Game Style Guide, please give us some edumacation

Blog Post: Game Style Guide, please give us some edumacation Subscribe to this RSS feed

Author: Matthew Keast
Digg This!
Comments

With the release of a game journalism style guide, a question has come up concerning whether its existence is necessary.

Bible 2.0?

GameSetWatch has put forth the opinion that the Videogame Style Guide and Reference Manual is for the most part useless. They make some good points, concluding that the guide can be summarized into about a page that explains the conventions for spelling specific terms. I haven't read the guide yet, but I will say that I respectfully disagree with the notion that there is no need for such a guide.

The standard guide for journalists outside the game industry is The Associated Press Manual of Style. The reason it exists is to provide a consistent approach of reference so that readers anywhere in the world will be able to understand what a writer is talking about. If one writer uses an abbreviation or acronym differently than another, meanings can be misconstrued. It's not about being formal and stuffy, but about making the reader's experience as lacking in confusion as possible.

I don't know how extensive the recently-released guide is, but off the top of my head I could probably list an endless stream of game-related jargon. MMO, jumping-puzzle, mini-boss, FPS, lag, griefer, newb, noob, lamer, carebear, unlockable, frame buffering, particle effect, avatar. There is a vast ocean of game terminology out there, and if journalists adopt a consistent voice when it comes to these terms, it will make the whole medium more approachable.

Game developers have learned that the days of difficult gameplay as a standard are over. The way to expand is to appeal to the casual gamer. Game journalism, in order to thrive, should be following the same path. Not only will it make the whole idea of reading about gaming more approachable, but if we are going to call ourselves game journalists, we should probably take ourselves as seriously as "regular" journalists.

games