The Freak & The Geek: Games Journalism's Coverage Of Sub-Cultures
Thursday, March 1, 2012 at 11:57PM
[I mean, I say “sub-cultures,” but I know why you’re here. ]
In the previous days the well-read and progressive-thinking ventured to the seediest part of town to catch a dog and pony show. Only a handful know of it, and are privileged when invited. These writing dignitaries stared into a cage rife with filth and a stench that could conjure convulsive dry heaves. When they looked in, they saw a beast that resembled a human, but clearly wasn’t capable of acting like one.
A malnourished, feral child looks back at the visitors through a cage. It's seasoned. It knows what faces to make and what songs to sing. But it also knows that these people are only here to see that one special trick. The freak is the main attraction, and always has been the main attraction for this one trick. When the well-dressed visitors pay their pence, the host hands the freak a whole chicken.
SNAP! Without a second thought, that chicken’s head is off and is making its way through the sharpened teeth of the freak’s foul-smelling mouth. The visitors look in disgust, but they still look. They call it names. They can’t believe its existence. They shuffle and scoot closer. The freak picks the fowl apart meticulously, not forgetting a bone or sinewy tendon. It’s trick is over. A crass belch is let out and for any who continue to gaze, the freak gazes back.
Only this time, the freak threw the bones back. “You’re the freak. I’m the geek.”
I don’t know what came first, my love of fighting games, or my love of the writing about fighting games. What ever the case, I want you to know that I’ve followed and participated in both for quite some time. As you can probably tell, I’m not stellar at either. I make due though, though I'm no pushover.
These past couple days I watched the fighting game community, I’ve so viciously supported for over a decade, expose its freakish underbelly. It made me sad. They were right, this guy is a freak. How could he say such things? There is no way I can condone sexism and misogyny. Aris Bahktanians was wrong. We’ve seen Aris do his trick for years. I’ve met Aris, he joked about the darkness of my skin, I laughed. The situation called for laughter. Under layers of socially unacceptable behavior, Aris read me and knew exactly what song to sing. The joke was private, between two consenting adults and dwelled on briefly.
However, this weekend was the culmination of a lot of questions I had about the fighting game community and the eventual journalism that followed. Why was there a need for Capcom to make a $25,000 reality show? Why would they hire Aris beyond the fact that his skill and voice has been of great significance in the Tekken community? Don’t they know how he behaves? Do you want to put a mic in front of that?
Oh wait, I see.
Then there was this part of me that could see the chicken being handed into a dark cage. There is this part of me that has laughed at Aris, but thinks it’s time for him to see how others see him.
This weekend we all saw it. It was not private. Just because one person laughed doesn’t mean it’s okay. Miranda didn’t laugh. Miranda worked hard, she tried putting on a happy face, but what she went through NO KNUCKLE-DRAGGING MAN will understand. If you are not a woman your words carry minimal weight [even as a man, writing this, I know]. I don’t care if you are a stream monster, a seasoned fighting game player. We should all have the right to choose and Miranda was recorded -- in front of her family, in front of her boyfriend having that choice tampered with.
I will not support any form of what Aris did. If I see you pop-off on a stream, I will confront you and make you uncomfortable. If you come to Season’s Beatings [in my city] and take issue with my words, I will have no problem discussing this with you in person. Period.
Now, the geek.
Don’t think you can come down to our little circus show and point in disgust and think some bones won’t be thrown back at you. We are well aware of how you are viewed in the large pantheon of journalism, and much like our undignified behavior, we hope you get better too.
There is a big difference between the coverage on Shoryuken.com and IPlaywinner -- versus that found on Destructoid, Giantbomb, and Penny Arcade. It makes total sense as to why you don’t see in-depth features on these major sites covering the fighting game community. It’s quite evident after reading glowing reviews of the fighting games your site puts up [for its general audience] that these games are great, but completely inaccessible [to a point] to both your fingers and your minds. We get it, we’re niche and you cater to a larger audience.
However, I’m taking issue with why you’re visiting our “back alley.” I love the fact that you got a hot tip on this juicy story. I like that you felt just as uncomfortable as I did and are working hard to rid all communities of this kind of behavior. My question is, when will I see you again? EVO? Are you even interested in our culture besides one or two in-depth articles a year?
Because I’m just as avid of a reader as I am a writer, I can find people on these major sites that are damn-near historians when it comes to WRPGs, JRPGs, first-person shooters, indie games and RTSs. Sure, they may not all be ex-freaks when it comes to their respective strong suits, but I can at least find them. Whenever I look for someone who is worth their salt in current fighting games, I’m always looking at a dusty review left by Richard Li.
We read your work and we listen to your podcasts. Please read and listen to us. I appreciate 1up for hiring freelancers from the community to write reviews for fighting games. Thank you, but this is not enough. I appreciate Kat Bailey’s recent piece on arcade culture in Wired last week. It was off, but Jared Rea did the best he could in guiding her to where she needed to be.
This is where your reporting and journalism can improve. Instead of visiting our circus to watch us do tricks, and scoff at the members that we can’t even endorse, talk to us. Please talk to us. Think about how much more powerful your piece on Aris’ sexism could have been if you contacted David Graham or James Chen? You could have had Paul Dziuba write the piece. Though things have smoothed over, there is a good reason why Miranda “Super_Yan” Pakozdi wasn’t forthcoming to major outlets. We’ve seen how you’ve edited some of our best and brightest. Why make half-assed attempts at contact when you are more interested in the story than the people?
This is old school journalism. If you’re ill-equipped to handle a story on your own, don’t just try and contact and quote -- get someone on the ground floor to do the communication. Let’s really try and work together in the future. Because I’m sure the next major outlet’s fighting game community coverage isn’t going to be Final Round this weekend, unless some freak does a trick. I love that Ben Kuchera, Patrick Kleppek and Jim Sterling took time out of their day to write eloquently about this issue. I just don’t want it to be the only issue in this community they write about this year. I know they care.
To the freaks and the geeks.
We can have our crass language. We can have our side-bets at major tourneys. We can have our hype and rivalries. We shouldn’t feel threatened and we shouldn’t feel the need to attack someone’s gender. Let more people into the clubhouse. We’ve played three games for almost a decade. We cheered for Kayo Police last year when she walked on EVOs stage. It’s okay if things are shaken up. It’s also okay for others to see us, because we’ve been in this cage for too long. These geeks only come down to our circus when they want to slum it for a bit. Let’s change that too. And trust me when I tell you that my coverage of games journalism is proof that even those guys have bitten the head off of a chicken or two.
Let’s all be better at what we do.
[edit: Thank you Jeff Green for your helpful edits - 2-29-12 4:27 PM]
[update: Victor "TeamSpooky" Fontanez posted his views on NeoGAF - 2-29-12 4:59 PM]
[update: Aris has written a thoughtful response via his Twitter - 2-29-12 6:46 PM]
[update: Emily Chow's take - 3-1-12 11:57 PM]
Journalism, Misogyny, Reporting, Sexism in Criticism, Culture, Equal Rights, Video, Youtubeness 
Reader Comments (14)
You're right as far as how the general media has handled the story. All they want is the glancing view they can turn into a shock piece in the end, and Capcom put the camera in front of the cage so Aris could give it to them.
There's a lot of comparison between the FGC and the sc community, but the comparison is mostly irrelevant. SC grew up in a vastly different culture under the South Korean servers. It's not a "game community" anymore; it's a national sport at this point. It took a long time to get there but at the macro level the two are currently incomparable.
The thing about sports is, though, that people play it at the local levels still. Just like any other large sport, let's take football; you don't see the QB of the Rams lose a game and run up to the camera and start calling the opposite team's coach a cheap passing whore or their team lame for using OP plays. What you do see is at the local level guys shit talking each other before, after and during games.
If people really want the FGC to flourish beyond what it is now it has to become a sport. The top tier teams and players need to act like adults. The IdrAs of the sport will still persist and they'll generate cult followings but they have to be the outliers. That isn't to say that the entire community at large has to be like that. Local scenes will always be full of trash talk and rivalries. Local SC tournaments are still full of that sort of thing.
Wanting the community to grow is antithetical to wanting it to remain exactly as it is, though.
Corrections: The possessive form of "it" is "its," not "it's." One exception to the rule. Similarly, the plural of "tourney" is "tourneys," not "tourney's." I apologize for being a grammar dick, and please feel free to delete or edit this comment once you put these through.
Thank you for an eloquent and fair article.
Cheerfully edited. I'll keep the comment as a future reminder.
I guess my question would be why it took a "tip" the major outlets to bring this to light? Why hasn't "someone on the groundfloor", as you put it, publicly spoken out about this before? Publicly stated that the behavior is ridiculous and needs to stop? Why do the major outlets need to speak to Chen and Graham? Can't they speak on their own?
Why haven't your "best and brightest" posted a blog speaking out about this? In their own words. Unedited. Post it to Reddit and it will get read won't it? I would assume this has been going on for years, yet it took a tip to the major outlets to bring it forth and condemn it? It seems to me that the people who are in the down and dirty covering the fighting game community could have reported on this for years, but for whatever reason chose not to.
Don't choose to say nothing, and then frown when the mainstream decides to say something.
@MartinBlank
I'll try and answer your questions in order:
I guess my question would be why it took a "tip" the major outlets to bring this to light? Why hasn't "someone on the groundfloor", as you put it, publicly spoken out about this before? Publicly stated that the behavior is ridiculous and needs to stop?
-- Because the FGC is a dysfunctional family, much like the games journalism community. If you watched that stream that particular day and previous, you would have seen trash talk from Miranda [among others]. You would have seen a discussion play out about race & ethnicity live ... in our not-so-perfect community. And this isn't to justify ANYTHING that Aris has said, but a lot of what happens in the FGC is either dealt bluntly immediately or never addressed. We don't wait around and store quotes about the culture when we can just go to someones face directly, facebook or twitter -- were everyone within the confines of the community is following.
-- More importantly, a lot of people in this community honestly feels like it doesn't effect us like it does others outside of it. Addressing it on a soapbox has proven to garner attention, temporarily, but doesn't actually produce solutions and/or results.
Why do the major outlets need to speak to Chen and Graham? Can't they speak on their own?
-- Oh but they have been speaking on their own, for quite some time. And thanks to the advancements of technology and streaming equipment you'll be seeing them a lot more. Why? Because it's cheap. People look at the FGC like they look at the MLG or Star Craft communties. Communities that traditionally were nourished by the middle and upper-class. The FGC is a community that is behind in several regards, but ahead in others. We don't need to sensationalize a story that won't have new solutions presented at the end of the day.
Feel free to look up UltraChenTV, iPlaywinner, Eventhubs or just legitimately ask them via Facebook or Twitter.
Why haven't your "best and brightest" posted a blog speaking out about this? In their own words. Unedited. Post it to Reddit and it will get read won't it?
-- Probably because they don't feel it's a big deal. Probably because they'd rather play video games. Probably because they'd rather have their words heard instead of read. More importantly, who would read it? I've written at length on sex, race and misogyny in video games, but it took Ben Kuchera to bring you to my site. Jussayin.
I would assume this has been going on for years, yet it took a tip to the major outlets to bring it forth and condemn it? It seems to me that the people who are in the down and dirty covering the fighting game community could have reported on this for years, but for whatever reason chose not to.
-- You're also assuming there aren't people within the community who don't condemn it on a regular basis. It's actually quite frequent in stream chats, but gets swallowed up within the vitriol. I will agree, I would love to see more people cover it. But people have to care more to both write and read it.
This also takes people knowing the community past a Justin Wong or Daigo Umehara. There a lot of new kids watching streams coming to tournaments that think it's okay to take this anonymous online mentality to an even more intolerable level. If you came up in arcades, when you physically had to be next to someone, yeah, you heard trash talk, may have even seen a fight. But nothing to this level, it's actually surprising, because I'd have to admit...even I wouldn't know where to begin sometimes. Luckily, there are people smarter than myself in this community.
And, yeah, it's sad to see Aris pander to that crowd of anonymous yokel.
Don't choose to say nothing, and then frown when the mainstream decides to say something.
-- Don't assume we're all silent, then deride our community for having several obvious flaws.
My post wasn't directed at the FGC as a whole. It was directed at you and the fact that you felt the need to tsk tsk the mainstream media for covering this in the way they did. It almost had a "you can't cover this because you just don't understand us and our culture" vibe to it. I hate to break it to you, but there isn't some sort of prerequisite to understanding abhorrent behavior when you see it. Just because I am not part of the "scene" and that the Beast is Unleashed story was the first story I had read on the FGC in my life doesn't disqualify me from saying... whoa.. that dude's got a problem... and the fact that nobody is stopping him.. and so so many people are DEFENDING him within the culture.. that's a bigger problem...
You get a guy that represents your culture, and by putting him on this webshow he becomes a representative of your culture whether you like it or not, and he acts like he did; and then defends his actions by specifically saying this is how the culture is, and this is how it SHOULD be.... well.. how.. exactly.. do you expect that to not get reported? Or not reflect negatively on your culture as a whole? If the FGC wants to get a different message out there, I'm sorry, but then they are the ones that are going to have to provide it.
Look at the NBA after the Artest melee in Detroit. How many news outlets that never cover the NBA covered the story? All of them? Is this event on par with that? Of course not. But it is an example of a group being represented And did the NBA say "Oh, since you haven't covered us before, you shouldn't be covering this either" did they? How well would that have sounded?
It's up to the FGC to manage its image, if it cares to, not the mainsteam media's. It is not the mainstream's media's job to have "new solutions present at the end of the day". It was up to the NBA to try and rehabilitate its image (I still know people that firmly believe that the NBA is just a bunch of thugs playing basketball).
If the FGC really wants things to emerge from the underground status, to broaden its appeal beyond where its at now, these are the kinds of things it has to expect. The worst aspects of any organization (company, politician, sports team, organization) are always goiing to get a lot more publicity than the best aspects. It may not be fair, but it is what it is.
It almost had a "you can't cover this because you just don't understand us and our culture" vibe to it. I hate to break it to you, but there isn't some sort of prerequisite to understanding abhorrent behavior when you see it.
--It "almost" did? I emplore you to actually read what I wrote again. I'm not saying anyone can't cover anything. Everyone who is [genuinely] interested in this culture and cleaning it up. Inside the FGC or not. I wrote this because there were journos on twitter confused as to how people could not be cool with Aris' behavior and still be upset with how it was reported. That's actually a legit and valid point that more communities [FPS, JRPGs, RTS] need to bring up.
Singling out Aris as the guy who represented us [the FGC] is systematic of a bigger problem. Streams occur every week. At every major, I can only encourage that you watch more streams, not as a justification or anything [as I've stated before] of the sort, but as a means of commenting on a culture a part from controversy.
We don't see you or these journos unless EVO or a scandal is involved. Again, how'd you find my little blog? Exactly. And I'm glad that you're here and I hope that you come back. It's great that you have an opinion and are also concerned about misogyny and the horrid aspects about this or any culture. I hope, for you or any that are genuine about making this culture more accepting and open minded are around when a Penny Arcade, Kotaku, or Giant Bomb isn't.
But let's be honest two weeks from now, after the news cycle is attached to something else, we'll still be here. "Managing our image" as you would say. If Kotaku wants to omit or misquote Arturo Sanchez or Burn Your Bra, our management of image only goes so far.
Also, I'm very sure the FGC doesn't have qualms of having a more lucrative future, but there is little to no concern to "broadening our appeal" unless it is in an organic nature. These things take time.
Again...
We all need to be better at what we do.
I'm merely explaining why the progressive thinkers in the FGC aren't head over heels about major outlets covering two events a year. That past weekend alone major streams like Offcast and Kombatnetwork ran fundraiser programs. Again, I get it, no sizzle -- no story.
And I am saying "Welcome to the real world"
How many people's only exposure to the NBA was the Brawl?
How many people's only exposure to the NFL is Michael Vick's dogfighting scandal?
How many people's only exposure to Rap music is Tupac and Biggie getting murdered?
Only people who are genuinely interested in the FGC, and equally interested cleaning it up, are allowed to cover it? Really? Is that really how you think it should work? So NBC has no right to cover the Artest melee (when the only other thing it covers is announcing the Champion at the end of the season) because it doesn't have a "genuine interest in the NBA and cleaning up the problems with the NBA?"
I know the Artest melee is an extreme example, but it is a true example where millions of people who don't know anything about an organization (the NBA) basically got their only exposure via a horrible event. Perhaps I am wrong, but I don't think it is an impossible stretch to draw at least some small similarities here.
I'm sorry, it isn't the major media's job to clean up the fight game culture, its the fighting game culture's job to clean it up.
-Would I trust someone who was exposed to one event to have valuable input on the future of that culture? No, but I value their concern.
If you are interested in figuring out a method in stripping violence out of the NBA, I'd expect you to [from that point on] study more about the NBA. I'd expect you to form connections with officials, players, owners and work with that community. This is logical.*
Only people who are genuinely interested in the FGC, and equally interested cleaning it up, are allowed to cover it? Really? Is that really how you think it should work?
Again, because apparently it bears repeating, I have NO PROBLEM with anyone covering anything [including every extreme of the specturm] in the FGC or any other community. I'm merely shining a light on how that looks to people who are trying to make a difference in this community when the cameras aren't here.
I'm very well aware of the real world, I even expressed this in my original article. But we know you won't be around for long and it's important to know how everyone looks in these types of scenarios.
We know it isn't the major media's job to clean up the FGC, but it seems like the major media doesn't know that either. We appreciate the attention, but we'll take it from here.
*I'd also like to point out that NBC has an NBC Sports branch that has done years of research, writing and documentaries. They are actually, pretty freaking amazing.
Yes I know, since I am not an active member of the FGC, my opinion, in the end, doesn't count for much. "I won't be around for long" as you put it. You have been very clear on that point. I think in the end, that is part of the root of the issue. You aren't part of the culture, so you don't get an opinion.
You'll take it from here? Why? It seems that it has been tacitly tolerated, if not accepted, until now. Why else would he believe he could act that way in a public capacity? Because of the negative publicity? Would you be "taking it from here" if mainstream media hadn't exposed it?
I am fully aware of NBC Sports department. But I also remember the story and how it ran on the Nightly News. Basically it was "there was a brawl involving the Pacers and the Pistons, here's the video" and the video spoke for itself. The whole thing was less than 3 minutes on the National News. But those 3 minutes were probably some of the only 3 minutes of NBA that millions of people had ever seen. Tom Brokaw (or Brian Williams) never said "oh but there are a 1000 other NBA games where this doesn't happen!" or "this team and this player give money to charity!" It doesn't work that way.
But I haven't played a fighting game for more than general amusement since Street Fighter 2 in the arcade. And I was nowhere near part of the scene, or the culture, or what have you... So I don't even understand why you are wasting your time replying to my posts.... since I obviously don't count.
My point about NBC Nightly News was the fact that this was a venue that never, ever covers the NBA, except to announce the winner of the championship at the end of the season (and report on the riot, if one occurs). They do not normally cover the NBA. Perhaps a better example would have been the BBC, or the new outlets in Australia, or Hong Kong, or Japan, who all covered that brawl, but don't normally cover NBA or any other American sport's league in any real detail....
But then an event happened that was sensational enough that it crossed that boundary and the Nightly News covered it.
The mass media gaming sights don't spend a ton of time on the FGC. They don't spend a ton of time on ANY scene. But when an event is sensational enough, its gonna get covered. To expect anything else is just well... naive.
David Stern (or David Aldridge or Marc Stein, who cover the NBA as their job) did not stand up and say "Really, where are you when there ISN'T a fight? Where are you when NBA players are visiting hospitals? We know you won't be around for long."
One thing is that the NBA did, indeed, take it from there... suspending Artest and making a ton of rule changes to prevent anything even close to that happening again. We will have to see if the organizers of the events in the FGC will actually "take it from here"
But really...luckily for you.. if you care to.. just wait a week and this will be ancient history.. and you can actually work to enact change (you, I am speaking specifically to you) or you can continue to tolerate / accept / encourage that behavior... I mean.. people like me won't be here long.. and then things can get back to normal....
Yes I know, since I am not an active member of the FGC, my opinion, in the end, doesn't count for much. "I won't be around for long" as you put it. You have been very clear on that point. I think in the end, that is part of the root of the issue. You aren't part of the culture, so you don't get an opinion.
So I don't even understand why you are wasting your time replying to my posts.... since I obviously don't count.
^^ No one [here] is saying these things. I wouldn't be commenting, engaging in a dialogue and writing the article above at two in the morning if I didn't care about your opinion. I want people to scrutinize wrong doings. The sensitivity of the issue is so apropos considering that the dimwits of the FGC NEEDED to see themselves in this light, and -- conversely the games journalism sector needed to see itself.
How have they gone this long only covering EVO, only writing about Daigo/Justin, or recognizing a small insular moment in this community without having an expert on-hand, how about a freelancer? I guess Kotaku, Penny Arcade and even Dtoid may be in dire need of their very own NBC Sports division [or some smaller version of] it. Please, don't hold mainstream games journalism to this high standard when the very sites that are reporting on this current story have been derided by their very peers. [see also: Kotaku]
I'm merely shining light on the source as well as the issue. Something the Kotaku's & Destructoid's are incapable of doing, AS I STATED in my post. This isn't naivety, this is a faulty line of communication that could very easily be filled.
NBC did it. And I'll guarantee you there are several branches of sports reporting attached to major networks internationally. I know this, because I know how international scouting functions.
Martin, your opinion is important. I hold it to high regard. But much like the FGC can't be surprised when a Capcom-sponsored stream airs their dirty habits into the eyes of a major media outlet, that same media outlet can't be surprised when even the victim won't talk to them.
I'd also like to add, you didn't have to wait a week. Last night a couple more flippant thoughts were spewed on Wednesday Night Fights on LevelUpLive's stream. Today, Capcom & SRK pulled support and banned those who said what they said from any future streams.
We're growing and we are learning.
I did see the fallout from the LevelUpLive stream. I also know that I am coming across as someone waving their finger at you and while I don't intend that, I don't think I have done a very good job of avoiding it either.
I also better understand your point as "Mass Media sites shouldn't be surprised / offended when people at the heart of the FGC refuse to talk to them and this is why". I apologize for being to dense to get it before this. Though it seem that If there was ever a moment when the people who hold the FGC as something dear to them needed to get ahead of a story with a message this was it. But I also understand that the people who hold the FGC dear to them may not give a shit what the mainstream thinks as well so felt zero need to get ahead of anything. :)
And who knows, maybe I am still missing the point by a mile.
Cheers to your last comment Martin. Cheers.