STORIES, STORIES

by Tamim Kashgari I always find it funny when people try to be objective. I find it even funnier when they get all hot and flustered when I point out the underlying bias that they have to even present the point they made. But that is because I have a belief that objectivity outside of the hard sciences is in practice and concept a fallacy and a waste of time to both attempt to achieve in your own work and to actually expect from others. I'll demonstrate this using the field of history, a subject that I am familiar with, and a subject that has, since its inception, been regarded as one whose active role it is to define a single, unbiased and true rendering of human progress across time. Now, before you turn into an asshole and spit out platitudes like "History is written by the victors”, let me just stop you right there, because we actually have a number of historical work from losing sides in conflicts pretty much running for the entirety of hist...

The Sad State of Modern Videogame Journalism by Tamim Kashgari I remember a more innocent time, a time when I could read a review and look at a score and feel both safe and informed about a game. It was a wonderful little world filled with rainbows and unicorns.  But now I find myself drowning in a sea of corruption, opinion and petty rivalry. Well, alright, it was never that good then, and it isn’t really that bad now either. Nevertheless, there is a real problem with modern videogame journalism. Some game reviewers – and in some cases, entire publications – have forgotten what a review is supposed to be and the weight that it carries. A review isn’t just supposed to be a description of a game, it is supposed to be a critical examination of a game as well. Aside from that, a game review is the tangible representation of the relationship between a reviewer and the public – a relationship that some reviewers don’t take very seriously.  This is an especially heinous...