I Was More Than a Fan: Sol Invictus tells all

[treave]

... what a slimy little cocksucker.

 

[relootz]

Limy Slimy Cocksucker!

 

[Inziladun]

If all it took was dinner and an upgrade, I wonder what some of these "big name" reviewers get from the big companies, surely it's gotta be something a little more?

 

[Haba]

If all it took was dinner and an upgrade, I wonder what some of these "big name" reviewers get from the big companies, surely it's gotta be something a little more?

They get the same swag, loftier bribes, but still the same.

Now the really interesting part are the paid advertisements by publishers...

 

[Haba]

POTATO POTATO MELCAR

 

[Kz3r0]

Lulz aside though, if you're a game reviewer that's faced with such an offer, what's a good thing to do? Take the offer, then write an honest review anyway? Take the bribe and lie/be silent? Avoid the bribe and know that from that day onwards you and your company will not be quite as favoured by the publisher anymore (and you'll lose readers without access to beta codes and crap)? What's an actually good move on the overall?

I suppose best would be to start out with the principle of "we don't take swag - give us a review copy/beta code if you want a review and nothing else", so everyone knows that if they give you a bunch of presents and show you shit you'll still write that shit was shown.

The problem are the gamers, AKA next-gen shit, bash their favorite game and you are done for, the fact that only honest reviews can end the career of a gaming journalist is very telling about consoletards and the likes.

 

[Angthoron]

The problem are the gamers, AKA next-gen shit, bash their favorite game and you are done for, the fact that only honest reviews can end the career of a gaming journalist is very telling about consoletards and the likes.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I mean - it's either you keep your integrity and lose your job, or you lose your integrity (and no-one really cares) and get the swag. Obvious choice is obvious for most journalists.


Edit: And the "niche" reviews don't really count. They don't really feed - say someone wanted to write reviews for Codex, would they get enough money to feed themselves, buy upgrades, buy games to review? Don't think so. So, "professional" journalists end up doing "professional" work, while the "indep" reviews are covered by enthusiasts. Neither really does a particularly great job most of the time.

 

[Jim Cojones]

The problem are the gamers, AKA next-gen shit, bash their favorite game and you are done for, the fact that only honest reviews can end the career of a gaming journalist is very telling about consoletards and the likes.

I wouldn't say it's a next-gen trend. I remember about ten years ago one of the biggest Polish magazines was literally spammed with letters from angry fanboys after giving 7/10 to Final Fantasy 7, the same note to one of the Tomb Raiders and 8-9 (different scores for single and multiplayer) to Diablo 2.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

Switch "Metal Gear" for any aaa title and it still applies. A very dear one to me is Gamespot's 8.8 for Zelda: Twilight Princess.

 

[Shannow]

The problem are the gamers, AKA next-gen shit, bash their favorite game and you are done for, the fact that only honest reviews can end the career of a gaming journalist is very telling about consoletards and the likes.

Yeah, that's pretty much what I mean - it's either you keep your integrity and lose your job, or you lose your integrity (and no-one really cares) and get the swag. Obvious choice is obvious for most journalists.


Edit: And the "niche" reviews don't really count. They don't really feed - say someone wanted to write reviews for Codex, would they get enough money to feed themselves, buy upgrades, buy games to review? Don't think so. So, "professional" journalists end up doing "professional" work, while the "indep" reviews are covered by enthusiasts. Neither really does a particularly great job most of the time.

Being a person of integrety is simply more difficult and thus less "efficient" than swimming with the mainstream. And since we're all taught to be efficient...

Have a publishing house, some dedicated, talented journalists and enough money to keep the mag afloat no matter how bad the sales for a few years. Then keep reviewing with the same high standard and objectivity. Then you can check after 5 years or so if the mag managed to acquire a viable niche for gamers who prefer quality over hype. If it were successful enough it'd have so many readers that the industry would want to place adds even if the reviews are honest. Only then can we judge whether it's really the next-gen kiddies who bring down gaming-journalism or whether gaming-journalists pre-emptivly behave like sheeple and thus teach the kiddies to become sheeple.
Of course, in a society where culture is defined by the least refined, where even real journalists don't check sources 80% of the time and just copy PR-articles 70% of the time, expecting of all things the gaming-journalist to make a change is a bit of a stretch.

 

[Serious_Business]

No more free rides

/appropriate meme use

 

[1eyedking]

The game was shit but the dinner was awesome. Hell yeah!

At least now you know what to do to get AoD some decent scores: have Oscar throw them a proper Argentinian asado; 10/10 everywhere guaranteed.

 

[Drakron]

Have a publishing house, some dedicated, talented journalists and enough money to keep the mag afloat no matter how bad the sales for a few years. Then keep reviewing with the same high standard and objectivity. Then you can check after 5 years or so if the mag managed to acquire a viable niche for gamers who prefer quality over hype.

Well you have Edge that is now known for their its ratings, only 12 games so far had a 10/10, guess what happens when Edge does not award a high mark to a fanboy game? He complains about Edge score being unfair.

We are starting to see a backlash against the "optimistic" reviews with Zero Punctuation as a example of people wanting to see a game being harshly criticized but you have problems with that going to the printing press that have long been on decline by losing readership to online media.

That is the problem, publishers realize how dependent is the gaming media is of them so they use their position to push for the situation were we are today, printing press relies on exclusives to stay a step ahead of the online media so they have to keep in the publishers good graces, online media also cannot afford to lose exclusives for other sites.

All of this would not happen if the media realized they are the ones that hold the power (try selling a AAA title that revived NO media covering) but because they distrust each other and seem to be unable to work together they are played by the publishers that just use then.

Its a deeper problem, the regular press at least understand the underlying problem and bands together if someone tries to pull that off and few break ranks because ultimate they all lose if that happens.

 

[Nicolai]

That game looked like shit from day one.

Anyway, Rex's other new site is http://stillgray.com/ - pretty funny stuff.

 

[Jaesun]

Rex need to come back to the codex.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

He was a gold-mine of amusement, as is evident from this story.

 

[Fucking Quality Poster]

Rex seems to think he is a lot bigger than he really is. I've never spoken to him personally, but what I can tell from the story is that he's pretty much a glorified fan of the game (??) and was before the game even came out (kind of lame).

And yea, they 'hooked him up' with a sweet setup for reasons that he apparently did not understand.

 

[SuicideBunny]

If all it took was dinner and an upgrade, I wonder what some of these "big name" reviewers get from the big companies, surely it's gotta be something a little more?

They get the same swag, loftier bribes, but still the same.

i faintly recall some fo3 pre-hype article detailing bethesda's (or was it pre mass effect and bioware?) bribery attempts and mentioning that they actually hire escorts.

 

[Gragt]

i faintly recall some fo3 pre-hype article detailing bethesda's (or was it pre mass effect and bioware?) bribery attempts and mentioning that they actually hire escorts.

It is done in other industries, like cars, so why not video games?

 

[hoochimama]

]i faintly recall some fo3 pre-hype article detailing bethesda's (or was it pre mass effect and bioware?) bribery attempts and mentioning that they actually hire escorts.

Hey, it's alright as long as they proceeded to post objective reviews on http://www.utopiaguide.com/forums/index.php.

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

i faintly recall some fo3 pre-hype article detailing bethesda's (or was it pre mass effect and bioware?) bribery attempts and mentioning that they actually hire escorts.

It is done in other industries, like cars, so why not video games?

Because Ford isn't going to blackball Car & Driver for slagging the Pinto.

Speak No Evil or Be Banned:

I received an e-mail today that really took me by surprise. In order to protect myself, CVGames, and our contacts, I will not disclose who it is from. In the e-mail I was told that an upcoming release from a major studio was lifting their NDA on all details from their new title. As I read the e-mail, I was excited to hear that I could finally talk about this game in any detail I wanted. However, before my fingers could begin writing a preview, I noticed a strange asterisks next to that phrase. The disclaimer went on to say that the game was still a beta and there were many things within the game that were not final and would be changed before the final product. I then was given a list of things I had to say if I mentioned any details about graphics, art, interface, gameplay, characters, etc. If I wanted to show what the final graphics we’re going to look at, I needed to point my browser to a specific website and view the images there.

This e-mail is just one of many I receive all the time. In the world of videogame journalism, we as critics are often told what we can say and when we can say it. At times this makes sense. For example, if a particular Publisher is about to reveal several big announcements, they can give us the information beforehand with a verbal or signed NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that we will not reveal the information to the public until a certain time. But when the press is shown a Preview or told we can write about a Beta, there are still many rules in place. These rules include:

(1) Always be positive

(2) Remember this is an early build

(3) Element X Y Z will be fixed and changed upon release

(4) Disobey any of the above and you will be banned

 

[CrimHead]

I WAS MORE THAN A FAN

I WAS A SEX SLAVE

 

[Drakron]

It is done in other industries, like cars, so why not video games?

The difference is a that auto magazines are very specialized and they cannot afford to lose their reputation.

Also its something that can be compared scientifically with other models so attempts at influence are not going to work very well because you can statistic compare the performance of a vehicle.

Also there are mechanics and people know how things work, in the end its not easy as they would have to downright lie and kill the reputation of the magazine and since its specialized and aimed at a very small segment of the population, they are not going to do that.

Entertainment is a different ball game since it the end you just have to take the reviewer word for it, of course with theater and cinema you have reviewers that know a bit of what they are talking about because they had at least formation on the field, the same cannot be said on gaming media that is the weakest and ill-prepared to make reviews

Having a degree in Journalism or English does not make anyone expert on video game (let alone in programing), unlike having a AD in Auto Mechanics does to talk about cars or a degree in Cinema to review a movie.

Edit:

Fun read:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4741259.stm

 

[Carlos' Bitch1]

The difference is a that auto magazines are very specialized and they cannot afford to lose their reputation.

I didn't know they had a reputation any more, to be honest.

I know most of the Auto magazines have sold out to the man long ago, mainly due to them relying so heavily on advertising dollars these days. Major car companies will sell cars, but if a magazine loses advertising (bearing also in mind how only a handful of major companies own every motor company now), your bottom line is dead in the water.

General Motors takes away advertising = 12 other car companies taking away advertising. Same goes for Ford, BMW, et al.

Marketing is also on a higher plane than it used to be.

 

[Elhoim]

Speak No Evil or Be Banned

This would be pretty interesting if applied:

Denis feels like the videogame industry needs to move to a new standard for showing titles. He says that we need to let Developers finish a game and sit on them for several months to a year before releasing them. During that time the press can be shown previews, minor development issues could continue, and there will never be any problems with enforcing the “rules” I mentioned above.

Unless Developers and Publishers want to get into the business of forcing the press to sign agreements to stay positive about every preview build they show us, they need to let the press cover the games the way they see it. If that is not good enough or if the game is not far enough along, they should let it continue in development until it is ready for a showing. As it stands now, larger Publications, whether they are online or print, are given preferential treatment with early, exclusive showings of games because they are being forced to abide by the “above rules.”