Why Small Gaming Sites Matter
Written by Brock Poulsen, brockst4r Sunday, 15 January 2012 06:00
There is no shortage of big gaming sites on the internet; from your Kotakus to your Destructoids, they all have high respectability, big advertisers, and talented writers. So why even bother with small-time sites like GoozerNation? Because these are the opinions and experiences that matter to the average gamer.
In his (excellent) review of Skyrim, Andrew Reiner listed some statistics he gathered in his 11 days spent with the game. Most notable to me were the 146 quests he completed and the over 105 hours he played. 105 hours in 11 days. In addition to being a truly herculean accomplishment, it's simply not analogous to the way a typical gamer will experience Skyrim. Getting sucked into a game for the equivalent of two weeks at a full-time job (plus overtime) will be a completely different experience than squeezing in a few hours of play time before bed.
The "average" gamer -- if such a thing exists -- can't really set aside 10 hours a day to devour a hotly anticipated game. Many of us have spouses, children, school, and jobs that sadly don't involve a DualShock. The way this gamer approaches a new game is not the same way a games journalist does. This, in my opinion, helps to account for the disparity between how games are reviewed vs. how they are received by the masses. When a reviewer complains about a game with a short single player campaign, consider that they may have finished it in a single sitting.
As much as I enjoy reading other game sites, I like hearing how my fellow gamers balance normal jobs and lives with their gaming, or how a fellow parent to a toddler fits games into their day.
I'm proud to be a member of the GoozerNation team. Feel free to take my words with a grain of salt, but in the future consider how you experience games when reading a review.
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