We’ve been understandably distracted by that accurate documentary on gaming called “Intimidation Game” and the scam holiday to stuff the pockets of candy manufacturers, florists and restaurants. Don’t forget to pressure games media to investigate the Pinsof interview/indie corruption and to keep digging ourselves, especially with IndieCade East & GDC coming up. I would hate to see a catalyst for some specific reforms in the indie scene die out too soon.

Also, many devs are pissed at the corrupt journalists for perpetuating the gamer stereotype eventually used on the SVU episode. Also capitalize on that. Don’t let anyone forget who slandered gamers in the first place.

Removing the credibility and influence of the corrupt indie games scene is the first step in excising the cancer that is plaguing the one real alternative we have to the also-corrupt AAA game scene. It would be nice if the indie games scene truly allowed “the little guy” (colloquially, as in “the underdog”, not as in a diminutive Chef Fieri) to flourish based upon merit, rather than sucking the correct D.

Likewise, removing the credibility and influence of the corrupt games journalists is the first step in excising the cancer that is wasting the gaming community’s time, money and brain cells. Maybe devs will finally wake up and say, “Hey, I don’t need Kotaku, Polygon, Gamasutra, RPS, or any other incompetent, non-research-performing site who employs a staff of mostly bloggers or leftover, failed writers from other industries pretending to like games. I can go direct to the consumer or alternative games media who the consumers actually respect.”

Of course the sites are whoring themselves to you devs, so they will have you believe #GamerGate is some tiny market segment. Make no mistake, #GamerGate or not, the core gaming audience DOES NOT RESPECT CURRENT GAMES MEDIA. Get that through your thick skulls. They are surviving by clickbait and artificial credibility from THEIR OWN FRIENDS IN THE INDUSTRY, NOT PAYING CUSTOMERS. Consumers will have the last word, so if you’re still pretending consumers don’t matter, maybe you should try to remember where the money comes from, and what happens when all the devs finally figure it out. Enjoy the ride.

The end.

addendum

February 16, 2015 – A few thoughts I wanted to add.

Pinsof’s claims are not verified until credible evidence is found. This is the job of the gaming press. We will allow the gaming press the opportunity to investigate the corruption, but since they cannot be trusted, we as consumers must also investigate on our own. Read “‘Indie Game: The Movie’ filmmakers resolve dispute by revising end credits” from June 15, 2012 via Polygon (archived link: https://archive.today/84u6q). Some observations:

– Brandon Boyer, IGF chairman, is friends with the filmmakers of “Indie Game: The Movie”, the documentary which portrays only Phil Fish’s side of the story, and not that of his ex-partner, Jason DeGroot. The credits incorrectly stated DeGroot asked not to participate in the film, when in fact HE WAS ASKED NOT TO PARTICIPATE.

– DeGroot seemed to be silent on the issue, likely only dealing behind-the-scenes directly with Fish, the filmmakers, and probably their legal counsel.

– Shawn McGrath (who worked with DeGroot on “Dyad”, is DeGroot’s close personal friend and is the person heavily mentioned in Pinsof’s interview as the originator of Fez’s game mechanic) is the one who spoke up publicly on DeGroot’s behalf, calling the film’s original credits “bullshit”. After the correction to the film’s credits, as mentioned in my previous article, DeGroot seems reluctant to speak further on the issue, and downplays Fish’s use of his original game mechanic idea.

– Those investigating games journalism corruption have been aware of this information before the #GamerGate hashtag was even coined (i.e. for over half a year now), and GamerGate supporter “cameralady” even made a video detailing claims similar to Pinsof’s. Legal action apparently was taken against her, and the video went down. Why?What are the connections between Fish, Boyer, the filmmakers, IGF, IndieCade and Fish’s ex-partners? Why is everyone so silent? Why is information being suppressed? These are the questions people should be asking. If you find the answers, everyone should be sharing it so the corruption can be exposed and investigated. On a similar note:

MAYA KRAMER CANT MELT STEEL BEAMS. SILVERSTRING MEDIA WAS AN INSIDE JOB.If you would like to help expose journalistic corruption, the best place to start is indie games corruption. Games journalists are heavily involved and intertwined in the indie scene, helping their friends, turning blind eyes to impropriety, and blacklisting those who get in their way. Sounds crazy, huh? Too bad none of this has been proven false, despite the preponderance of evidence showing otherwise. Wouldn’t it just be easier to prove us wrong, shut us up and be done with it? Of course, the press doesn’t investigate claims of their own corruption, so we consumers have had to do this ourselves. This is a call to anyone who can help: DIG UP INFORMATION. If you want to see a name that pops up EVERYWHERE, look no further than Maya Kramer and Silverstring Media. Like the clamp-down on Fish’s information, you can bet they’ve been hiding Kramer’s information. Conspiracy theory, you say? Don’t worry, I won’t discuss the plausibility of inter-dimensional lizard people interbred with world leaders since Sumerian times to comprise the 1% New World Order Pyramid All-Seeing-Eye Illuminati. Instead, if I’m wrong, and the information ISN’T being covered up (try to put up a video about Phil Fish and McGroot and let me know if you DON’T get a cease-and-desist letter) and mere discussion ISN’T being censored outside of the quarantines a few public forums (in other words, if you discuss this on most gaming sites, your post will be deleted), why not just prove me wrong by providing credible evidence refuting my claims? [Crickets… and the sounds of a “Delete Post” button being clicked repeatedly] Doubling down on censorship and claiming “conspiracy theory” is to be expected from the corrupt indie games scene. Are you going to help #GamerGate find evidence to hold the corrupt accountable, help analyze the data, then spread it to the world? Or are you just going to talk about it? LET’S MT DEW THIS.

You can yell at me on twitter @sportzpunz

My GooberGate videos: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTy4K80yrfVCli_fEVZFDBJRzA7FAcbdd

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFBI-0AGqIz7Kq5ds5zLMHA