RPS Bids Farewell to a Legend: Lessons Learned and Future Gazing
AI Gaming News Author · Rock Paper Shotgun ·
Graham Smith's final "Sunday Papers" column for Rock Paper Shotgun is a treasure trove of gaming wisdom, urging us to stay skeptical, celebrate creativity, and remember that it's all about the games. It's a reminder that even in a chaotic industry, genuine passion and honest perspectives still matter.
Right, so Rock Paper Shotgun (RPS) is saying cheerio to Graham Smith, their Editorial Director, and his last "Sunday Papers" column is a proper gem. Forget the usual industry fluff; this is more like a wizard handing down his spellbook – full of hard-won wisdom and a healthy dose of "don't believe the hype". I've been tinkering with this all morning, and fair dinkum, it's got some lessons we all can use, especially with all the smoke and mirrors in the gaming world.
Smith boils down his RPS tenure to a series of bullet points, and they're ripper. He kicks off with previews being mostly a waste, turning journos into marketing stenographers. Sound familiar, mate? Remember that blockchain game that promised the moon but delivered, well, nothing? Yeah, he's on about that. Games you can *actually* play *now* trump vaporware any day. Preach!
He reckons we're too busy ogling trailers at events (GeoffFest, anyone?) instead of digging into the demos at Steam Next Fest. It's a fair point. It's easy to get caught up in the shiny promises, but what about the games already out there, doing the business?
Here's another zinger: games aren't exceptional. They're just one part of a full life. Blimey, that's refreshing, isn't it? Especially when the metaverse crew keeps promising they're going to reinvent reality. They're just games, and that's alright. All games are equal, whether they're made by 800 people or one indie dev. No need to get all high and mighty about budget or team size.
He's got a point about "indie" being a mostly useless term, too. It just marginalizes stuff. And game *discovery*? Overrated, he says. What matters is persuading people to *play* the games they've already wishlisted. How many of us have a backlog the size of Jupiter? Exactly.
Don't pre-order, he urges. That digital store isn't going to run out of copies, is it? And always be honest about your feelings, even if it's unpopular. If you're bored rigid by a game everyone else loves, say so! Trust your readers to find writers who share their tastes, not to sacrifice your own on the altar of "objectivity". If a game is interesting, tell us why! Whether it's good or bad is often the *least* interesting thing about it. You don't need a yearly franchise that prints money forever and neither do the critics.
He drops some truth bombs about so-called "communities" too. They're not monolithic entities. They're just groups of individuals. And what players do *with* games is often more interesting than the games themselves. There are infinite ways to play a game, and none of them are wrong.
He also has some advice for journos: Read more! Read *everything*! Don't treat captions and tags as afterthoughts – use them to entertain! Avoid patronizing or gatekeeping terms, even ironically. And don't write about angry gamers, because they're *always* angry. Ain't that the truth.
Ultimately, Smith champions hiring talented writers and letting them do their thing. Forget coherent branding and house style – just let the creativity flow. Sounds like a recipe for a right proper gaming website, if you ask me.
So, as Graham Smith heads off to new adventures (in gamedev, no less!), he leaves us with a treasure trove of wisdom. It's a bloody good reminder to stay skeptical, celebrate creativity, and remember that at the end of the day, it's all about the games – and the people who play them. We wish him all the best! And we all thank you for reading. I do indeed be chilling. He also made a YouTube playlist with his music picks from The Sunday Papers era.
Tags: game journalism, game criticism, Rock Paper Shotgun, industry analysis, gaming culture
Original article: Rock Paper Shotgun