This morning I woke up and did my usual round of websites, emails and blogs, when I came across an interesting article on 1UP, linked from Kotaku. The article was about the differences between Western and Japanese games and gamers. Take a look at the very first paragraph:
The United States of America is the source of a huge number of modern inventions - the automobile, the television, the computer, and many, many others. And in many cases, people from other nations have added and improved upon the initial concept, vastly expanding the horizon for each of these technologies. The same applies to video gaming. Though electronic gaming was born in America, today's industry is supported by publishers from across the globe. Still, gaming is largely dominated by just two forces: America, the creator, and Japan, the nation that saved console gaming in the mid '80s.
This made my blood boil several times over. Let's examine it, shall we?
1) Who made the automobile? The Germans. Not Mr Ford.
2) Who made the television? A Scot, building upon the work of a Brit and a German.
3) Who made the computer? A tricky one, this. You could say it was the British Army, an English engineer, the ancient Egyptians or even the Chinese. Or indeed, any number of people from various countries.
So, for an opening statement, we have a total of zero of three facts correct. All popular misconceptions in the USA, I'm sure. And fine, this is a gaming blog, not exactly the most intellectual of sites. But that should mean that when it comes to videogames, they know their stuff, right?
No.
So gaming is dominated by the USA and Japan? So where does the UK come in then? Not to mention that the whole of Europe probably rakes in more than the whole of the USA. The whole article talks only about the difference between "the West" and Japan. Where "the West" means the USA, of course. Conveniently lumping a whole continent together and ignoring it is not the best way to do journalism.
I'm not trying to be anti-USA here, it's just that in recent years the trend of "reporting without researching" has taken over, with people manufacturing facts and figures, presenting opinions as truth and spreading misinformation. And since people tend to believe most things they read, the world gets more ignorant.
Seriously, read and learn, people.
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