Piranha Frenzy

by Colin F. Campbell

Video game journalist Kjersti Wong has just a few hours to complete the big review of summer blockbuster Satanic Realm 5 for her employer, big games website Piranha Frenzy. Kjersti's bosses, the game's fans and even her partner are pressuring her to deliver a high score. But there's something about this game that is deeply troubling. Her investigations and actions over the next few hours will change her life, and the world of gaming, forever.

Genres: Games, Video Games, Fiction

139 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2014

About the author

Colin Campbell is a video games journalist based in Santa Cruz, CA. He has worked for multiple games magazines and websites, serving as a writer, editor and publisher.

He is the recipient of the 2011 Games Media Legend Award and the 2012 Good Games Writer of the Year. Colin currently works as a senior reporter for Polygon.

Reviews

[Eric Mesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book that either anticipates or was written in reaction to gamer-gate. I think wherever you fall on that is probably the biggest predictor of whether you are capable of liking this book. I'm not saying if you were on the side of the journalist that you will automatically think this was a good book, but if you weren't I find it hard to believe you'd like this book at all. A quick primer if you pay no attention to video games journalism or think pieces about the harassment of women online. A woman, Zoe Quinn was (still is?) working on a video game. Her ex wrote a blog post saying she slept with some guys for positive coverage for her game. Then, out of proportion to the fact that whether or not she did this, it's just video games (for CTHULHU'S SAKE) people started harassing her and sending her death threats and all kinds of stuff. Google it if you care.

This book switches things around from reality and has the main character be a women in games journalism who is dating a man working for the publisher of the year's biggest game - Satanic Realms 5. This rather short book (almost novella-sized) explores what she has to deal with in that world. I think it gets its point across without being preachy and while still telling an entertaining story rather than a morality tale. Via the characters (who are given short bios at the beginning of the book like a Victorian novel) the author also explores the different generations of gamers. I think the main character is supposed to be an older millenial or younger Gen X given her gaming touchtones. The guy in charge of the whole operation (A video games Website called Piranha Frenzy) is someone who was in college when the original Playstation came out and the other characters fall in between there and one or two are younger than our main character.

Touching on podcasts, Youtube celebs, and even referencing the founding of Giant Bomb - whether this book ends up being a classic or a relic of its time will probably depend on how much things change and how much things stay the same. I do appreciate the novel as there aren't many fiction books that occupy this aspect of my life/personality. There are plenty of books with gamers at the center (I've bought quite a few via StoryBundle bundles), but not as many about the dev side. Although I have appreciated it in Cory Doctorow's For the Win and the gamedev sections in Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's Mogworld.

As I said up top, your mileage may vary based on whether you consider SJW to be a dirty word, but I enjoyed my brief time in that world.

[Cale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to doublecheck the publication date on this book after reading it, just to make sure it wasn't written after GamerGate blew up. Because it manages to encapsulate some of the issues of that controversy, as well as any other number of games journalism issues, in a very relatable, readable way. There are no perfect characters here, only flawed people who are working together in a way that causes a massive reaction that directly affects all of them. It's utterly believable in the way it plays out, the way the characters act, even the way the larger media portrays the incidents. It feels almost documentary in some of its details. If you have any interest in video game journalism, on the inside or the outside, this is probably one of the few novel options out there. Fortunately, considering its qualities, you shouldn't need anything else to get a real sense of that world.

[Sandra Glenn · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Piranha Frenzy" struck me as being the videogame version of Sidney Lumet's "Network", with a pinch of noir. Speaking as someone who works in the videogame business the book felt very real, albeit with a few (very enjoyable) embellishments for the sake of drama. Campbell's prose is uncluttered and crisp, and his plotting was tight enough to keep me spellbound; I finished the book in two reading sessions.

[Mike Cornish · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first book I've started and finished in one day. An unexpectedly exciting read.

[David Grey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good fairy tail

I really liked the characters and how they chose to live, hope it works out for them in the end

[Michael Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

TODO:
+/- office drama as genre, good bc the topic is good, not good bc of old work-ethics conflict.
+++ new topic: computer-game journalism.
++ treatment of women in computer game industry an important part of the plot.
+ Description of media outlets, focusing on editor in chief, editor, reporter, podcaster, and a few other minor roles.
+++ Like the way the protagonist is both capable and humanly flawed. Realistic take.
+ Humorous.
+/- Decent writing, some hiccups, nothing really memorable.
-- Boring story.
--- Simplistic plot.
--- Hollywood ending.

[Mark Paterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel fictionalising the all too real foul rag-and-bone shop that is videogame reviewing. This was written well before the recent 'Gamergate' mess which did nobody any favours, but it all rings true.

It was fine. Short, predictable, but still very enjoyable to read in an afternoon on holiday accompanied by a cold drink served in a tall glass. Which I did.

[Carli · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little derivative and predictable, but oddly appropriate considering the current climate.