The Gaming Press Is A Sorry Tool For Wokescolds

In last week’s edition of “Playing Politics,” I talked about an article from The Gamer written by a journalist pathetically trying to claim that “Resident Evil 5,” a game set in Africa, was horribly, irredeemably racist because it starred a white man. The week before that, I mentioned an article from IGN where the author expressed her deep disappointment that “Final Fantasy 16,” a game inspired by medieval Europe, didn’t look like modern-day San Francisco. 

And late last week, I had the great misfortune of stumbling upon an article from Polygon claiming that Link from the “Zelda” series is a gay icon, and that “The Legend of Zelda’s queer themes are more than just subtext.”

In all these situations, gaming itself took a backseat to the politics of the writer. Graphics, gameplay, and fun be damned, modern-day games journalists are more concerned about what kind of message the game sends or how they can use our favorite characters to further their leftist agenda.

Video game journalism has been in a sorry state for a while now, but I think we can precisely place the beginning of its decline in 2014, with the advent of Gamergate. Other than which starter Pokemon to pick — the correct answer for that by the way is Squirtle — Gamergate is perhaps the most controversial topic in gaming. 

For those not in the know, Gamergate was a campaign to push for ethics in video game reporting. It started when a female games developer failed to