So it's been a while, updating the news. Like some have said it's a fairly thankless process, people are quick to point out when you've made an error on 1 story - even though you posted 15 other A-okay updates on the same day.
I've talked with other people about updating the news page and we share similar concerns. So I'd like to talk you through how I post the news and why things are the way they are. So the next time things appear hinky, please bear all this in mind so I don't have to repeat the same stuff again. Some of this applies to other people who update too, but I'm sure each person has their own process and quirks.
TO START WITH
Okay, so first off I hit gonintendo, they seem to report a lot of stuff and it's in a blog form so it's not easy just reading a list of updates, it takes a while to scroll through everything. This is why the bottom of the column updates are usually Nintendo stories, because I post it earlier in the day to get it out of the way.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE SITES
Then I hit up a couple of useful foreign language sites, because of this please note it when the headlines are not 100% right. I am either giving an educated guess based on things I can sort of read' or babelfish translating it. I only speak english so don't cut my nuts when I get it slightly off. Also note that because I do not speak foreign languages and because we all speak english here, posting a link to a spanish story (for instance) is of benefit to very few people here. So I sometimes have to link to translations done by other people on other forums or sites. This does not invalidate the news, but posting the original link would be of little use to most people here and the translation is much more useful.
MULTIPLATFORM SITES
I usually visit multiplatform sites towards the end of my updating session so you will see more stories on PC, PS3, Xbox stories near the top of the page once I am finished. Then I go onto NeoGaf to pick up the dregs of whatever I may have missed. I tend not to go to platform specific sites, so if you want really in depth coverage of Vita or whatever I cannot service you - I simply do not have the time. I post what I am immediately interested in and what I think will immediately interest others.
I only hit up one Japanese centric site, a lot of the Japanese stuff is in unreadable Kanji.
THERE IS RED ALL OVER THE PAGES
Nintendo stories are red, you may see a lot of red and complain about how it's all Nintendo. Please bear in mind that Nintendo platforms do not get a lot of multiplatform support. So there are many PC or Xbox and PS3 games that get posted with no colour. If you take the time and do the math, add up all the red stories of the day and then add up all the colourless stories and green and blue you will see more of a balance. I cannot paint a story blue because it's on PS3 when it's also coming to PC and 360 too.
I ONLY POST 30% OF WHAT I SEE
There is so much stuff daily and most of it is pointless or really uninteresting. Here, random story of the day I just spotted: League of Legends Varus gameplay trailer
I have no fricking idea what this is. Sure there may be someone who is really into League of Legends, I have no idea what it is, have never seen anyone here talking about it so I do not post the link. I do not have time to do everything.
CVG IS A TABLOID NEWSPAPER
That's their business, they like to stir up shit, they are a tabloid newspaper in gaming news terms. They always try to sensationalise everything but they are current and do update regularly and have the whole of the futurenetwork to draw upon. So they are a good source of gaming news if you can get past the sensationalism.
MAKING THINGS INTERESTING
On that note, sometimes there are quiet days on the news page, or not much interesting going on on the vgpress. We have times where there is not much to talk about. So in some news updates, I do sometimes sensationalise and mix things up, throw in a glib comment here and there to get someone to say something. Bear in mind that I'm not trying to piss you off or denegrate your favourite game or studio, I'm just trying to get some kind of discussion going on and sometimes you have to pluck a hair off someones back to wake them up. Despite some altercations I have had with some people here, I genuinely hold no animosity towards anyone at the moment - not even you, yes you know who you are.
BIG NEWS: BLACK HIGHLIGHTED STORIES
Now this one will annoy people, you see some things listed as big news others not. Usually I use the big story colouring when there is the first review of a game, or first announcement of a game. If a reviews embargo ends and there are more than several reviews on the same day I just highlight the first or the single best or most controversial. Otherwise I just use the big story colour to bring your attention to an interesting article or to get someones attention if there is a time critical sale or deal or news that I know someone will have a particular interest in. It's a way to make sure that for instance (X forumer) doesn't miss out on free download content or so that Canadian forumers know about some great game sale.
I LIKE READING RUMOURS
Some people are weird, they hate rumours, they hate being teased, they hate seeing it labelled as news. I love rumours, I want to know everything I want most rumours to be true and I like imagining what things could be like. When I post rumours I usually label them as RUMOR: or I put a question mark after it:
Report: New Xbox being manurfactured at the moment?
It may not say rumour but when there is a ? mark at the end please note that it's there to denote that the story is not a sure thing. A lot of rumours turn out to be true, so please don't go nuts when there are rumours posted in the news, it's usually the rumours that get people talking here the most.
THERE IS A CHARACTER LIMIT!
This makes the headlines quite annoying sometimes, things either have to be chopped down, re-worded or paraphrased to get a representative headline. Sometimes you have to bastardise a headline just to get something vaguely coherent up. This is not something I have control of, I do my best but sometimes you are forced to do a hack job just because the headline will not fit! Don't hate me for this.
DON'T SHOOT THE MESSENGER
Just because I post a story or editorial does not mean I agree with it. Remember this. I am here to deliver the news, not to filter and read and judge everything. If you do not like a particular story and have an issue with it, that is fine, but please do not shoot the messenger. Your issue is with the writer of the article or the content in it. Please leave me out of it.
"Shooting the messenger" is a metaphoric phrase used to describe the act of lashing out at the (blameless) bearer of bad news.
I DON'T HAVE TIME TO READ EVERYTHING BEFORE POSTING IT
This relates to shooting the messenger. When people do updates en masse they are trying to get through and post a whole lot of news in not much time. We do not have time to read the content of each and every article we post. There are a whole bunch of sites with a whole lot of links and we are just trying to process them and get them up as links for you to click on. When you have a problem with a story, please note that the updaters have not neccesarily looked behind the one line headline when we post it.
NEOGAF IS A VALID SOURCE
I know it's massive forum and that there can be a lot of trolling and system wars, but it is a gold mine of information. It is the single most important gaming forum on the internet. All the sites you know like Gamespot, IGN, Eurogamer, CVG etc get a lot of their stories from NeoGAF. When someone on GAF trawls up an unseen patent or finds concept art for a secret cancelled game, or translates some japanese business report - other sites take notice and post news based on what is said there. NeoGAF also has celebrity posters as I call them: real developers, real industry people, real analysts. They even have representatives of sites, for instance you know of the aussie website Vooks? There is a forumer there called VOOKS who writes for them and the same goes for other sites too.
I POST NEWS FOR YOU
I want people to stay in the loop, I post things that might interest my friends, I like suprising and entertaining people. I am not paid here, I do this as a kind of free service for people to read here. It's not always fun, it can be labourious, repetitive and woefully thankless. So when you do all this work for soooo long and for so little reward, when someone bites your head off (usually for one of the reasons mentioned above in the news updating process), you can snap. Others have too.
The next time you think I have made some sort of mistake, read this blog again and bring the issue to me in a nice, logical manner and I'll respond in kind. You'd probably be suprised at how fast I would be to alter a headline that was non-reflective or delete a story which is untrue. Bear in mind that everyone here can edit, post or delete stories. If you have a real problem then fix it yourself quietly instead of creating drama where it's not needed - the likelihood is that I haven't even had time to read the content of a story you take issue with! 
Or that the headline had to be a hack job to fit inside the character limit.
If you snap at me, I'm likely to do the same back, or just disappear.
I POST LINKS WHEN I SEE THEM
Recently I posted 4 articles which were editorials from various sites about why the Wii U was a better purchase this Christmas than PS4 and XB1. I received a short "LOL GG is a fanboy" equivalent response, which was then plus-ed by 3 people which means there are 4 people who think this. The reality is that I saw all 4 stories at the same time in one thread.
Wii U: what a difference a single game can make
As someone who is constantly reading and constantly looking for things to show you guys, I post what I see when I see it. So imagine you are me, you click a thread whilst reading GAF and the thread is about how Super Mario 3D world is changing peoples opinions on Wii U. In this single opening post are links to 4 articles about the subject. As someone who is constantly updating the news each day I post the stories one after the other.
They are posted one after the other because that is when I see them. Would it make sense to post 1 of them, wait till the next day and post another, wait another day or even a couple of hours then post another? That makes no sense. When I go to Eurogamer I post all the Eurogamer stories I see one after the other, as I am on the site at that time of day. When I am on CVG I post all the stories I see there one after the other as I am on the site. Then later in the day I usually do a 2nd run through where I return to said sites.
So logically when I am on GAF and see 4 articles in the same post, as a NEWS UPDATER it only makes sense for me to post them all as I see them, one after the other. It makes no sense NOT to. I explained why they were posted that way and posted a link to the thread where I saw them but no one replied or plus-ed my post. So I really don't appreciate the LULZ GG is a fanboy +1 treatment. Maybe you think this is an overeaction, but try updating the news everyday for years - LOOKING FOR INFORMATION FOR YOU GUYS TO KEEP YOU ENTERTAINED AND INFORMED and then getting shit for it.
And on the other hand, really do not ignore the dozens upon dozens upon dozens of stories I have posted about how the Wii U is weak, horrible, flatlining in sales or missing publisher support. And that's been posted continuously by me for about 2 years now. No one here has posted as much negative Nintendo news as me and I never seem to get recognition for that. Whether I agree with it or not, I post it.
I'm the one who posts that news regardless of whether it's negative or not. In fact the day before the 4 "Wii U is good" editorials I posted an analyst saying that it would sell like the Gamecube and just today I posted: Xbox One UK sales about to overtake Wii U total
So next time before jumping on the LULZ GG is a fanboy +1 train, stop and think about how the updating process is done and please stop being so silently glib. If you have something to say then say it.
Other things to note: Some stories are posted as a joke to make you laugh or attempt too for instance todays story: Tokyo Jungle should be a Z rated game for sexual content Wait...... isn't this a game about animals? "Kobayashi jokes that Tokyo Jungle should be a Z rated game because of the violence and sexual content."
IF YOU SEE A LOT OF REVIEWS OR UPDATES FOR A PARTICULAR GAME POSTED IT'S USUALLY FOR A REASON
For instance when I was posting Red Steel 2 reviews I was actually doing the review thread at NeoGAF and so doing double duty here; I thought I might as well post the same reviews I found for the benefit of both sites. It was fairly ardous so when I got criticised for it I snapped again. I also did the thread for the Crystal Bearers here and on GAF so I had to collect a lot of reviews and I did the news hype thread on GAF for Go Vacation so I had to have lots of stuff to post to keep the thread updated.
The other reason you might see lot of reviews posted is because a reviews embargo ends and all the reviews come out at once, or it's a big game that a lot of people are interested in, Mario this, Halo that. Or and yes I am guilty of this: I like to shout about little odd games because the big games get enough attention as it is. Maybe it gets on your nerves, but I feel like you have to shout about some games because otherwise they get stepped on and passed by like cracked leaves on the pavement.
Also, I like to annoy you guys. 
ON REVIEWS
The quotes are grabbed really quickly, usually by scrolling right down to the last paragraph and grabbing whatever is there. If you're lucky there is some one liner at the top of a review to crib. Reviews are rarely actually read before posting - bear that in mind. You click the link, smash and grab then leave.
Usually I'm pretty lazy and grab just the score.
WEEKEND UPDATING
Only a few blogs actually update with news at the weekend so most of it is barren and cleaning up the dregs from the weekdays , or picking up on rumours on GAF. About the only site I see update at the weekend is Gonintendo so don't be suprised when you see Nintendo news on Sundays or whatever.
SUPPORT IS NEEDED
Aspro's been a great posting partner, but both of us have dropped out at one point or the other. Without help it can be brutal to keep up. But, the more news you guys post means the less that we have to. And we can enjoy reading other peoples news and not have to spend so much time trawling for and posting news. I'm not saying that anyone has to start mass updating, but imagine if everyone posted 2 stories a day?
ON RUMOR POSTING
I said:When I post rumours I usually label them as RUMOR: or I put a question mark after it: Report: New Xbox being manurfactured at the moment? It may not say rumour but when there is a ? mark at the end please note that it's there to denote that the story is not a sure thing. A lot of rumours turn out to be true, so please don't go nuts when there are rumours posted in the news, it's usually the rumours that get people talking here the most.
Please don't freak out if the ? mark is not there on the headline of the rumour. Either:
- I've hit the key and it hasn't registered, it's a typo
- Or the character limit has cut it off the end
- Or I've forgotten
- Or I've been lazy because I have another 10 stories to post
- Or I thought people would click and read the article and decide for themselves on its validity
I didn't ever expect people to click on a story and get annoyed because they went through to a rumour. I thought they would just read the story and see that it was a rumour. But I've been mistaken a few times on this issue, which has just left me scratching my head.
Maybe a rumour tab to tick on the updates would help?
"Okay, so first off I hit gonintendo."
Nintendo bias confirmed.
On this issue I disagree and there are more editorials of this ilk I posted yesterday. It's significant that all these websites writers are seemingly independantly coming to the same conclusion that Wii U is "worth it" when for the past couple of years it hasn't been. And it's also relative to the launch of its competition.
And secondly on the timing and this is what annoys me. I posted 4 new editorials yesterday which share the same sentiment. You posted a fifth.
Glib comments and silent +1's would suggest that I use some sort of deep search engine hunting for positives or something' as a true fanboy, which is absolutely not true. I click a thread on GAF (Wii U: what a difference a single game can make) I see updates and I process those updates. I don't make the news, I don't even really report it in the sense of rewriting anything I just link it.
So on the 25th Nov for instance I linked these editorials to our newspage, look at the date of when the websites posted those articles:
NYT says Wii U has the only game worth playing. Wii U getting good publicity, ohh.
24th Nov - this was the one Dvader posted
The Jimquisition - Who 'won' the console launch? Wii U apparently
25th Nov
The Wii U proves you should wait before buying a new console Polygon - "In the year since its launch, Wii U has seen myriad hardware patches, price drops and a growing list of impressive games"
25th Nov
Engadget: what about the Wii U?
18 hours ago aka 25th Nov
Forget Xbox One and PS4 - the smart choice for Xmas is Wii U
25th Nov
I have no control over when these articles are released or posted by their respective websites. It's strange yet significant that they all emerge on the same day. Instead of getting silent fanboy +1s laughing at me I would rather have been proud that I was so on the ball getting the articles linked on the very day they released.
I post them when I see them and it only makes sense to post them while I am there at the site. The grouping is out of my control and completely coincidental.
What the Justice League of America can teach you about using the internet, Socially
In your particluar case Aspro I made it patently clear last time how I felt. And yet here we are same as usual, every few months you seem to remind me and everyone else of my fanboyism and "sensitivity".
As I said then I am 99.9% cool with everything you say and do apart from this one aspect and it seems even after I made it clear here we are again. I've ignored it several times in the past, made it clear how I felt the last time and here we are again. TBH next time I am not going to be in a civil or good mood about it and like likely swear very loudly.
But also the 3 silent anonymous +1s it received are just annoying because they feel like anonymous cowardly jibes. I explained in a post exactly where the links came from and why they were posted in a block like that. The reply was ignored by you and everyone else. If you had simply quoted my reply and said: "I see", everything would have been fine. Instead I get stony silence from everybody and no silent plus ones for my post. It makes posting here become less and less attractive - especially if the message gained from such exhchanges is post less and get less hassle. Don't make yourself a target.
Instead of asking 'LOL what are you trying to tell us GG?' you should be asking why the gaming media has decided to post 11 articles in 5 days on the same subject. I can't post what's not there and I don't create the headlines.
And again, no one seems to acknowledge the amount of negative Nintendo stories I put out, just today another one:
Kotaku: A Year In, The Wii U Is Still Not a Must-Own
If there is anyone else on this site who posts more negative Nintendo articles than me please stand up and show yourself.
And also, for instance I posted my Wii U NFS image grabs on GG Weekly but on the same page I also post PS4 NFS images, Xbox One Forza images and PS4 Infamous images too yet people still only pick up on the Nintendo stuff and imply that's all I do. In general I'm talking.
Okay, wow, you still don't get what I was saying. I promise not to comment on anything you do or say in the future.
I was one of those pluses, and I also wish pluses weren't anonymous (it'd be interesting to see who they belonged to). I was just too lazy to post "
" instead.
Okay, I'm trying to understand what's going on here, GG. You are upset because Aspro (and others) have jokingly implied that you are a Nintendo fan? I don't see the problem. You are a Nintendo fan. I'm a Nintendo fan. Hell, most of us on this site are HUGE Nintendo fans. So why exactly does it bother you to be called one? I am quite certain nobody here is mocking or trying to alienate you.
I posted the story cause I felt guilty for not helping in the news section. So I figured I would help out a bit, I knew you would want to post that.
As for the rest it doesn't matter, no one is laughing at anyone. Both sides are right, you are posting the news, you can post at you want. You also can control what you post so all those stories back to back is kind of funny. It can be both , we love the work you do and we can point out funny things too, it shouldn't be seen as a slight.
GG, I plused Aspro's because it was funny to see all the articles lumped together, not because I agreed with it. I didn't plus your post because A. I was reading on the go and B. I just simply wasn't thinking about it. I've corrected it. Usually, if I plus your post, it's because you've made me laugh, even at my expense, judging from the times I've plused Iga's posts directed at me.
I don't think there's anybody that took Aspro's post seriously. There's nobody that truly believes you have a bias towards Nintendo. Hell, we are all Nintendo fans.
Of course I understand what you were saying, you really don't think I understand locker room humour Pro? But some things are okay, others not as the Justice League pic makes clear.
I made it blatantly clear how I felt last time and you did it again. It obviously didn't get through to you. As I said I am 99.9% okay with everything you say and do apart from this. I think you are a great guy in general -all around- and a cool dude. But in general regarding everyone, when I post 4 articles in a row from Analysts saying the Wii U is a dud, a bomb, going to fail do I get any comment on that from anybody? "GG what are you trying to tell us from these analyst articles?" No I don't, I only seem to get the short end of the stick and not the other way round. It's like people have selective memories or something and it pisses me off because it feels like you only get comment on the bad but not the good. Being a Nintendo fan didn't stop me from busting my ass posting a billion PS4 updates on launch day.
I've pretty much hated most of, the plus and minus system, as it leads to a form of anonymous group bullying. Especially in the past when two members would argue amongst each other and people would wade with pluses only and not actual discussion. IMO if you think something you should say it or shut up, instead of piling in on one persons side.
Because I spend a lot time and effort busting my ass, posting news for you guys to keep this group together, only to be ridiculed for a coincidental grouping of stories? Especially when the timing and release of said editorials is and was completely out of my control. And I actually don't see anyone else here being mocked for being Nintendo fans even when many play more Nintendo games sooner than I do, and criticise them less.
No I don't believe both sides are right. The grouping of stories is a result of the updating process as described above. They were all linked from the same post on the same day and it makes no sense not to post them when I am on a site on the same page as they are presented which is what I do with every site as a bulk updater. Your basic assumtion is LOL GG is marketing for Nintendo today, you are in essence not commenting on the stories but on me which is something you argued against earlier. No one questioned why the internet released 11 simillar editorials from 11 independent websites? No one questioned why suddenly games journalists were advocating Wii U when new consoles were launching? No one actually went on to read and discuss what was said in those articles? I read a few and they weren't all RA RA GO Wii U editorials as one might assume from headlines.
The latter group of articles were all posted independently by different websites on the same day. If you don't understand why they are grouped like that then you need to imagine the posting process. I have no control over 11 different independent websites with regards as to the content or release date of said content. I try and post things when they are current, when they appear so if they all appear on the same day they will likely get posted on the same day. If they appear on the same page, they will get posted one after the other because this is the updating process.
Ask yourself: When I post a review do I post one review or many? When I post financial information do I post one take or many? When I post analyst insights do I post one story or many? There is nothing different about editorials. I try to read as much on any subject to get a broad view on things.
At the end of the day it doesn't matter what you all feel about this subject, as I'm one of the few it applies to and affects as a news poster. It's me who is doing the updates and me who it affects, so you need to be aware of my thoughts on the subject. I'm doing long stints of updates virtually everyday of the week for something like 5-6 years continuously in a fairly arduous and thankless task, all to supply you, my friends with interesting content to read and dissect. I don't need to feel like I'm just wasting time for nothing. And you can see how I take the updating more seriously because of it.
There are so many times when other people update when they do something wrong or fuck up and I never say anything. I fix broken links, spelling, I hardly even delete repeats, even when the same story is already posted 2 inches down. Even when every story somehow gets posted as big news, when there are 20 other updates that day of similar magnitude.
Maybe I should be doing less, but I'd still feel the same way about it. I shouldn't have to think twice before posting an update on the assumption that my group of friends might ridcule me for it.
EDITED for Justice League pic