Lowenstein's 'final' interview: Game reviews influence industry

9 Comments by Alexander Sliwinski Mar 17th 2007 2:30PM
Filed under: Culture

Doug Lowenstein, former president of the Electronic Software Association, left the industry and gave one "final" interview to GameDaily clarifying some former statements and the future of the industry. The four-page interview was conducted at the D.I.C.E. summit in January, apparently the transcription took over a month.

Lowenstein says he was a bit harsh on the gaming press in his final D.I.C.E. speech, but he thinks game reviews are on the right path, "I don't think there's any other critical entity in entertainment in either music or film or television that has the power of the game press to affect the direction of its industry. Look at how many movies get crappy reviews that are top hits at the box office and how many get great critical acclaim and are commercial flops. And I don't read a lot of movie reviews anymore because they're so self important and I don't even understand what the hell their saying. So I don't want game criticism to start looking like that, because you start taking yourself too seriously and start trying to find meaning in things that isn't ever intended to be there; God no, let's not go there."

Lowenstein leaves behind the legacy of the ESA, including the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board, the creation of E3, an anti-piracy program and all the advocacy he did on behalf of the gaming industry on the federal, state and local level.

Tags: dice, doug lowenstein, DougLowenstein, eSA, final, interview

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Matthew: Mar 17th 2007; 2:40PM

You know, I think he is probably right. I love movies almost as much as videogames and I rarely read movie reviews because they are usually pompous and focus on things that I don't care about. On the other hand, I read dozens of videogame reviews a week, even for games I only have a passing interest in.

AssemblyLineHuman: Mar 17th 2007; 2:48PM

I agree with him to some extent. Video game REVIEWS should focus on positive and negative points in a game that tell the reader whether he or she might enjoy the game, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have publications that do focus on the "self important" (read: intelligent) analysis of certain games.

Willardo: Mar 17th 2007; 3:25PM

Well here comes a vote for the pompous: if we as a community don't try and understand the meaning of video games - and all games have meaning, whether we like to believe it or not - then other people will find that meaning for us. And you better believe it, it won't be the meaning you like.

paralipsis: Mar 17th 2007; 4:02PM

Well, when I buy a movie ticket I pay a tiny fraction compared to the price of a AAA game title - I think that might influence slightly how much research (hence reading of game reviews) that I do. I don't think that I am entirely alone in this.

Mr Khan: Mar 17th 2007; 4:07PM

I think that with the diversity of videogames as opposed to movies (while all movies simply entail sitting and watching, video games can entail many things, timed button presses, strategic planning, social interaction, faux social interaction, recent motion controls, etc) we should do away with individual reviews, since games can be interpreted MUCH more broadly

I think reviews should be done in a Wiki sort of way, with all sorts of people giving a rating from 1-5, and you see the average rating on the main page

Example: if you look at the User reviews on IGN for Sonic and the Secret Rings, you see most of the readers state that IGN was way too harsh in their 6.9 rating (same as Red Steel, no way that game was that mediocre)

I think game reviews should be a democratic thing, as the industry has not yet become a science (or an "art"), and the people's input is more important than a few dudes who play a game for an hour than pass judgement

AssemblyLineHuman: Mar 17th 2007; 4:29PM

Mr Khan: The problem with that is that people who choose to review a game are more likely than not to like it.

BloodyDuck: Mar 17th 2007; 5:16PM

I don't know about this. I agree completely with the statement that videogame reviews are far superior to movie reviews - at least in execution. That said, I'm not really sure that they have much influence on the industry. Do people buy well-reviewed games, or are games that sell well just well-reviewed? There's a lot of lousy (and poorly reviewed) games, like a number of licenses, that nevertheless do quite well.

-Geoff
http://www.alinktothefuture.com

GhaleonQ: Mar 18th 2007; 1:44AM

I completely disagree.

Arlen: Mar 18th 2007; 8:53PM

I can't disagree more with the anti-intellectual tone of this article. Pieces like this only undermine what little credibility gaming has in the world at large. Sliwinski betrays the immaturity of even the established gaming press: hypocritically bemoaning that the general public refuses to take them seriously while simultaneously pulling the legs out from under those few in their own community who try to elevate gaming dialog.

Just because your own writing lacks depth and complexity doesn't mean that you should deny the efforts of writers who do, very much, intend for "things" (symbolism, allusion, foreshadowing, etc.) "to be there."

Lowenstein was absolutely right. Gamers have grown up; it is no longer acceptable for reviewers to display only the perception and insight (much less the maturity) of a 9th grade English student.

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