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Transcript

You Don’t Want Criticism · Critical Error

• 0:00
  I guess I just have a hard time
• 0:01
  believing that like the video game
• 0:03
  review is making any sort of tangible
• 0:06
  impact on people's lives. Like the
• 0:08
  highly invested video game media
• 0:10
  consumer, the kind of person that's
• 0:12
  listening to this podcast, are they
• 0:13
  really changing their behavior or
• 0:16
  becoming enlightened because of the
• 0:18
  video game review we are so familiar
• 0:20
  with, the one that comes out 2 days
• 0:22
  before release? Is that having a
• 0:24
  transformative effect on me when you see
• 0:26
  that 7 out of 10 that's completely
• 0:29
  blowing my mind? It's changing
• 0:31
  everything. That seven
• 0:33
  >> I think I think it all comes down to
• 0:34
  like answering the question of like what
• 0:37
  does a review even do?
• 0:39
  >> A critical error is an error which the
• 0:41
  OS cannot reasonably ignore.
• 0:43
  Jake Steinberg is a streamer and writer
• 0:46
  and certified yapper. complimentary.
• 0:48
  Peter Hunt spit tech
• 0:50
  is a YouTuber, journalist, and certified
• 0:53
  yapper. Derogatory. These are the things
• 0:56
  they cannot reasonably ignore.
• 0:57
  >> I'm feeling a bit confrontational today.
• 0:59
  Oh.
• 1:00
  >> So, I think I'm going to start this
• 1:02
  conversation, this very loaded, charged
• 1:04
  conversation about video game reviews
• 1:06
  with a question.
• 1:09
  Do we think, do we believe that the
• 1:12
  pre-release video game review is
• 1:16
  criticism? That's where I want to start.
• 1:19
  >> Okay, this is actually a great place to
• 1:21
  start because I think the question of
• 1:24
  like
• 1:25
  obviously the question that's on the tin
• 1:27
  of this episode, that's the title of the
• 1:28
  episode is like, do video game reviews
• 1:30
  matter? And I think the very easy answer
• 1:32
  that to that question is yeah, they do.
• 1:35
  But I think the more interested and
• 1:38
  complicated question falls
• 1:40
  into what you're what what you're asking
• 1:42
  me here about like well what kind of
• 1:45
  reviews matter though because there's
• 1:46
  all kinds of different reviews and so
• 1:48
  the one that I think we think of most
• 1:50
  often when we are referring to video
• 1:52
  game reviews are Jake what you just
• 1:54
  described the review that comes out two
• 1:56
  days before a week before sometimes the
• 1:59
  day the game launches and do those
• 2:01
  matter are those criticism that's an
• 2:04
  interesting question because I say just
• 2:06
  from like off the dome I would say
• 2:08
  largely they are not criticism based on
• 2:10
  what I have seen what do you think
• 2:12
  >> so I think part of the reason why I
• 2:14
  introduced this conversation is being a
• 2:15
  little bit confrontational is because I
• 2:18
  know kind of like how this implication
• 2:20
  might not sound nice to a lot of people
• 2:22
  you and I have both done pre-release
• 2:24
  video game reviews before and to say
• 2:27
  like hey this this thing this work that
• 2:30
  we did this real work this thing that we
• 2:32
  produced is not in what sounds like an
• 2:35
  almost arbitrary
• 2:38
  uh standard of like art making. It
• 2:40
  doesn't fulfill that quality can feel
• 2:43
  mean. It can feel impolite. But I think
• 2:45
  what's actually happening there is that
• 2:48
  in the same way that we have standards
• 2:50
  for our media, we have standards for our
• 2:52
  art, we need to have standards for our
• 2:54
  criticism as well. Yes. And this only
• 2:56
  creates sharper, more well-informed
• 2:59
  criticism. and I think is part of the
• 3:02
  critical process having having
• 3:04
  responding to each other in this way.
• 3:06
  So, um I don't see this confrontation as
• 3:10
  um while I do see it as a confrontation,
• 3:12
  I don't see it as mean-spirited in that.
• 3:15
  >> No, it's not a dig, right? It's this
• 3:17
  idea too of like um I I think there's a
• 3:21
  because we have been on the other end of
• 3:22
  it of like doing these like pre-release
• 3:24
  reviews and things like that. I think um
• 3:27
  you and I are positioned to understand
• 3:29
  the position and perspective of someone
• 3:32
  having to do that, right? Like uh you
• 3:36
  often times do not have the time to sit
• 3:38
  down and like really really chew on a
• 3:42
  review and and stew on a piece of work
• 3:44
  because it's like I got a code for a
• 3:46
  game and the embar I got a code for a
• 3:48
  game uh on Monday and the embargo was up
• 3:51
  today. So I was like I didn't play it
• 3:53
  because I just fully didn't have the
• 3:54
  time to do it. But it was this thing
• 3:55
  where I was like, "Okay, let's say I was
• 3:58
  working for a publication that comes in
• 3:59
  and it's like, okay, Peter, you have to
• 4:00
  have you have to play the game and have
• 4:02
  a review done by Wednesday." That is
• 4:04
  like pretty much 48 hours between
• 4:05
  getting the code and having to have it
• 4:07
  published and up. And it's this thing
• 4:08
  where it's like I understand the
• 4:10
  position for like I understand that that
• 4:13
  can push you to maybe not be doing the
• 4:16
  type of criticism that you would be
• 4:18
  doing if you were given more time, you
• 4:20
  know,
• 4:20
  >> of course. And I think the structural
• 4:22
  con constraints of the you know burdened
• 4:26
  upon games media writer that is
• 4:28
  something that is a that is a well-worn
• 4:30
  path and it's it's not necessarily where
• 4:33
  um I feel like taking this particular
• 4:36
  conversation
• 4:36
  >> that's what we're talking about but I
• 4:37
  think it's worth addressing to say like
• 4:39
  no no we get we like like there's a side
• 4:41
  of this that is important and is worth
• 4:43
  sort of discussing but that's just not
• 4:44
  what this conversation is right now
• 4:46
  >> right so when I'm trying to talk about
• 4:47
  or at least identify the difference
• 4:49
  between the pre-release piece review and
• 4:52
  the um you know maybe the the more
• 4:55
  artful in some ways or like the the
• 4:58
  critical review. I think it's worth kind
• 5:00
  of like identifying what both of these
• 5:02
  things are and like why they're
• 5:03
  different because and I think that this
• 5:05
  will resonate with with with anybody
• 5:07
  listening but like it's it sounds
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  obvious but criticism at its core is not
• 5:12
  consumer guidance. That is something we
• 5:14
  can all agree agree with this should I
• 5:16
  or should I not buy something? But, and
• 5:18
  this is like my first kind of like uh
• 5:21
  little little lesson that I want to
• 5:22
  impart on the listener is that by virtue
• 5:26
  of working within a pre-release embargo,
• 5:30
  by agreeing to that, by being part of
• 5:33
  the marketing roll out of a video game,
• 5:35
  no matter what you write, you are
• 5:38
  playing into consumer guidance. You are
• 5:42
  you are part of that. It does not
• 5:43
  matter. The structure shapes your
• 5:45
  message. The way in which your review
• 5:49
  exists is part of the messaging of the
• 5:52
  review. I don't care if it is a negative
• 5:54
  one. You are
• 5:55
  >> right. It's It's like if you and I were
• 5:57
  given a code for a game to review and we
• 6:00
  drop a review video on this channel that
• 6:04
  is devoted to writing good criticism and
• 6:06
  discussing how we talk about games. If
• 6:08
  we are putting something up at at
• 6:10
  embargo with everyone else, regardless
• 6:12
  of what that piece of content is, that
• 6:14
  is still a part of it. And and it's like
• 6:17
  I want to just like be doubly clear here
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  that like that is just definitionally
• 6:22
  what is happening
• 6:23
  >> of course because the the question of
• 6:25
  should I buy this is what's important
• 6:28
  because even if your your answer to that
• 6:30
  question is no even if the content of
• 6:33
  your review is not at all interested in
• 6:35
  answering the question of should I buy
• 6:37
  this by virtue of the fact that it is
• 6:39
  coming out in the period of time by
• 6:42
  virtue of when the publisher decided
• 6:45
  That was the question that people should
• 6:47
  be thinking about. You are adhering to
• 6:50
  the question making. You are adhering to
• 6:53
  people even thinking considering if it
• 6:56
  is something that they should buy by
• 6:57
  being a part of that organization. And I
• 7:00
  think that like that is just I I
• 7:02
  understand that this is like a tall
• 7:03
  order for a lot of people that we all
• 7:05
  want it to come down to this very ro
• 7:08
  very stupid uh kind of uh recursive
• 7:12
  argumentation in which we are like well
• 7:14
  I'm not biased like that whole that
• 7:16
  whole I'm a video game reviewer that is
• 7:18
  not biased. You know what I mean? I got
• 7:20
  I got a review code. I got a I got a all
• 7:23
  of this stuff. But don't worry, my
• 7:25
  opinion is unscathed. It turns out I
• 7:28
  actually don't care about your opinion
• 7:29
  because that's not what we're dealing
• 7:31
  with. That's not
• 7:32
  >> right. It's it's it's also less about
• 7:33
  like whether you are biased or not or
• 7:36
  like and it's to me that question is not
• 7:39
  particularly interesting because the
• 7:40
  answer is of course you are and that's
• 7:42
  fine and good because I'm biased, you're
• 7:44
  biased. It's we all have our own biases,
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  right? But it's more about like uh uh
• 7:49
  what incentives are there for you here,
• 7:52
  you know? And and that's the thing that
• 7:53
  I think is more interesting and more
• 7:55
  pressing. And I'm not saying even that
• 7:56
  like most people who are reviewing
• 7:58
  things, I'm not saying that Ubisoft is
• 7:59
  giving me a crisp $10 bill to tell you
• 8:03
  that Star Wars Outlaws 2 is I'm cheap is
• 8:06
  that Star Wars Outlaws 2 is good or
• 8:09
  whatever, right? Like that's not what
• 8:10
  I'm like. Of course, that's a huge
• 8:12
  problem. But it's it's more subtle than
• 8:14
  that, right? It's the fact that when I
• 8:16
  was working at Blank Publication as a
• 8:18
  freelancer, I reviewed a game. This is
• 8:21
  true. I gave it a four out of 10 because
• 8:23
  I thought it sucked really bad and I was
• 8:25
  told to change it to a six out of 10 um
• 8:28
  because that's what the editor-in chief
• 8:32
  at that particular website. The website
• 8:34
  doesn't exist anymore. Don't worry, it's
• 8:35
  fine. Um wanted so that there could be a
• 8:38
  continued PR relationship with that
• 8:39
  studio. So again to kind of continue on
• 8:42
  this this line of logic that is just
• 8:44
  setting up the our our definitions so
• 8:46
  that we are all discussing the same
• 8:48
  thing um we need to kind of like first
• 8:52
  arrive at this conversation I guess
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  about like what criticism is. So if it's
• 8:57
  like I've identif we've identified the
• 9:00
  um what would you say is like this this
• 9:02
  consumer guide type thing. Um I would
• 9:05
  say that criticism is less less about
• 9:09
  answering that question and more an act
• 9:11
  of interpretation. Right? So in a piece
• 9:13
  of criticism you are attempting to
• 9:15
  understand how the the the text is
• 9:18
  constructed, what its orientation is
• 9:21
  towards the world and what kind of
• 9:22
  relationships it proposes between the
• 9:25
  text and the player. Um you know a good
• 9:28
  piece of criticism asks what is this
• 9:31
  doing and how is it doing it? And kind
• 9:33
  of like the the the point that you
• 9:35
  started this conversation with is that I
• 9:38
  think um there's a great like Jay-Z
• 9:41
  quote I come to all the time when he was
• 9:42
  talking about music reviews. I think
• 9:44
  >> you're talking about like where like
• 9:45
  albums like come out and people are like
• 9:47
  reviewing them. They listen to it once
• 9:48
  and they like write the review and it's
• 9:49
  like it just doesn't work like that.
• 9:51
  Right.
• 9:52
  >> Of course. Yes. Because the the like
• 9:54
  music and video games and all art. Um,
• 9:57
  there is a degree to which criticism
• 9:59
  just requires time and distance and you
• 10:01
  need to be able to move from the
• 10:04
  experience of something to the structure
• 10:06
  of it, which is hard because in
• 10:10
  pre-release game reviews, as you were
• 10:11
  alluding to, I think that a launch
• 10:14
  review is structurally designed to
• 10:16
  arrive at the same moment. Um, and it is
• 10:20
  written under specific conditions. It
• 10:23
  is. It has all of these things that it
• 10:26
  must cover because the game is not out
• 10:28
  yet. It's it must cover performance,
• 10:31
  accessibility, the length, the value,
• 10:33
  the technical stability. It it has to
• 10:35
  talk about genre conventions and what
• 10:38
  other games it is like. These are
• 10:40
  structural implications that a review no
• 10:43
  longer has after the game is out. These
• 10:45
  are things that are forced upon the
• 10:47
  pre-release review. And I think you know
• 10:50
  uh uh my anecdote about like having to
• 10:52
  change a review score uh that is like
• 10:55
  the most obvious example to me that I've
• 10:58
  experienced of like pressure
• 11:00
  from editorial staff. And again this was
• 11:03
  like a small website that I think they
• 11:06
  were trying to uh uh pretend they were
• 11:08
  in a bigger league than they were by
• 11:10
  being like well we have to have these
• 11:11
  relationships with PR. And I like I I
• 11:13
  think that in my experience with larger
• 11:15
  sites, this sort of thing does not
• 11:17
  happen in that same way because they
• 11:19
  don't necessarily have that have those
• 11:21
  same like concerns or at least they
• 11:23
  don't have it doesn't happen in that
• 11:24
  like explicit of a way to be like no you
• 11:27
  are changing the score right now. Um,
• 11:30
  >> but I think that like the second, as
• 11:33
  you're saying, the second you get away
• 11:35
  from the the window of of reviews being
• 11:37
  PR,
• 11:39
  then I think a lot of those pressures
• 11:40
  disappear because also most likely this
• 11:42
  the code that you're getting, you
• 11:44
  probably aren't getting a code. You
• 11:46
  probably like buying that either of your
• 11:48
  own, you know, valition or or you know,
• 11:50
  the website that you're working for gets
• 11:52
  that code for you. all of that pressure
• 11:54
  goes away because there's no
• 11:55
  relationship there at a certain point,
• 11:57
  you know,
• 11:58
  >> of course. Um, and it's funny, it's like
• 12:00
  even even on that point, I I just want
• 12:02
  to be like excessively clear that there
• 12:04
  is this again this like very very uh
• 12:07
  lowbrow implication that like oh getting
• 12:11
  the code is
• 12:14
  influencing what I believe to be like my
• 12:16
  honest impression of the game. And it's
• 12:19
  funny it's like this this question of
• 12:21
  biases and honesty. It's like, no, no,
• 12:23
  no. I believe that everything you wrote
• 12:26
  about your experience was honest.
• 12:27
  >> No, of course.
• 12:30
  >> But like, can you have an a a honest
• 12:35
  experience and a telling of that honest
• 12:37
  experience that was also uh influenced
• 12:40
  by factors that you are not accounting
• 12:42
  for?
• 12:43
  >> Right. you we talked about this once. Uh
• 12:45
  this is I think before we were even
• 12:46
  doing the pod when like you and I were
• 12:48
  like
• 12:48
  >> just generally talking about this topic
• 12:52
  and
• 12:53
  >> we were talking about how um two years
• 12:56
  ago at Summer GameFest I went and I did
• 12:58
  a hands-off preview of Assassin's Creed
• 13:00
  Shadows and um how I was talking to you
• 13:04
  and I was like I think a lot of those
• 13:05
  like flashy things they do for the press
• 13:07
  like don't necessarily like impress me
• 13:09
  that much. So like for uh Assassin's
• 13:12
  Creed Shadows, they they had shown they
• 13:13
  had like a guy who was like on site like
• 13:16
  making like katanas and like other like
• 13:19
  ninja weapons and things like that.
• 13:20
  There was like like a like a seafood
• 13:23
  buffet and they had people doing um like
• 13:26
  like portrait paintings of people and
• 13:29
  stuff like that and it was really cool.
• 13:30
  But at the end of the day and this is
• 13:32
  the point I made to you. I was like yeah
• 13:34
  but at the end of the day I still wrote
• 13:35
  kind of a negative preview of of the
• 13:37
  game. and you pushed back on that and
• 13:39
  you were like, "Yeah, but didn't don't
• 13:40
  you think you had an experience that was
• 13:42
  unlike the experience that everyone else
• 13:43
  was going to have when you play that
• 13:45
  game?" It's like, "Yeah, it's true."
• 13:48
  >> And I would even go a step further and I
• 13:50
  would say that, and this is again, this
• 13:52
  is one of those things that I think in
• 13:54
  the space goes undetected. the
• 13:57
  heightening of the importance of your
• 14:00
  voice. Not the fact that you you think
• 14:02
  of something more positively, but the
• 14:04
  fact that you think what you have to say
• 14:07
  about this game is valuable at all. And
• 14:10
  the way that that is built up is by
• 14:12
  treating you to an experience that is
• 14:15
  unusual, that is unique from the
• 14:18
  experience that everybody else is going
• 14:19
  to have with the game. It is. It is
• 14:21
  setting the table. You eat the meal and
• 14:24
  then you go, "Well, I didn't like it."
• 14:27
  >> It's like, "Well, you ate the meal.
• 14:29
  >> You still got the right. I still got I
• 14:31
  still literally got a meal out of it."
• 14:33
  You know, and
• 14:34
  >> and there's nothing wrong with that,
• 14:35
  right? Like it's just this understanding
• 14:37
  of like, okay, but all of if all of that
• 14:39
  is true,
• 14:39
  >> Yeah.
• 14:41
  >> then
• 14:42
  is it genuine real criticism if you're
• 14:45
  eating the meal to then write about the
• 14:48
  meal?
• 14:49
  >> Of course. Right. And that is and that
• 14:50
  is the question, right? And I think that
• 14:52
  somebody who um somebody who, you know,
• 14:55
  was not invited to the dinner and simply
• 14:58
  had that meal on their own
• 15:00
  >> is uh their sense of importance and why
• 15:03
  they're doing something. Suddenly, it's
• 15:05
  less about the moment. It's less about
• 15:07
  the context. It's less about something
• 15:08
  that was built up in their heads about a
• 15:10
  PR relationship. And that is more about
• 15:13
  the work. Now, the thing that makes
• 15:16
  their piece valuable is what they say in
• 15:19
  it. not the timing, not where they were
• 15:21
  and not what they had access to. The
• 15:24
  importance is placed at the foot of the
• 15:27
  work. And that is something that I think
• 15:29
  is so like largely ignored in the space,
• 15:32
  right? Like let's like let's talk about
• 15:35
  this the importance of the work. Um
• 15:39
  criticism ideally
• 15:42
  enlightens somebody who is all who has
• 15:44
  already experienced the text. So, this
• 15:47
  was another thing that I I kind I want
• 15:49
  to hear where you're going with this,
• 15:50
  but this was another thing that like
• 15:51
  when we were initially talking here
• 15:53
  about the idea of like pre-release
• 15:55
  um reviews is that
• 15:59
  usually when you get a code for a game,
• 16:01
  you are also given um review guidelines.
• 16:04
  >> Yeah, of course.
• 16:05
  >> That tell you what you can and can't
• 16:06
  talk about. And a lot of the times it'll
• 16:07
  be like, "Hey, don't mention the event
• 16:09
  that happens after chapter 3." Or, "Hey,
• 16:11
  don't mention the thing after this part
• 16:13
  in the game. Don't talk about this." And
• 16:15
  like to me not being able to talk about
• 16:17
  the work means that you like you can if
• 16:20
  if it is up to if it is up to you to
• 16:22
  decide what you want to talk about and
• 16:23
  what you don't want to talk about great
• 16:24
  but if it's up to the company then it's
• 16:27
  like okay cool then I can't just I can't
• 16:29
  fully do my job. I can't fully like
• 16:31
  really dive into this as criticism
• 16:33
  because if we're worried about spoilers
• 16:35
  if we're worried about this that and
• 16:36
  whatever then I we can't do it. And so
• 16:38
  to your point of I think where you're
• 16:40
  going to be going with this is it's like
• 16:43
  pre-release reviews like by definition
• 16:47
  cannot
• 16:49
  talk about the work in a way that is
• 16:51
  going to have people come back to it and
• 16:53
  go oh I understand now or oh I see the
• 16:56
  perspective.
• 16:56
  >> It's a it's a question of audience
• 16:58
  orientation. It's a question of who
• 17:00
  you're speaking to. And if you are
• 17:02
  writing a review knowing that your
• 17:05
  readers cannot have played the game,
• 17:08
  then you are writing for somebody who um
• 17:11
  I mean it's like you said, you cannot
• 17:13
  meaningfully analyze any lateg game
• 17:15
  developments uh without spoiling them.
• 17:17
  You cannot assume any familiarity with
• 17:19
  the game or its systems and you cannot
• 17:22
  build um kind of like layered arguments
• 17:25
  that are in conversation with the shared
• 17:27
  experience or the or wider experience
• 17:29
  because there isn't one
• 17:30
  >> because yeah
• 17:32
  >> the the mo the deepest you can possibly
• 17:34
  get in a review like this is to say I
• 17:35
  don't want to spoil things but the
• 17:37
  ending is satisfying and it's like okay
• 17:38
  well then what are we even doing here
• 17:40
  you know
• 17:41
  >> then and then before you even get to
• 17:42
  that point you are inundated with
• 17:44
  paragraphs upon paragraphs that is just
• 17:46
  kind of an appraisal of the game's
• 17:48
  elements, an itemization of all of these
• 17:50
  because you are talking to somebody who
• 17:52
  does not know what the game is. There is
• 17:53
  almost this implication that you must
• 17:56
  say, "Hey, there are six different
• 17:57
  shopkeepers that all have this bespoke
• 18:00
  purpose to them." And all of that comes
• 18:02
  together in a way that I thought was
• 18:03
  good. Moving on. And it's um the the
• 18:08
  it's almost you are performing the
• 18:11
  public relations obligation of
• 18:13
  introducing your audience member to the
• 18:16
  text and then after performing that
• 18:18
  introduction you know you intro I I
• 18:20
  introduce you to my cousin Jeremy and I
• 18:23
  say hey this is Jeremy they were oh my
• 18:25
  god there's a connection between you two
• 18:26
  if you know um you know Brian Brian
• 18:28
  actually works with Jeremy at the office
• 18:29
  and then Jeremy walks away and then I
• 18:31
  whisper in your ear I don't like Jeremy
• 18:33
  that much that's that's pretty much a
• 18:36
  video game review, you know, seven out
• 18:37
  of 10. And that's and I think that
• 18:39
  that's largely how um these pre-release
• 18:43
  reviews are operating. So then if we
• 18:45
  shift our focus to the to the kind of
• 18:48
  like critical uh lens through which
• 18:50
  reviews typically work in other media,
• 18:53
  I'm thinking primarily of like film
• 18:55
  criticism, right? A more developed field
• 18:57
  some might say. Yeah. And I again, the
• 19:00
  enlightening of somebody who has already
• 19:02
  experienced the text, the the When was
• 19:05
  the last time you read a video game
• 19:07
  review that reconfigured your memory?
• 19:10
  Like what an experience, right?
• 19:12
  >> Yeah. Well, it's also it's it's
• 19:13
  interesting, too. It's it's like I I
• 19:16
  read video game reviews when they go up,
• 19:18
  but I think this is the point you're
• 19:19
  making.
• 19:21
  So rarely do I go back and like read a
• 19:23
  review once I finished a game because I
• 19:25
  know that that the review is pretty much
• 19:28
  just going to tell me what I already
• 19:29
  know, which is in Silent Hill F, you
• 19:31
  play as this character and you are
• 19:32
  running around doing this and whatever.
• 19:34
  And it's like, yeah, no, I know that
• 19:35
  because I just did it. You know,
• 19:37
  >> of course, of course, these are these
• 19:38
  areformational artifacts that are
• 19:41
  ultimately a part of the marketing cycle
• 19:43
  and um documents of early reception. And
• 19:48
  I would say most frequently they are
• 19:50
  exceptionally well-written summaries,
• 19:52
  but they are most of the time not
• 19:55
  sustained acts of interpretation. And I
• 19:57
  think that that distinction is important
• 19:59
  because if we collapse review and
• 20:01
  criticism into the same thing, I think
• 20:03
  we ultimately lose sight of what
• 20:05
  criticism can do. And I really do kind
• 20:09
  of think that we have seen this already
• 20:12
  in the video game review space because
• 20:15
  something that I was thinking a lot
• 20:16
  about in leading up to recording this
• 20:20
  episode is that I actually think social
• 20:22
  media has had a kind of degenerative
• 20:25
  effect on the position of the video game
• 20:28
  reviewer. Um, most
• 20:32
  video game reviews, I think, are written
• 20:34
  from this perspective of fan of the
• 20:37
  franchise. Somebody who is informed
• 20:38
  about video. Yeah. Informed about video
• 20:40
  games plays them. The gamer's
• 20:42
  perspective, if you will. But the gamers
• 20:45
  perspective in that review, they are
• 20:47
  simply the early access look at what
• 20:51
  will eventually be consensus among
• 20:54
  gamers, I would say. So there is this
• 20:56
  strange relationship where I think the
• 21:00
  reviews, however whatever they mean,
• 21:02
  however much reviews matter, almost
• 21:04
  immediately collapses once a game hits
• 21:07
  social media feeds and you have the much
• 21:10
  more kind of um robust landscape of wide
• 21:14
  consensus of wide interpretations or
• 21:17
  wide arrivals at if a game is is good or
• 21:20
  bad or whatever it is that's um
• 21:22
  important to people. So this weird thing
• 21:24
  has emerged where I don't think I don't
• 21:28
  think I really need evidence to support
• 21:29
  this claim because I would say how many
• 21:31
  times did you the listener the viewer
• 21:33
  how many times have you gone back to
• 21:36
  read old video game reviews? How many
• 21:38
  times have you know what I mean? Like I
• 21:40
  we can I think we can all agree that
• 21:41
  video game reviews in their popularity
• 21:43
  are spiking on that two days before the
• 21:45
  game is out whenever they come out at
• 21:47
  embargo and then are largely uh consumed
• 21:49
  and discarded. And I think the reason
• 21:51
  for that is is because I don't know if
• 21:54
  we have developed this the what the
• 21:58
  video game review is in a way that is
• 22:01
  particularly distinct or special or
• 22:04
  different
• 22:06
  from a player writing a review on Steam.
• 22:09
  >> Well, no. So, I think this is this is
• 22:10
  sort of what like what it comes down to
• 22:13
  where I'm like, okay, what if if we are
• 22:17
  going to say that like uh uh these
• 22:20
  pre-release reviews are not criticism,
• 22:24
  then it's the question, but like, well,
• 22:25
  then so what are they? And to me it is
• 22:28
  it does feel like they are um a lot
• 22:29
  closer in spirit to something like user
• 22:32
  reviews because it is oftentimes um it's
• 22:35
  it's usually not quite as uh uh explicit
• 22:40
  as that like chart that I'm sure you've
• 22:42
  seen that gets posted to basically every
• 22:44
  video game on Steam that's like graphics
• 22:47
  10 out of 10 and then like three bullet
• 22:49
  points about like the vistas were
• 22:51
  beautiful, the reflections looked good
• 22:53
  and the lighting was incredible.
• 22:55
  gameplay eight. I didn't really like
• 22:57
  the, you know what I mean? And it's of
• 22:59
  course that's like such a silly way to
• 23:01
  break down um a video game and you see
• 23:06
  that uh very often in things like Steam
• 23:08
  reviews and whatever. But what makes me
• 23:11
  uh
• 23:13
  pause a little bit when reading a lot of
• 23:16
  reviews that go up pre-release on
• 23:19
  publications, things like that, is a lot
• 23:21
  of them do kind of boil down to that,
• 23:23
  but just a little fancier,
• 23:25
  which
• 23:26
  >> yeah,
• 23:26
  >> that to me is not that's like an
• 23:28
  assessment of of like that's an
• 23:30
  assessment of detail. That's not like
• 23:32
  criticism, you know? Mhm. And I think
• 23:35
  ultimately what it point what it kind of
• 23:37
  uh boils down to is that as artists I
• 23:41
  think that there is a responsibility to
• 23:44
  develop the form and develop the kind
• 23:47
  you know the the the level of work
• 23:49
  should be
• 23:51
  >> heightened
• 23:52
  >> in these spaces in a way that is um you
• 23:57
  know completely
• 23:59
  almost unrecognizable from somebody uh
• 24:04
  popping off a few tweets about what they
• 24:05
  think of a game, right?
• 24:07
  >> Yes. Yes. I really like um Are you
• 24:10
  familiar with Big Joel on YouTube.com?
• 24:12
  >> You you've mentioned Big Joel before and
• 24:14
  and the clips channel Little Joel.
• 24:16
  >> Yes, Little Joel is very good.
• 24:17
  >> I like I always think Little Joel first.
• 24:19
  I think it's funny.
• 24:20
  >> It's very funny. Um but so uh Big Joel
• 24:23
  will do u he does a lot of like uh
• 24:26
  political commentary and stuff like that
• 24:27
  but then also sometimes he will do like
• 24:29
  um a breakdown of his feelings on
• 24:33
  different media stuff whatever and uh he
• 24:35
  got a question uh once uh cuz sometimes
• 24:37
  he'll answer like Patreon questions or
• 24:39
  whatever. by the way uh
• 24:39
  patreon.com/clair.
• 24:41
  Anyway, um where he will answer some
• 24:43
  questions and and once someone asked him
• 24:46
  like how important is it to provide a
• 24:48
  summary when you are reviewing uh you
• 24:51
  know a piece of work or whatever.
• 24:52
  >> What a question.
• 24:53
  >> And what he his answer was so so
• 24:56
  absolutely uh uh inspirational to me. He
• 25:00
  basically said I tried to summarize as
• 25:02
  little as possible.
• 25:03
  >> Yeah. I tr because he's like it's a
• 25:05
  waste of time because you either know
• 25:06
  what I'm talking you've already like you
• 25:08
  know done the reading you know done the
• 25:10
  work watched the thing played the game
• 25:11
  whatever and are watching this or you
• 25:14
  haven't and you know that and if I start
• 25:17
  talking about something you don't
• 25:18
  understand you should go do it or you
• 25:20
  just don't care and you're just
• 25:20
  interested in in the discussion about
• 25:23
  the thing and so it's like the summary
• 25:24
  doesn't matter at all and and and so
• 25:26
  when I think about like
• 25:28
  uh uh what game reviews should be and
• 25:31
  how we're talking about like returning
• 25:32
  to something after you've played it,
• 25:35
  usually
• 25:38
  you you don't want it to be a summary.
• 25:40
  You don't want it to just and I'm not
• 25:41
  even just talking about plot, right? I'm
• 25:42
  talking about like a summary of
• 25:43
  mechanics, a summary of setting and and
• 25:44
  and all that sort of stuff.
• 25:46
  >> And to me, the best advice that I have
• 25:49
  received as a critic was in that Patreon
• 25:51
  question that he answered where he's
• 25:52
  like, don't just don't. It's not
• 25:54
  important.
• 25:57
  How do we face this existential question
• 26:01
  that I think a lot of people want to
• 26:02
  ignore, which is the fact that so much
• 26:06
  of video game reviews as they exist now
• 26:10
  function in almost entirely out of a
• 26:14
  chronological advantage around the fact
• 26:16
  that the, you know, we hear it all the
• 26:18
  time in our spaces, the the kind of like
• 26:22
  having to do the work that you don't
• 26:24
  want to do under these timelines.
• 26:26
  friends and uh blah blah blah. Every
• 26:29
  every every job has this kind of
• 26:32
  pressure and I don't think uh people in
• 26:33
  games media have it to any kind of
• 26:35
  heightened degree over anybody else. But
• 26:38
  the fact that this product in actuality
• 26:41
  is um though to be honest I've heard
• 26:44
  I've heard conflicting reports about
• 26:45
  this how much reviews are even a driver
• 26:47
  to these websites to begin with. But um
• 26:50
  this this kind of like if we cannot get
• 26:52
  a review out and embargo it is not even
• 26:55
  worth doing because ultimately at the
• 26:57
  end of the day we are here for clicks
• 26:59
  and to get those clicks we need to do
• 27:04
  this. How do you how do you face that
• 27:06
  that kind of existential question or
• 27:08
  maybe push back?
• 27:09
  >> So it's interesting. So my experience
• 27:11
  with that has been mixed and varied and
• 27:13
  also highly dependent on who what where
• 27:16
  when and why. So it's it's you know when
• 27:18
  you said like you've heard conflicting
• 27:19
  information uh my time in games media
• 27:22
  has given me conflicting information
• 27:24
  because uh there have been websites that
• 27:26
  I have been like explicitly told hey if
• 27:28
  the review is not going up an embargo
• 27:30
  don't do it
• 27:31
  >> right
• 27:31
  >> because because they're like that is
• 27:33
  when the largest that's when it becomes
• 27:35
  actually worth it. Um, I've also been
• 27:37
  told I've been at a website uh when it
• 27:39
  was purchased uh a few times and there
• 27:41
  was a conversation of they totally
• 27:42
  killed us doing reviews the the new uh
• 27:45
  uh owners because they were like it's a
• 27:47
  lot of time and money and it does not
• 27:50
  have a return. And then but the big push
• 27:52
  back was we are a video game website.
• 27:54
  This is expected. Do you know what I
• 27:56
  mean? Like that was the push back from
• 27:57
  editorial was to the management was like
• 28:00
  it is expected that this is on our video
• 28:02
  game website regardless of whether or
• 28:03
  not it is a large traffic driver for us.
• 28:06
  >> Right. Right. For for me, my experience
• 28:08
  was um this review is going to take a
• 28:09
  little bit longer than you might like.
• 28:11
  So, okay, kill the review. Instead,
• 28:12
  we'll do a review discussion where
• 28:13
  you're just kind of talking. Yeah.
• 28:15
  >> And then the other part of it is like
• 28:17
  for me on like YouTube and YouTube is a
• 28:19
  different beast because it's not you,
• 28:20
  it's Google owned, but it's not dealing
• 28:21
  with like the Google algorithm of like
• 28:23
  Google search and whatever, but it's,
• 28:24
  you know, still dealing with algorithmic
• 28:26
  things and whatever. Um, I have found
• 28:28
  that when I talk about things that are
• 28:30
  relevant and happening, I usually do
• 28:32
  much poorer on in terms of like reach
• 28:34
  and views and stuff than I do for things
• 28:37
  that are um completely irrelevant but
• 28:39
  packaged well.
• 28:40
  >> You don't say.
• 28:42
  >> You don't say. It's almost like
• 28:45
  chronological advantage is fragile. It's
• 28:48
  almost like if that is what we are
• 28:50
  pursuing, we are creating a space in
• 28:53
  games media that itself is fragile. It
• 28:56
  is fraught with potential errors that
• 28:58
  can be immediately uh destroyed on a
• 29:01
  whim simply because we are um we are not
• 29:05
  >> proud of our work. Well, it's a thing
• 29:08
  that I I just find it to be like a
• 29:10
  shortsighted
• 29:12
  look into
• 29:16
  >> I think it can be a short-sighted way to
• 29:19
  drive uh uh clicks and to drive audience
• 29:24
  and stuff like that because sometimes it
• 29:26
  works, right? I think there are certain
• 29:27
  websites that people go to because
• 29:28
  they're interested in review in their
• 29:30
  reviews. I think a website like IGN, the
• 29:32
  reviews that are going up on IGN, I bet
• 29:34
  are doing [ __ ] gang busters because
• 29:36
  IGN is a a established major
• 29:40
  publication, right? It to me that is
• 29:42
  when I think of like the default games
• 29:44
  website, IGN.com, congratulations,
• 29:46
  you've won and it's not even close,
• 29:47
  right?
• 29:48
  >> Well, and I but I but I would also say I
• 29:49
  think a lot of that has to do simply
• 29:51
  with um search engine optimization. So
• 29:53
  that Yes. And and I would say that some
• 29:55
  of that is um to be a little brash, some
• 29:58
  of that is a little illegitimate due to
• 30:00
  the fact that IGN the ownership of IGN
• 30:02
  has been buying up their search engine
• 30:04
  uh competitors.
• 30:05
  >> I think that's fair. I think that's
• 30:06
  fair. But
• 30:07
  >> that's that's just a fact. Like that's
• 30:08
  just
• 30:09
  >> But like what I'm getting at though is
• 30:10
  like uh IGN it is absolutely worth to
• 30:14
  continue doing reviews. If I had to
• 30:15
  guess, I've I've not seen their back end
• 30:17
  or whatever, but if I had to guess, I
• 30:18
  think the reviews are doing just fine.
• 30:21
  Um, but when it comes to like smaller
• 30:23
  publications, it is a question about
• 30:25
  like, okay, if
• 30:27
  >> we're not going to beat the top eight
• 30:29
  people who are on the Google search,
• 30:32
  >> what do we do? So, what do we do? We
• 30:34
  have to have like other reasons to come
• 30:35
  to our website and other things to do,
• 30:37
  right? And I think a lot of um
• 30:39
  independent publications or independent
• 30:41
  um like just media organizations, right?
• 30:44
  Like podcasts and things like that have
• 30:46
  figured like, okay, well, we're not
• 30:47
  going to do a review. instead we're
• 30:48
  going to shift and and put our time and
• 30:51
  effort into this other place where we
• 30:53
  might be able to get the edge out on
• 30:54
  these larger publications. I think about
• 30:56
  like people like Giant Bomb. Um for the
• 30:58
  longest time they didn't do written
• 31:00
  reviews for like six years. They stopped
• 31:01
  doing it. Obviously they had different,
• 31:02
  you know, whatever with management and
• 31:04
  everything like that, but they shifted
• 31:06
  focus and said like, "Okay, the reviews
• 31:08
  we're going to we're going to focus on
• 31:09
  doing them in the podcast form and have
• 31:11
  them be the the driving force in a lot
• 31:13
  of our podcast discussions and stuff
• 31:15
  like that." And so I think that's a
• 31:16
  smart way to get around it. But then the
• 31:18
  question also is
• 31:21
  is that criticism
• 31:23
  >> and not developing the medium. I'll tell
• 31:24
  you that. And I think that that's kind
• 31:26
  of the conversation that I'm interested
• 31:27
  in right now because um there there is
• 31:30
  something I would say strange about the
• 31:32
  proliferation of these kind of um
• 31:36
  independent video games outlets that in
• 31:40
  achieving their independence strive to
• 31:43
  become an almost exact replica of the
• 31:47
  business as usual corporate way of of
• 31:49
  running their organizations and
• 31:51
  producing their content. Um there was a
• 31:53
  uh fantastic interview between uh Autumn
• 31:56
  Wright and Austin Walker in Unwinable
• 31:58
  that just came out of the day of
• 31:59
  recording and uh it kind of laid this
• 32:02
  question bare, right? This idea of um
• 32:07
  if you are independent
• 32:10
  in theory, the people that support you,
• 32:12
  your audience, the people that listen to
• 32:13
  you, they are there for you and your
• 32:16
  perspective. and
• 32:18
  choosing to participate in all of these
• 32:21
  kind of um in all of this like corporate
• 32:24
  infrastructure is all of a sudden this
• 32:26
  like very funny premise to me because it
• 32:29
  is just replacing ownership of one with
• 32:33
  of one group with ownership of another
• 32:35
  group and I don't 100% know where that
• 32:39
  adv where where kind of like the desire
• 32:42
  to do that comes from and I think that
• 32:44
  like all of these groups existing and
• 32:45
  doing whatever they want to do is
• 32:47
  completely fine. But I think the issue
• 32:49
  becomes um you know if we see the
• 32:53
  continued
• 32:55
  death of games media in the mainstream,
• 32:58
  if we see this be something that for in
• 33:01
  perpetuity has the reputation of the
• 33:03
  burdened upon games media writer where
• 33:06
  everything is so difficult and they can
• 33:08
  lose their job like that. As if that's
• 33:10
  not the case for many people in many
• 33:12
  different industries. But if we are to
• 33:13
  con see if we are to see that reputation
• 33:16
  continue, at what point do we need to
• 33:18
  look in the mirror and ask ourselves a
• 33:20
  hard question about the value of the
• 33:22
  thing that we are producing? Because
• 33:24
  again, chronological advantage being
• 33:26
  able to come out that with the review
• 33:27
  first. The access journalism that is an
• 33:30
  advantage and it does have value, but it
• 33:33
  is fragile because the moment the public
• 33:36
  gains access, the moment that there is
• 33:39
  fan consensus, that eclipses the
• 33:42
  critics's repres representational role
• 33:44
  immediately. We have brought it up a few
• 33:46
  times on this podcast, but that is
• 33:47
  because it is a good example. Look at
• 33:49
  the reviews for Borderlands 3 and then
• 33:51
  look at how everybody talked about
• 33:53
  Borderlands 3 after uh in the in the
• 33:56
  leadup to the launch of Borderlands 4.
• 33:58
  The fan consensus eclipsed the critics's
• 34:02
  representational role. And it's this
• 34:04
  thing where when you are providing this
• 34:08
  very specific kind of review that is
• 34:10
  kind of trying to be the oracle of
• 34:13
  consensus for all of these people for
• 34:15
  the consumers. then
• 34:19
  your role will be supplanted the second
• 34:21
  everyone else gets their hands on the
• 34:23
  game. So what can you do that they
• 34:26
  cannot?
• 34:26
  >> Can we answer that question?
• 34:28
  >> This is that that thing right too.
• 34:29
  You're talking about like all of these
• 34:31
  sort of independent publications that
• 34:32
  have popped up and and that's great and
• 34:34
  happy that all of those people have been
• 34:35
  able to find work doing what they want
• 34:38
  to be doing. But there is this like sort
• 34:39
  of interesting um uh common refrain you
• 34:43
  would we would hear when a lot of these
• 34:45
  were starting up. I don't know, threeish
• 34:47
  years ago of this like okay cool now we
• 34:48
  we can actually do our own thing and a
• 34:51
  lot of times doing our own thing is
• 34:53
  >> doing what we were doing before but it
• 34:55
  now again what you're saying but the now
• 34:57
  the ownership has changed into the hands
• 34:58
  of the people doing it and hey that's
• 35:00
  great that's good always that I'm always
• 35:02
  happy for that to happen but then when
• 35:04
  you look at the work the question is but
• 35:06
  what purpose does this work serve and
• 35:08
  here's the thing I I think that like I I
• 35:12
  do think it is important to note that I
• 35:14
  don't know if all of these places are
• 35:16
  looking to do criticism. Do you know
• 35:18
  what I mean? like like cuz you don't
• 35:20
  have to and if like like if you are are
• 35:22
  fine doing the the more generalized like
• 35:24
  review discussions on podcasts and
• 35:26
  things like that and that's what the
• 35:28
  work is for your publication and for
• 35:31
  your organization whatever you want to
• 35:32
  call it that's great and that's fine but
• 35:35
  I do think that it is important that we
• 35:37
  do recognize and that we try to
• 35:40
  um
• 35:44
  address the fact that a lot of the times
• 35:47
  um the criticism is not actually being
• 35:49
  done and it's a different sort of thing.
• 35:50
  So I have a question for you about this
• 35:51
  Jake,
• 35:52
  >> please.
• 35:53
  >> I for me what would be most helpful is
• 35:56
  if we just had a different word for
• 35:57
  this. Do you know what I mean? The fact
• 35:59
  that when we say like video game reviews
• 36:01
  criticism and you know these like more
• 36:03
  like product reviews is kind of like
• 36:06
  what I might call them, but I still
• 36:07
  think that it feels kind of inaccurate.
• 36:09
  Um it gets lumped in into one sort of
• 36:12
  like umbrella. Is there a specific word
• 36:14
  or like uh uh distinction that you would
• 36:17
  make between the ideas of like someone
• 36:19
  who's sitting down to do a like like art
• 36:22
  criticism of a game versus someone who
• 36:24
  is sitting down and doing um a like a
• 36:26
  pre-release review or something like
• 36:28
  that?
• 36:29
  >> Of course. Yeah. Um I would say that man
• 36:33
  I I I
• 36:34
  >> I really like the kind of consumer
• 36:37
  guide. I think that that makes I I think
• 36:39
  that that makes sense to me. I think
• 36:41
  that there is um
• 36:44
  >> I I mean I almost have like more
• 36:46
  academically slanted things for what's
• 36:48
  going there, but I don't know how to I
• 36:51
  don't know how to confess these thoughts
• 36:54
  without appearing just ultimately
• 36:56
  dismissive or them the the terms
• 36:58
  themselves kind of lending it to a
• 37:01
  because it's consumer advisory is what
• 37:03
  it is.
• 37:03
  But like a consumer guide I actually do
• 37:05
  kind of like because I also think it's
• 37:06
  this thing where like then um people are
• 37:09
  able to engage with it how they like and
• 37:12
  if they are someone who's like oh I do
• 37:14
  want to know what's going on with the
• 37:16
  latest I don't know uh the Resident Evil
• 37:18
  right that's coming out at the end of
• 37:20
  this month. Uh I want to know what's
• 37:21
  going on with the latest Resident Evil.
• 37:22
  I want advice on if I should buy it or
• 37:24
  not consumer guide. Perfect. But then
• 37:26
  it's like, oh, I want to figure out if
• 37:28
  Leon is.
• 37:31
  >> To be completely honest with you,
• 37:32
  there's a part there's a part of me that
• 37:34
  in my head, I see every review that
• 37:36
  comes out as like a a in in quotes
• 37:40
  pre-release review. And I don't see it
• 37:42
  as a real as I see it as a different
• 37:44
  product.
• 37:44
  >> Um, and I guess you could replace the
• 37:47
  word review with assessment if that made
• 37:48
  you comfortable. But like there's a yeah
• 37:51
  there's just like a difference for me
• 37:53
  between the access review between this
• 37:56
  this kind of um disjointed
• 38:00
  almost trying to have a um objective
• 38:04
  analysis of what is going on with this
• 38:07
  video game that's trying to paint its
• 38:09
  impressions in the broadest strokes
• 38:12
  possible for the sake of orienting the
• 38:14
  audience and not necessarily for
• 38:17
  performing like a critical evaluation of
• 38:19
  the review itself.
• 38:20
  >> So, let me throw this to you then again
• 38:21
  as well. So, like let's say you and I
• 38:23
  are going to be doing let's say Critical
• 38:24
  Error, the podcast,
• 38:25
  >> Yeah.
• 38:26
  >> is going to do a review of a game
• 38:29
  >> and we get access to it pre-release. Do
• 38:31
  you think that we fall in then by
• 38:33
  definition as we were talking about
• 38:34
  earlier in this episode by definition
• 38:36
  fall into consumer guidance?
• 38:39
  >> Yes.
• 38:39
  >> Yeah.
• 38:40
  >> 100%. I I I just don't think it matters
• 38:44
  like what
• 38:45
  >> you say at that point. And the the fact
• 38:48
  of the matter is is that I think you can
• 38:49
  fall within that and find different
• 38:52
  degrees of certain developing the medium
• 38:55
  and like um even just having like like a
• 38:58
  critical framework or being um thesis
• 39:02
  driven and having like existential
• 39:04
  questions. There are there are obviously
• 39:05
  like layers to this that can be
• 39:08
  performed um to different degrees of
• 39:11
  success. There is obviously more of a
• 39:13
  critical perspective in the review that
• 39:15
  is written than the podcast that is
• 39:18
  discussed live. That is that is just
• 39:20
  that is just true. Like I like because
• 39:22
  because it's structured, right? And it's
• 39:24
  it's a little bit more thoughtful. And
• 39:25
  that's not to say that a podcast can't
• 39:26
  be thoughtful. I think we're trying to
• 39:28
  be thoughtful here, right? But it is
• 39:30
  this idea of like if I get to sit down
• 39:31
  and be incredibly precise with my words
• 39:34
  and and I don't have to I'm not building
• 39:36
  the track as we're on the train, right?
• 39:38
  If we get to do the whole thing and and
• 39:40
  have it all point to different things
• 39:42
  and whatever that is, I think by
• 39:45
  definition more thoughtful,
• 39:47
  >> intentional part of the
• 39:48
  >> Yeah. Intentional. Yeah.
• 39:49
  >> Yeah. Part of part of the kind of
• 39:51
  agreement between a reader and its text
• 39:55
  is that you are
• 39:58
  kind of making an assumption that there
• 40:01
  is meaning to the choices that were
• 40:03
  made. And there is, even if the person
• 40:04
  who made the choices doesn't know,
• 40:05
  there's there is meaning.
• 40:07
  >> Yeah. And I think um when you are
• 40:09
  performing criticism, you are making a
• 40:11
  piece of art yourself and
• 40:13
  you need to be just as intentional as
• 40:16
  the thing that you are criticizing.
• 40:18
  Yeah.
• 40:19
  >> Otherwise, you are not performing
• 40:21
  criticism. You're doing something else.
• 40:23
  And there must be a difference between
• 40:25
  performing criticism and giving your
• 40:27
  opinion on something. There must be a
• 40:29
  difference. We must be able to isolate
• 40:30
  that difference. You do not perform
• 40:32
  criticism just by criticizing, just by
• 40:37
  proclaiming your opinion in a blue sky
• 40:40
  ski. Yeah, we we must recognize that
• 40:43
  there is an art form at play here. And
• 40:46
  um you can obviously write reviews
• 40:48
  without participating in the critical
• 40:51
  art form. I'm not going to stop anybody
• 40:53
  from doing that. Almost every single
• 40:54
  video focused media games media outlet
• 40:58
  is doing this right now
• 41:00
  >> now. But when I see a podcast that's
• 41:02
  called new game out this week review,
• 41:06
  do I really click on that video thinking
• 41:09
  that what I am getting is a review?
• 41:12
  Absolutely not. And I think that there
• 41:14
  is a degree to which if I'm talking
• 41:16
  about the development of the form that
• 41:18
  this kind of work goes in the opposite
• 41:21
  direction
• 41:23
  the form
• 41:23
  >> because it's this thing where like uh uh
• 41:27
  writing you know like let's just stick
• 41:29
  with Resident Evil. Resident Evil 9
• 41:31
  consumer guidance discussion not sexy
• 41:33
  and it is not the thing that people are
• 41:35
  clicking on right because they are
• 41:36
  looking for it's a review discussion
• 41:38
  right because it is people who've played
• 41:39
  the game ostensibly they are trying to
• 41:42
  review it it by having a conversation
• 41:44
  about it but to what you're saying
• 41:46
  because it cannot be as precise as
• 41:49
  something that a as a like written
• 41:50
  review that someone is sitting down to
• 41:53
  um discuss and perform criticism
• 41:56
  then it is something that is um kind of
• 41:59
  nebul
• 42:00
  in terms of and I get why they do it,
• 42:02
  right?
• 42:03
  Yes, but we we just we just need to be
• 42:05
  honest with ourselves. And the fact of
• 42:06
  the matter is is that when when
• 42:09
  >> you put your content on YouTube in the
• 42:12
  way that we are putting our content on
• 42:13
  YouTube right now, part of the um
• 42:17
  rhetorical agreement between us and the
• 42:20
  audience member is that
• 42:23
  >> this is there's a there's a parasocial
• 42:25
  element at play, right?
• 42:26
  >> That is not quite the same when you
• 42:29
  write a review pen to paper. And there
• 42:31
  is something here about um you know at
• 42:34
  the very beginning of this episode I
• 42:36
  nodded to kind of like the most engaged
• 42:38
  video games person who's like listening
• 42:40
  to a video game podcast. There is
• 42:42
  something participatory about gamer
• 42:45
  culture about being a fan of video games
• 42:47
  that you are feeding in this content.
• 42:50
  Yeah. Because that's what this is. It is
• 42:52
  it is content which is a companion to
• 42:55
  kind of like or maybe a a panacea to the
• 42:58
  depression that we are all facing in our
• 43:00
  day-to-day lives. Right?
• 43:01
  >> So and and that's okay and I think we
• 43:04
  need to be able to face that and I guess
• 43:05
  I say that like I am aware that this
• 43:08
  podcast that what we are doing right now
• 43:11
  >> is not criticism. I and I guess I just
• 43:14
  don't have any like self-consciousness
• 43:15
  in saying that, but I but I do kind of
• 43:18
  sense that self-consciousness
• 43:21
  across the entire as it stands right now
• 43:25
  kind of like games media landscape. And
• 43:28
  I think that there is this um constant
• 43:30
  emphasis on procarity that is yeah that
• 43:34
  that that people have decided to
• 43:38
  um you could deploy in a way to protect
• 43:41
  themselves because I think that these
• 43:43
  narratives that surround games media
• 43:45
  have calcified into an identity and then
• 43:47
  the identity is just a constant excuse
• 43:50
  not to do more meaningful work. Do you
• 43:53
  think um part of it comes from the idea
• 43:56
  that like
• 43:59
  games are I would say largely not taken
• 44:03
  seriously as works of art. Would you say
• 44:05
  that's accurate in in the general
• 44:07
  population most people don't look at
• 44:09
  game not not saying that most people
• 44:10
  don't think games are works of art but
• 44:11
  aren't taken seriously as works of art.
• 44:14
  >> That's accurate. And I think that
• 44:15
  there's a certain level of insecurity
• 44:16
  and I understand this to a certain
• 44:18
  extent of like or maybe not insecurity
• 44:22
  but insistence then from uh anyone who's
• 44:25
  reviewing a game as being like no you
• 44:27
  are to take me seriously cuz I I want to
• 44:30
  be taken seriously. I get it. Um, but I
• 44:32
  do think that in needing to assert that
• 44:37
  all the time, I think it means that
• 44:41
  there is a certain amount of insecurity
• 44:43
  that is built up from doing that of
• 44:46
  saying like you need to take me
• 44:47
  seriously. And if the second that it's
• 44:49
  like, okay, right, but like let's
• 44:51
  actually talk about what you're doing.
• 44:52
  Let's talk about like the definitions of
• 44:54
  what this is and and this that and
• 44:55
  whatever. And to say like I don't think
• 44:57
  this is criticism, this is a different
• 44:59
  thing. I think there is a certain level
• 45:01
  of like um uh defensiveness maybe that
• 45:04
  comes out from that and like I
• 45:06
  understand where it's coming from and I
• 45:07
  like I think you could throw that at me
• 45:10
  and I might feel the same way, you know,
• 45:12
  on any given day, but it's it's I think
• 45:14
  there's a level of um defensiveness
• 45:16
  about it because of the way that games
• 45:19
  are treated as a whole that might be
• 45:21
  coming into play. Do you know what I
• 45:22
  mean?
• 45:23
  >> I do. But and I I actually want to
• 45:24
  clarify something a step further because
• 45:26
  when we talk about this kind of like um
• 45:29
  games are not treated seriously as an
• 45:32
  art form. I think in our heads we
• 45:34
  imagine somebody who just doesn't get it
• 45:36
  who doesn't get it who doesn't know
• 45:37
  about the wide breadth of games. And I
• 45:39
  want to clarify something because again
• 45:41
  I think that there's something a little
• 45:42
  bit uncomfortable here that's important
• 45:43
  to be honest about. I think that even
• 45:45
  people who say they take games seriously
• 45:47
  as art often um I don't believe them
• 45:50
  because they don't take criticism
• 45:52
  seriously as an art form. And I think if
• 45:54
  you took video games seriously you would
• 45:57
  have a more curious nature about the art
• 46:00
  of criticism about like um the tools in
• 46:03
  which you can excavate games for meaning
• 46:05
  about structured arguments and ethical
• 46:06
  positioning aesthetic coherence and
• 46:08
  incoherence. And I think that I if if
• 46:11
  you are going to treat games as
• 46:14
  something that is important things
• 46:16
  something that uh rewards interpretation
• 46:18
  then interpretation itself has to matter
• 46:21
  because in literature in film in like in
• 46:24
  like fine art
• 46:26
  >> uh criticism is not treated as an
• 46:30
  accessory for the consumer
• 46:32
  >> and it's it's like this really crazy
• 46:34
  thing where I think um you know
• 46:38
  >> why why is Is it so hard? Why is it so
• 46:40
  hard to convince somebody who wants to
• 46:42
  write about video games for a living,
• 46:44
  who wants to call themselves a video
• 46:45
  game critic? Why is it so hard to
• 46:48
  convince this person to read Susan
• 46:50
  Santag or Roland Barts? Like, why is
• 46:54
  criticism treated as an afterthought and
• 46:56
  not as generative? Because I think even
• 46:59
  among smart people, even among
• 47:01
  well-meaning people in the game space,
• 47:03
  criticism is treated as ornamental. It's
• 47:05
  an extra thing. It's a it's a it's a
• 47:07
  cool little oh my god look at what they
• 47:08
  managed to do here. It's it's not
• 47:10
  necessary.
• 47:11
  >> You know what I bet uh part of the
• 47:12
  reason why of that of that is and I
• 47:14
  think this comes back to something that
• 47:15
  we sort of mentioned at the top here. I
• 47:17
  think a part of that comes down to the
• 47:18
  structure of what the jobs are right
• 47:21
  where like um
• 47:24
  you you know like uh uh what's it
• 47:26
  website gamespot.com is not hiring
• 47:29
  >> hey we're hiring a games critic. they're
• 47:32
  hiring a writer who can do guides and
• 47:34
  news and previews and reviews and you
• 47:37
  know what I mean like like all of these
• 47:38
  things and so I think that there is a
• 47:41
  little specialization that gets to
• 47:43
  happen um in the field and I think that
• 47:45
  is
• 47:46
  >> uh potentially part of it right and I
• 47:48
  think everyone wants to be a games
• 47:49
  critic and everyone wants to review
• 47:50
  video games because hey at the end of
• 47:52
  the day it is also um in my opinion a
• 47:54
  fun thing to do I like to review games I
• 47:55
  like to because you get to play a game
• 47:57
  then you get to talk about it and like
• 47:58
  write down your feelings about it that's
• 47:59
  a fun thing to do but it is this thing
• 48:00
  where Yes, but are you trying to take
• 48:03
  that next step and become a a critic who
• 48:06
  is um
• 48:08
  as intentional, as thoughtful as you
• 48:11
  want to be? And I think often times um
• 48:13
  that sort of stuff gets sidelined a
• 48:14
  little bit. But this again comes back to
• 48:16
  this question of um what we what we
• 48:19
  value and what we think is important and
• 48:20
  kind of the evidence as seen in these
• 48:22
  independent outlets that then do not
• 48:24
  pursue this as well. And I think what we
• 48:26
  are missing out on is creating an
• 48:29
  audience member who cares about these
• 48:31
  things. We are missing out on the
• 48:33
  opportunity of developing an audience
• 48:36
  member that cares about a higher level
• 48:38
  of criticism because you have not you
• 48:40
  have not introduced that person to the
• 48:42
  ecstasy of discovering a piece of
• 48:44
  writing that transforms your vision for
• 48:47
  what a game was. And because you have
• 48:50
  not done that, you are instead victim to
• 48:53
  prisoner of your own design to these
• 48:57
  like systems that prioritize speed and
• 49:00
  the schedule and the grind and all of
• 49:02
  this other stuff to the point that it
• 49:03
  has killed your imagination and you go
• 49:05
  off to an independent outlet and that's
• 49:07
  all you can do anyways. And it's
• 49:09
  >> it's that it's a it's a it's a chicken
• 49:11
  or the egg, right? About like okay, you
• 49:13
  know, we're talking about these videos
• 49:14
  that go up that are like, oh, it's, you
• 49:15
  know, uh game review discussion. And
• 49:19
  it's like, is that a review? The answer
• 49:20
  is kind of no. But it's also like, but
• 49:23
  people who are clicking on the video
• 49:24
  aren't going to click on it unless it
• 49:26
  says review in it. And it's like, well,
• 49:27
  why are they doing that? Well, it's
• 49:28
  because we've trained them to think that
• 49:29
  this is what it is. Well, why are we
• 49:30
  doing that? Because they're doing
• 49:31
  they're clicking on it, right? And it's
• 49:32
  it's this like sort of endless thing.
• 49:34
  And it is a difficult cycle to break out
• 49:38
  of because of the nature of the industry
• 49:42
  and because if you are not if you're
• 49:44
  trying to break that cycle, I think
• 49:46
  you're going to see a um weird shift in
• 49:49
  your audience that might be
• 49:52
  concerning to you. Do you know what I
• 49:53
  mean? and and it might it might drive
• 49:55
  people away, but it's at first, but then
• 49:57
  if you spend the time to really like
• 49:59
  grow an audience who's interested in
• 50:00
  this sort of thing and whatever, like
• 50:01
  they might come back, but that takes
• 50:03
  time. And like I get all of that. It's
• 50:05
  it's one of those things that I think is
• 50:07
  um it's an interesting
• 50:10
  place to be in for the industry because
• 50:12
  it feels like um you know, in hindsight,
• 50:15
  we can look at it and go like, "Oh,
• 50:17
  yeah, I see how this happened like
• 50:18
  this." Um but it's difficult to know how
• 50:21
  do you break out of this cycle?
• 50:24
  of well of course and I think like the
• 50:25
  the the cycle is such an an important
• 50:28
  thing to really interrogate because when
• 50:31
  you look at what is going on in other
• 50:34
  mediums um how many times have you been
• 50:37
  talking about a game or maybe written
• 50:39
  something about a game and maybe the
• 50:40
  maybe the viewer will um connect to this
• 50:43
  the listener uh you're reading too much
• 50:46
  into it you're reading too much into it
• 50:48
  >> have you been reading my YouTube
• 50:49
  comments lately
• 50:50
  >> okay see this is this is a familiar
• 50:52
  refrain to a a lot of people and I think
• 50:55
  in every other art form we simply accept
• 50:58
  that reading too much into it is the
• 51:01
  point and that this lack of curiosity
• 51:03
  about criticism as a craft I think it
• 51:05
  tells you something about how we and we
• 51:08
  are implicated in this have
• 51:11
  >> positioned the medium because if we
• 51:13
  truly believed that games were capable
• 51:15
  of complex expression we would be hungry
• 51:18
  for criticism that helps us see that
• 51:20
  complexity and we would be more willing
• 51:23
  to argue over interpretations. Uh we
• 51:27
  would like something that is so
• 51:29
  interesting to me, right, is the this
• 51:32
  this like emphasis on consensus and
• 51:35
  chronology, both things that we have
• 51:37
  talked about in this episode, but like
• 51:38
  you see immediately how when a when a
• 51:41
  big video game says we're not going to
• 51:42
  give out review codes, the the the
• 51:44
  assault on the the the critic that this
• 51:47
  is. And I think like
• 51:51
  last year there was again I'm I'm kind
• 51:53
  of pulling from this uh Autumn Wright
• 51:55
  interview with Austin Walker. There was
• 51:56
  this interesting thing that went down in
• 51:58
  like the the most like you are in games
• 52:01
  media games media space where someone
• 52:03
  wrote something about Hollow Night Silk
• 52:05
  Song and then a different author at a
• 52:06
  different publication was like I think
• 52:08
  you're wrong about this and then that
• 52:10
  first one wrote another piece going
• 52:13
  actually you're wrong.
• 52:15
  >> Good. That's good. And it was this funny
• 52:17
  thing where I think um this is largely
• 52:20
  the point and this is the evidence of an
• 52:24
  active critical sphere in which people
• 52:27
  are engaging and arguing with each
• 52:29
  other's interpretations and ideas. And
• 52:31
  hey, that game did not have pre-release
• 52:35
  reviews. Yeah,
• 52:37
  >> that's kind of interesting. The one time
• 52:40
  that this emerged in recent memory is
• 52:42
  with a game that did not give this easy
• 52:46
  way out for everyone and the work had to
• 52:49
  be the thing that was important. And I I
• 52:51
  think that's worth looking at. And I you
• 52:53
  know I think you could look at a show,
• 52:55
  you could look at something like
• 52:57
  Critical Error and it would be so easy
• 52:59
  for you to think that we're just like
• 53:01
  taking shots at people that are doing
• 53:03
  their jobs. It would be so easy to say
• 53:05
  we're looking across the aisle and
• 53:06
  saying your job isn't that hard, but
• 53:09
  we're not doing the work ourselves. Even
• 53:10
  though I guess you and I both do the
• 53:12
  work. That's neither here nor that's
• 53:14
  neither it's neither it's neither here
• 53:15
  nor there. Put that aside for a moment.
• 53:17
  But I but I think what's important here
• 53:19
  is that we are at least trying to
• 53:21
  generate the kind of discourse that
• 53:24
  criticism should be generating. The fact
• 53:27
  that reviews come and go, NO ONE HAS
• 53:30
  ANYTHING TO SAY. like at least we're
• 53:32
  trying to engage in a conversation that
• 53:34
  might might make a blip on somebody's
• 53:35
  radar and go, "Oh, nobody's nobody else
• 53:37
  is talking about this." And that is what
• 53:40
  it looks like to develop the medium
• 53:41
  >> to inspire, you know what I mean? And
• 53:43
  have people say like, "Hey, isn't it
• 53:44
  weird that this happens in the industry
• 53:46
  like this? Isn't it odd that like games
• 53:48
  writing is so uh uh consumable and and
• 53:51
  easy to just like toss away?" And it's
• 53:53
  like, yeah, that's that's I don't know.
• 53:56
  >> Push back against anyone that is being
• 53:58
  complacent in any field. Anybody that is
• 54:01
  acting like video games are are consu
• 54:04
  video game reviews are these consumable
• 54:06
  products, put the review in the bag.
• 54:08
  Shut up. You are it's on you for wanting
• 54:11
  more out of this. Push back against that
• 54:13
  person because they are dead wrong and
• 54:15
  history will prove you right. Um I just
• 54:20
  we
• 54:22
  man when we talk about all these
• 54:24
  websites and stuff I think something
• 54:25
  that we miss is the love of the game.
• 54:28
  >> Yeah. And I and I really really hope I
• 54:31
  really hope that whoever's listened to
• 54:33
  this long of this podcast, the person
• 54:35
  who you know they've loved video games
• 54:37
  for however long they love talking about
• 54:39
  video games. I hope that they can
• 54:41
  recognize the
• 54:43
  inherent art in
• 54:47
  talking about a thing that you love or
• 54:49
  bringing somebody through in a
• 54:50
  storytelling way, an experience that you
• 54:53
  had to widen their worldview. And I hope
• 54:55
  that this person can understand that
• 54:57
  this is not at all dissimilar from
• 55:01
  the guitar player going to the open mic.
• 55:04
  >> Yes.
• 55:05
  >> Honing their skill.
• 55:06
  >> Yes.
• 55:06
  >> Trying to get better. And I would never
• 55:09
  I would never I would never I would
• 55:10
  never look at that guitar player and I
• 55:12
  would never say for you
• 55:15
  to get better. for you to make a more a
• 55:19
  a wider field in your art, you need a
• 55:23
  job paying you to do the thing that you
• 55:25
  want to do. I would never do that.
• 55:27
  >> And I think we all understand that. I
• 55:29
  think that is something we all
• 55:30
  understand. And um I'm I'm tired of the
• 55:32
  excuses.
• 55:34
  >> Yeah.
• 55:34
  >> Jake, I love your passion. I do.
• 55:38
  >> Good.
• 55:38
  >> Can I tell you something I'm passionate
• 55:39
  about?
• 55:40
  >> Oh my god. Please.
• 55:41
  >> The critical error nation.
• 55:43
  patreon.com/critical
• 55:44
  error. you can become a part of our
• 55:49
  nation. I would like to give a big shout
• 55:52
  out to members of the Jake and Peter
• 55:54
  tier
• 55:56
  at patreon.com/critical.
• 55:58
  That is Andrew Bular, Evan Snee, Monero,
• 56:02
  and Robert Quesada. Thank you very much.
• 56:05
  These are people donating financially to
• 56:08
  us. It means the entire world to us at
• 56:10
  the highest tier on our Patreon. Um,
• 56:12
  this past week, or I guess as you're
• 56:14
  hearing this right now, there's an
• 56:16
  episode, the first uh uh episode of the
• 56:19
  Critical Error Book Club, we read a book
• 56:22
  or read half of it so far. We're reading
• 56:24
  the next half for next week. Um, Jake,
• 56:26
  can I be honest with you?
• 56:29
  This week's episode of the Critical Air
• 56:31
  Bonus Pod, my favorite one. My favorite
• 56:32
  one.
• 56:33
  >> I I I hear you. That was um yeah, that
• 56:36
  that was I got off that call and was
• 56:38
  literally like that fed a part of my
• 56:40
  life that I didn't know I needed. I I
• 56:43
  >> Here's the thing. You want to talk about
• 56:45
  how, you know, doing a review, you play
• 56:46
  the game, then you need time to like sit
• 56:48
  back and like process it and whatever.
• 56:50
  Uh you would not believe the new
• 56:52
  insights that I've gained since we
• 56:54
  talked about it. Uh because I had read
• 56:56
  the I had read the passages I need to
• 56:57
  read, then we sat down with you, started
• 56:59
  talking about it, whatever, and like now
• 57:01
  I'm like, "Oh my gosh, I need to go back
• 57:02
  and read all that again." Yes, I've I've
• 57:04
  got like I've got like new thoughts
• 57:06
  about it, new things.
• 57:07
  >> Great art holds up to to multiple
• 57:09
  readings.
• 57:10
  >> It does. Yeah.
• 57:11
  >> Uh, Heating and Cooling by Bethan
• 57:13
  Fenley. Uh, that is what we are
• 57:14
  discussing this week and next week on
• 57:16
  the Critical Error bonus show. If you're
• 57:18
  interested in that,
• 57:19
  patreon.com/critical.
• 57:22
  Jake, wait, but there's Hold on. There's
• 57:23
  a little thing going on.
• 57:24
  >> Yeah, please. So, not only if you join
• 57:27
  at patreon.com/critical error, do you
• 57:28
  get access to the next entry in the book
• 57:30
  club next week, but for our written
• 57:33
  piece, which we will get to for this
• 57:35
  episode in a moment, next week's written
• 57:37
  piece, Peter and I are both going to
• 57:40
  bring something. So, this is a book of
• 57:41
  micro memoirs, and Peter and I have
• 57:44
  decided that we will be writing our own
• 57:46
  micro memoirs to share on the podcast.
• 57:48
  But in the next bonus pod, we will be
• 57:53
  reading and delighting and sharing the
• 57:55
  micro memoirs of our patrons. So, if
• 57:59
  you've got a little itch to do some to
• 58:01
  do some writing yourself,
• 58:02
  patreon.com/critical
• 58:04
  error. Uh going to be treating it like
• 58:06
  uh in my professional life, I run some
• 58:08
  creative writing workshops. going to
• 58:09
  kind of be doing it taking that approach
• 58:11
  to some of the submissions for anybody
• 58:13
  that feels like getting in. So, uh, so
• 58:14
  again, big couple of weeks over on the
• 58:16
  Patreon. We're doing some fun stuff.
• 58:17
  >> It's been so fun. Uh, this year
• 58:19
  specifically, you know, obviously we're
• 58:20
  only into February, but we've already
• 58:21
  done all sorts of like community stuff.
• 58:23
  We did our Animal Crossing community
• 58:24
  night, which was so fun. And the book
• 58:26
  club has been cool and it's been
• 58:27
  interesting reading what people are
• 58:29
  saying about it already in the Discord
• 58:30
  and everything like that. All of that
• 58:31
  you get access to patreon.com/critical
• 58:34
  error. Jake, we would be remiss if we
• 58:37
  did not mention the members of Critical
• 58:39
  Error Royalty.
• 58:41
  Is my understanding you've made a sound
• 58:42
  effect for them.
• 58:44
  >> Of course, I made the sound effect. So,
• 58:45
  I think for this episode, it would be
• 58:47
  appropriate to I'm going to I'm going to
• 58:48
  probably group them into groups of
• 58:49
  three.
• 58:51
  >> And then I'm going to give them a
• 58:52
  review.
• 58:53
  >> Oh,
• 58:54
  >> I'm going to I'm going to give them just
• 58:55
  a quick review, a little score. I think
• 58:58
  I think everybody's going to get So,
• 58:59
  you're you're it's like it's like three
• 59:00
  three members of the royalty. they make
• 59:03
  up a video game and then I will I will
• 59:05
  kind of give you the bumper sticker
• 59:06
  statement. So,
• 59:07
  >> Sure. Sure.
• 59:08
  >> Let's So, let's hear our um Critical
• 59:09
  Error review round up right now. Thank
• 59:12
  you to our Critical Error patrons. Our
• 59:14
  first game comes from Andrew Bulkar,
• 59:16
  Robert Quesada, and Connor True Love. A
• 59:19
  fighting game with 100 characters, but
• 59:22
  not enough character. 5.4 out of 10. Our
• 59:27
  next game, Anel Trait. Sam Woods and
• 59:30
  Kalechow, a flight sim. So over
• 59:33
  complicated it has you wishing you flew
• 59:36
  coach. 6.3 out of 10. Next we've got
• 59:40
  Pinky Oats, Jared Kuseno, and Thick Dick
• 59:43
  Mystic. A live service with nine battle
• 59:46
  passes. And somehow they're all worth
• 59:49
  it. 8.6 out of 10. Next, Mitch Dyer Shin
• 59:53
  Brianna Bossman bring us a sprawling RPG
• 59:57
  with 200 side quests. Bloated. Yes, but
• 1:00:00
  who doesn't love a muffin top? 9.1 out
• 1:00:04
  of 10. James Pierre Reed, Evan, Snee,
• 1:00:07
  and Cole bring us a quiet indie game
• 1:00:09
  about depression. 10 out of 10. And
• 1:00:13
  finally, Mo, Danny Disaster, and Jacob
• 1:00:14
  Richter bring us a battle royale
• 1:00:17
  featuring serial mascot.
• 1:00:21
  Seven out of 10. Peter, as I alluded to
• 1:00:23
  earlier, um, every single week we trade
• 1:00:26
  off, we we read a little pre-written
• 1:00:28
  piece. Uh, we love to bring that element
• 1:00:31
  to the more off-the- cuff kind of
• 1:00:33
  discussion of the podcast. So, what will
• 1:00:35
  you be sharing with us this week?
• 1:00:37
  >> So, I would like to give a quick um
• 1:00:41
  trigger warning. I don't think this is
• 1:00:43
  particularly um nasty, but uh it is my
• 1:00:46
  understanding that other people feel
• 1:00:48
  differently about it. I'm going to be
• 1:00:49
  discussing um being in a hospital. I'm
• 1:00:52
  going to be discussing um wounds and
• 1:00:55
  stitches, not in any graphic detail in
• 1:00:57
  my opinion, but if that is something
• 1:00:59
  that uh you are sensitive to or bothered
• 1:01:01
  by, I want to give you the heads up of
• 1:01:02
  that right now. If you are bouncing,
• 1:01:04
  thank you so much for listening. Um
• 1:01:06
  we'll catch you in the next one. If not,
• 1:01:09
  here goes.
• 1:01:10
  >> Hey, take it away.
• 1:01:15
  The first thing I notice is just how
• 1:01:17
  young she is. We are finished in the ER.
• 1:01:20
  My wife has just received 10 or maybe 11
• 1:01:23
  stitches in her thumb. I know I should
• 1:01:25
  know, but I just can't listen to what
• 1:01:27
  anyone is saying as my mother-in-law
• 1:01:29
  gives my wife her hoodie because I'm
• 1:01:31
  listening to this girl scream.
• 1:01:33
  She's maybe eight or nine. I can't quite
• 1:01:36
  make out what's happening over there.
• 1:01:37
  I'm still a little dazed from the
• 1:01:39
  afternoon. The doctors gave me so much
• 1:01:41
  information about what I'm supposed to
• 1:01:43
  do, how I'm supposed to care for my
• 1:01:45
  wife's wound. I am underqualified and
• 1:01:47
  not all there. And then there's this
• 1:01:49
  girl.
• 1:01:51
  The first thing I noticed is how little
• 1:01:53
  I can identify inside her hand. I'm
• 1:01:57
  finishing up my day at work. Elena came
• 1:01:59
  home and she told me she's going to
• 1:02:00
  start working on dinner. But before I
• 1:02:02
  can get into the kitchen to help her, I
• 1:02:04
  hear a yelp. A single curse word breaks
• 1:02:07
  the afternoon air and then more yelping
• 1:02:09
  which turns into pleading. I am up from
• 1:02:11
  my desk and in the kitchen and then I
• 1:02:12
  see it. I guess I don't know what I see.
• 1:02:16
  It's not good. I think
• 1:02:19
  there's a mess of flesh and maybe it's a
• 1:02:22
  bone or a tendon or something that was
• 1:02:24
  once hidden beneath pristine pale skin
• 1:02:26
  that is now occupying the same space as
• 1:02:28
  our eyes. I have touched the spaces
• 1:02:31
  between her fingers an infinite number
• 1:02:33
  of times. But now the space between her
• 1:02:35
  thumb and first finger is unknowable.
• 1:02:38
  I don't know how long I froze. Elena
• 1:02:41
  says it was half a second. It felt like
• 1:02:43
  half a year before we are wrapping her
• 1:02:45
  hand in a green dish towel. I watch
• 1:02:48
  color drain from her face and pour into
• 1:02:50
  the fabric. No coats, no keys, no bags.
• 1:02:53
  I am running her into the car wearing
• 1:02:55
  shorts. It's 7° outside. I haven't
• 1:02:57
  showered since Monday. It's not good. I
• 1:03:00
  think
• 1:03:02
  it looks good. I tell her
• 1:03:05
  the girl is being held by her mother. Or
• 1:03:08
  maybe it's someone else. I'm trying not
• 1:03:10
  to listen to her screaming. I'm trying
• 1:03:12
  to hold on to the falling action of the
• 1:03:14
  evening so that today I can simply be
• 1:03:16
  over. Excuse me. So that today can
• 1:03:18
  simply be over. I look over at the
• 1:03:21
  check-in desk where the girl came in.
• 1:03:23
  She's not hurt.
• 1:03:25
  She's wrapped in this woman's arms as a
• 1:03:27
  boy who looks like her brother stands
• 1:03:29
  next to them silently.
• 1:03:31
  He's younger than her. I think it's hard
• 1:03:34
  to tell with kids.
• 1:03:37
  The pair are the pictures I've seen of
• 1:03:39
  city disasters where fallen buildings
• 1:03:41
  crumble to dust and smoke directly
• 1:03:43
  across the block from ones that stand
• 1:03:45
  untouched by the rubble. I wonder what
• 1:03:48
  it's like to be inside those buildings,
• 1:03:49
  looking across the street at the
• 1:03:51
  wreckage. Are you supposed to just work?
• 1:03:56
  How many stitches can even fit into one
• 1:03:58
  thumb? I ask myself as I watch a young
• 1:04:00
  nurse, or maybe she's a doctor, lay my
• 1:04:02
  wife down on a hospital bed in the
• 1:04:04
  middle of the hallway. I'm in the way.
• 1:04:07
  I'm standing next to a giant printer.
• 1:04:09
  There's nowhere to be that isn't in
• 1:04:11
  front of a door or in the path of
• 1:04:13
  someone in scrubs hurrying somewhere. A
• 1:04:16
  woman is sick in the room across the
• 1:04:18
  hall. Phones are ringing. The printer
• 1:04:19
  goes off and scares me half to death.
• 1:04:22
  How can this nurse or doctor or whoever
• 1:04:24
  she is tune it all out and take care of
• 1:04:26
  my wife? I'm watching her squirm and
• 1:04:29
  yelp as they numb her hand as my
• 1:04:30
  mother-in-law pets her head, glancing
• 1:04:32
  down and going white herself at the
• 1:04:34
  sight of the wound.
• 1:04:36
  Can you take these off her? She speaks
• 1:04:39
  sternly at me. I blink and look over at
• 1:04:41
  the hand now cleaned and ready for
• 1:04:43
  stitches, save for one detail.
• 1:04:47
  I reach over and touch the hand I've
• 1:04:49
  touched countless times. It is cold and
• 1:04:51
  wet. My wife can't look at me as I pull
• 1:04:55
  her pristine new wedding band off her
• 1:04:57
  hand. The ring sits heavy in my palm. My
• 1:05:01
  hand balls into a fist as it goes into
• 1:05:03
  my pocket. The ring is cradled in my
• 1:05:05
  calluses. I'm not letting go. She's
• 1:05:08
  going to be fine. This is not a big
• 1:05:09
  deal. Nine or 10 or 11 or however many
• 1:05:12
  stitches is a lot. But once this is
• 1:05:14
  over, we will meet up in the lobby and
• 1:05:15
  go home. The night will be over.
• 1:05:20
  I finally understand what's going on.
• 1:05:24
  She just watched her father die.
• 1:05:28
  The woman is fighting an uphill battle,
• 1:05:30
  trying to convince the girl that
• 1:05:31
  everything is okay. While they check
• 1:05:32
  into the ER, while they find a place
• 1:05:34
  they can crash land in a chair or maybe
• 1:05:37
  on the floor, or who even cares,
• 1:05:40
  the girl's brother knows she's right,
• 1:05:42
  and so does the woman. She puts on a
• 1:05:44
  pitiful performance of comfort as the
• 1:05:45
  girl screams in detail about what she
• 1:05:47
  just saw.
• 1:05:49
  And I'm standing on the other side of
• 1:05:50
  the glass. Elena's ring is in my pocket.
• 1:05:53
  We get to go home now. I'm still in
• 1:05:56
  shorts.
• 1:05:58
  We left the dish towel there. It was too
• 1:06:01
  soaked in blood to bring home with us.
• 1:06:03
  But after I get Elena settled down on
• 1:06:04
  the couch, I have to clean the kitchen.
• 1:06:08
  I take the ring out of my pocket and I
• 1:06:10
  put it in a dish next to our sink. It
• 1:06:11
  looks up to It looks up at me, stunned
• 1:06:14
  at being returned to the sight of the
• 1:06:15
  tragedy.
• 1:06:17
  The water is running as I wash the knife
• 1:06:20
  that brought us here. I reach for the
• 1:06:21
  towel, but its absence surprises me and
• 1:06:25
  pulls me out of the intense focus I've
• 1:06:26
  been sitting in for the last four hours.
• 1:06:29
  I think of the girl and I cry.
• 1:06:34
  Thank you. Wow. A true short story.
• 1:06:38
  >> Yeah. Yeah. A true short story. Like
• 1:06:41
  that was that was a like a very like
• 1:06:44
  classic structure, I think, to like how
• 1:06:45
  a short story works, which was which I
• 1:06:47
  was not expecting. That's that's not
• 1:06:48
  typically what you go for. No, I um to
• 1:06:51
  be honest with you, the the last handful
• 1:06:53
  of pieces I've done,
• 1:06:54
  >> I've kind of been like, oh, like I feel
• 1:06:56
  like I'm I'm leaning into the same sort
• 1:06:58
  of like beats and that's okay because,
• 1:07:01
  you know, this is meant to be sort of
• 1:07:02
  like an exercise and and whatever. But I
• 1:07:04
  was like, if this is an exercise, let me
• 1:07:05
  let me do something new.
• 1:07:08
  >> And um I'm trying to process this. This
• 1:07:11
  happened. This happened. And it was um
• 1:07:13
  weird
• 1:07:14
  >> and and upsetting of course, you know,
• 1:07:16
  and and there's a certain level of um
• 1:07:19
  processing that's been done over the
• 1:07:21
  past few weeks as I've been sort of
• 1:07:22
  dealing with this and and sort of
• 1:07:24
  thinking back on this this night. And um
• 1:07:27
  the thing that really stuck out to me is
• 1:07:30
  obviously this girl.
• 1:07:31
  >> Um
• 1:07:33
  >> and I don't know, you know, last week we
• 1:07:35
  were talking about your piece about how
• 1:07:36
  it's like, "Oh, I don't do sadness."
• 1:07:38
  Mhm.
• 1:07:38
  >> And um when I sat down to write this,
• 1:07:40
  I've been I've been working on this
• 1:07:42
  since it happened to be honest with you.
• 1:07:44
  >> Um but um
• 1:07:47
  I didn't want it to just be a bummer.
• 1:07:50
  >> But then when I finished it, I was like,
• 1:07:51
  but I think not that it's it's not
• 1:07:53
  intended to be a bummer, it's just what
• 1:07:55
  happened.
• 1:07:55
  >> Mhm.
• 1:07:56
  >> You know, and I was I was struggling on
• 1:07:58
  figuring out if the if it needed a
• 1:07:59
  different angle, if it needed to go on
• 1:08:01
  and have some sort of like larger
• 1:08:03
  message or or something like that. But I
• 1:08:04
  don't know if it does.
• 1:08:07
  >> There is a great short story that you
• 1:08:11
  should read that this really reminded me
• 1:08:12
  of. Um, it's called the Chickixube and
• 1:08:16
  it's a tough tough name, but for the
• 1:08:19
  listener, uh, it's C H I CX
• 1:08:22
  U L U B. Yes. um by TC Bole and um it's
• 1:08:28
  a story that I use in my creative
• 1:08:30
  writing classes to teach the concept of
• 1:08:32
  an objective correlative and uh this
• 1:08:35
  idea of you know the story centers
• 1:08:38
  around this if I'm remembering correctly
• 1:08:40
  this married couple who goes to the
• 1:08:43
  hospital because they their um daughter
• 1:08:46
  has been in like a car accident
• 1:08:48
  >> and every so often kind of like on the
• 1:08:50
  journey from their house to the hospital
• 1:08:52
  whatever the story interrupts itself to
• 1:08:54
  tell you the story of the uh chickloo,
• 1:08:57
  which if I'm remembering correctly is
• 1:08:58
  the meteor that destroys the dinosaurs.
• 1:09:01
  >> And you're getting these two stories in
• 1:09:03
  tandem. And um or maybe actually now I
• 1:09:08
  just revealed what that meteor actually
• 1:09:09
  was in remembering how the story worked.
• 1:09:11
  But um you know kind of the the the
• 1:09:15
  twist of the story is that
• 1:09:19
  you just think the most this couple
• 1:09:22
  thinks the most devastating thing in the
• 1:09:23
  world has happened to them.
• 1:09:25
  >> Yes.
• 1:09:25
  >> And you're getting this story that again
• 1:09:28
  you think is about a history altering
• 1:09:32
  you know defining event of just like
• 1:09:35
  this devastating thing. And then um you
• 1:09:38
  know it turns out the that the daughter
• 1:09:39
  is fine. And if I'm remembering
• 1:09:42
  correctly, I think that maybe the meteor
• 1:09:43
  just floats by. And it's Yeah. And it's
• 1:09:46
  this it's this funny moment where it
• 1:09:48
  reminded me a lot of the the kind of um
• 1:09:51
  the movement that was happening in your
• 1:09:52
  story when you revealed kind of learning
• 1:09:55
  what the um what that little girl was
• 1:09:58
  there for and kind of speaking to one,
• 1:10:00
  you know, talking about one thing while
• 1:10:02
  this other thing is happening, these
• 1:10:03
  parallel events and how they're kind of
• 1:10:04
  like in conversation with each other.
• 1:10:06
  And I um and I think that this this
• 1:10:09
  draft that you presented is like already
• 1:10:10
  really strong and I would I would like
• 1:10:12
  really be curious to see like the third
• 1:10:15
  draft just because it's it's there's
• 1:10:18
  like a lot of
• 1:10:19
  >> just by your instincts. I think a lot of
• 1:10:21
  like literary elements already baked in
• 1:10:24
  to kind of how you Yeah. how you
• 1:10:26
  positioned everything.
• 1:10:27
  >> But um
• 1:10:29
  >> it's funny it's funny that you mentioned
• 1:10:31
  that short story because I mean that
• 1:10:32
  like that's basically what I it is. Do
• 1:10:34
  you know what I where it's like like I
• 1:10:36
  think it's so bad and then it's it's not
• 1:10:38
  that it wasn't, but it's it's fine.
• 1:10:39
  She's going to be fine. She's not losing
• 1:10:40
  her thumb or whatever. I thought it was
• 1:10:42
  really [ __ ] bad and it wasn't
• 1:10:44
  >> and that but like I get to go home, you
• 1:10:47
  know what I mean? Like like we leave and
• 1:10:49
  that's it.
• 1:10:50
  >> Let me let me read you a little piece
• 1:10:51
  from the story. The thing that the thing
• 1:10:52
  that disturbs me about Jixlue, I don't
• 1:10:54
  even think I'm saying that right, but
• 1:10:56
  aside from the fact that it erased the
• 1:10:58
  dinosaurs and wrought catastrophic and
• 1:10:59
  irreversible change, is the deeper
• 1:11:01
  implication that we and all our work and
• 1:11:04
  worries and attachments are so utterly
• 1:11:06
  inconsequential.
• 1:11:08
  Death cancels out our individuality. We
• 1:11:10
  know that. Yes. But anttogyny
• 1:11:12
  recapitulates
• 1:11:14
  fogyny. Oh my god. And the kind and and
• 1:11:16
  the kind goes on. Human life and culture
• 1:11:19
  succeed us. that in the absence of God
• 1:11:21
  is what allows to accept the death of
• 1:11:23
  the individual. But when you throw the
• 1:11:25
  chicks into the mix are the next
• 1:11:27
  Chickixube. The chicks that could come
• 1:11:29
  howling down to obliterate all and
• 1:11:31
  everything even as your eyes skim the
• 1:11:33
  lines of this page. Where does that
• 1:11:36
  leave us? And then it cuts to you're the
• 1:11:39
  parents question mark
• 1:11:41
  >> and we're back in the hospital. Like
• 1:11:43
  like that's what it is. Like that's it.
• 1:11:45
  Like that's the Yeah. Yeah. Got
• 1:11:48
  >> uh cool. Thank you so much for sharing.
• 1:11:50
  >> Thank you. Thank you for um for
• 1:11:52
  listening.
• 1:11:52
  >> God, hate the uh hate going to the
• 1:11:56
  hospital as a setting. Pretty much in
• 1:11:57
  any
• 1:11:58
  >> pretty much always bad.
• 1:11:59
  >> Always bad.
• 1:12:01
  I got a little white coat syndrome, I
• 1:12:02
  would say. So I I even hear hospital and
• 1:12:04
  I'm just like, "Oh, no."
• 1:12:05
  >> Oh, no. She She uh has a similar feeling
• 1:12:08
  as you. And so it's funny, too. I cut
• 1:12:11
  some stuff because I was going to talk
• 1:12:12
  about um this is our second time of me
• 1:12:14
  taking her there. Uh we we live we're
• 1:12:17
  very fortunate. We live like 2 3 minutes
• 1:12:19
  away from the hospital, like literally
• 1:12:20
  right around the corner. And um this is
• 1:12:21
  the second time that we took her there.
• 1:12:23
  Uh because the first time she passed
• 1:12:24
  out, had a seizure uh when I was driving
• 1:12:26
  her home. Uh and it was this thing where
• 1:12:29
  then in taking care of her and going to
• 1:12:32
  the hospital and everything like that
• 1:12:33
  was a lot of flashbacks to that
• 1:12:35
  >> and um how that was freaky. Um and and I
• 1:12:39
  had I had a bit about it in here, but it
• 1:12:41
  it wasn't
• 1:12:42
  >> Yeah.
• 1:12:44
  Well, I wanted to hone it and make it
• 1:12:45
  more focused and and clean and and
• 1:12:47
  whatever, but
• 1:12:47
  >> yeah.
• 1:12:48
  >> Um,
• 1:12:48
  >> cool.
• 1:12:49
  >> Thank you for listening to this. And
• 1:12:51
  hey, I would love to say
• 1:12:53
  >> would love to see you over at
• 1:12:54
  patreon.com/critical
• 1:12:56
  error. If not, would love a subscription
• 1:12:59
  on YouTube here.
• 1:13:01
  >> Wow, about that. We never ask about
• 1:13:04
  that. We never We never asked. Can you
• 1:13:06
  believe that? Oh my god. All right. I
• 1:13:07
  mean, listen, there's never been a
• 1:13:08
  better time. Patriot time.
• 1:13:10
  >> Never been a better time.
• 1:13:11
  >> Give me one more. Give me one more. Been
• 1:13:13
  a better time.
• 1:13:14
  >> Never been a better time.