Paid Reviews: Critics or Conmen? Gaming's Ad-verse Situation

[superdinoman]

Searched the last 4 pages and didn't see this so if late my bad.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwD2GgWKIrs[/media]

[rrunyan]

As if Halo 3 was even that bad.

Terrible example.

[simkas]

[QUOTE=rrunyan;35111348]As if Halo 3 was even that bad.

Terrible example.[/QUOTE]

Most of his examples were fucking awful. I mean, Duke Nukem Forever? Fucking really? It barely got 5s across most review sites.

[Pseudonym]

Yeah he lost me when he started talking about harsh critics like they're martyrs or something. Controversial reviews get a lot of attention, much more than most "safe" reviews do. There are numerous websites which would've sunk long ago were it not for some harsh critic drawing a crowd out of nowhere.

[Strike 86]

I disagree with many of the points made, and many of the examples he used, but his main point is actually very true.
Games journalism is and always has been an extension of games marketing. Sites like IGN and Gamespot are becoming increasingly unprofessional about game reviews as they come to rely more heavily on inside information and advertising money from publishers and developers. It's actually quite difficult to find an un-biased review for almost any game now.
What's sadder is that, partly because of this reliance, standards within parts of the games industry have slipped and will continue to (see Modern Warfare 2 & 3).

Personally I don't make a judgement of any game until I play it.

[Haste!]

The only reason I watch reviews is for more gameplay. I could care less about what some guy thinks of the game when his opinions are only controlled by how much money the publishers are willing to shove into his pockets.

This image seems necessary:
[img]http://imgur.com/xs9mt[/img]

[thrawn2787]

[QUOTE=simkas;35111612]Most of his examples were fucking awful. I mean, Duke Nukem Forever? Fucking really? It barely got 5s across most review sites.[/QUOTE]

I think his point with that one was that they "were going to decide who reviewed their next game and who didn't"

also game journalism isn't journalism and people should realize that and stop going to those sites for reviews (and take previews with a grain of salt, I'm looking at you Brink). People should just go to youtube and watch regular joes playing the game or get a demo if possible