That was really easy and I feel like a cheap hooker.
Gamescom is going on right now, and literally every single game journalist got starry eyed and harder than diamonds at the news that Activision is bringing back Sierra as a "label for indie games."
You're all fucking morons. No one called this out as the cynical bullshit that it is. This is a marketing ploy, and all of you are suckling at Activision's semi-flaccid penis.
Probably a penis you don't want to suckle.
I'm going to call out Destructoid in particular because it's really the only gaming site I actively read (though I've been wondering why since the great writer exodus).
Sierra isn't an independent company. It's a "label" of Activision, which basically denies it from any form of "indie." Indie means independent and I would say the company that prints money and bolsters Mountain Dew sales with a yearly offloading of putrid shit called Call of Duty is the exact opposite of that.
I'm infuriated with Destructoid in general because it used to be a great site. It was really the only gaming site with editorials worth reading (read: Jim Sterling). Then... all of the interesting writers just suddenly disappeared around the same site. We got a new reviewer whose review is basically a summary of the back of the box features. Read that fucking review. Now, if you're into fighting games you have learned nothing about the game. It's essentially a Capcom press release with a score at the end. How do the new features change the overall game? I dunno. I only know that they are in the game, they work, and you can use them.
Read this:
What did that tell you? Nothing.
It told you that Delayed Wakeup exists. It told you its implications are serious. It told you that it will change play styles. This is all superficial bullshit. Was this game even played? Why does it have serious implications? Why does it change play styles? This is a thesis for a college paper that I shit out because I had to take the class for credit. It looks good if you skim it, but there is nothing under the surface. There's no understanding of a game that is going on six years now which has a very established community and strategy.
Anyways, back to my point. Where's the criticism? Why is no one calling Activision on this bullshit? Is it because every gaming site gets plastered with Call of Duty ads at the end of the year?
Let me tell you what Sierra is; it's a cash grab. For the most part, gamers don't think for themselves. Inject some critical thinking into your life. Do people hold Activision to a certain level of quality? Yes, they do. Are all indie games good? No, they aren't. So, what do you do if you're Activision? The whole gaming world has this new meme that is indie. You grab that bull by the horns and you skullfuck it. You start an "indie" label to sell games that may fail, just because you wouldn't want them associated with the Activision name.
So, fuck you gaming media. You're not part of the problem; you are the problem. Why would you willingly perpetuate Activision's bullshit? Is it because you get teary eyed thinking of those (mostly bad) Sierra games from back in the day? Is it because the gaming community at large has firmly taken hold of the shaft of indie and won't let go?
Whatever it is, you've let us down. It's not your job to pander.
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