PixlBit

I remember a lot of that stuff.  Bob Mackey was such a douche.

First, I don't think anybody should be harassing anybody else online.  Spirited discussion is one thing, but some of the shit that people are being subjected to is ridiculous.  The threats of violence/rape to women like Anita Sarkeesian is wrong and those cowards who are responsible should be found and punished accordingly.  But most people only hear about that side of it for whatever reasons (laziness, agenda, or because it makes for a better story?  You decide).  I saw how you were treated by that so-called professional journalist and his cronies, and while your case wasn't as extreme as Anita's treatment by some in GG, I know from this that harassment can come from both sides, despite the media almost unanimously painting all GG as socially awkward timebombs and all anti-GG as if they are enlightened innocent victims.

Second, as an artist, I think games are a form of art and expression, like film.  Yes, they are commercial products (also like films), but they shouldn't be expected to advance some social or moral crusade, unless that's the creators' intent of course.  I get annoyed reading reviews and comment sections of games like Bayonetta 2 which bash the game simply for having a sexualized female lead when this is an artistic choice.  If this is not your cup of tea, fine, but don't insult those who don't share your opinion.  And it's not Hideki Kamiya's fault that there aren't more diverse female character types in games.  I do think games as a whole should be more inclusive, but it's not necessary for a single game to be so.  The bigger issue is how to get more diversity in the industry (and how to not treat them like shit once they're in) to allow for expanded viewpoints/ideas.

I don't understand the trolls that harass Anita either. I don't agree with what she has to say (And I see her more as a con-artist than she is a true believer in what she preaches) but I think the best thing I can do is avoid her. I mean I've laughed at some of her more absurd tweets ppl from GG retweeted but I never engaged her in direct conversation. Just seems like a big waste of time.

I'm with you on creative expression! I think artists,writers,and game developers should be able to create their vision without some sort of social-justice agenda getting haphazardly shoved down their throats. Constructive criticism is great but rating a game lower because of "sexiness" or "boobs" is just plain silly!

I must've missed that stuff on 1UP or maybe it happened right after the announcement of 1UP's closure. At that announcement, I was packing my bags for Pixlbit.

I still listen to Bob on Retronauts. Occasionally he'll say something strange suggesting he's obsessed with pointing out sexual references in games and calling them obscene or somehow offensive. On the Rare episode of Retronauts he mentioned the title Grabbed By The Ghoulies referenced something "disgusting". It's a joke! How is it disgusting? I get the sense he's not trolling, just hung up on some issues. 

Well what Bob did to me was trolling.....I mean he even got all of Bo news to come after me on my blog. (Bo news is a random forum he liked I guess) 

Bob may not be a troll now but I don't think that excuses him of past misdeeds. Sure, if Mackey ever sincerely apologized to me with no snark or sarcasm I'd forgive him but I kind of doubt that will ever occur. (Be nice if it did though! I like when people truly change for the better. It's quite inspiring actually.)

I'm not even against all kinds of trolling...it's just Bob crossed the line when he started to judge gamers based on their preferences. Once he was given a professional job as a journalist he should have acted at least a bit more tactful.

But eh,I'm not gonna "unfriend" anyone for listening to retro-nauts. I'd be a BIG jerk if I did that. lol.

I'm ignorant of the battle you had with him. I've only heard him on podcasts with people I follow like Jeremy Parish.

Perhaps you're simply a more patient person than me for being able to put up with the guy. I imagine if you visited 1up you'd still be able to find the blog in question with all the replies but eh,no need to get wrapped up in that nonsense!

He irks me mildly on podcasts with Parrish and others, but no so much as of yet.

Thanks for the link.  Now, I can tell people where to go to get reliable info.  

I remember those days at 1UP.  I'd comment on a few of Mackey's crap articles, but I usually got there late.  Not too many responses to my comments.  

I use to get in similar debates (on a smaller scale) with Kat Bailey.  I was friends with Kat for years.  She use to do these great joint blogs with Fandel Mulkey (Funnydale).  Around the time she became 1UP staff, her & I went back & forward on some issues.  She would make statements that were contradictory to statements I know she made in the past.  I'd call her out on it and eventrully she'd reply with nothing.  I guess, once she got to San Fran., she started drinking the Kool-aid.  I have no idea what her views are now. 

Yeah, I thought Kat was pretty cool too and we had very similar taste in rpgs. Then I read her article on us gamer where she compared Lords Of Shadow 2 to Rape-Lay. I mean Lords Of Shadow 2 may not be the best game ever but it was in no way a friggin rape/sexaul assault simulator!

Oh man!  Yeah, I remember that!  She would say stuff like that and not one time before she became 1Up staff did she make those statements.  Hell, she was living in Japan for a while and I didn't see her complain about Japanese games being sexist.  In one of the arguements I had with her, she was defending Japanese gaming. 

Like I said before, I was and still am too busy having fun playing and reviewing games to get involved with any of that GamerGate stuff.  That's why i didn't get into any of the drama back at 1up.com.  However, I will say that one thing I did not like at 1up was that some of the game reviewers and editors came across as being snobby and full of themselves.  I'm not saying they were really like that in real life, that's just how they came across on the internet.  I won't name names, but there were people that a lot of others really liked that I felt were like that.  And that's all I have to say about that!

Most of us enjoyed 1up for the community,Cary. I know I stayed there because of people like you & the others. Some articles were "aight" but I looked more forward to reading the blogs of other gamers.

One thing I admire about Pixlbit is every discussion is about games. I never get the feeling someone is trying to preach down to us or tell us we're bad people because we like "brand X".

Again,if every game site had been like Pixlbit I don't think there would have been any need for Gamer-Gate at all. Sadly, Pixlbit is a diamond in the rough! (Rare)

I like Brand X. :)

Heh,never heard of Brand X before...ironic considering my dad and brother loved 60's & 70's music. You would have thought I would have been exposed to "something" from this band!

Well you've heard of at least one of the members. Phil Collins from a little known band called Genesis. :D This was his side project.

Yup,Phil Collins and Genesis ring a bell!

it's fucked up to trace Gamergate back to your 1up experience.  But, that's what it was, just predating all this other stuff.  SO. FUCKED. UP.  

It was "fucked up" Matt but it lead to the creation of something much better. In the end I think we won because well,just look at pixlbit now!

Hey Mr. H!  Feels like I haven't seen you around here in forever.  Good to read another article from you :-)

Hey Jamie,good to see you too,bro!

Hey, you're alive. Welcome back.

I was right there when political lines were being toed.  It was the beginning of the end for 1up, a last desperate shot at relevance. Plus, Mackey has shit taste in games. Fucker thought Dishonored, a game where the guards cant even see 3 feet above eye level, was a superior stealth game to Thief 1/2. lmao.

Amazing how many of the "oldies" hold up so well today,Chris. lol. Often they're still superior to their modern counterparts. Heck, to this day games like Half Life 2, FallOut Tactics, and Kotor still hold up superbly.

I dunno what Mackey's problem was but he really fucked up by trying to infringe his personal beliefs upon the community. I realize he was laying bait for more traffic but the way he did it was shady and pretty damned deplorable.

For me, the fall of 1up began from within the forums when they consolidated the radio forum into the general gaming forum.  It turned into a giant fight among the community with the mods taking the side of the general/news forum crowd, and many of the best posters and all of the game developers that were on the site just quit coming there.

I heard about that,D! As in even before I became a 1up regular there were problems in the forums & even with the site lay out. (Which many argued was better before it was changed) It also seemed as if a lot of really nice gamer-positive contributors left earlier too. (I recall gazing at an old photograph of the 1up staff when their group was more diverse and more robust) It's really too bad 1up fell apart the way it did.

1UP's end was more due to managerial incompetence on the part of Ziff-Davis/UGO/IGN than anything else. The big exodus of 2009 (the UGO buyout and the death of EGM) was the beginning of the end. It marked the exodus of most of the long-time staffers like Shoe, Crispin, and others. Sam Kennedy, Jeremy, and others tried to soldier onward but it wasn't the same.

And to be fair to 1UP, Jeremy did publicly address Mackey's behavior, and I feel it was a sincere effort. The original problem should never have happened, of course. At that time, though, I'm sure they already knew that they plug was being pulled.

"It’s true there were corporate reasons why 1up went belly up. However, at least to me that was not the big part of 1up’s eventual decline."

I should have perhaps elaborated more on that instead of being so vague. lol. I do remember writing a blog about Ziffy that wasn't so flattering. It involved Vanilla Ice and a terrible rap! I also mentioned Jeremy came to my defense in a previous blog but was also told one of the big reasons he did was because other people from the 1up community urged him to at the time. Matter of fact I believe you were the one that brought that to my attention,Andrew. I really didn't know what was going on "behind the scenes" and it warmed my heart that some of my friends on 1up were asking for fair treatment on my behalf! I did at least see people supporting me on my blog page in the comments. Touched me deeply,yo!

It was my pleasure as an officer and a gentleman, old top. :)

Indeed,old bean! (Adjust monocle)

Seems pretty logical. I remember reading that article, only that I didn't understand very much Mackey and I thought he was rambling (though to be fair, I didn't have advanced english at the time and it was also probably my first incursion into gaming politics). I think another downfall was when 1up did their month of women in gaming, which wouldn't have been bad, but it reeked of Mackey all over it (down to the first article being his negative review of Lollipop Chainsaw) and looking back, it felt like the prelude to Anita's Sarkeesian coming. I do remember that you fought hard on that month.

It was a pretty lousy month,Alex. lol. But yeah, it did seem to be foreshadowing into more gamer sites becoming less reader friendly and more pretentiously poltically correct. When people began to break away from 1up to create & join Pixlbit it was sort of a mini gamergate in and of itself.