Video game journalism has always just been third party PR
Nah. Back in the days of print, there actually was some fucking integrity with most outlets. Such as with Computer Gaming World.
Nah. There were a few print magazines with some integrity, but there are still some websites with integrity. The really popular stuff has always been PR though. You just had lower standards as a kid.
My standards have not changed in the least. The quality of journalistic integrity sure the fuck has, though. And not just with video games or entertainment media, but across the board.
Mainstream news was already starting to turn into ragebait in the 80s, and by the mid 90s there was no integrity left. Video games never had any standards. If you think that things were good back then that is just the proof that you had lower standards. It’s okay. We all had lower standards as kids. That’s perfectly normal. It’s important to acknowledge it though.