Games Journalism?

There's been a lot of talk lately about issues surrounding games journalism- like the whole "free games" thing that has turned up again. I've been thinking a lot again about how there's not a hobby games press, how there's neither a Hunter S. Thompson nor professionalism in the tiny world of games writing.

I'm a paid games writer, one of very few. It's a responsibility that I take very seriously, and it is one of those points where what I do for fun and what I do for a career dovetail nicely. I don't get paid like those video game writers do, and I'm still mostly doing it because I love it but there are certain professional considerations that come with freelancing and having a published body of work.

There should be more paid games writers. I'm sure a lot of you are going to say "who needs 'em" but I strongly believe that more talent and higher standards of work would emerge and rise to the top above the armchair, ad hoc "press" we have now, largely represented by BGG, BGN, and Fortress: Ameritrash.

So that's the subject of this week's Cracked LCD. Next week, ME:Q.