Credibility Check: Gematsu & VGC
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Silent Hill rumors never ends! Early this February VGC claimed that a new Silent Hill is in development by famous Japanese studio that
isn't Kojima Productions, but now Gematsu claims that they heard Kojima Productions making a new Silent Hill
Though, VGC's Andy Robinson
doubles down that the studio they mentioned in February wasn't Kojima Productions, he speculate that maybe there is multiple Silent Hill games from Japanese studios
All of this mess brings on the question: how credible VGC and especially Gematsu? (there is already people asking why the later considered credible) So, let's check them with what i could find!
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Gematsu
- G claimed Dead Space is in development by Motive. This is reimagination and not a sequel to the existing trilogy. Completely correct!
- G claimed Persona 4 Golden will be announced for PC during PC Gaming Show 2020 on June 13 and will release on the same day. Though, the existence of PC version of P4 was leaked before Gematsu's article, it was completely correct on reveal and release day
- G claimed Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine and Super Mario Galaxy will be remastered for Switch. Correct!
- G claimed Resident Evil 8 is real, will be in first-person and will support PlayStation VR. Mostly correct: RE8 is real and in first-person, but there was no VR support for it. It's probably was never intended to be there, because by now we would heard about it from dataminers and Capcom's leaked documents
- G claimed in 2019 that the next FromSoftware game will be revealed at Xbox event. It's an open-world game with horse riding created in collaboration between Hidetaka Miyazaki, George R.R. Martin and Bandai Namco. Completely correct!
- G claimed Final Fantasy XV will release on September 30 2016. That was correct, but eventually Square Enix delayed release to November
- G claimed that Super Smash Bros. Wii U / 3DS roster will be expended by these characters: Shulk, Palutena, Chrom, Chorus Men, Greninja from Pokemon X and Y, Mega Man, Villager, Wii Fit Trainer, Little Mac, Pac-Man and Mii. Mostly correct: there was no Chrom (thanks for the clarification KingBroly) and Chorus Men (though, he apparently mentioned in datamine)
Rumors to check in the future:
- G claimed that new Silent Hill in development by Kojima Productions and Sony
- G claimed that Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy will have content changes to make it more suitable for modern audiences
Conclusion: Gematsu definitely have legit sources, though there is rare instances where some information of correct reports didn't saw the light (RE8 VR support, Chorus Men in Smash 2014). You can also notice that Gematsu has way more sources about Japanese games rather than Western ones
Overall: 7 claims where 5 of them spot on correct and 2 of them has some incorrect information
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VGC / Andy Robinson
- Andy claimed PES 2021 will be completely F2P. Correct!
- VGC claimed that Everwild was rebooted and changed it's director. Rare confirmed only directors change
- VGC claimed COD 2021 will be called Call of Duty: Vanguard and feature WWII campaign about creation of Special Force, multiplayer and zombie in the European and Pacific theatres. It will be revealed later this year through Warzone event. Also Warzone will get new WWII map. Absolutely correct!
- [Requesting COD fans here] Andy claimed COD 2021 will have the same dissapointing amount of content for multiplayer as Black Ops Cold War. Incorrect, if Cold War launched with 8 maps, Vanguard will launch with 20 maps
- Andy claimed that all Activision studios are working on Call of Duty and Warzone. Activision confirmed that
- VGC claimed COD 2021 will work on IW8 engine. Correct!
- VGC described leaked internal Elden Ring trailer. Correct!
- VGC claimed Google canceled Kojima Productions horror game for Stadia. Google denies this info, though Jade Raymond, that worked at Stadia, had a meeting with Hideo Kojima
- VGC claimed Sony will close Japan Studio and the rest of the team will join Team Asobi. Unfortunately correct!
- VGC claimed that original Verdansk map from Warzone will literally blow up to change it's design to 80s during Season 2 of Black Ops Cold War. Also COD 2021 partly set in WW2. Mostly correct, Warzone map was changed through explosion, but Vanguard doesn't look like set partly in WW2
- VGC claimed that E3 will return in 2021 with digital events. Correct!
- Andy claimed The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and Twilight Princess remasters will be released in 2021. Wrong!
- VGC claimed Warzone's map will not change to Cold War theme until 2021. Correct!
- VGC claimed Xbox Series will launch in early November and PS5 on November 13. Correct!
- VGC claimed Season 5 of Modern Warfare will start in early August and will feature open Stadium and a train. Completely correct!
- VGC claimed Xbox July 2020 event will happen on the week of July 20 and The Initiative game will be part of it. Partly correct, event happened on July 23, but there was no game from The Initiative
- VGC claimed Horizon 2 development changed it's focus from PS4 to PS5. Not really sure how to manage this one, but Guerilla made several interviews where they mentioned that most of the development and playtesting was on PS4, but PS5 will offer advanced graphics
- VGC claimed that Watch Dogs: Legion will be released alongside next-gen consoles. Correct!
- VGC claimed that Sony and Microsoft will have events for PS5 and Xbox Series in May 2020. Partly correct, Microsoft did that, but for Sony wait was until June
- VGC claimed that Nintendo will remaster some of 3D Super Mario games and new Paper Mario also in development. Completely correct!
- VGC claimed that Call of Duty: Warzone will be released in early March 2020. Correct!
- VGC claimed that previous PlatinumGames CEO founded studio M-Two with backing from Capcom. Correct! (thanks demondrivers)
- VGC claimed that new Rare IP [Everwild] will be a third-person adventure game, years away from release. Completely correct!
Rumors to check in the future:
- Lucid making next Twisted Metal
- Internal Capcom team is a lead developer of Resident Evil 4 Remake
- Konami reviving Metal Gear Solid (MGS 3 remake/remaster from Virtous), Castlevania (new Castlevania in dev internally) and Silent Hill (at least two games in dev: from Blooper Team and famous "not Kojima Productions" Japanese studio)
- Skull & Bones going to be F2P
- Grand Theft Auto VI set in Vice City
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2022) will be about Special Force fighting against cartels
Conclusion: VGC way more frequently posts insider information, than Gematsu, and most of the time gets it correct (especially with Call of Duty), though there is some rare incorrect reports from them. They also most of the time correct with their information about Sony
Overall: 23 claims where 16 of them spot on correct, 3 partly correct, 3 incorrect (if we believe Google) and 1 undecided