Thursday 30 July 2009

A comment left for the Grauniad.

They asked me for my opinions on gaming. They got this. Poor bastards.

Nothing much to be said, really. Cover the innovative and quirky and edgy, but also remember Microsoft Bob and the Nintendo R.O.B.

For the love of God and all that is Holy (I hear he's on holiday, you may have to check with Pete at reception), learn from U.S. media. Oh, I don't mean cover anything like them. God, no. I meant, they actually read Twitter. And Facebook. And God only knows what else.

While I was in disfavour with God and therefore was not born a subject of Her Britannic Majesty and Defender of the Faith, I read foreign news media because I cannot bear my own, save for The Christian Science Monitor and The Boston Globe or The New York Times.

If one attempts to turn on the television to watch the news, you have one of three options:



I strongly suggest that you make your indentured servants, or interns, or trainees, or whatever else you call them, comb through Web-based message boards, Twitter, YouTube and other such nonsense. First, they're doing it anyway. There's only so many times one can be sent out to fetch something. Secondly, “getting the scoop” is now an entirely different match. It's more along the lines of “finding the trend”.

I shouldn't recommend using Twitter as a verbatim source, but having people keep up very closely will allow them to do trend spotting very well. The gents down in the computer room, assuming they're not emulating Simon Travaglia that day, will happily tell the lackeys which search engines to use.

You have human filters. These days, we have nothing but computer filters, which allow us to accidentally post photographs of Karaoke night and send them to the same elderly relative you sat through the cricket with, and human filters who, as you may have noticed, have figured out that they're actively in danger of being placed on New Deal. Use them and use the hell out of them.

Best of luck on surviving the Internet age.

Jessica Allan
Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States

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