Hiya folks, it's been awhile I know, I just really haven't had time to type something worthwhile in quite a while...
Anyway, this Friday I was thinking about something to post here, and I was listening to the weekly 1up podcast. This week, Luke Smith, a fairly popular video-game journalist, announced that he would be quitting his post at 1up, and move-on to work at Bungie (the creators of the Halo franchise).
At once, many on the 1up boards began to wish him well, and posted messages saying that they'd "miss him" and wishing him good luck. This got me thinking about how journalism in this industry is handled, and how lucky this industry is to have such a vigorous community supported by the thousands (millions?) of users who post on message boards, that at the same time...has a strong connection with those who work in the industry.
Simply put, those who are working in the industry have a tight connection with the fans of their product, whether that be a game or an article about a game. This is a phenomenon that is almost non-existent in any other entertainment besides the game industry. You don't see many forums dedicated to 20th Century Fox or DreamWorks.
Having this communication with fans of games is a great thing because it gives creators a vast amount of feedback on their game that otherwise wouldn't be there...at least not as loud and clear as it is.
However, it's not just great for creators, it's great for fans. Take the 1up podcast...or any other gaming podcast for example. These podcasts give the fans powerful insight into the games industry that otherwise wouldn't exist either.
So hmm... there didn't seem to be much of a point to this post besides to congratulate the video game media on being awesome. So yeah, keep it up guys!
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"This is a phenomenon that is almost non-existent in any other entertainment besides the game industry. You don't see many forums dedicated to 20th Century Fox or DreamWorks."
I suspect you massively underestimate the scope of the fanweb for movies and music. And probably even books. (as an aside, these fandoms are heavily based on individuals whereas gaming fandom is focused on companies.) However, I agree with your main point, which is that gamedevs and game consumers tend to have closer and better ties. But this is only possible because the fandom is smaller, not larger.
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