I’ll admit it, when I see stuff like this, I get a little jealous. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no allusions about the reach of this site. I understand that I’m not a member of the press proper. I don’t have press contacts, and I don’t get press releases. People don’t come here for breaking news, reviews, and previews. Sending me anything would have limited benefit to any of the companies involved.
“More after the jump”
Though Kotaku is not shy about posting about whenever they get free stuff, you might notice that the staff does not post much in the way of reviews (and no, their “Frankenreviews” don’t count. So why does the site get free stuff from vendors? They get stuff because they have lots of readers, and they’ll tell their readers. It’s that simple. It’s no secret that to get lots of readers you need several things, but chief among them are: consistent updates and compelling, well written content. Press releases by themselves are pretty are pretty dull material. Rewritten press releases are slightly better, but press releases with snarky commentary seem to be a path to success, and indeed, seems to be the crux of the content stream of the major video game news sources. I don’t mean to single out Kotaku, original content aside, several of the Big Few sites post the same news, rewritten with the editor’s comments: Exhibits 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. It’s a formula that’s worked for Paul Harvey’s News & Comment since 1951 (although admittedly quite a bit more subdued).
I suppose the point that I’m trying to make is that there doesn’t really seem to be anything particularly special about the Big Few gaming blog sites. In fact, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between the big sites and this one (you might notice that I posted that a couple of days sooner… just sayin’), except that I don’t post rewritten press releases with comment, or silly links with comment, or scuttlebutt with comment. But I could. I already trawl the Internet looking for video game news, rumors and information. It would be trivial to set up a mailbox and subscribe to all of the press release lists I could get my hands on. I could then sift through them, pick out the juiciest cherries, rewrite them, and post them every day. I could post the links that I seek out and find every day. It would certainly shake this site up a little bit, and heck, I might increase my average daily visits into the triple-digits.
It’s a lot to consider.