According to an article written today at PC Gamer, a study conducted by “The Market For Computer And Video Games” has shown that, contrary to popular belief, gamers value the opinions of so-called specialist media over that of Youtube commentators.

The study asked 8,317 gamers around the globe to rate the trustworthiness of media, though the study seems to focus on the UK results, perhaps due to the site being hosted there. That being said, according to the survey taken, 83% of those polled said they trust specialist media, such as game-centric websites and magazines, more than any other outlet, including the far-reaching voices of youtube game commentators.

While this is great news for PC Gamer (And also for us here at Nichegamer), it does seem rather odd. Not just because Youtube has become the go-to source for game opinion in the “web 2.0” era, but because the study was done by a “specialist media” outlet itself. Perhaps that’s just my own cynicism showing, but it does seem rather suspect. Especially when you can find scores of articles written by game journalists that sense the Youtube trend and seem to fear it pushing them out of business.

Also, similar studies have come up with very different results, ultimately claiming youtubers win the battle for gamer’s trust.

The study also has 60% of those polled saying they trust advertisements, which lost by a single point to the trustworthiness of social media, which garnered 61% of the vote.

Also interesting was that “influence” was gauged independent of trust, and when it came to that category, the size of specialist media’s win narrowed a bit, with 68% saying they felt gaming websites and magazines influenced their decisions and 67% saying that Youtube vloggers did. Granted, this obviously shows quite a bit of overlap and a good percentage of people feel influenced by both, but it does call into question the established belief that Youtubers have surpassed the traditional press.

So who do you trust? Are you more apt to believe the opinion of youtube commentators such as The Rageaholic (A personal favorite of mine) and Total Biscuit, or do you feel traditional gaming websites are more trustworthy?