I feel conflicted about the whole thing because it seems like a very obvious conflict of interest to me. That seems completely clear. But it's also true that almost all US journalism is doing this now to some extent.
Glenn Greenwald had a story about CNNi not that long ago doing basically the same thing.
This also affects how all the major issues of our time are covered, like war. The conflict of interest is clear, and it does usually result in editorial changes, even in our top media; let alone gaming media. HOWEVER, it's true that it's basically ubiquitous now.
Is that a great defense? Not really. It just kind of shows what challenges all journalism is facing right now. Particularly in the internet age, with less people willing to pay for any news of any kind; they're going to get money wherever they can. Even the NY Times almost went under. Game Informer is entirely owned and published by Gamestop, with the hidden interest of pushing people to purchase more games; but look at the big picture. It's basically the only gaming magazine left.
So yeah, I'd take the coverage with a huge grain of salt, like you should take pretty much all coverage with a huge grain of salt. People are generally somewhat beholden to the people that write them huge checks; even our politicians (or especially them), let alone reporters. There are congressmen's votes that are purchased for far less than this; like 100k. But at the same time, how else should they raise money? All journalism is kind of busted right now, and people aren't willing to pay for any of it. Politics needs campaign finance reform, and the media needs journalism finance reform. Ignore that, and this is the inevitable result.
