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First Is Not Always Best

FunclubSamuraiNintendo.com announced today that Nintendo announced today that all future sports titles featuring Mario and friends will be sold under the banner of Super Mario Stadium with the first such title in the new franchise, Miracle Baseball, debuting in July.  That's certainly interesting, but I have a little trouble believing the accuracy of this report.  It could very well be true or it could be just another online rumor.  I can't tell the difference because Samurai Nintendo didn't offer up or link to a source for this information.

This is one of the problems in the fan-run side of the gaming community.  So many websites aim to be the first to report news instead of aspiring to report it accurately.  The first line in Samurai's blurb is a claim of exclusivity, reminding me of how local news affiliates are quick to announce "First on NewsChannel 2!" before actually revealing the breaking news.  It's also very easy to have an "exclusive" about something without the actual proof to back it up.

I don't mean to pick on Samurai's staff specifically here as this problem is not, if you'll pardon the pun, exclusive.  Not citing a source is one of the problems that the fan side of the game journalism world needs to face, particularly if a site wants to become well-known among the community.  Some off the other issues include improper grammar, errors in spelling, punctuation problems, and just plain poor writing skills.  A little maturity wouldn't hurt either, but that's a rant for another day.

A lot of these errors creep into news reports that people are in a rush to finish so that their site will be the "first" to announce the news.  Just to reiterate, readers don't care who is the first to report something.  In my experience they care about who reports something well.  Honest mistakes happen from time to time (nobody's perfect, after all, and I know I've made my share of typos), but anyone who considers themselves a gaming journalist needs to practice their craft before trying to play in the deep end of the pool.

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