Most gamers have heard of Kotaku at some point. For those that haven't, it's like celebrity tabloid for gaming. This is no surprise since it's part of Gawker Media which is more or less nothing but a load of scum celebrity blogs owned by Nick Denton. This is the main reason I dislike their very existence and hope they're one of the next blogs to get the axe by Nick.
One of their major annoyances is the way they chop up one decent story into numerous little pointless stories to make their site look fuller and, no doubt, to get more ad hits. I don't blame them for trying but I can go to Edge Online and read something within one article. On Kotaku it'll be chopped up in perfect little ADD bit sized chunks including some pointless stories on how CliffyB wore a pink shirt to an event or some other equally pointless story.
If they want more add hits then why not write multi-page quality stories about gaming? It gives me the impression there isn't anyone there really into gaming. They're just wanna-be journalists working for a gaming blog because, let's face it, gaming "journalism" doesn't really require any skills. Every gamer has done it at some point and this has resulted in most gaming sites/blogs being less than reputable. Which takes me to my next point...
You rarely find more information after their infamous "more after the jump" comment because their content is just too shallow partially because they're interested in quantity over quality. On a personal note, "more after the jump" like the term blogosphere need to die a quick death. Web 2.0 has a lot to answer for but anyway...
In Kotaku's quest to post anything to populate their front page with fresh content they've been willing to shit on the people that feed them by publishing information Sony had asked them not to publish and then try to turn it into a controversial event and post information that's flat out wrong about Xbox Pure which was supposed to be a new Xbox 360 model.
In typical Kotaku style they didn't take blame for not doing their journalistic duty and fact check a story before running it. Their comment was "It appears that this rumor story could be CAG throwing their credibility out the window as part of a contest. Kotaku''s decision to run rumors is always based on the credibility of the site and the information contained within it. In the past CAG has proven to be a reliable site, having broken a number of stories through apt reporting. It appears that may no longer be the case. "
Sure CAG was at fault but why is it strictly CAG's fault for their mistake? More so when this wasn't the first time they've had to update their stories to correct information. It would appear it's Kotaku that threw its credibility out the window a long time ago.
The reason they didn't take the blame and probably never will is because their full of themselves. This could be witnessed by their initial commenting system which didn't allow just anyone to comment but instead was very cliquey and you had to be "someone" in the eyes of Kotaku or invited by said "someone". Then there is the whole ban hammer thing which has turned commenting into a popularity contest.
And on that subject, don't dare comment on any of their pointless self love stories in anyone that could be construed as being negative by an overly paranoid psychotic because you'll end up disemvoweled or banned by the overly sensitive person you commented on.
Brian Ashcraft QQ's his heart out.
In that image you can see my first disemvoweling. Surely I did something quite bad to deserve that? Nope, that's not the case. Without threats of violence, vulgarity or any of the other standard things you shouldn't do on a forum or comment system, I stated that I didn't like fluff pieces like Brian Ashcraft's "story" about appearing in the Dallas Morning News mentioning is book Arcade Mania which, like Kotaku, is light on substance and not really worth the time or cost.
This isn't just a case of me being hurt because my ego has been damaged. It's more the point that I've said things that are much more worthy of disemvoweling towards other commenters or developers and publishers. Perhaps some of the things I've said were worthy of a banning too. Was anything done? Nope.
But quite hastily my innocent expression of my own opinion gets censored. Almost as if Brian Ashcraft spends his free time scanning stories about him for things he doesn't like. It is my opinion that it's because he knows his book isn't the best arcade book out there and Arcade Mania certainly doesn't stack up against the wealthy of information that can be found online for free.
These are just some of the reasons Kotaku are harming gaming journalism. Unfortunately, because gaming journalism in general, is dire the key market for these sites are those that are more concerned about feeling like they have their own little clique than getting proper information. Kotaku is admittedly popular and other gaming sites will copy their formula and amazingly gaming journalism will sink even lower.
Luckily I'm not the only person that recognises that Kotaku bites. In fact one person has taken it as far as creating a blog called Shitaku. Unfortunately it seems to have died off awhile ago. Perhaps he'll start it back up again. In the mean time, if you're interested in quality gaming information and news then I would encourage you to visit Edge Online and subscribe to their magazine if you can afford it.
Further reading on the subject of Kotaku's lameness:
The story of soulscreme's Kotaku ban
stupidgamer.com: Commentary on Kotaku's rumor blunder
sarcasticgamer.com: Kotaku Attempts to Rain on our Parade
Update: 28.02.2009
I've been banned from Kotaku. Was it because of this or my last comment "It requires Silverlight which is weak sauce."? That comment is hardly worthy of a
ban but, since it's Kotaku, it's actually quite likely that got me banned. Oh dear, I'll have to find another place to fulfill my spastic watching fetish now.
