Where to get gaming news

When it comes to my favorite places for gaming news, I seem to go in cycles. I find one or two sites that I use to learn general (and sometimes subtle) info, and then discover the really obscure stuff through favorite forums. It is a good system, so long as I keep refreshing it by ditching sites when they lose their potency (or just bug me) and finding new ones.

Folks, it has come time for some updates, and I’m looking for suggestions. I finally realized just how much I bitch about game blogs like Kotaku and Joystiq, and yet continued to visit them. Today was the breaking point. This morning Joystiq had seven separate posts about Spore. Any responsible news site would take such a media explosion and condense it into some sort of “Spore news section.” But separate posts means more clickthroughs and more diggs, so instead I have to wade through sensationalist headlines and summaries about a game I have no interest in, seven times in a row. Joystiq, more than any other games blog, are the king of lazy “journalism.”

As for Kotaku, I’ll admit that they have done some interesting investigative work in the past, and Brian Crecente tries hard to offer readers some interesting content and opinion. I still love the video he made trying to decipher the Brutal Legend mystery record sent by Doublefine Studios.

But, at least for now, the site has to be put away. While Kotaku and its ilk have always thrived on throwing opinion in along with their news (which is, sadly, something that you can get away with when your site is technically a blog), their medley of editors are taking things to a new level of annoyance. For example, the following quote from today by kotaku’s Mark Wilson:

Has everyone seen Juno? It’s what I consider the Bestest Picture of the Year, therefore meaning, yes, it’s mandatory viewing lest Witz need to take you outside.

Thanks Wilson, now I know for the hundredth time that you’re a hipster. I wish you and your kind would stop shouting at the top of your lungs about just how much you like everything. I have no urge to see this film thanks to folks like you driving it down many throats with so much force. Is there such a thing as simply saying “this was a really enjoyable film/game?” Another sample:

Did You Enjoy Velociraptor Safari?
What a silly question. Of course you enjoyed Velociraptor Safari. You enjoyed it to bits.

Actually Luke Plunkett, I did not enjoy it. That is because I haven’t played it yet, and I’m sorry you assume that everyone on your site fawns over every indie game the moment a binary hits an ftp server.

Also, what the hell does Brian Ashcraft’s constant posting of Japanese boob pillows and Lucky Star anime mashups have to do with gaming?

My needs are simple. I just want a good place to find the news that is easy to load and easy to read. I don’t want it to always be dry as a press release, but I want the personal injections kept to a minimum, unless it is mere speculation on what a piece of information could mean. Also, for some reason I’m not at all a fan of RSS feeds.

Any suggestions? Throw them in the comments, or if my needs are too picky, feel free to tell me to just shove it up my ass.