So here's the story, but I suggest watching the video below before you dive in. Yahoo does gaming news and vids, and ThinkGeek sometimes sells stuff. What happens when the two collide? Yahoo looks like a bunch of idiots. See ThinkGeek is selling some"new" Dreamcasts; as in Dreamcasts that hadn't been opened and were in boxes. The good folks over at Yahoo saw this and assumed that Sega had rereleased the Dreamcast for $99 so that it could compete against the new $99 PS2 because that is clearly how the gaming industry works.
Their general stupidity is pretty funny in its own right, but when a site as big as Yahoo utters the words "according to the Internet" you know journalism has hit a new low. That's right, evidently the Internet is a legitimate source for news. Not a specific site, the entire thing. Yup, a general consensus on the Internet means that something is true. Seriously, Yahoo? Were you even trying here? Going to Ebay does not mean you did research on the subject.
Matthew Razak is Destructoid's Associate editor and co-founder of film site Flixist. He began as community member "cowzilla" and was since sequestered to write brainy features material. He lives in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife.
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My homepage is set to yahoo because I use their email so I often get a good chuckle at their top news story, which is almost always a good 4-5 days behind EVERYONE else. Yahoo is a great place to be if you want to figure out what happened last week.
ok, ISWYDT but as you pointed out, the information they based the story on was correct, because online retailers are selling new dreamcasts, so using 'the internet' as a source was not a mistake.
at no point did the video claim that "Sega had rereleased the Dreamcast for $99" so IMO you're more guilty of misinterpreting information on the internet then they are.
Wait what, consoles can't eat brains, and let me guess, that is backed up by the INTERNET as the main source. I know what I am more disappointed about.
Psycho Terror's got a point. They just said that Thinkgeek was selling them, not that Sega was trying to compete or something. I guess they made it sounds like Sega made the decision since they bring up the PS2, but they didn't //say// that at all.
That being said, I chuckled at "according to the Internet".
@The Grudge, psycho terror2: If you paid attention in English class you would know that you cannot cite "The Internet" as a source. It's just bad form for one. It's like saying "Look outside! People said stuff! And it's TRUE!"
Ok, to all you doubters, you are right, but it isn't a big mistake, the video talks about the DC contending with the PS2 again, it also goes to mention that though being off market for so long, it is on market again. Hinting, but not saying, as if SEGA had something to do with it though how they say it. Also, "comming back from the dead" implies the idea that it has "returned" but it didn't.
This is really about the fine print, but referencing the internet is just dumb.
Are you suggesting that an internet web-show can't cite the internet as a source? That's claiming that an informational medium can't cite another source in its medium.
Books cite books; newspapers refer to other newspaper; and magazines consistently quote other magazines.
I see nothing wrong with Yahoo games using a gaming website as a source; since the clip was about the website they cited.
several retailers?
and thinkgeek sold them out in a single morning -- only those heavy into blog news or extremely lucky got their hands on one of the 100.
When did they say that Sega was rereleasing the Dreamcast? Did you watch the same video as me? It's obvious that they realize that the Dreamcasts being sold are older ones that were never opened. That's why they said "Good luck trying to find games." If they were under the assumption that Sega was rereleasing the Dreamcast, I'm guessing they would assume that Sega would be putting out some games for it.
And I don't really care who they quoted as a source. The information they gave is true. New Dreamcasts are being sold at $99. They could say they read it on a fortune cookie for all I care, as long as they aren't just making stuff up.
Maybe they could have given a more specific source, and maybe you could have said "Were you even trying?" instead of "We are you even trying?". So I guess no one's perfect.
Citing a specific website is one thing; citing the internet as a whole is another.
Citations such as "according to the internet," "according to newspapers," and "according to books" are all idiotic. Citations such as "according to www.destructoid.com" are not.
In conclusion, if you're going to cite "the internet," at least get the name of the specific website right, and cite IT.
Yahoo is shit. I used to have them set as my homepage and use them for my primary mail service but God have they gone down in quality. Half of their articles read as goddamn advertisements.
The point here is that the "real" story was that ThinkGeek was selling MINT DREAMCASTS FOR $99 because THEY WERE MINT. That's the news. It's not because the system is making a comeback, or various online retailers are conspiring to bring Sega back to life. The video was badly researched and implies something that isn't really happening.
Why even bring up the PS2 as competition if you aren't trying to say the Dreamcast is back in action or "back from the dead?" Like Niero said the story is that ThinkGeek was selling Dreamcasts (which, if you notice on their page ranges in price, not just $99). So what's the point of even bringing up the PS2 and its new price point?
Sure they didn't expressly say that Sega had brought it back, but not once do they mention ThinkGeek except on screen when claiming a variety of sites have the console for sale, which is of course true as there are always a few sites selling Dreamcasts. However, ThinkGeek just had a ton of them.
And citing the internet in the way they did with no follow up to what sites they used is really just lame. Comparing it to citing "media sources" is totally off base because media sources are (or should be) held up to a certain standard, whereas the entire Internet is not. To me it sounds like they did a google search after seeing ThinkGeek selling them, saw that a few other sites had some in stock somewhere and ran with a story that the Dreamcast was back to compete with the PS2, and if you claim they weren't saying that then you didn't watch the last half of the video.
The we're/were thing was my fault. It's hard to concentrate writing at a NARP.
While they didn't actually say SEGA was re-releasing the Dreamcast, they do say that the system is making a comeback because several sites are selling it again. That makes about the same leap as finding an Atari on an Ebay store and claiming that they are making a comeback so yeah it was a lame story premise from the get go.
Comparing it to the PS2 only made it worse because it implied that the Dreamcast was being priced specifically to compete with the PS2. Apparently they couldn't get the go ahead to do the story unless they somehow linked it to one of the bigger consoles and this was the slant they tried to put on it.
I think they were just pointing out the irony of the fact that the Dreamcast is an old rival of the PS2, and after all these years a bunch of new Dreamcasts are being sold at $99 at around the same time the PS2 dropped to the same price.
"Are you suggesting that an internet web-show can't cite the internet as a source? That's claiming that an informational medium can't cite another source in its medium."
I think it's like saying "According to Ireland..."
You can't cite the internet. It's a massive database of (porn) information. Again, that's like citing 'the library' or 'TV.'
Seriously, replace 'the internet' with 'TV' and see how that sounds.
the really funny part is that the DC when it was going down was $79 and then $59 before it went away so not only is the story on it's grounds wrong but the fact that it is "priced in contention" is pretty dumb as well, though mine is still plugged into the tv....
As bad as Yahoo's wording is, Sega actually has released a number of new Dreamcast systems into the market.
I have no idea how or when exactly, but yes these are in fact brand new, factory sealed systems. I double checked with two of our distributors and they agree.
As bad as Yahoo's wording is, Sega actually has released a number of new Dreamcast systems into the market.
I have no idea how or when exactly, but yes these are in fact brand new, factory sealed systems. I double checked with two of our distributors and they agree.
listen, i'm no fanboy of yahoo, but I hope Matthew Razak trips and lands on his overinflated sense of self purpose for trying to twist this into a story. he's right about 1 thing. journalism has hit a new low, and he is leading the charge...
he should have spent the effort it took him to create this post to instead move out of his mother's basement and get a life.
The video does imply things that aren't true and sensationalizes the very insifnigicant, yes... but it's not the fictional journalist holocaust the blog post made it out to be. They didn't "cite" the Internet as their source, for example. A vague yet melodramatic technically true but really a misinterpritation covering the same, no?
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Contest:
4:00 PM on 05.03.2009
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gg Yahoo
Face and napalm .
at no point did the video claim that "Sega had rereleased the Dreamcast for $99" so IMO you're more guilty of misinterpreting information on the internet then they are.
That being said, I chuckled at "according to the Internet".
What psycho terror2 said.
Seriously, Yahoo? Were you even trying here?
I think because they mentioned "recession minded gamers" it was clearly meant to be taken as a bargain-bin buy, and not as a re-release.
I honestly don't see where you got the idea that Yahoo was claiming Sega was doing anything of the sort.
This is really about the fine print, but referencing the internet is just dumb.
Are you suggesting that an internet web-show can't cite the internet as a source? That's claiming that an informational medium can't cite another source in its medium.
Books cite books; newspapers refer to other newspaper; and magazines consistently quote other magazines.
I see nothing wrong with Yahoo games using a gaming website as a source; since the clip was about the website they cited.
In short, your argument is nonsense.
and thinkgeek sold them out in a single morning -- only those heavy into blog news or extremely lucky got their hands on one of the 100.
And I don't really care who they quoted as a source. The information they gave is true. New Dreamcasts are being sold at $99. They could say they read it on a fortune cookie for all I care, as long as they aren't just making stuff up.
Maybe they could have given a more specific source, and maybe you could have said "Were you even trying?" instead of "We are you even trying?". So I guess no one's perfect.
Citing a specific website is one thing; citing the internet as a whole is another.
Citations such as "according to the internet," "according to newspapers," and "according to books" are all idiotic. Citations such as "according to www.destructoid.com" are not.
In conclusion, if you're going to cite "the internet," at least get the name of the specific website right, and cite IT.
Just...
Wow.
Not to be rude, but did you even watch the clip?
By claiming "according to the internet" they were trying to be cute; this statement was not meant to taken at face value. It's called color writing.
Directly after citing the "internet" they mentioned the actual site, with a full name and screen shot, that they were referring to.
This falls well within the accepted usage of citation. It's akin to saying "according to media reports" and then stating exactly which reports.
Sure they didn't expressly say that Sega had brought it back, but not once do they mention ThinkGeek except on screen when claiming a variety of sites have the console for sale, which is of course true as there are always a few sites selling Dreamcasts. However, ThinkGeek just had a ton of them.
And citing the internet in the way they did with no follow up to what sites they used is really just lame. Comparing it to citing "media sources" is totally off base because media sources are (or should be) held up to a certain standard, whereas the entire Internet is not. To me it sounds like they did a google search after seeing ThinkGeek selling them, saw that a few other sites had some in stock somewhere and ran with a story that the Dreamcast was back to compete with the PS2, and if you claim they weren't saying that then you didn't watch the last half of the video.
The we're/were thing was my fault. It's hard to concentrate writing at a NARP.
While they didn't actually say SEGA was re-releasing the Dreamcast, they do say that the system is making a comeback because several sites are selling it again. That makes about the same leap as finding an Atari on an Ebay store and claiming that they are making a comeback so yeah it was a lame story premise from the get go.
Comparing it to the PS2 only made it worse because it implied that the Dreamcast was being priced specifically to compete with the PS2. Apparently they couldn't get the go ahead to do the story unless they somehow linked it to one of the bigger consoles and this was the slant they tried to put on it.
I think it's like saying "According to Ireland..."
You can't cite the internet. It's a massive database of (porn) information. Again, that's like citing 'the library' or 'TV.'
Seriously, replace 'the internet' with 'TV' and see how that sounds.
weren't they originally competing with the Ps1?
RT
www.anonymity.ru.tc
I have no idea how or when exactly, but yes these are in fact brand new, factory sealed systems. I double checked with two of our distributors and they agree.
http://vpgames.com/p-1082-sega-dreamcast-system-complete-includes-console-controller-power-supply-cables.aspx
I have no idea how or when exactly, but yes these are in fact brand new, factory sealed systems. I double checked with two of our distributors and they agree.
http://vpgames.com/p-1082-sega-dreamcast-system-complete-includes-console-controller-power-supply-cables.aspx
he should have spent the effort it took him to create this post to instead move out of his mother's basement and get a life.