And they wonder why subscriptions are down.

According to CGW, Ensemble's new game, Age of Mythology, is "as close to perfect as a modern real-time strategy game can or will ever be."

Well, that's a load off. I was worried that RTS games might eventually get better. But no, apparently we're at the pinnacle, so all you game designers out there can just quit and go home. Or rather, keep working, but be sure to diligently copy everything that Ensemble has done with Age of Mythology. Whatever you do, don't try anything new or different, for God's sake. That would only make your game less like Age of Mythology, and therefore less perfect.

This is exactly the kind of worthless journalism that the PA guys were bemoaning recently. I normally use "professional" (ha!) reviews as a source of information about a game that can't be gleaned from the corresponding demo, or perhaps in lieu of the demo, if one isn't available. I read reviews with a mind towards extracting facts in a forensic fashion, trying to spot the things a reviewer is communicating perhaps without even knowing they are communicating them. This usually insulates me from the chronic fan-boy gushing that passes for reviewing.

But statements like the one from CGW make me suspect that the entire gaming journalism machine has no redeeming value whatsoever.

Lastly, I think Ensemble deserves some additional shame for putting that quote on their website. It's insulting to their peers. It's one thing for the CGW guy to whore himself out like that, it's something else for Ensemble to pull over to the curb and pick him up.