Barts with Brian Crecente and some other folksThe contest required finding three best and three worst posts among original Kotaku posts, writing some justification of contestant’s choice and suggested that finalists would be chosen based on what they wrote:
We’ll sort through them a select a batch of finalists who will then need to submit a writing sample for the whole class to read, so that your future readership for a day can have the final vote.
As I like to think of myself as a writer, I decided that I stand a chance in this competition. It was not random drawing, my writing is surely not the best there is, but is quite sufficient for a contest, and also the choice of posts mattered. That’s what I assumed – but I was wrong.
I spent quite some time scanning last year posts on Kotaku, and trust me, there’s a lot of them. I then spent more time on writing and proof-reading. Altogether I believe it took me somewhere between three and six hours, but I didn’t measure it (perhaps all for the better).
The shit hit the elevator when the finalists were published – turned out Kotaku staff were too busy to actually read through all the entries, so they drawn five finalists at random. You can read my ranting about it here if you really must. I admit I was being bitter and disappointed, not only because I have not won (which, while childish, is something normal), but more so because I considered that the change of rules during the contest was a nasty thing to do. Had I known the selection process of finalists were to be random, I would have spared myself the effort and skipped it altogether, hence missing on the disappointment. I have never won anything by random draw – all the competitions that I won were the ones where I had to put some serious work into my entry.
Kotaku folks have chosen not to react to the controversy at all, which, while understandable, once again seems not too nice. Some people complained a bit in comments under next post, but then the whole ruckus ended.
While I have totally nothing against other contestant and I wish all the best to the winner, I was definitely disappointed with both me wasting my time on writing something no one would read and the behaviour of Kotaku staff. In order for my work no to be entirely useless, I have decided to publish my entry here. After all, this is my blog, right?
I have decided not just to point out to three stories I like, but rather use them as particular illustrations of more general preferences. There are some things I like in Kotaku (many), some that I don’t (few). I used this competition’s formula to provide some feedback.
LOVED:NUMBER ONE – GAME REVIEWS
Post example: Left 4 Dead reviewI really like the reviews and I consider them one of the most important additions to Kotaku in 2008. They are concise, structured and in case of games I have actually played myself, I checked that I pay attention to same points (except maybe I wouldn’t articulate them so well). I am all for lack of numerical score, I really like how there are positive and negative points listed and as icing on the cake, the details concerning how long the reviewer has played the game, what modes they unlocked etc. After reading the review of Dead Space I actually went out to buy it, making educated decision despite it flaws listed in the review – because I knew they wouldn’t spoil the fun for me.
NUMBER TWO – PERSONAL POSTS, ESPECIALLY BASHCRAFT’S
Post example: Brian Ashcraft’s dilemmaI totally love posts that contain little glimpses of Kotaku Krew’s everyday life. I have to say that when I started reading Kotaku (early 2005) I was annoyed by these tidbits: “I want to read about games, goshdarnit, what do I care for some nerds’ private life?”. Funny, how I have grown fond of this formula. I now know the name of Crecente’s wife and kid, I know quite a bit about Bashcraft – and these small fragments are something that makes you folks much closer to and less anonymous. It has become a thing that keeps me attached to Kotaku, as if I knew you, and it has created a bond of sort that keeps me coming back. As a result, last year I could shake hands with both Brians and bunch of Kotakuites (including Witzbold!) during party in Shimokitazawa.
NUMBER THREE – INSIDE INFORMATION PLUS BOOBIES
Post example: Activision’s PlaymateOkay, this one is tough. Kotaku sometimes pulls out of the hat some cool behind-the-curtains industry information, which is cool, and sometimes a post that gives the excuse to show some breasts, which is also cool. Rarely, there are posts that fuse these two powers combined – and this is the nirvana of game journalism, exemplified by the post above (which I have found really interesting, by the way, even more so due to appearance of the main heroine in comment section). Now you may label me a sexist pig.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Ten most terrifying video game Enemies
I totally loved this post because of the discussion below it and also because it spawned a series of posts on my blog on fear in videogames.DSi Manual Kommented
The creativity of Kotakuites at its best – couldn’t stop laughing after seeing some of the comments.Trailer’s Trash
This was the best video podcast of the year here on Kotaku. I am so disappointed that it was not continued that I almost put this in “Didn’t like” category to let you know that I absolutely want more of those. Lens flare!
DIDN’T LIKE:NUMBER ONE – “TELL US, DAMMIT” SERIES
Post example: Did you buy any games on Black Friday?I’m sorry, not only are some of the questions lame (the one above is a good example – Black Friday is something typically related to USA, putting it on a global site is a bit off in my perspective), but it makes me think of a telemarketer calling to ask me questions about products I like and why. One thing that makes Kotaku less annoying is that you don’t call me when I’m enjoying a bath or quiet (actually, not so much) moment with my girlfriend. Other than that, I can’t shake off the feeling that you are processing data acquired from these posts and sell them to EA. Definitely don’t like.
NUMBER TWO – TROLLS MAKE ME LOSE FAITH IN KOTAKU READERSHIP
Post example: Clearly no one black worked on this gameOn the whole, Kotaku community is cool and is one of the reasons why I like coming back to this site. Good part of interesting information, opinions and risky jokes are shared in comments. But while there are fewer trolls, haters and idiots here then on other sites, there are some cases when I really am saddened at how ignorant, obnoxious and racist some commenters can be. The above post was a fiesta of nasty comments and I really think that they should be removed from the site (not only users banned, but some comments deleted as well – you know which ones I mean).
NUMBER THREE – KOTAKU CAN F**K UP TOO
Post example: What is the Xbox Pure?This one is not really a trend per se, but it happens sometimes Kotaku will screw something up. In this case I was not really judgemental, so I won’t be pointing finger at anyone. I didn’t really consider CAG’s joke to be the best (to put it diplomatically), but I didn’t really like Kotaku’s reaction to it – yes, you guys caught the bait, but then again, a bit more distance would perhaps be more appropriate than getting angry at CAG in general. On the whole, slight taste of disappointment here.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
There aren’t any. Kotaku is my favorite gaming site and it was actually quite hard to find things that I didn’t like. I pointed them above, but there are no runners up.
Ironically, the contest title was Winners and Losers. Har, har. Nevertheless, Kotaku still remains my favourite gaming site or at least the one I frequent most often, and I stand by what I wrote above. I know folks there, both among staff and among commenters, I have my little star as a long time tipster and commenter, as well as a small bunch of followers and generally I will still hang around there. I just didn’t like how this turned out, that’s all.
Posted by barts706 
