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Bioshock "Exclusive Review" IGN edition - A lot of annoyed journos (Ironcreed wow).

M

mclem

Member
It's probably late, but everyone's piled on Sessler for using "plebiscite" when (I imagine) he means "plebeian", right? A plebiscite's a referendum. Or is there another meaning I'm not aware of?
 
M

McLovin

Member
Rodney McKay said:
"You know I like [Gametrailers] exclusives,::eek:pens Doritos bag::, but it's
baffling that [not Gametrailers] ::crunch crunch:: continue
to author "exclusive" reviews. ::drinks Mountain Dew:: mmm... Refreshing...
[Gametrailers] must be protected."::crunch::
Click to expand...
Crunch
 
B

Blastoise

Banned
From Jeff Gerstmann's Tumblr:

http://jeffgerstmann.tumblr.com/post/45742440812/how-do-you-feel-about-this-exclusive-bioshock-review

Anonymous asked:
How do you feel about this exclusive Bioshock review ign is getting? I've never seen so many journalists get so mad.


Jeff wrote:
I would like to congratulate all those people for doing a way more effective job of advertising IGN’s exclusive review coverage than IGN ever could. Good stuff.

I don’t really care. They’re negotiating for something I would never negotiate for. And no one else is going after that, either. It must be the easiest thing in the world for them.

“Hey, can we run the review early?”

“Uh… no one else has asked, so… sure?”

I’m not really sure what the publisher gets out of it. If they’re just negotiating for top slot placement on their homepage, that’s pretty stupid, because a big review would probably get that spot anyway, wouldn’t it?

IGN is still the largest video game website in the world. They’re still going to be able to negotiate those kinds of deals. It’s always slightly frustrating, but this happens constantly. The people getting pissed about it should be over it by now. It’s dumb. It’s been dumb for at least a decade now, probably more.
Click to expand...
 
C

Cuburt

Member
What I'm most interested in at this point about this situation is what will happen now.

I have a feeling the game may be bad and that this exclusive review is just a sign.

If that's the case, I anticipate more stone wars in glass cities.
 
B

BurnOutBrighter

Banned
Gonzo The Great said:
91
Click to expand...

Gets me every time. And that "Some things must be protected" tweet is just perfect as a caption.
 
W

wildfire

Banned
FINALBOSS said:
Are we honestly forgetting all the exclusive coverage you've done? I love how you are completely ok with everything but exclusive reviews--knowing you're guilty of all the rest in the past.
Click to expand...

This argument of yours is exclusive previews and interviews are equally as bad as exclusive reviews.

This is wrong because the purpose of interviews and previews are different.

With previews you could argue they are meant to help inform consumers so they can make better purchasing decisions but that doesn't make much sense.

Previews only matter with pre-orders which are very easy to cancel because of reviews.

Also noone wants a critical analysis of a game weeks and months, let alone a year before launch because it would be an analysis of a game that wouldn't be sold at that time.
 
B

BurnOutBrighter

Banned
Cuburt said:
What I'm most interested in at this point about this situation is what will happen now.

I have a feeling the game may be bad and that this exclusive review is just a sign.

If that's the case, I anticipate more stone wars in glass cities.
Click to expand...

I envision salty reviewers trashing this game out of spite to try and say "Yeah well IGN, it's actually crap, so your exclusive review sucked."

The Fox and the Grapes said:
Driven by hunger, a fox tried to reach some grapes hanging high on the vine but was unable to, although he leaped with all his strength. As he went away, the fox remarked, 'Oh, you aren't even ripe yet! I don't need any sour grapes.' People who speak disparagingly of things that they cannot attain would do well to apply this story to themselves.
Click to expand...
 
H

HueyFreeman

Banned
That "review in progress" reads like... nothing. There's literally almost no information. What the fuck is the point of it? This whole affair is just a huge troll.

pixlexic said:
I am baffled that people still take reviews seriously. I think in this day and age previews are more important.
Click to expand...

Previews in this day and age are ads. Just plain, simple ads.
 
B

Bedlam

Member
HueyFreeman said:
That "review in progress" reads like... nothing. There's literally almost no information. What the fuck is the point of it? This whole affair is just a huge troll.
Click to expand...
Clicks. And they get them because people are curious.

I should be doing hw said:
Where did he talk about this?
Click to expand...

http://jeffgerstmann.tumblr.com/post/45570480528/joakim-mogren-cg-or-a-real-dude

Three days ago he also said that John Riccitiello will not lose his job anytime soon lol.

But he is definitely one of the few guys in this business who just "get" what's going on right now and how you have to position yourself in order to survive the shift in the games media landscape.
 
O

Oersted

Member
benny_a said:
It was pretty much the consensus in the Doritos thread that the issue wasn't really with Geoff as his usual self as the host of GTTV or the person writing "The final days of" series.

Can we stop ignoring that megathread that had very many good points made?

I laugh at all the jokes and images as well, but when someone makes a serious point that he has no integrity outside of the one event where he went on record to say how it's "good for gamers" that Mountain Dew and Halo partner you have lost me.
That doritos-meme has a live on its own and it's fine to make jokes about it but you can't try to squeeze it back to make some greater non-reasoned point.

Exclusive reviews are not fine, ever. The regular way is that the review will be over-scored compared to the average. Now in the case of this being a big issue in games media, the game will probably be under-scored as to show that "but but we have integrity and stuff" purely because there is now such a focus on the review from IGN for this game and every sentence will be turned around twice.
Click to expand...

It was just a journalist who happened to have his face and look http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ru8SkgiY0RI .
 
D

Dragon1893

Member
Jeff hits the nail on the head as usual.

Lol at Gies, the irony is delicious.


BurnOutBrighter said:
I envision salty reviewers trashing this game out of spite to try and say "Yeah well IGN, it's actually crap, so your exclusive review sucked."
Click to expand...

I wouldn't put it past some of them. Many gaffers (myself included) will be getting this day 1 so there wont be a shortage of honest opinions in the OT. If you're on the fence about the game that's where you should look.
 
C

Cuburt

Member
wildfire said:
This argument of yours is exclusive previews and interviews are equally as bad as exclusive reviews.

This is wrong because the purpose of interviews and previews are different.

With previews you could argue they are meant to help inform consumers so they can make better purchasing decisions but that doesn't make much sense.

Previews only matter with pre-orders which are very easy to cancel because of reviews.

Also noone wants a critical analysis of a game weeks and months, let alone a year before launch because it would be an analysis of a game that wouldn't be sold at that time.
Click to expand...
Aren't previews often limited reviews or simply impressions of early versions of a game?

Aren't people interested in them since they are supposed to be at least somewhat representative of what the final game will be like?

Weren't people crucifying Aliens: Colonial Marines and Gearbox only a few weeks ago for misrepresentation of the game with a demo that was in some was drastically different from the final product?

Previews may be functionally different but the purpose of both is supposedly to inform. Once previews lose their objectivity (or perception of the need to be unbiased) you might as well throw it in with the rest of the free promotion the games media gives publishers.

A deal for an exclusive preview may not be as taboo due to reviews coming out around the time someone is getting ready to make their final purchase, but it is subject to the same sort of corruptibility a review would be. You don't think an exclusive early preview would cause an outlet to give more free promo for an upcoming game? You don't think a glowing preview combined with extra promo from someone's favorite game may help make up someone's mind to buy a game before waiting for reviews, especially when there are additional enticing pre-order bonuses you can't get if you wait?
 
H

Hanmik

Member
IGN isn´t the only one with an exclusive review.

Lf1q1Or.jpg


EXCLUSIVE UNBIASED REVIEW: Bioshock Infinite

Bioshock Infinite is an incredible experience on PS3. It is a fantastic game with engaging characters, a fascinating story and rip-roaring action. It’s also a technical marvel; it harnesses the tremendous power of the PS3 with beautiful graphics and a solid frame rate.

It is a shame that the same cannot be said for the XBOX 360 version. On XBOX 360 it is terrible game with boring characters, a poor story and not enough action. It’s also a technical mess; the XBOX 360’s lack of power leads to ugly graphics and a poor frame rate. I had such a horrible time with the XBOX version that I burnt the disc as well as my 360 so that I could never be reminded of the excruciating experience. I would personally recommend all XBOX 360 owners to do the same with their console.

So in conclusion, the PS3 version is so incredible that you should buy a copy for yourself, as well as 10 more copies to give to your friends. More importantly though, the XBOX 360 version is awful and should be avoided at all costs.

PS3 Version: 11 out of 10

XBOX 360 Version: 0 out of 10
Click to expand...
 
S

SirIgbyCeaser

Banned
Air Zombie Meat said:
You know you're going down a dark path when even the dorito pope has reservations.
Click to expand...

The Doritos pope is the voice of Doritos and MountainDew. He speaks not for himself. But for the Doritos and their will.

A Dorito would never ask for an exclusive review. He'd ask you to try the doritos, and to honor thy thirst with MountainDew.
 
T

tusken77

Member
More Gies being Gies, I see. How this guy is reviews editor anywhere is beyond me. He just becomes more and more ridiculous. Having him in charge of anything hurts their site. But I do appreciate Polygon for keeping some of, imo, the worst writers in the industry contained in one easy to ignore website.
 
J

Jake Tower

Banned
Jharp said:
There's a Rebel FM somewhere in the first half of 2012 where Gies bitched about Polygon not being able to access Diablo 3 before release in order to get the review up in time. If I remember correctly, this was Blizzard's policy for everyone who reviewed the game, so he was essentially suggesting and subsequently bitching that he and all his cronies would be forced to play the game in the same manner as the rest of us undesirable plebeian scum.

It was one of my favorite moments in Gies-dom. Really showing his true colors there.
Click to expand...

Someone should make a clip of this.
 
Nestunt

Nestunt

Member
Haunted said:
Less distinctive gamers than the people on GAF will flock to the first review.

You will get substantially (and I mean substantially) more hits on your site if you're the only review up on the net, even if it's only for a limited time. Exclusive reviews and reveals are very much sought after among gaming sites, keeping up a facade of credibility doesn't really factor into that.
Click to expand...


I do not have a doubt about that

but arent these situations an add up in loss of credibility (or perception) that leads precisely to fewer hits in future reviews?
 
S

Stop It

Perfectly able to grasp the inherent value of the fishing game.
wildfire said:
This argument of yours is exclusive previews and interviews are equally as bad as exclusive reviews.

This is wrong because the purpose of interviews and previews are different.

With previews you could argue they are meant to help inform consumers so they can make better purchasing decisions but that doesn't make much sense.

Previews only matter with pre-orders which are very easy to cancel because of reviews.

Also noone wants a critical analysis of a game weeks and months, let alone a year before launch because it would be an analysis of a game that wouldn't be sold at that time.
Click to expand...

Are we all forgetting that Aliens: Colonial Marines happened now? I've lost count of the amount of times journalists fawn over upcoming games with an almost blatant whiff of PR for publishers interests only for the games to fall short once they are released.

If gaming journalists as an industry actually had the balls to call out games before review this argument that exclusive reviews are worse might hold more water. Instead, with the likes of Keighley at GT and others fighting for to be first to basically parrot PR messages and start the hype train for games on behalf of publishers I will continue to believe that is worse than fighting over who gets first review.
 
I

ironcreed

Banned
Blastoise said:
From Jeff Gerstmann's Tumblr:

http://jeffgerstmann.tumblr.com/post/45742440812/how-do-you-feel-about-this-exclusive-bioshock-review

Jeff wrote:
I would like to congratulate all those people for doing a way more effective job of advertising IGN’s exclusive review coverage than IGN ever could. Good stuff.

I don’t really care. They’re negotiating for something I would never negotiate for. And no one else is going after that, either. It must be the easiest thing in the world for them.

“Hey, can we run the review early?”

“Uh… no one else has asked, so… sure?”

I’m not really sure what the publisher gets out of it. If they’re just negotiating for top slot placement on their homepage, that’s pretty stupid, because a big review would probably get that spot anyway, wouldn’t it?

IGN is still the largest video game website in the world. They’re still going to be able to negotiate those kinds of deals. It’s always slightly frustrating, but this happens constantly. The people getting pissed about it should be over it by now. It’s dumb. It’s been dumb for at least a decade now, probably more.
Click to expand...

About as plainly put as it gets. Kudos to Jeff for simply keeping it real.

The key thing here is that, like Jeff said, these exclusive reviews are nothing new and nobody ever seems to make a stink out of it. Why all of the sudden now? Could the game just be so damn good that it caused such a reaction from these other outlets who are hoping to get the most traffic from their own coverage? That is the one potential bright spot in all of this.
 
J

Jake Tower

Banned
My advice for game journalists who don't like a publisher's business practice: vote with your wallet. And shut up about it.

*snicker*
 
B

Brewster's Wallet

Member
It's a shame that Shawn Elliot is in development there and thus not allowed to discuss this type of thing openly. I can imagine he's watching his PR team doing this and shaking his head.
 
M

mclem

Member
Jake Tower said:
My advice for game journalists who don't like a publisher's business practice: vote with your wallet. And shut up about it.

*snicker*
Click to expand...

I'm trying to think what the logical direct parallel would be since publishers aren't dependent on journalists' wallets. I guess it'd be to not cover them, but then journos who do that may not be serving their audience.
 
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