Type of site Video game journalism Area served Worldwide Founded 19 September 2007 | Available in English Industry Video game industry | |
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Headquarters Halstead, Essex, England Key people Alec Meer, Jim Rossignol, Adam Smith, John Walker Profiles | ||
Rock paper shotgun gmod sandbox
Rock, Paper, Shotgun (RPS) is a UK-based blog operated by Rock, Paper, Shotgun Ltd and authored by Alec Meer, Jim Rossignol, Adam Smith, John Walker, and formerly also Kieron Gillen and Quintin Smith. It was launched on 13 July 2007.
Contents
- Rock paper shotgun gmod sandbox
- Rock paper shotgun spelunky pc deathmatch 7
- Contributors
- Content
- BulletstormFox News controversy
- Video game enter public domain controversy
- References
Rock paper shotgun spelunky pc deathmatch 7
Contributors
Kieron Gillen, a co-founder of the site, was a regular contributor until 30 September 2010, when he announced that he would no longer be involved in posting the day-to-day content of Rock, Paper, Shotgun, focusing more on his work with Marvel Comics, but would continue to act as a director and occasionally write essay pieces for the site. Quintin Smith replaced Gillen as a writer in October 2010 before also leaving in July 2011. Nathan Grayson was another former main contributor to the site before stepping down in July 2014.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun also features less frequent contributions from several other writers, including Tim Stone, Phill Cameron, Lewie Procter, Robert Florence, Richard Cobbett, Brendan Caldwell, Craig Pearson, Duncan Harris, Lewis Denby, Porpentine, Cara Ellison, Cassandra Khaw and Leigh Alexander.
Content
Rock, Paper, Shotgun reports on upcoming major releases and independent esoterica, and includes reviews, previews, features and interviews related to PC gaming and the PC gaming industry.
Some of the frequent categories of stories posted on Rock, Paper, Shotgun include:
Bulletstorm/Fox News controversy
On 8 February 2011, the game Bulletstorm came under scrutiny by Fox News through two articles by journalist John Brandon, describing the game as the worst game in the world. The game was targeted because of its profanity, crude behaviour (examples of which including the game's skill-shot system, which has a move that rewards players for shooting at an enemy's genitals), and sexual innuendo. Alongside the panel of Fox News anchors was the psychiatrist Carole Lieberman, who remarked: "Video games have increasingly, and more brazenly, connected sex and violence in images, actions and words. This has the psychological impact of doubling the excitement, stimulation, and incitement to copycat acts. The increase in rapes can be attributed, in large part, to the playing out of such scenes in video games." Other claims included that the game could reach audiences as young as nine years old, and that the gore and profanity could seriously traumatise a child of that age group.
These claims were largely ridiculed among gaming websites, including Rock, Paper, Shotgun who ran a series of articles discrediting the reports by Fox News. The articles analysed Lieberman's claims and found only one of eight sources she provided had anything to do with the subject at hand. Fox News acknowledged that they had been contacted by Rock, Paper, Shotgun and responded to their claims on 20 February 2011 through its article, stating that the game still remained a threat to children.
Video game enter public domain controversy
In 2014 a Rock, Paper, Shotgun article by John Walker about the existence of orphaned classical video games and the suggestion of let them enter the public domain after 20 years, raised a controversial public debate about copyright terms and public domain between game industry veterans John Walker, George Broussard, and Steve Gaynor.