About year ago I learned that IGN and Fox executives had plans to revamp GameSpy, the oft-overlooked game site purchased by IGN Entertainment in 2004. GameSpy has seen various half-improvements, stutter steps, design shifts, deadline changes, and more, and very few of the original staff felt all that good about it, as evidenced by staff changes, departures, and layoffs.
The recent editorial shift is probaby the biggest change the site has seen since the two companies merged, and it’s interesting to see what the new staff, led by Will Tuttle, is doing. A majority of the editorial is humor. Yes, there are still reports on games, but there are also feature stories like this, “Disastvertising: The Worst in Gaming PR.”
Have you ever tried and succeeded in writing something truly funny? The clever, talented folks at The Onion have, year after year, written some of the funniest articles and produced the funniest videos the world has ever seen. GameSpy isn’t even close to reach that level of gut-wrenching humor. But articles like “Disastervising” give me hope for GameSpy.
Unlike the parody-driven Onion, this article points out the absurdity in gaming PR stunts, and it’s quite amazing to see just how insanely ridiculous said stunts are. At first I dreaded reading the piece. But the level of detail presented and the approach the writer took were clever, witty, and more often than not, funny.
Other gaming sites have tried and continue to emply humor as their main means of covering the game industry, such as GamesRadar.com. How well does GameSpy match up, or surpass GamesRadar?
GameInsano.com 