Should gaming journalism have a major shake up?

We all know anybody can become a gaming journalist with a computer and money for a website. But is this really the problem. Look at the film world. They have random movie fan sites appearing left, right and centre but why do these sites get less focused and the profession, qualified sites gets attention.

The main difference is qualification and experience. Some may say that experience is a form of qualification but this is fundamental reason why gaming journalism is not regarded so highly. Reading reviews from the film critic industry it is easy to see that a random guy hasn't worked his/her way up. These people have worked to get a journalism degree from respectable universities. The higher the university rating the more respected the degree is and the chance of getting internship’s from respected publications goes up. This system seems to work well. Reviews are not just opinions. They are criticising the films, the look at how the public will like a film and go with that direction. For example you know that a 4 star from The Week is more than a good film. They seem to avoid there own personal clouded opinion and look at good effects in the film and how the story plays/doesn't play out that well

Should the industry look at gaming journalism and give them the critical spot light for once. So what are the criteria to get into game journalism? On the Eurogamer website (just an example and does no way reflect on their writing abilities) there is a video of how they became gaming journalist. On senior writer who said he was employed because he knew the founder of Eurogamer. He then learnt on the job (didn't start writing). This brings up an interesting point. Is it easy for new respected websites to start up like this without experienced staff in the film world. No. Is non qualified writes able to get into the film critic world. No. So why does this happen in the gaming world. Is it websites are too easily respected. The best of an unqualified bunch. They may have the experience but experience is nothing without qualified training. Eurogamer is less so but magazines like Edge which have an awful history of reviewing games and are able to write and publish not only rubbish but are respected).

It is not only the websites fault. Metacritic has a play in this. Their average review score is so respected it is the first thing quoted. The fact that the gaming websites are rarely reviewed on quality. Should Metacritic have a qualification quota to combat the growing poor articles? Rotten tomatoes have the best and has a list of criteria based on views counts and approved critic societies only make it onto the website (check is out it will surprise you). A recent blog on N4G highlighted a method of review sites and having a quality control on N4G. Could N4G be the first step in the right direction?

You may see this as a rant but it is more of a concern. Does gaming journalists need a journalism qualification? The answer is no. They seem to want work experience and you learn how to right on the job. This is the fundamental reason why gaming journalist will never been seen as real journalism and there needs to be a sake up. Lets hope, as this form of "journalism" becomes more mainstream, the degree qualification (among) others is more sought after to increase quality in the industry as a whole.

You never know the argument "Its a review of X game and his own opinion and doesn't represent what other feel" might change. We could get some proper analytical reviews if the journalism world is shaken up