>>716274182
I don't think they were neccesarily paid, but there was this idea that Japanese games were outdated, out of touch, and only appealed to weird smelly nerds. OUR games were mainstream, cutting edge, and much more exciting. It had a bit of the jock bullying the nerd, and the 00s gaming press really did try to cozy up to jock types (Halo and sports games were the biggest sellers).
Strange, because at this time the Wii and NDS were literally the BIGGEST consoles, but they weren't the most impressive. They didn't fit in with American "gaming culture", and seemed backwards instead. They were for KIDS, or losers or weirdos.
