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[JJConrad]

I read this thread when it was still young and figured it was a non-event. When I saw that it became this large I figured "it must be full of photoshops by now," and clicked. I was sadly mistaken.

I'm afraid of what people might think when they learn that magazines/websites/newspaper takes money from the publishers whose games/movies/books they then review. The entire critic universe is in peril.

Matt never used his relationship with his wife to get scoops, and everyone he works with or has worked with can tell you that.

Anyone who reads IGN can tell you that, too.

The only things this make me question is:

Who was we really referring to when he kept claiming that 'people at Nintendo aren't happy with the companies directions and agreed with the comments he was making?'

Did she keep her maiden name because she couldn't spell Casssasssimini..

 

[Booda]

If IGN were receiving benefitial treatment from Nintendo + Golin Harris that no other outlet were receivng, then there might be cause for this to be disclosed. But given that Matt has maintained his independence, upheld his professionalism and has provided no evidence that his marriage has in anyway affected his work, then he is entitled to his privacy, and you're all a bunch of fucking aresholes.

Uh, OK. I think I've been pretty clear that I don't think Matt did anything improper regarding his coverage of Nintendo. And he disclosed the relationship to his employer, so any failures here are on their part, not his.

And yes, I know in the grand scheme of things this story isn't important (seriousbusiness.gif lol). It just bothers me that so few people here seem to grasp why it's important to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest. If IGN had been transparent about this relationship, we wouldn't be talking about this right now.

But what do I know? I'm just a fucking arsehole who paid too much attention to my media ethics professor, I guess.

 

[besada]

I am married to the Webmaster at GameFAQs.


WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?!!

And I wanted you for myself. Those piercing eyes, that throbbing vein in your temple, the way you giggle when my beard tickles you.

I just want to say I am disgusted it is 7 pages long.

Since four of those pages are posts saying how disgusted they are in one way or another, the man in the mirror is YOU!

 

[ZeoVGM]

I haven't read more than the first post in this thread.

I just want to say I am disgusted it is 7 pages long.

 

[chespace]

And I wanted you for myself. Those piercing eyes, that throbbing vein in your temple, the way you giggle when my beard tickles your inner thigh.

Fixed.

 

[besada]

Fixed.

A gentleman doesn't tell.

 

[PantherLotus]

for an irrelevant story and a generally apathetic response, this thread sure has a lot of views and 7 pages worth of posts...

 

[.dmc]

I was asking for hypotheticals to illustrate what a non-issue this is, I received.
Didn't realise I was breaking some kind of Oxford debating law..

 

[MisterHero]

He's also one of the biggest nintendo fanboys on IGN and throws absolute fits when nintendo games don't win GOTY.

Did you watch IGN's GOTY 2006 video? Nintendo had two games in contention (WiiSports and TP) and everyone, with the exception of Matt and Peer, were the only ones who spoke positively about either game (the others were outright bashing the games).

I guess it's impossible to be a journalist and love Nintendo games. :lol

Crushed has made the definitive post in this thread, for me personally. Matt has always been a Nintendo fan, IGN used to be N64.com for fucks sake... but in the past few years he's brought the tough love when necessary. Its quite obvious that he's a credible enthusiast... I've never liked IGNs penchant for "we're going to have some big news soon" type stories, or "we know something you don't and its awesome" type stories, but the man seems good at what he does to me. That's the bottom line.

If his job or his marriage is in any way impaired by this, a big FUCK YOU to VGMwatch and a big fuck you to everyone here whos blowing it out of proportion. Seriously, die in the fiery pits of hell you fucking morons.

I work in the UK civil service, a few floors below my mother, whos a good few grades above me, in the same building. I get no special treatment, nor expect any help from her. I am a singular entity, employed by the Ministry of Defence, answerable to my superiors no matter what happens. As is Matt with Fox/Snowball/IGN. Even if he could be swayed by his wife's relationship with Golin Harris, soon enough his review discrepancies with competitors would out him if he were doing anything dodgy. As Crushed has quite clearly demonstrated, that's not the case at all.

Individuals should be able to lead whatever life they want in any field they want without the watchful eye of a bunch of fucktards calling shit on their integrity. And given the world is too shit to afford us that, at least Matt's integrity is borne out by his reviews and his editorial content over the years.

This shit pisses me off so much. Some of you guys are fucking wankers.

*thumbs up*

 

[JKBii]

I started thinking about it and it hit me that this problem isn't limited to just Matt, nor is it limited to just IGN. Think about it, let's say a reviewer has a friendship with a developer. They might not be best friends, but I'm sure some developers have had a couple rounds of beer with game reviewers so there's something of a friendship there. If the developer's game does well, the developer will have more money and will be more likely to order a round for the reviewer. Also, that developer is more likely to allow interest free loans of $10 or more if the reviewer is short on cash and wants to buy something. In this case, the reviewer would be made better off if the developer's game does well since that reviewer is getting free stuff. This is clearly a conflict of interest, so a reviewer should write down a list of all his friends who are developers at the end of each article just so we know as fans.

But it gets worse than that. Let's say the reviewer has just a working relationship with a developer, nothing fancy, just normal every day job stuff. If that developer's game does well, they may be able to make more money and also pay for more games to be made. This is especially true in today's world where small, cheap, downloadable games are so popular. Reviewers probably get paid by the review so the more games they review the better they are. Therefore, the reviewer has an incentive to review a game higher than he normally would just to get more games to review. I know it's a small incentive but there is still a conflict of interests so somebody should make an article about it.

 

[Meier]

This will die in no time flat and everyone will go back to not caring like they should. So stupid.

 

[crunker99]

honestly, if you are dumb enough to take what ANY website says on blind faith before you do your own research on a game, then you deserve ot be bamboozled. I never have and never will understand people who buy games based solely on a site or two's review score. Think for yourself, some of my favorite games have scored below 5 on the great IGN and Gamespot.

 

[Chumly]

He's also one of the biggest nintendo fanboys on IGN and throws absolute fits when nintendo games don't win GOTY.

Do you even think before you spew shit like this? Who cares that hes a nintendo fanboy. The rest of IGN are just as big of fanboys and they always snub nintendo for game of the year awards. Metroid Prime, Zelda WW, Resident Evil 4, and Zelda TP all got snubbed because of the OTHER fanboys on IGN. Why shouldnt Matt try and stick up for nintendo. Blah blah blah everyone has a right to there own opinion and so does Matt. Its not like hes any bigger of a fanboy than anyone else at IGN. Fuck at least he PLAYED Okami for the game of the year awards at IGN. Everyone was all dissing on Zelda TP but they didnt even both playing it. You have to at least play a game before dissing on it and thats why Matt was mad.

 

[Mamesj]

They should be forced to get a divorce. On national TV. While naked. and covered in chocolate syrup. with huge gobs of peanut butter to cover up their privates. and red kool-aid stains around their mouths.

 

[Spire]

Call me when you get photos of him cleaning Iwata's pool shirtless.

 

[ShockingAlberto]

He's also one of the biggest nintendo fanboys on IGN and throws absolute fits when nintendo games don't win GOTY.

You don't remember last year, do you?

The quote "I don't care what wins, as long as it's not Zelda" comes to mind.

 

[medrew]

I'm a lot more concerned about gaming journalists that end up getting jobs at publishers (and thus puts a question mark over their past work in particular to that publisher or developer) than something like this. Although typically a person's work speaks volumes about them and are judged accordingly (on which Matt here passes the litmus test).
I understand the concept of conflict of interest and the need of independence of mind and appearance, but come on this is an profession that has no credibility and in this particular case is small-fry stuff.

 

[Crushed]

I also remember when Matt spent 2005 and a good portion of 2006 saying that he adored his PSP and that the DS really didn't interest him at all.

 

[CartridgeBlower]

Stuff like this happens in other media forms and it's a big deal. So at a time when gaming journalism is trying to take itself seriously and gain a foothold of credibility, shouldn't it start holding itself to the same standards? Other media outlets would see this as a conflict of interest, therefore a top videogame and entertainment site should, too. Bottom line.

 

[USC-fan]

Did you watch IGN's GOTY 2006 video? Nintendo had two games in contention (WiiSports and TP) and everyone, with the exception of Matt and Peer, were the only ones who spoke positively about either game (the others were outright bashing the games).

Hold the fuck up. Do you read the article that went with this video?

Matt pretty much attacks the whole ign's San Francisco staff calling them a bunch of nintendo haters and then said a nintendo game would never win GOTY. When in fact, the nintendo team voted a nintendo game for EVERY award in the Overall Awards. All the other channel voted games for all platforms.

Someone should really post that article....

 

[Mamesj]

Stuff like this happens in other media forms and it's a big deal. So at a time when gaming journalism is trying to take itself seriously and gain a foothold of credibility, shouldn't it start holding itself to the same standards? Other media outlets would see this as a conflict of interest, therefore a top videogame and entertainment site should, too. Bottom line.

I don't think they care about being taken seriously-- they make money either way. Being taken seriously won't get them any more money. If they suddenly turned into the NPR of gaming journalism, they would lose fans and money. Credibility isn't an issue either. If every game outlet was like the Chicago Tribune or NYT and you were the National Enquirer, maybe it would be an issue. But sites like IGN and others are the big boys, the standard of seriousness so to speak, and it's the blogs who have to worry about being seen as not credible.

Besides, so Matt Cassasmsmjkhsd has sung Nintendo's praises and is an obvious fanboy--he hasn't done anything to suggest that he has somehow fundamentally shifted the market in Nintendo's favor. He reviews games and I doubt more than a tiny, single digit percentage of the gaming population even knows who he is.



but you guys who see it as a problem-- what do you suggest as a solution? Firing one or both of them from their jobs? :lol

 

[Bildi]

Is this thread seven pages long because everyone is saying "I can't believe this thread is x pages long"?

Oh, and I can't believe this thread is seven pages long.

 

[MisterHero]

Hold the fuck up. Do you read the article that went with this video?

Matt pretty much attacks the whole ign's San Francisco staff calling them a bunch of nintendo haters and then said a nintendo game would never win GOTY. When in fact, the nintendo team voted a nintendo game for EVERY award in the Overall Awards. All the other channel voted games for all platforms.

Someone should really post that article....

I called the video like I sees it, and that's what it was. And yes, Matt did attack them afterwards, because the other editors were BASHING the Nintendo games.

I don't know, maybe IGN's Nintendo team is supposed to be IGN's authority on Nintendo games and thus they should mention them for certain awards, not to mention people (and other media) were playing these games and enjoying them in droves?

The video commentary was garbage, and Matt (and Peer as well) called them on it. Were I in his position, I would too.

 

[DrLazy]

Did he start dating her around the time Donkey Kong 64 came out?

 

[botticus]

Besides, so Matt Cassasmsmjkhsd has sung Nintendo's praises and is an obvious fanboy--he hasn't done anything to suggest that he has somehow fundamentally shifted the market in Nintendo's favor. He reviews games and I doubt more than a tiny, single digit percentage of the gaming population even knows who he is.

Remember the "Buy Zack & Wiki" campaign? And Z&W's 35k LTD? Your point has been illustrated.

 

[Kusagari]

How long has Matt been married to her? He's been a Nintendo fanboy for YEARS. Back when he worked for the part of IGN called N64.com. Even if he rants for Nintendo to win GOTY, he also bashes Nintendo for absolutely retarded reasons at times. Do I need to mention his numerous rantings about TP before release and how he said it NEEDED voices for Link and company.

 

[Mamesj]

Remember the "Buy Zack & Wiki" campaign? And Z&W's 35k LTD? Your point has been illustrated.

He even had Zen Davis helping him on that one

 

[gabe90]

Did you watch IGN's GOTY 2006 video? Nintendo had two games in contention (WiiSports and TP) and everyone, with the exception of Matt and Peer, were the only ones who spoke positively about either game (the others were outright bashing the games).

I guess it's impossible to be a journalist and love Nintendo games. :lol


*thumbs up*

I can't let this one slide. Dude, have you seen the response to Wii Sports?!! Looking back at 2006, if I were given the choice for GOTY, my vote would go to Wii Sports in a second. It's not epic, not anything like what we think of GOTY, but it's a game that got Millions of people playing again, and a game that I still play often a year after it released.

Wii Sports will probably be remembered as one of the most influential games in history alongside the original Mario, Zelda, and the 64bit versions of both of those games.

So I don't think Matt or Peer were wrong in that decision. I won't even bother defending Zelda, cause it is a rocking game and everyone (even those disappointed by it) knows it was worthy or nominations for GOTY.

But this is all besides the point. Why are people still talking about this? This thread should have died long ago, and I am embarrassed to be bumping it in defending Matt.

 

[Suburban Cowboy]

she hot?

 

[Chumly]

Hold the fuck up. Do you read the article that went with this video?

Matt pretty much attacks the whole ign's San Francisco staff calling them a bunch of nintendo haters and then said a nintendo game would never win GOTY. When in fact, the nintendo team voted a nintendo game for EVERY award in the Overall Awards. All the other channel voted games for all platforms.

Someone should really post that article....

So he finally called something out that was true and your going to bash him about it? IGN never votes for Nintendo games or Nintendo platform games being goty.

Metroid Prime...snubbed
Zelda WW....snubbed
Resident Evil 4.....snubbed
Zelda TP...snubbed

Blah blah its all opinions right? At least matt actually fucking played okami unlike other IGN editors for zelda. LAWL LAWL LAWL zelda sucks but i didnt both playing it. So he calls them out on being Nintendo haters. How can you bash him for calling them out when they are pulling shit like that.

 

[MisterHero]

Did you watch IGN's GOTY 2006 video? Nintendo had two games in contention (WiiSports and TP) and everyone, with the exception of Matt and Peer, were the only ones who spoke positively about either game (the others were outright bashing the games).

I guess it's impossible to be a journalist and love Nintendo games. :lol

*thumbs up*

I can't let this one slide. Dude, have you seen the response to Wii Sports?!! Looking back at 2006, if I were given the choice for GOTY, my vote would go to Wii Sports in a second. It's not epic, not anything like what we think of GOTY, but it's a game that got Millions of people playing again, and a game that I still play often a year after it released.

Wii Sports will probably be remembered as one of the most influential games in history alongside the original Mario, Zelda, and the 64bit versions of both of those games.

So I don't think Matt or Peer were wrong in that decision. I won't even bother defending Zelda, cause it is a rocking game and everyone (even those disappointed by it) knows it was worthy or nominations for GOTY.

But this is all besides the point. Why are people still talking about this? This thread should have died long ago, and I am embarrassed to be bumping it in defending Matt.

My post you were quoting was actually agreeing with you. I agree with everything you just said too.

I'm defending Matt too.

 

[USC-fan]

So he finally called something out that was true and your going to bash him about it? IGN never votes for Nintendo games or Nintendo platform games being goty.

Metroid Prime...snubbed
Zelda WW....snubbed
Resident Evil 4.....snubbed
Zelda TP...snubbed

Blah blah its all opinions right? At least matt actually fucking played okami unlike other IGN editors for zelda. LAWL LAWL LAWL zelda sucks but i didnt both playing it. So he calls them out on being Nintendo haters. How can you bash him for calling them out when they are pulling shit like that.

Nintendo haters... really?

Why It Rocked: Giving The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess the runner-up position for overall game of the year may send fanboys in an unstoppable frenzy, but it was the right move. The game's style is amazing, level design intriguing, music inspired, and adventure truly legendary. However, when looking at it in comparison to all the titles released in 2006, the game dragged its feet a bit over the last year, and the result was a release that -- while still a raging success worldwide - felt a bit cooler than it would have if the game released during its intended 2005 slot. Still, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is an amazing game, a must-play regardless of which system you hold allegiance to, and one of the best Nintendo games of all time, period.

--Mark Bozon

That is pretty much what happen to matt... :lol

 

[tak]

I am married to the Webmaster at GameFAQs.


WHERE IS YOUR GOD NOW?!!

oh, shit. Things just got real.

 

[DrLazy]

You have to disclose potential conflicts of interest. I'm sure he did, to his bosses. They should then have then disclosed it to readers. Then life goes on. Jounalism 101.

 

[Gary Whitta]

This thread's still going? Wow.

 

[skip]

Basically. That's why I think the enthusiast press needs to move away from relying on game companies for their advertising dollars. Surely there are other companies who want to go after the 18-35 male demographic?

if it were truly that easy, it would have happened by now.

 

[CartridgeBlower]

Looking back at that whole "Buy Zack and Wiki" campaign, it does seem a bit shady. I thought it was a little strange back then that an independant site was so hard up on promoting a game. I'm not saying this came from his PR wife -- it probably didn't. But this is why it is a conflict of interest and creates dicey situations.

From now on, when he does stuff like this, people will wonder, "is this because the game is that great, or is this because of his wife?" It's not a good place to put yourself in. And it's certainly not right to put it on your readers to always give you the benefit of the doubt.

As I said, this may not seem like a big deal, but when the whole industry is trying to move upward and gain some respect, it's stuff like this that needs to be the first to go. They can't stomp their feet and then try to have it both ways. I'm not saying he should be fired or any crap like that, but moving forward, this can and should be avoided.

 

[Crushed]

Looking back at that whole "Buy Zack and Wiki" campaign, it does seem a bit shady. I thought it was a little strange back then that an independant site was so hard up on promoting a game.

It's because they really really liked the game, and knew it wouldn't get the sales they thought it deserved, so they tried to help out.

They did the same thing for Eternal Darkness back in 2002; they knew it wouldn't sell well by any means, so they tried to at least raise awareness of it so it wasn't a complete flop.

 

[Onemic]

What's the big fuss about? His wife doesn't even work for Nintendo, and they've been married for a pretty long time.

 

[fernoca]

Looking back at that whole "Buy Zack and Wiki" campaign, it does seem a bit shady. I thought it was a little strange back then that an independant site was so hard up on promoting a game. I'm not saying this came from his PR wife -- it probably didn't. But this is why it is a conflict of interest and creates dicey situations.

He/They did it before (see Eternal Darkness)..and Zack & Wiki is a game from Capcom, that Capcom barely advertised, so he was trying to help to get people interested in the game (it didn't seeing the low sales in Japan and the US)...

Keep in mind that his wife works for a company that does PR for Nintendo (one of it's many clients), is not like she has the last word in any decision there...

 

[SantaC]

why has this thread reached 7 pages?

 

[methodman]

why has this thread reached 7 pages?

Why not?

 

[KittenMaster]

I expect that this controversy will die out rather quickly. Just celebrity tabloids.

 

[Tyrannical]

I'll tell you a real conflict of interest story.

Lobyists are often hired by special interests to promote their causes. In one particular state a laywer was hired to loby the governor. Nothing unusual there, except for the fact that the governor was her husband. Don't bribe me, bribe my wife instead.

 

[SantaC]

Why not?

Why?

Matt being married is old news and who cares really.

 

[legend166]

if it were truly that easy, it would have happened by now.

I know.

 

[edwardslane]

matt is the best nintendo reporter in the biz.. He's well respected and gets lots of info before anyone else.

the fact he's married to a nintendo PR person means shit in the grand scheme of things. Maybe she gets info and passes it on to matt is that the concern?? ho can this be a bad thing.. if anything SHE would be the one under confidentiality agreements with nintendo not to let things slip.

no pressure on matt i don't think.

both cass and bozon list tons of things nintendo could do better and make fun of them for being so stubborn all the time.. so i don't see the issue

 

[Chumly]

Nintendo haters... really?



That is pretty much what happen to matt... :lol

Who cares man I dont play those games they suck
Dead rising is WAY better than Zelda TP.
Theres so many games that are better than this.
I cant believe Zelda TP is on this stupid list.

Some nice quotes from other IGN editors that I remember. Out of the 9 other people that work on IGN PC, IGN XBOX, IGN PLAYSTATION only ONE person picked Zelda to be in there top 10.......ONE and he said it was his 5th favorite.

Matt calls bullshit on this and what happens? GAF explodes with matt hate and LOLZ Nintendo fanboy LOLZ. Like I said at least he PLAYED all of the game of the year nominees.

Honestly I know everyone on gaf likes to circle jerk with hate on matt but it just gets old after a while. Its fun and all the bash him but everyone else is just as bad or worse than him.

 

[kame-sennin]

I personally feel there is a line between evidence of impropriety and suspicion thereof. Bring me some evidence that Matt has used his connections improperly and I'll be upset. Otherwise I respect his critisism of Nintendo products and that of their partners and hope he keeps pushing devs to take advantage of ALL the features of their products (widescreen, progressive, etc.) and not give them a pass.

No one said Matt has used this situation to his advantage. He doesn't have to for this to be wrong. What he did wrong was not offer full disclosure. Full disclosure is not something you offer right before you write a biased article. It's something you offer without being prompted so that your reader can decide whether or not they think you're biased. I guess it doesn't matter if video game journalism is a joke, but this kind of thing is exactly why video game journalism is a joke.

I's like this for every industry. You think Roger Ebert has never met a film director.

Of course he has, but if he's fucking Sophia Copola, he should mention that when he reviews her movies.

So instead people extremely close to him and his brother did the review.

This is a pointless complaint. Most critics are connected somehow to the industry. how many film critics are formers film makers, or have met many film makers and consider them friends. Same for musicians.

Accusing someone of bias becuase of things they can't control is pretty stupid, especially when you have no evidence to back yourself up, and your entire argument now rests on the ideas of potential, which last I checked is a really weak argument.

No one is accusing Matt of doing something wrong. No one is saying he shouldn't have married this woman. All we are saying is that journalists need to tell their readers that they are related to/make money from/ect. the product/subject they are writing an article about. This is called full disclosure.

Ah, so this marriage creates a chilling effect and has cost at least one person a job. I see.

Yes, you and others can go on about conflict of interest, but you have to actually show how the conflict of interest has breached an ethical code of conduct.

No you don't. Any real journalist provides full disclosure whether they've done something improper or not. For example, Jim Kramer (who gives stock advice on his show "Mad Money") makes note of the stocks he owns every time he doles out advice on that stock, whether the advice is positive or negative. He utters the phrase "I have to give full disclosure, I own stock X for my charitable trust fund" about five times per show. It's what journalists do and it's not ridiculous to expect them to do it. Matt should either move to a different section of IGN, or have some fine print at the bottom of his articles that gives full disclosure.

 

[USC-fan]

Who cares man I dont play those games they suck
Dead rising is WAY better than Zelda TP.
Theres so many games that are better than this.
I cant believe Zelda TP is on this stupid list.

Some nice quotes from other IGN editors that I remember. Out of the 9 other people that work on IGN PC, IGN XBOX, IGN PLAYSTATION only ONE person picked Zelda to be in there top 10.......ONE and he said it was his 5th favorite.

Matt calls bullshit on this and what happens? GAF explodes with matt hate and LOLZ Nintendo fanboy LOLZ. Like I said at least he PLAYED all of the game of the year nominees.

Honestly I know everyone on gaf likes to circle jerk with hate on matt but it just gets old after a while. Its fun and all the bash him but everyone else is just as bad or worse than him.

You really have your facts wrong. The other channel editors never said anything like that. Also there is more than 9 other editors at IGN. Also i didn't think they posted what everyone voted. Tal did post that the entire nintendo channel editors just voted Nintendo platform games for GOTY awards. That's just shows you how big of fanboys these guys are.


This really shouldn't upset you anyway.