This whole fucking thing is so goddamn stupid. Contacting this guys wife can be considered harassment and she should be fired. I don't think anyone can argue that.
Having said that. Kotaku's impact on the industry barely fucking registers. This man should just block them from everything he engages with and use his platform for something actually helpful. Instead he has seemingly dedicated his entire free time to just being angry at every fucking thing.
Also, the fucking irony!
His goal in life seems to be to end a whole organization and leave a whole lot of people jobless. Which, fine - right to protest and all that. He's failing miserably at that. Someone actually succeeded in a campaign to end his website, and he's not happy about it lol. Make it make sense!
If everyone who hated Kotaku or any other outlet just put them on ignore and went on with their lives, they'd be so much happier. But no, everyone has to be a fucking rage filled keyboard warrior.
Play games you enjoy from creators you like. Ignore it from people you don't. No one owes you games that aligns perfectly with your ideals. No creator is obligated to create games that don't align with their ideals. Let people make the games they want, and buy/play the games you want. It's that fucking simple.
Good post. It's weird, the feeling I initially got when reading about the Kotaku Detected thing. Messaging the dude's wife was bizarre, and stalkerish, but it kinda fit within Mercante's move list. With the KD stuff, I immediately felt something in my stomach, a change from righteous cause to "uhhh the hell?" It's definitely devolved into a personal shitting contest, but that in itself is fascinating to dissect. A high end editor of a once renowned gaming journalism outlet is now getting into a cyber war with a very low tier youtuber (as far as subscriber count and reach, power in the industry).
He's kinda going by the seat of his pants and making a mess, but I think he feels synonymous with a lot of people supporting him. It's a clear visual example of the industry going out of its way, even on a micro level, to fuck over some random, plain looking dude who rides scooters and plays games. It's a distinct representation of this entire facet of the culture war.
And to quickly address the "It's dumb drama, just ignore it," - sound advice. However, some gamers are amused/entertained/invested in the drama. It's kind of like a lolcow mindset to me, tied into something that I care about. It's like watching exhibition matches before the big title bout, I guess. It's sort of like a niche market, like irl Smash Brothers tourneys or conventions.
www.smashjt.com
adamsapple ?!?
