For a long while now (over a year, as a matter of fact), this blog has lain dormant. That is about to change... a couple of things have come up recently that fall into my 'interests' column, gaming (of which I have a mild, but lengthy, attraction to), and web-comics, a guilty pleasure of mine.

To the former, the subject of GamerGate, a sordid tale of corruption, collusion, cronyism, journalist arrogance, not-so-creeping cultural Marxism (chiefly in the form of 'Feminism'), and outright suppression of contrary opinions.

In other words, a junior version of the (currently) malignant Fourth Estate, the once proud protector of the 'common man', and diligent watch-dog against governmental hanky-panky, wannabe oligarchs, plutocrats, and other such mischief.

As to the latter subject, I've noticed a growing trend by some web-comics to advance certain issues, and story lines, onto their readers. This is hardly news in one respect: comics are stories told a punchy, visual format. The nature of these stories... as widely ranged as a slice of our Earth between two horizons (a fancy way of saying: a lot).

Back in days of my youth (way before the internet), most comics were 'slice of life' stories, some silly, some serious, but all meant to engage the reader with the characters in the comic, and the circumstances of their existence within those three or four frames of art in their own little space on the page of a newspaper.

Remember those, folks? Yeah... the average newspaper now is a not-so-glorious shadow of their former selves. I'll save the subject of their decline for another day; even so, their diminishment (and why) is a fore-taste of the current debacle 'game journalists' find themselves in. The big difference?

Velocity.

Most newspapers fell into decline over a span of decades; gaming journals, or more to the point, game journalists (mostly of the on-line flavor) have managed to fling themselves into the Abyss in the space of a few weeks.

That, my friends, is a display of ability, and zeal, only exceeded by Japanese Kamikaze pilots.

BTW, before I proceed on to part 2 of this subject, I'll make a point of posting some informative links on the subject of GamerGate. I don't want anybody thinking that I'm making this all up out of thin air... I'm not. And, as a bonus, by getting a grasp of that heinous scandal, you might find it easier to grasp why the Fourth Estate (in general), has fallen into position of disrepute, below the tier occupied by harlots and snake-oil salesmen.

If you're interested, here's a few links to get grasp on the subject.

Here's one woman's take on the subject of GamerGate.

Here's a quick and dirty explanation (warning, the guy talks 'lawyers disclaimer' speed) of the scandal.

And finally, a longer, but well detailed discussion on the subject.

What's next? Part II - Web-comics... forget story-telling, we have a message for you. Pictures with an agenda: a powerful combination.

Posted by: CPT. Charles at 10:19 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 505 words, total size 4 kb.