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Joseph Olin, president of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, thinks game reviewers are lazy. The head of the AIAS — the body that organises both the D.I.C.E. Summit and Interactive Achievement Awards annually — points to a glut of critics, but little in the way of critical analysis according to a Shacknews report.
“How can you review a game, how can you give a comment about a game like Grand Theft Auto IV, that has 40-plus hours or more of gameplay, if you’ve only spent 2 1/2 to 3 hours playing it”, Olin asks, saying that a reliance on game scores and deadline focused reviews do readers a disservice.
Olin excludes some game reviewers, whom we’ll assume to include us, as we’ve shunned review scores and aim to “finish” a game before reviewing it, even if it means running a later review. Just sayin’.
AIAS President: ‘Game Reviewers Are Lazy’ [Shacknews]
There are really two faces to E3. One of them is that of a business summit, intended to connect the video game industry with the press as a way of showing their wares to the public. The other looks at game developers as artists, presenting the fruit of their ideas and labors often for the first time.
Interactive entertainment is both business and art, and the Academy of Interactive Arts And Sciences recognises both of these faces with their annual DICE Summit and Interactive Achievement Awards. They also host the Into the Pixel game art exhibition, which we saw this year at E3, award scholarships to game design students, and more activities designed to support the industry’s creative talent.
We sat down with Academy president Joseph Olin to talk about the state of the industry, this year’s E3, and more.
“As much as I think most people reflect upon 2007 as a watershed year for games ad interactive entertainment, I think everything I’ve seen so far at this E3 shows… that 2008 to 2009 will be bigger, better and brighter than last year”, said Olin.
AIAS Award Winners To Get Recognition At GameStops. Last night’s winners at the 11th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards will not only get a sales boost from those who caught the awards online, they’ll also get a kick in the sales pants from shoppers at GameStop. AIAS president Joseph Olin told DICE attendees today that the academy has partnered with the retailer to add special mention to games like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Rock Band, Assassin’s Creed and others with a sticker calling out each game’s win. That means you’ll see yet another sticker on display cases at GameStop and EBgames across the country, promoting each title’s “Game of the Year” status.
