Who the heck is Tom Chick?

[Rimbo]

Originally Posted by Hump

I say this without a trace of irony:

WTF is a VGMWatch?

It's a portable timepiece, like a sundial, except in reverse; it only works in your parents' basement.

[hong]

... is it too late to make a reference to The Usual Suspects?

[Other Brendan]

Originally Posted by Dr Fear

I just read the article now, but this last paragraph sounds fishy:


That sounds like an addition/edit in response to comments (that haven't yet been posted). He started out the article by saying mainstream writers shouldn't intrude on "rating games" and ends it saying "well even if he is a hardcore writer that is beside the point".

Anyone recall reading this article without that final paragraph?

I read it the night it went up and it was already there.

Frankly, I don't care that this guy didn't know who Tom Chick was. I can forgive that. There's a lot of people in this industry and it's hard enough just keeping straight who makes the games, much less who writes about them.

What I find much harder to deal with (and what is in my comment on VGMWatch that has been awaiting moderation for about 24 hours) is that this site tries to act as a watchdog on the gaming media, taking jabs at poorly researched articles and lazy journalism, and then doesn't even bother to do a damn Google search on the subject of a story before trying to discredit him.

I honestly like the idea of VGM Watch. I just want to see it done right, because there's really not anything else out there like it. And while I've got my own reservations about Orland, he did a better and more even-handed job of depicting the various pressures and issues surrounding game journalism than the current crew. They seem more enamored with getting on a soapbox and trying to take the starch out of the stuffed shirt that apparently is the bane of gaming journalism (who knew?).

[Hans Lauring]

Originally Posted by McBain

Correction: K0NY

Correction: Say what you want about K0NY, but he's not a Nintendo fanboy. It's not Dave, either, because there's no mention in that post about how much better NeoGAF is...

[malkav11]

Originally Posted by sluggo

When you have a writer who's regularly contributed to CGM, CGW/G4W, GameSpy and Yahoo for years, and you say you're not familiar with his work, what you're really saying is you don't read a lick of videogame coverage or know even the smallest bit about the people who do it for a living. The fact that someone so blatantly ignorant to the medium would post an attack like this says one thing to me: he's exactly the kind of hack that gives our profession a bad rap. So wonderfully ironic.

There's a lot of gaming media out there. I for one had only encountered his work on Gamespy prior to finding this site, and I'm pretty sure I didn't register the name when reading those reviews.

Of course, the guy in question should probably be more familiar with a wide spectrum of said media than I.

[Gendal]

Originally Posted by malkav11

Of course, the guy in question should probably be more familiar with a wide spectrum of said media than I.

Average joe not knowing a whit about Tom? Expected. Gaming site claiming to be a media watchdog? Baffling.

[Acosta]

Translation: "Contract me instead of that guy with no experience!"

Only that he didn´t even care to check who Tom Chick is. Pretty sad.

Yes, no one knows or care about who write videogames magazine features, but if you are going to write about something or someone, the least you can do is investigating it and get your facts straight.

[Bad Neighbor]

That gay man who was mean to Pam at the art gallery writes game reviews? No wonder journalism is doomed.

[André Costa]

Originally Posted by Hanzii

Correction: Say what you want about K0NY, but he's not a Nintendo fanboy. It's not Dave, either, because there's no mention in that post about how much better NeoGAF is...

haha ... Hanzii wins!!

[SergioBAM]

[QUOTE]While he’s done his homework and he possesses some knowledge of the franchise, the reader can’t really tell if this is through true experience or more of a Wikipedia job.

That's how I live my life, one wiki at a time [hitting random article].

If Billy Kirk really wanted to make a powerful statement, he would have included a picture of Tom wearing a tin-foiled beret while pointing at a Deus Ex box.

[JetLagger]

[quote=SergioBAM]

If Billy Kirk really wanted to make a powerful statement, he would have included a picture of Tom wearing a tin-foiled beret while pointing at a Deus Ex box.

hmm, I now know what my Halloween costume will be.

[Mark Crump]

Because typing in "tom chick video game review" into Google yields too many false positives.

I had a version of this once. Into my 2nd year of doing MMO reviews for Gamer, after giving a game a bad review someone flamed me on their boards with "Why didn't they get a guy who has played an MMO other than WoW to review the game?"

[Robert Sharp]

Originally Posted by malkav11

There's a lot of gaming media out there. I for one had only encountered his work on Gamespy prior to finding this site, and I'm pretty sure I didn't register the name when reading those reviews.

You mean you've never read any of the big computer gaming magazines? None of them? Ever? Because it seems like you can find at least one Chick review in each one each month (yeah, I'm exaggerating a bit...but not by as much as you think).

I don't know the names of most reviewers either. It doesn't matter that much to me, with a few exceptions (if I see some names I won't bother reading the review). But Tom is featured at the end of every Games for Windows Mag (or whichever one does the Tom vs. Bruce thing). If you are a watchdog on video game media, you should know that. You just should.

[EvilIdler]

Next someone will ask who Gary Whitta is, and actually try to find out, and then it gets REALLY interesting :)

[Kalle]

Still 0 validated comments. Is Billy simply gone for the weekend, or is this an article that is destined never to have any comments lest it make the author appear clueless?

[krokodile]

Why hasn't Tom posted here yet?!

TOM CHICK = BILLY KIRK

REPORTED

[Shieldwolf]

Are there any 13 year old boys here who could explain to me what double jumping is? It sounds so complicated and absurd.

[Unicorn McGriddle]

Okay, it's like this. First you jump, and then... you jump again, while still jumping.

Wait, shit, I'm not 13. Sorry, you're going to have to wait for someone with the proper credentials.

[JimmDogg]

Originally Posted by Billy Kirk

Chick finds Corruption too difficult and the story “borderline nonsensical”. That’s fine, that’s sheer opinion based upon his play experience. But later in his review, Chick again betrays his inadequacy as a games reviewer, again dishing opinion which lies outside his own play experience. He provides conjecture that denotes a certain, marked misunderstanding of current video game culture.

hehehe

[malkav11]

Originally Posted by Robert Sharp

You mean you've never read any of the big computer gaming magazines? None of them? Ever? Because it seems like you can find at least one Chick review in each one each month (yeah, I'm exaggerating a bit...but not by as much as you think).

Well...I read PC Gamer occasionally at the library, and I get GameInformer because of the discount card. But otherwise I get my gaming info from websites. Is that unusual?

(And I can't recall Chick ever writing for either, but like I say, until I joined these forums I wasn't exactly attuned to the name.)

[Andrew Mayer]

You guys are deconstructing all the meta fun out of Tom Chick worship.

HERETICS!

[Troy S Goodfellow]

People don't read bylines, so it wouldn't be surprising for a casual game site reader to not know who Tom Chick is.

This is different though, since Kirk's entire argument hinges on Variety not knowing what it is doing. Even if you disagree with the review (which is entirely reasonable) that in know way suggests that Variety has no business reviewing games. The fact they hired a competent and experienced writer suggests the exact opposite, in fact.

And once Kirk suggests that Tom doesn't know anything about gaming, he is under the obligation to find out what else Tom has written. Otherwise it reads like he just disagrees with this review. (Given the fact Billy Kirk writes for Nintendo Now, there is a chance of teh bias here.)

Troy

[Aleck]

This whole thing is pretty fun.

Congrats on getting published in Variety, Tom -- hopefully this becomes a regular gig!

[rei]

Is Tom Chick really Gordon Goble?

[TomChick]

I have no problem with someone having not heard of me, or disagreeing with a review, or failing to look up my name. It sounds like the dude was mad that I didn't have nicer things to say about Metroid. I think there's a club for that. They meet every Saturday.

But what bothers me is that people -- most of them big Metroid fans -- misconstrue that Variety review as a slam on Metroid. Maybe it's a failing on my part for not expressing it better, but that's not what I inteded. It's a review for non-gamers (i.e. the majority of Variety's readers) who may not know what they're in for if they play Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Hey, Metroid fans: saying "Halo this ain't" isn't supposed to be a criticism!

-Tom

[Squirrel Killer]

Originally Posted by TomChick

I have no problem with someone having not heard of me, or disagreeing with a review, or failing to look up my name.

You should have a problem at least with someone failing to look up your name. It's like a political reporter complaining about this Christopher Dodd dude claiming to be running for president and blithely saying that they probably won’t become familiar with him, either.

[TomChick]

I'm not that big a player in videogame coverage. Folks who stick to the larger publications like EGM, PC Gamer, and Gamespot have no reason to know my name. But, yeah, it is a fair point that some site claiming to be a watchdog group for Videogames Journalism -- capital "V", capital "J" -- should probably do its homework.

-Tom

[Robert Sharp]

I'm thinking you are probably the most prolific freelance reviewer out there though. And you've reviewed for websites too.

But at any rate, not knowing your name is fine...I was surprised at Malkav's claim that he had never read your stuff, which I find dubious. More likely is that he never noted your name, which I find not only understandable...but laudable ;).

[caesarbear]

Originally Posted by TomChick

Hey, Metroid fans: saying "Halo this ain't" isn't supposed to be a criticism!

It's your juxtaposition:

...disappointed. "Halo" this ain't.

You're too demanding of their attention span.

[malkav11]

Originally Posted by Robert Sharp

I'm thinking you are probably the most prolific freelance reviewer out there though. And you've reviewed for websites too.

But at any rate, not knowing your name is fine...I was surprised at Malkav's claim that he had never read your stuff, which I find dubious. More likely is that he never noted your name, which I find not only understandable...but laudable ;).

Oh, I probably had, if only on Gamespy (I never visit Yahoo of my own accord, and I hadn't read those magazines to speak of.). But known the name, no. :p