Totally Not Corrupt Professional Objective Gaming Journalism DRAMA

[felipepepe]

It's revolting how since she removed her tweets/resume, Eurogamer can't just go into court and prove they have facts to back them up, even with screenshots...

 

[Dexter]

https://twitter.com/GriddleOctopus/status/255809932518121472 (former reviews editor on OXM 360)

"@scully1888 @richstanton I know, on OXM 360's first issue, the Microsoft games were scored high by management, but it never happened again."

http://i.imgur.com/GQtT4l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/dAKmUl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/aICShl.jpg

This apparently harks back to that other "Future Publishing" debacle earlier this month: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/inde...ublishing-while-drunk-cvg-pc-gamer-etc.76854/

Someone apparently also found link to previously mentioned PodCast, but it's dead: http://gamerdork.net/blog/dorkcast036-crazy-lady-hijack

 

[Jaesun]

It's revolting how since she removed her tweets/resume, Eurogamer can't just go into court and prove they have facts to back them up, even with screenshots...

Yeah it is sad. Oh well. Thanks to her this entire ball got rolling. And now we can expose more of these people, and the actual state of Professional Gaming Journalism™. I can't wait for Kotaku's take on this. It will be glorious (butthurt and stonewalling).

 

[SCO]

There are still thousands of witness.

 

[Oriebam]

It's revolting how since she removed her tweets/resume, Eurogamer can't just go into court and prove they have facts to back them up, even with screenshots...

can't they have twitter give evidence or something? p. sure with all the twitter comment arrest stuff it's a possibility

unless shit is deleted forever

but of course if it hasn't happened before it doesn't matter

 

[PlanHex]

http://www.destructoid.com/from-a-bag-of-doritos-to-a-bag-of-dirty-laundry-237619.phtml

Jim Sterling's new article. I don't particularly care for him but am giving it a read now.

Interesting how that douche can bring up lots of valid things, yet I still get the impression the only thing going through his mind were these things I will now quote out of context:

The story throws up a plethora of questions, so many that no single article could cover them all. Most importantly, people have been asking, "Why is nobody covering this?"
...
Then again, the size of the GAF thread alone proves there's a huge audience for these kinds of stories, so there is definitely something to gain from writing about it.

I NEED MOAR

 

[Arkadin]

I remember when PC Gamer (US) packaged a demo of Ultima 9 with an issue of the magazine. I had anticipated the game a lot, though I was concerned about many aspects of it. Played it, thought hmmm, this isn't great and it runs like shit, but it's not the worst thing out there...maybe the full game will be better? I trusted gaming mags for some reason--even a lot of highly anticipated games got low scores if they were shit, and hell, most of my favorite games didn't get higher than an 85. So when I saw the new Ultima had a review that was likewise in the 80s, and found that mostly what was criticized were bugs and performance issues, I was really relieved. After I played the game, I felt stupid, remembered all the advertising the game had received in the mag, and all the coverage, too, and realized that magazines could no longer be trusted.

I am hopeful that younger generations will pay attention to this shit that's going on and have these kinds of experiences, too. Not that it will save their shittaste in games, but maybe we'll get something resembling journalism if people stop reading what's our there right now.

 

[waywardOne]

That's the thing: the internet is killing journalism, and rightfully so. Every event on earth can now have everyone participate as a live witness. No need to rely on anyone for the facts. As far as opinions and analysis, there's no shortage of those; all it takes is a very minimal effort to find the people whose opinions and analyses you respect and follow them. The entire media industry is choking to death on a series of tubes; why would journalism be spared?

 

[kris]

It is almost 10 years since I last checked any gaming sites or mags.

If anyone mentions "this game got great reviews" i tell them that reviews are worth shit and is just paid advertising. nothing strange in that, the best way to sell something is advertising, not a great product. Eragon is a fantastic school-book example.

 

[Dexter]

New articles on the matter:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-10-30-editors-blog-lost-humanity-18-aftermath
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/30/rpss-position-on-the-eurogamerflorence-debacle/
http://www.edge-online.com/features...-journalist-and-what-it-means-to-be-a-critic/
http://wosland.podgamer.com/the-players-and-the-game/

 

[Infinitron]

http://wosland.podgamer.com/the-players-and-the-game/

Ian Miles Cheong reference

 

[Infinitron]

Is Korina Abbott a lesbian? Did Lauren sleep with her in exchange for exclusive favors and free games?

 

[DragoFireheart]

Professional Objective Gaming Journalism DRAMA.


Hmmm... three of those five words are just meaningless filler. Can you guess with three?

That's the thing: the internet is killing journalism, and rightfully so. Every event on earth can now have everyone participate as a live witness. No need to rely on anyone for the facts. As far as opinions and analysis, there's no shortage of those; all it takes is a very minimal effort to find the people whose opinions and analyses you respect and follow them. The entire media industry is choking to death on a series of tubes; why would journalism be spared?

- Does that mean I can get a company like EA to pay me to sit on my ass and just post on their forums?

Hey look at me, I'm a gaming journalist! I can say nice things about your game and convince people that it's great lie to them so they'll buy your game!

 

[Dexter]

This is about her starting on a PR firm for games while apparently working for GameSpot UK on the side: http://www.laurenwainwright.com/?p=414

If you didn’t know already, I’m joining the dark side and trying out games PR for 3-months. A few people have asked, and no, I’m not giving up writing. DO NOT PANIC! Not that anyone would.. panic :’( But you know, just in case!
So, who will I be serving? Barrington Harvey of course! Make sure to follow them on twitter and win stuff, but follow me first! We will be doing F1 2010, International Cricket 2010 and Mafia II while I am there. Hopefully it will go well. In other news: I start tomorrow and I’m shitting bricks!
Games PR is something I wanted to get into eventually and this will give me a good heads up to what it’s all about. I still have my heart set on writing though so unless something goes horribly wrong, then no future plans have been changed.

They did PR for EIDOS (now Square Enix), requesting low review scores to be held back till after "launch day" on Tomb Raider titles: http://www.vg247.com/2008/11/21/uk-tomb-raider-underworld-reviews-under-810-silenced-until-monday/

Said a Barrington Harvey rep on the phone this afternoon: “That’s right. We’re trying to manage the review scores at the request of Eidos.”
When asked why, the spokesperson said: “Just that we’re trying to get the Metacritic rating to be high, and the brand manager in the US that’s handling all of Tomb Raider has asked that we just manage the scores before the game is out, really, just to ensure that we don’t put people off buying the game, basically.”
British site Eurogamer has already gone live with a 7/10 score, an act the rep said had caused “problems”.

This is about a fully paid trip to Vegas with stay in expensive hotel room (depicted), free food, driving in Hummers, party and drinks (on Gearbox): http://www.laurenwainwright.com/?p=1143
She then apparently proceeded to do an entirely unbiased Interview and Preview:
http://www.vg247.com/2011/02/09/ran...upside-down-topsy-turvy-version-of-our-world/
http://www.vg247.com/2011/02/09/new-assets-for-duke-nukem-forever-leave-las-vegas-land-in-your-lap/

She's apparently also somehow involved in this: http://nukezilla.com/2008/11/23/so-this-tomb-raider-controversy/

 

[skuphundaku]

This is about a fully paid trip to Vegas with stay in expensive hotel room (depicted), free food, driving in Hummers, party and drinks (on Gearbox)

I had Saints Row flashbacks when I saw the picture of that hotel room. That's some pimpin' shit right there. Yeah, she stayed completely impartial after having all that money thrown at her, right...

 

[LundB]

The picture on the main page is one of their King suites, she was staying in a Queen suite, which looks like this: http://www.hardrockhotel.com/las-vegas-hotel/suite-tower/supreme-city-view-queens-suite

Not really that fancy, especially for a business trip. Their 'Living Art Ultra Lounge' on the other hand, is quite nice indeed.

However, ANY room is too much for a PR firm to pay for if a journalist's impartiality is to remain unquestioned. It should be paid for by one's own company, or out of pocket. Journalism is not like other industries, where such things are more acceptable.

 

[Average Manatee]

The picture on the main page is one of their King suites, she was staying in a Queen suite, which looks like this: http://www.hardrockhotel.com/las-vegas-hotel/suite-tower/supreme-city-view-queens-suite

Not really that fancy, especially for a business trip. Their 'Living Art Ultra Lounge' on the other hand, is quite nice indeed.

However, ANY room is too much for a PR firm to pay for if a journalist's impartiality is to remain unquestioned. It should be paid for by one's own company, or out of pocket. Journalism is not like other industries, where such things are more acceptable.

The rooms I stay in when on business trips have a bed and an old tube televison on a desk. This is still pretty damn fancy. If the "journalist" is so economically impoverished that they can't afford to make the trip themselves they should be getting a room 1/5th the size.

 

[LundB]

As I said, either their own publication should cover it (if their own company thinks it's worth giving them a nice room, who are we to judge), or it should come out of pocket. I agree that PR firms should have no role in paying for a room of any kind, no matter how tiny.

I am sorry that your company doesn't put you in nicer rooms though. Just a bed and a desk, not even a small suite with a kitchenette and some chairs or a sofa? That's unusually bad if you're talking about a business trip longer than a night or two for a reasonably sized company.

 

[Gerrard]

Sterling is actually worse than these sellouts, since he's not only a sellout but often just stirs up shit writing "controversial" (which most often translates to being fucking retarded) articles to get page hits.

 

[Jaesun]

Another good read here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/oct/30/video-game-journalism?CMP=twt_fd

 

[Dexter]

Another article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2012/oct/30/video-game-journalism

I didn't do it because I felt it was tantamount amount to a sponsored tweet, a form of advertising that the Guardian would not permit, but the fact that some attendees did enter the competition angered a lot of industry watchers.

What about this guy? https://twitter.com/realsteveboxer/status/259017024397787137

Guardian games writer, general freelance-for-hire, Spurs fan, cricket aficionado & electronic music lover.

 

[Jaesun]

http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/30/3575978/halo-4-avatar-costume-offered-free-from-u-k-pizza-huts

1. look at article
2. read comments
3. giggle

ITZ COMING!

 

[Jarpie]

http://www.polygon.com/2012/10/30/3575978/halo-4-avatar-costume-offered-free-from-u-k-pizza-huts

1. look at article
2. read comments
3. giggle

ITZ COMING!

We need Terence Stamp on this whole debacle!

 

[Average Manatee]

I am sorry that your company doesn't put you in nicer rooms though. Just a bed and a desk, not even a small suite with a kitchenette and some chairs or a sofa? That's unusually bad if you're talking about a business trip longer than a night or two for a reasonably sized company.

I feel more sorry for people who go on a trip and then spend their time in a hotel room. Who needs anything more than a bed?

I choose the rooms myself.

 

[Jaesun]

Update from polygon:

Please read our Community Guidelines here – we reserve every right to delete comments that aren't helpful or on-topic. If you want to criticize us, you're welcome to send us an email to feedback@polygon.com. If you want to make a new account – which all the detractors here have done – and come here to rile up negativity, we're going to stop you.
We're closing this thread for now and will reconsider opening it later.

They completely deleted all comments from that "Professional News Article"

Here were the original comments.