (an ad) and maybe a goofy skit tossed in that's mostly harmless. Everyone on that show feels at least somewhat sincere even if they're not as 'dedicated' as their audience. However, the conduct on the show itself could be interpreted either way with justification.

Now, I'm sure you realize that the game industry has a relationship with the press unlike any other media industry. The game producers and press employees have a symbiotic relationship without regard for the customer's satisfaction. The relationship works like this: the producers hand pick pieces of information to drip feed to the press, the press doesn't ask any questions and reports in a timely manner. The result is that the most important producers get to keep their products constantly in their customer's peripheral while the press get to have an easy job that requires no thought, initiative or being inquisitive. The producers advertise their games for cheap to their most precious customers and the press leeches off that information traffic to create jobs. These people are not journalists. In fact, there's not a single journalist in this industry because there's no news to report that won't get someone fired (i.e. legal spats that make certain companies resemble the ogres they truly are, but bringing that to light is bad business). The gaming press would have no jobs if they didn't spend all their time advertising other people's products.

Now, I want to talk about their bias. First of all, it's no secret that G4 has an apparent contempt for Japanophiles. Whether this is genuine or not is uncertain but it's been blatantly obvious for many years. It's never been questioned. Could it be that those above the cast would prefer to bash the audience? Highly unlikely. Do the cast harbor genuine resentment or xenophobia towards Japanese games and their audience? Possibly, even if it's just an act no different than a pro wrestler making racist comments to rile up an audience. My theory is it's actually audience pandering. The theory is that media bias is little more than a reflection of the audience's beliefs. I don't know about you but when I'm on forums or in games there's a lot of hate for perceived Japanophiles. I mean, look at my screen name, I use the same screen name on every gaming network I'm on and more often than not if I encounter an angry citizen they'll immediately start spouting anti-Japanese/Japanophile slurs. Hell, I often use a female avatar online and I've gotten slammed for that and sent pictures of genitalia. To me, the treatment I've gotten as a perceived woman was much less offensive than the treatment I've gotten as a perceived Japanese person. So, if the audience at large revels in slamming Japanophiles then wouldn't G4 pandering to that make a lot more sense? That's my theory anyway.

In closing, I agree that what G4 puts on television is an absolute joke and a shame it's the only thing that can be loosely considered a 'gaming' network (ya know, at least for those 2 hours they're not showing Cops, Cheaters, and infomercials). However, the website content has a lot of 'real' content and discussion namely Feedback. Also, some of their written reviews are good, I'm personally fond of Sessler's reviews, however G4 (like most sites actually) tends to skew game scores too high or too low relative to their perceived marketability. Though, review scores are complete bullshit anyway and can largely be forgotten. Some of their critics have serious chops so I wouldn't call them 'fake', they're just fake on TV but then so is everyone.