In the short life of the videogame industry the internet has advanced everything from the way we play to the way we complain. The advent of online reporting has transformed our absorption of the industry from a monthly dose of knowledge courtesy of the well-groomed pages of magazines to the immediate craze of blogs and message boards.

Outspoken Silicon Knights head honcho Denis Dyack lamented to users of the popular online message board NeoGAF that they can have an impact on the success and perception of a game and ordinarily attack without the proper knowledge base. While many scratched their heads at the concept of explaining the faults of those shrouded by internet anonymity, it raises an interesting question.

Is the internet making our industry smarter?

When I was a kid (cue old man voice: “Back in my day!”) I would work hard all summer to acquire enough money in my piggy bank to purchase one game. One game over months of hard work. Coming from a poorer family than most, videogames weren’t a necessity but it was something that called out to me.

After months of working, saving and depriving myself of delicious candy, I would take my plastic container filled with coins and tattered bills — the product of counting it on a daily basis hoping it would multiply on its own — bring it to a store and pick out a game to hold me over for the next year.

In the age where videogame journalism was truly in its infancy I would have to rely on box art, genres and the opinion of the friends around me. Making a decision on any game at this time would spell complete jubilation for the future or a feeling of utter shitty-ness if I made the wrong decision.

Money was spent. Sometimes on great games, often on crap and all because the industry was too young to have a completely informed community.

Today a few keystrokes can be the difference between being entertained or being $60 in the hole.

Does this prove the internet is smarter due to the internet? No. But what the internet has done is create an informed community of users. Personal blogs, message boards and even corporate owned website networks all exist because of a desire of information from all types of users — hardcore to casual.

Like anything that is meant for good, the internet also spells a struggle for magazines. Ziff Davis’ GFW Magazine has been the latest loss due to a number of reasons but profitability in a faster online news world was a primary point for the company that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in March 2008.

Today media is changing even more. With the popularity of social media (Facebook, Twitter) the gaming journalists world has been shaped and molded by the content gamers desire.

Of course the issue with giving a hardcore community complete anonymity is they run with it, scissors in hand. Message boards, comments and even online gaming is a breeding ground for douche-baggery. However, many gamers are pushing their way through the trash to have educated and serious conversations — instead of inciting an idiotic flame war.

AOL GameDaily recently developed a weekly column where 10 videogame journalists discuss the industry in all areas. GameDaily HUD features industry heavy-weights N’Gai Croal, Stephen Totilo, Chris Grant, Libe Goad and newer faces such as Chris Taylor and myself (Xav de Matos) to name a few. The purpose is to get a different perspective from different kinds of journalists within the industry to begin an informed but opinionated dialog regarding the hottest issues in the industry. It isn’t a solution to an issue but an idea of bringing gamers together to think about the industry in a more serious way, a way most already have been.

The internet makes our industry more accessible and fun but at the end of the day we all know the most important reason for its existence — easier access to hardcore nudity.

Xav de Matos is a contributing editor for the Joystiq Network at Big Download and Xbox 360 Fanboy as well as the producer of the weekly BigDownload.com gaming podcast, the BigCast. Questions or suggestions for this or future features may be directed to xav [at] joystiq [dot] com.