For E3 this year you might have noticed that we realized we wouldn’t be able to compete with the big boys for coverage. There are just too many of them and it’s too tightly orchestrated to expect to get much that is of unique interest to our readers. But that doesn’t mean that we weren’t there and paying close attention to more than just the lights and sounds, and booth babes of E3. In fact, we were able to find one small story of note that might have slipped by some of the other sites that gives an interesting insight into the industry itself.
It’s seen here in this easy to miss poster at the top of the escalators leading to the entrance of the show:
It’s meant to be a humorous advertisement from a firm called Hammersuit and it reads, “Mr. Destructoid wants your business, but is too busy blogging spending cheese to take your call. That’s where we come in.” Last year Hammersuit annouonced that they had “partnered up with” Destructoid, one of our favorite editorial sites, in a press release they sent out. Here is an excerpt from it…
PARAMUS, NEW JERSEY – April 7, 2008 – Hammersuit, LLC, a consulting and business development company in the video games industry today announced the launch of an extensive partnership with popular gaming websites Destructoid, GoNintendo, Gamersyde and Modojo. Hammersuit will provide all four sites with advertising sales, consulting, sponsorship opportunities and other business development services. The partnership gives the independent websites the opportunity to focus on their acclaimed editorial content, while gaining access to Hammersuit’s vast business development network and games industry experience.
“Hammersuit has played a vital role in Destructoid’s growth,” said Yanier Gonzalez, founder of Destructoid and vice president of ModernMethod, its parent company. “From day one, we’ve had access to better sponsors and solid consulting advice – because they’ve been there and done that. I would recommend Hammersuit to anyone trying to carve out a name in the gaming space.”
“We’re welcoming Destructoid, GoNintendo, Gamersyde, and Modojo to the Hammersuit network because they are admired, dynamic web destinations for gamers,” says Jill Keil, CEO of Hammersuit. “They provide high-quality coverage of the gaming industry and have built vibrant, thriving communities in a way few other sites have been able to accomplish.”
For more information, please visit www.hammersuit.com, www.destructoid.com, www.gonintendo.com, www.gamersyde.com and www.modojo.com.
About Hammersuit
Founded in 2003, Hammersuit consults with companies in the video game industry to provide them with editorial planning and production, web production, and business services. In addition, Hammersuit’s partner network includes some of the most creative video game coverage on the web, including Destructoid.com, GoNintendo.com, GamerSyde.com, and Modojo.com. Hammersuit is located at www.hammersuit.com.
What’s interesting here is not that they are providing Destructoid with business consulting and advice, or even ad sales. For some of the more cynical among us, it may not even be that they are providing them with “sponsorship opportunities”, ad sales, and editorial planning – a situation many would say directly conflicts with journalistic objectivity. However, it is the first time we’ve seen a big poster at the entrance of the industry’s biggest press event bragging about such an arrangement.
We think it’s a miss-step by Hammersuit and don’t really fault Destructiod. Admittedly, business is tuff right now. A number of sites have gone under recently and we just suffered a dramatic downsizing ourselves, so we appreciate a company’s need to look beyond its own doors to stay afloat. However, readers should never forget that sites are companies and so editorial objectivity will always come down to your trust in the personal integrity of the editors you read. Most of us think things like the recent upsets with the staff at Gamespot are a good thing for the industry and highlight the commitment we have to our readers, but they also show that the biggest lessons to be learned are for advertising and their power to taint the relationship the writers have with their audience.
For Destructoid’s sake, we think Hammersuit should have thought a little harder before implying that they’re the ones to go to get the attention of their writers.
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Hello! I’m Justin Davis, General Manager of Hammersuit. First off, I wanna say kudos on your original reporting. Really. Too often, “games journalism” = regurgitating press releases. So it’s great to see sites out there that make a deliberate effort to decide for themselves what a story is, and not allow the companies they write about to determine what the story is.
That being said, I wanted to take a moment to clarify a couple points in regards to your post about Hammersuit & Destructoid. The largest point I’d like to make is that our partnership with Destructoid *does not* include editorial planning, as you state. You’ll note that Editorial Planning isn’t listed in the press release itself from last year that you yourself quoted. In fact, the press release specifically states that our partnership with Destructoid will allow them to focus more effectively on their own Editorial.
The bit on editorial planning you bolded is after the body of the PR itself, in our company abtract. Basically, it’s a service we do offer as a company, but not one we’re using with Destructoid. The nature of our relationship with Dtoid is spelled out plainly, above.
My second point is in regards to your word-bubble image – I disagree that the ad insinuates that to receive Dtoid coverage, a game publisher should contact Hammersuit. Nowhere does the ad mention editorial content – it only states that Destructoid wants E3 attendee’s “business.” If anything, I feel the ad states the opposite of what you claim. To me, the ad says Destructoid itself is too busy blogging, so if you want to do a biz deal with them, speak to Hammersuit. I don’t see how Editorial can be mixed into that message, based on the ad alone.
I agree that it would be easy to be confused, based on what you bolded/red’d from our press release. We should have been more clear in our messaging, and that’s a mistake on our part. The key take away, in my opinion, is that most of this is a misunderstanding born out of messaging that could have been clearer. So, to sum up – Hammersuit is a company that provides a variety of services to medium-sized VG websites – ad sales, consulting, bizdev, staffing help, etc. – but we don’t do all of the above for all our partners
And in Dtoid’s case, we are 100% hands-off of the site’s editorial content.