Warplay is the new monthly strategy column from IGN’s Steve Butts.
I want to use this column to call out some of the more anticipated games, speculate about what I’d like to see in the future, and generally look for cool ways to highlight the games and pre-release builds I’m currently playing. Warplay will also give me an opportunity to champion some of my personal favorites that extend beyond where those games might fit within the overall editorial priorities of the site. That’s not say that I don’t cover those games other places on the site, but I want to have a forum to go into even greater depth for the titles I really find attractive.
The opening column spends two pages explaining what a strategy game is.
If you have to explain to your audience what a strategy game is what exactly is your target market?
People who don’t usually play strategy games, but might be interested if exposed to them. In fact, he says it in the second paragraph.
“to help serve as an introduction to the entire world of strategy games for players who are new to the genre.”
Yeah, for a mainstream site like IGN, it makes sense to get the terminology out of the way. If Butts goes around to write about Grand Strategy Games, the less time he has to spend defining the better.
Though he’ll probably have to do that, too, just in more general terms.
I get what he’s trying to do but I don’t know, it’s just always been a pet peeve of mine when someone has to explain a genre, especially since terminology all boils down mostly to personal preference. And does classification really help? Has making every computer game its own sub-genre really helped anyone?
It’s also interesting that he calls the column ‘Warplay’ but doesn’t even address the pure wargame as a genre.
He’s just writing a column on strategy games for a gaming website. He is explaining some things that maybe his audience isn’t familiar with. Give him a break.
Heh, all right, I suppose I am being a little too critical.