After letting the argument settle, he makes a necessary point; videogames, as a medium, should not parrot movies, in terms of development. Whether the two are completely different is a point of contention--though I would argue they are similar--but for the most part there were truth in his words.
What frightens me is the trend in videogame criticism. It seems that the most popular critics are rather obnoxious, coarse ranters who overcome their competition by avoiding the sterility and objectivity of gaming "journalism," providing their audiences with a sort of crude honesty readers/viewers are normally deprived of. Normally this is a good thing, because criticism in itself is an art; an objective review of a game is to a Yahtzee review is what Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone is to Lady Chatterly's Lover (that is the dang ol' truth right there and you can just take it J.K Rowling fans, no offense to any parties however). Yet I cannot advocate for Sterling and his generation because they lack what true, thorough-bred critics have: class; or, rather, style, intelligence, and self-integrity. Benjamin Croshaw has class. Bob Chipman, I would think, some. The mark of great critics is that any one of their reviews are equal in novelty to the material that is reviewed, which is why Harold Bloom is a hated individual in the academic community and yet will still be remembered for his work in this lifetime. I mean, he can write.
Reflecting on the video, Sterling's arguments--and wording--did not match the immensity of the issue he was discussing, though what he said was truthful. And that is rather disappointing, because, not to Sterling's discredit, the Escapist chose this man for a reason I cannot understand, except for his overuse of explicit words that dogs the champion of this magazine. That, to me, is a bad sign. However, I will return next Monday to see how Sterling cleans his act; most great writers undergo messy introductions, and similarly these create their best work in the latter part of their lives. Though I do expect a video much earlier than that, I only use the fact to express hope.
