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''Rock Paper Shotgun'' (also rendered ''Rock, Paper, Shotgun''; short ''RPS'') is a UK-based website for reporting on video games, primarily for PC. Originally launched on 13 July 2007 as an independent site, ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was acquired and brought into the
Gamer Network Gamer Network Limited (formerly Eurogamer Network Limited) is a British mass media company based in Brighton. Founded in 1999 by Rupert and Nick Loman, it owns brands—primarily editorial websites—relating to video game journalism and other ...
, a network of sites led by ''
Eurogamer ''Eurogamer'' is a British video game journalism website launched in 1999 and owned by alongside formed company Gamer Network. Its editor-in-chief is Martin Robinson. Since 2008, it is known for the formerly eponymous games trade fair EGX ...
'' in May 2017. Its
editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...
is Katharine Castle and its deputy editor is Alice Bell.


Contributors

''Rock Paper Shotgun'' was founded by
Kieron Gillen Kieron Michael Gillen (; born 30 September 1975) is a British comic book writer and former video game and music journalist. In comics, Gillen is known for ''Phonogram'' and ''The Wicked + The Divine'', both co-created with artist Jamie McKelvie ...
,
Jim Rossignol James Michael Rossignol (born July 1978) is a British video game journalist and critic, as well as an author. He has also branched out into games, founding the company Big Robot in 2010. Biography Rossignol started his career as a reporter o ...
, Alec Meer and John Walker in 2007. All four were freelancing for
Future Publishing Future plc is an international multimedia company established in the United Kingdom in 1985. The company has over 220 brands that span magazines, newsletters, websites, and events in fields such as video games, technology, films, music, photogr ...
, and decided they wanted to create a website focused entirely on games for PC. Gillen announced that he would no longer be involved in posting the day-to-day content of ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' in 2010, focusing more on his work with
Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
, but would continue to act as a director and occasionally write essay pieces for the site. Rossignol founded his own game studio
Big Robot Big Robot is a UK company that specialises in developing computer games, registered in Halstead, England. The company was started by Jim Rossignol in 2010. ''AVSEQ'' was released in 2011, ''Fallen City'' is in the final bug-testing phase prior ...
in 2010, but also continued to contributed to the site for six more years. Meer and Walker left in 2019. ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' also has seen contributions from several other writers, including: * Colm Ahren *
Leigh Alexander Lieutenant-Colonel Leigh Arbuthnot Alexander (4 July 1898 – 28 April 1943) was a British Army officer and cricketer. Early life Alexander was the son of Major William Alexander and Ethel Rubina Arbuthnot and brother of Gilbert Alexander. ...
* James Archer * Imogen Beckhelling * Alice Bell * Brendan Caldwell * Phill Cameron * Katharine Castle * Richard Cobbett * Alice O'Connor * Matt Cox * Nate Crowley * Lewis Denby * Cara Ellison *
Robert Florence Robert Luke McBrian Florence (born 29 July 1977) is a Scottish presenter, comedian and writer who starred in the BBC comedy sketch show '' Burnistoun''. Early life Robert Florence was born on 29 July 1977 and was raised in a working-class fa ...
* Tom Francis * Duncan Harris * Amelia Hansford * Rebecca Jones *
Cassandra Khaw Cassandra Khaw (born 31 August 1984) is a Malaysian writer of horror and science fiction. They also create video games and tabletop games, and formerly wrote about them as a games and tech journalist. Biography Cassandra Khaw was born in Malays ...
* Lauren Morton * Nadia Oxford * Craig Pearson * Porpentine * Lewie Procter * Nic Reuben *
Emily Short Emily Short is an interactive fiction (IF) writer. She is perhaps best known for her debut game ''Galatea'' and her use of psychologically complex non-player characters (NPCs). Short has been called "a visionary in the world of text-based ga ...
* Adam Smith * Graham Smith * Quintin Smith * Tim Stone * Ed Thorn * Ollie Toms * Sin Vega * Robert Yang


Content

''Rock Paper Shotgun'' reports on upcoming major releases and independent esoterica, and includes reviews, previews, features and interviews related to PC gaming and the PC gaming industry. Some of the frequent categories of stories posted on ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' include: * Diary: Impressions of a game presented in 'diary' form, often from the perspectives of many writers, and over the course of many parts or updates, such as ''Solium Infernum: The Complete Battle for Hell'' or ''Diary of a Nobutoki: Sengoku''. These articles are differentiated from reviews as they do not seek to objectively evaluate a game, only to present the experiences of the writers playing. * The Fixer: A column featuring guides on tinkering and fixing games. * The Flare Path: Weekly news and impressions of simulation and war games, written by Tim Stone. * Kickstarter Katchup: A weekly round up of PC game
Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
projects. * RPS Bargain Bucket: A weekly round up of discounted gaming downloads available from third party gaming websites. * The Sunday Papers: A weekly round up of gaming related news. * Wot I Think: Review of a particular game, including what the reviewer thought of the game based on their first hand experience. * Live Free, Play Hard: A weekly round up of free
indie games An indie game, short for independent video game, is a video game typically created by individuals or smaller development teams without the financial and technical support of a large game publisher, in contrast to most "AAA" (triple-A) games. ...
, written by Porpentine. * Hard Choices: A column on PC hardware releases and purchasing recommendations, written by Jeremy Laird. * Cardboard Children: News and reviews of tabletop board games, written by Robert Florence. * Have You Played: A weekday series of gaming retrospectives.


Controversies


Fox News and ''Bulletstorm''

On 8 February 2011, the game ''
Bulletstorm ''Bulletstorm'' is a 2011 first-person shooter game developed by People Can Fly and Epic Games and published by Electronic Arts (EA). The video game is distinguished by its system of rewarding players with "skillpoints" for performing increasin ...
'' came under scrutiny by
Fox News The Fox News Channel, abbreviated FNC, commonly known as Fox News, and stylized in all caps, is an American multinational conservative cable news television channel based in New York City. It is owned by Fox News Media, which itself is owne ...
through two articles by journalist John Brandon, describing the game as the worst game in the world. The game was targeted because of its profanity, crude behaviour (examples of which including the game's skill-shot system, which has a move that rewards players for shooting at an enemy's genitals), and sexual innuendo. Alongside the panel of Fox News anchors was the psychiatrist Carole Lieberman, who remarked: "Video games have increasingly, and more brazenly, connected sex and violence in images, actions and words. This has the psychological impact of doubling the excitement, stimulation, and incitement to copycat acts. The increase in rapes can be attributed, in large part, to the playing out of such scenes in video games." Other claims included that the game could reach audiences as young as nine years old, and that the gore and profanity could seriously traumatise a child of that age group. These claims were largely ridiculed among gaming websites, including ''Rock Paper Shotgun'', who ran a series of articles discrediting the reports by Fox News. The articles analysed Lieberman's claims and found only one of eight sources she provided had anything to do with the subject at hand. Fox News acknowledged that they had been contacted by ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' and responded to their claims on 20 February 2011 through another article, stating that the game still remained a threat to children.


Public domain article

In 2014 a ''Rock Paper Shotgun'' article by John Walker about the existence of
orphaned An orphan (from the el, ορφανός, orphanós) is a child whose parents have died. In common usage, only a child who has lost both parents due to death is called an orphan. When referring to animals, only the mother's condition is usuall ...
classic video games, and the suggestion to let them enter the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work A creative work is a manifestation of creative effort including fine artwork (sculpture, paintings, drawing, sketching, performance art), dance, writing (literature), filmmaking, ...
after 20 years, raised a controversial public debate about
copyright term The copyright term is the length of time copyright subsists in a work before it passes into the public domain. In most of the world, this length of time is the life of the author plus either 50 or 70 years. Length of copyright Copyright subsists f ...
s and public domain between game industry veterans John Walker,
George Broussard George Broussard is an American video game producer and designer, one of the creators of the '' Duke Nukem'' series ( Todd Replogle, Allen Blum, and Scott Miller being the others). Broussard released his early games under the name Micro F/X. In ...
and Steve Gaynor.Copyright, trademark & money in a creative industry
on
gamasutra ''Game Developer'', known as ''Gamasutra'' until 2021, is a website founded in 1997 that focuses on aspects of video game development. It is owned and operated by Informa and acts as the online sister publication to the print magazine '' Gam ...
.com by Steve Gaynor "There is some argument going on about for how long a copyright holder should be able to charge exclusively for their own work, before it enters the public domain. John Walker argues that perhaps a good cutoff would be 20 years before an 'idea' enters the public domain." (February 03, 2014)


References


External links

* {{Video game critics 2007 establishments in the United Kingdom British entertainment websites Internet properties established in 2007 Video game blogs