I reached a disappointing conclusion while trying to objectively evaluate various popular gaming blogs. Well, blog is a vague term for what they are, which is really news based multi-featured sites. The evaluation was based on my own reservations about whether such sites were responsible or in the least, uninfluenced by other larger forces. The more I tried to dig at this to find the best site, the more I found the comparative worth of the sites incalculable.
I wish I had come up with more of an answer than that, but the answer is still the same. I think in trying to analyze them I saw the strings that made them dance, and became disenfranchised with all of it. Not necessarily the sites themselves, but the greater overall market and they way people interacted with it. I feel it's no different than the mass commercialism and capitalism that is seen everywhere else. There weren't many games of interest for me at the time either. The industry in general is in a strange place where the next step isn't so obvious, the next console more vague than ever. As Nintendo showed, it's not just about who can make the best graphics, as the summit of that mountain is ever nearing. It's about who will continue to innovate, and how they will manage to improve the experience to keep gaming engaging, relevant, and worthwhile.
Of course, none of this is the fault of the gaming websites that are dependent on the industry. A lot of these sites are involved in creating commentary and criticism, which puts them in the tough spot of trying to validate the efforts of the industry, which can prove themselves fruitless. Trying to collectively commentate on the collective commentary was also proven fruitless.
