Must Your Game Journalists Not Stink At 'Street Fighter'?

Members of the NeoGAF message board recently called for my firing, but after I shot back with some sharp words of my own, we had a lively -- if unresolved -- discussion about how skilled a gaming reporter should be at playing video games. What do you expect?

Readers of this blog surely remember that not long ago rapper Soulja Boy narrowly edged me out in what was a mutually atrocious playing of the latest XBLA demo release of "Street Fighter II," right?

I was mocked by many people, even called a hack in a music video.

That's ok. I can take it. Good things will come of this. For example...

Some of the most colorful criticism of me appeared on gaming message board NeoGAF where user dfyb wrote:

this sort of thing should cost Stephen Totilo his job. someone acting as an authority on games simply can't be so bad at games. it's just not right.

... but what's even more sad is that there's probably a good chunk of the gaming media that are just as pathetic.

A user named Power Smell somewhat misjudged my gaming experience but nevertheless laid down his/her resume requirements for all gaming reporters:

if you're a games journalist and you don't seem to know the very basics of video games, and I'm not talking about scoring headshots or the mysteries of the fireball motion [laughing emoticon] , I'm not even suggesting he be better than Soulja Boy, I'm talking about just not looking like a total nincompoop and being able to move his character around. He's the one who supposedly chose Street Fighter for their next game. I don't know, maybe the demo version didn't have his main. [laughing emoticon]

I can't believe that people are trying to defend game journalists that don't play games, it's like a sports journalist that doesn't watch matches. Maybe half the people here are game journos?

And while there was some counter-argument in the NeoGAF thread expressing the idea that a gaming reporter must not excel at "Street Fighter II" to do his or her job well, who could better defend me than ... me?

So I posted this:

Interesting how beating Soulja Boy in Geometry Wars doesn't make me a gamer. The only yardstick is being decent at Street Fighter II? I did not know that!

How does being able to post on NeoGAF rate in terms of verifying my gaming credentials? Higher or lower than covering them for a living?

And that brought us to this key response from user F#A#Oo. It's a response which, all snark aside, is something that I think every gaming reporter and anyone who reads/watches those reporters' work should think about:

We like our game journo's to be atleast decent in general with games. You sucked...SF is an established franchise you should have done alot better.

If you want to see where the thread went after that, pick it up on page 4. I had more to say there. But more to the point: how much gaming ability do you expect the people covering games to have?

Readers of MTV Multiplayer know that I've played more games than my NeoGAF critics are aware of. But, no, I didn't throw a fireball against Soulja Boy. I didn't remember how to do the tornado kick. I didn't realize the fierce attacks were on the shoulder buttons, even after three rounds of virtual combat. Also, I was terrible against him at "Gears of War 2" (so much for gaining skills by playing through the campaign). Does this bother anyone?

Bear in mind, I've never reviewed a "Street Fighter " game nor interviewed one of its developers. I have covered "Gears" a lot. So is there a problem here?

What skill level would you like the people who cover video games to have with games? What kind of gaming ability do you think is necessary for the job?

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