It’s 2025 and I have never seen so much negativity when it comes to Nintendo and gaming in general…
Well hello there. It’s been a while. A little backstory. I used to be a gaming journalist. Well, that’s a secondary “term” for what I was between 1999 and 2014. I wrote articles.. some with misspelled words and backward wording. I worked for prominent websites like UGO, and Next Level Gaming and then started my own two websites, Gaming Console Network and Inside Gaming Online. I had access to E3, access to media requests, and access to review codes from various game companies like Activision, Acclaim, and many more. I knew the drill.
But the thing that always separated me, and my colleagues like Chris Wilson and Mike Mullis of Next Level Gaming (check out wayback machine for a lot of my past work), was that we were gamers who started websites. We were gamers who wrote articles and honestly, pretended to be journalists out of the love of gaming. I have no issue saying that. And I believe that is why guys like myself and our crew of gaming nerd misfits got along with our PR contacts.
Between 2001 and 2006 for Next Level Gaming, I was the Nintendo guy. I had a few awesome PR contacts from then Golin-Harris, Nintendo’s PR firm. I kept it real but also showed respect to a company putting their products in our hands to review. After leaving NLG, I took that knowledge to my own two websites, because after all I am a web developer by trade. I kept in touch with most of my PR guys.
So what does all of this mean? Why am I even bringing this all up? Well, first and foremost, this article is not about me. Or my past as a “Gaming Journalist”. I just want you all to know this before I talk about the current situation of Video Game Media and its years of tremendous downfall that got us where we are right now in 2025. This is from the eyes of a 50-year-old gamer who’s been playing since the Atari 2600 days. I do believe I have earned that badge of screaming at clouds now.
“Video Game Journalism is dead. It has been dead for years honestly.
So it’s the year 2025. A month or so ago Nintendo showed off the Switch 2, much to an abundance of negativity and vitriol from today’s so-called modern gamers.
In the year 2025, it is estimated 8.2 billion people in the world. But for some reason when we get on YouTube, we always listen to one single person since when did someone who has hundreds of thousands of subscribers become the voice of reason when it came to video games, and what we like?
On April 2, 2025. Nintendo finally showed off its Nintendo Switch 2 console to the world. After everybody found out the pricing of the council as well as the games YouTube went crazy with nothing but toxicity negativity and clickbait. This also went to social media as well. Rumors of $90 games got around as being the normal for Nintendo Switch 2 cartridges. The problem with this is, that even though it was not true, many believed it.
Jump to pre-order time after a few weeks’ delay, and of course, we get more negative news from the so-called game media online, on social media, and YouTube.
I get it. We live in a digital age now, where people have become much more lazy. We order groceries online now rather than go to a store and shop. We like convenience (honestly it’s just pure laziness). Servers crashed at midnight when millions tried to pre-order. And of course, Nintendo got the blame because WalMart and Best Buy have shabby servers. Just blame Nintendo folks, it gets you clicks and views.
I didn’t mind the old-fashioned way, and I stood in a line at GameStop for four hours. I’ve been doing this since the GameCube and original PlayStation days. My best friend up in Baltimore did the same. He camped out at 7 pm the night before and was the first in line at GameStop. It’s called “putting in the work” to get what you want. We both have one secured.
And most importantly, the problem that I have is, if you look at the image below, you will see nothing but negative Nintendo Switch 2 YouTube videos. A lot of these have over 1 million views. And the problem is it’s clickbait. Plain and simple.
For these folks like Wood, 8 Bit Eric, DreamcastGuy and others, YouTube is their livelihood. That is how they make money. You can sit there screaming at me until you are blue in the face that they are “Nintendo Gamers”, but they will always be “Influencers” before gamers in my book.
One person, BeamMan I believe, with over 1.4 million video views, titled “DO NOT BUY NINTENDO SWITCH 2”, telling you that you should “Not” buy a Switch 2. Think about that for a second folks. “Do Not Buy From EVIL Nintendo!” But the cold hard truth is, that same person telling you what to do “Will” be buying a Switch 2 and use it for their Youtube channel for content, views and subs.. The hypocrisy is 100% real.
Because they need those clicks and views folks. They need to pay the rent. They need to meet that goal at the end of the month so they get paid. They could give a crippled crutch about what you do, or how you feel. Just as long as you “Like and Subscribe”.
True & Honest Video Game Journalism is NOT dead. You just have to look for it.
So what exactly is the point of this whole article? The fact is, there are some really good websites and YouTube channels do are very true and honest. They are, at the end of the day, gamers like you and I just trying to put content out there. They haven’t sold their soul to the proverbial devil that is “Clickbait Headlines, Subs, and Views for money”.
You just have to look for them. They are diamonds in the rough, a needle in a haystack. People who still speak the truth about video games. People who speak from the heart and soul about why they love games.
I used to believe that the Nintendo community held that title. But sadly after the last few years, that’s not the case. I had to go deeper into my roots to find those who shared my love and passion. I found it in the older retro community. Old-school Nintendo lovers, Atari lovers, etc … Just a couple of old fogeys like myself. Guys like No Swear Gamer, Ballistik Coffee Boy (Brian), GenXGrownUp, Worrywart, JSkeleton, Andres Restart, Ferg, and even SegaLordX to name a few… This group of guys brought me back to wanting to do something again in terms of a website with honest news and information.
The world as we know it now is full of hate, negativity, and lies. We, as gamers, use video games as an escape. But sadly all of that has infiltrated video games. We need to get back to the good of video games. The reason we use this media as an escape. Let’s get gaming back to the sanctuary that it once was. Buy what makes you feel good. Buy what brings back that nostalgia that you had as a child, sitting in front of a CRT television, playing video games, and not having a care in the world. Never let anyone tell you otherwise. Because gaming is great, it’s amazing, it’s fun and it lets you be something different for a little while. Let it take you back to your youth when the world was a lot less chaotic.
I love Nintendo. It kept me out of trouble back in the late 80’s and early 90’s when my peers were on the streets of Baltimore doing bad things. It kept me levelheaded and grounded. And I owe a lot to Nintendo. It’s a part of me, a part of my childhood. It opened up worlds to me I could never truly visit in real life. It made me smile when I saved the Princess. It gave me joy when I was feeling blue. It saved my soul through a nasty divorce. And like most of you reading this, it’s what made you truly love Nintendo.
