toms Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 picked up this link on penny arcade... seems interesting... full article As DRIV3R is engulfed in a scandal that threatens two key sectors operating within the games industry, the French giant has reacted by announcing a massive retail shipping figure – claiming to have moved 2.5 million copies of the game to stores around the globe. DRIV3R is the first game to have been accused with any strength, of having its review scores fixed by its publishers’ PR staff – a damaging blow to say the least. The uproar even reached Future Publishing’s own games forum, prompting responses from the editors of two of its magazines. In a thread entitled, “DRIV3R Reviews. Were PSM2 and XBW Honest?” Nick Ellis, deputy Editor of Xbox World, stated, “I'd like to totally refute the suggestion that magazines, and specifically XBW, take bribes - monetary or otherwise - to inflate review scores. Sure we might get the odd T-shirt sent to us or a pint bought by a PR but never, in 4 years of working at Future, have I ever given a game an inflated score because a/ I've been ordered to or b/ I've been thrown a bung. Sure I've over marked games - 9/10 for MOH: Rising Sun in OPS2 I will freely admit was a grave error of judgement but an honest mistake.” EDIT: fixed link penny arcade take Personally I reckon this sort of thing goes on all the time. Future publishing seem to own most game mags, but they do seem more susceptible than some others. I stopped buying pc gamer and pc zone in the uk because they always seemed to heavily overmark their "headline" games... eg: the "world exclusive" ones on the front page. Whether this is down to out and out "good review for an exclusive" fixing, or more subtle "give one big game a bad review and you are unlikely to be offered other exclusives" I can't say. The issue of recommending game purchases based on unfinised code, and the fact that reviewers generally aren't allowed to devote enough time to games and end up storming through on cheats are other things that stopped me trusting printed mags, or ever relying on just one review. It'd be nice if atari got loads of bad publicity over this in the hope of curtailing this sort of thing for a short while... thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegis Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 the link to the penny arcade comic is http://penny-arcade.com/images/2004/20040630l.jpg I don't really care since I know which games I want to play next year already Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acrylic Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 I cant believe Driv3r turned out to suck. Damn. Well, I'll buy it when it drops to $10 or $15. And trust me. It will happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoxStar Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 4 frickin years wasted. Oh well. The games suppsoed to be good when you're in the middle of it; Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txa1265 Posted July 2, 2004 Share Posted July 2, 2004 Originally posted by toms Personally I reckon this sort of thing goes on all the time. Unfortunately I agree ... I listed 'the gaming media' as one of my '5 disappointments of 2003' ... I just noticed more and more strangeness in the behaviour, the way reviews were being handled, the wording versus scoring and comparing review to review. Oh well ... Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joetheeskimo Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 I've never even heard of DRIV3R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MennoniteHobbit Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Originally posted by joetheeskimo5 I've never even heard of DRIV3R. (Ditto.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapNColostomy Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Wow. Never heard of the Driver series? Before GTA 3 bursted on the scene, it was hands down the crime-driving game to play. The first two were really good considering the time of release, and technology of the day. I'd suggest picking up the first one. It's only $9.99 almost everywhere you look. Good game. I may even reinstall it later tonight, just to warm up for getting 3. I will get 3, regardless of supposed fixed reviews, just because I hardly trust reviews anyway. I don't understand why people nowadays need to be told what to like by somebody they don't know, but for some reason completely trust. "I read this sucked!", "I read that this is cool!", "so and so said stay away from this and that, but said to run right out and watch/get such and such!" Honestly folks, make like you got a pair. Make a decision all by yourself without someone giving you the red/green light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET Warrior Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 IT's not the inability to make our own decisions that give reviews their power, it's the fact that these people are hardcore gamers, and play TONS of video games, so their opinions on a game are useful in making a purchasing decision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapNColostomy Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Originally posted by ET Warrior IT's not the inability to make our own decisions that give reviews their power, it's the fact that these people are hardcore gamers, and play TONS of video games, so their opinions on a game are useful in making a purchasing decision. Ummm...yeah. I think that's the problem I pointed out. Being told what to like by trusted strangers. Thanks for confirming my statement, ET. Ya ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ET Warrior Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 Originally posted by CapNColostomy Ummm...yeah. I think that's the problem I pointed out. Being told what to like by trusted strangers. Thanks for confirming my statement, ET. Ya ass. But it's a stranger who has an opinion that is well informed. I mean honestly, are you going to go out and buy a video game that you've heard NOTHING about? Just because it has a cool title? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sivy Posted July 3, 2004 Share Posted July 3, 2004 It doesn’t surprise me that reviewers were bribed by Atari. after all they put a lot of money into driv3r, what with the voice actors and advertisement campaigns. If it were to bomb they would lose bucket loads. I haven’t ruled out buying it yet though. now i might just wait until the price goes down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CapNColostomy Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Originally posted by ET Warrior But it's a stranger who has an opinion that is well informed. I mean honestly, are you going to go out and buy a video game that you've heard NOTHING about? Just because it has a cool title? No way would I buy a game based on its title! I go by the cool pictures on the box! No, seriously though, I read about games as much as any one else does that likes games alot. But I don't go by reviews usually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rad Blackrose Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 I remember reading GamePro and how they gave XenoGears a ****ty half page review. The following day, after playing XenoGears, I stopped reading GamePro. This was 6 years ago. Besides the fact that XenoGears is one of the best RPGs in the back of my mind (and this has to do with what?), gaming mags have been ****ed up for quite some time. Bias in the form of game genre preference and bribery have always been a problem with being able to 100% trust a review. The last gaming magazine for consoles I read was EGM, and that was three years ago. By then, my interest in consoles waned because there was a lot of crap being released that was not getting called out. At the same time, some of these companies also advertise in the gaming mags. So of course, the editor is going to **** his pants when Ultima XI sucks the big one, and the reviewer gives it the nuclear bomb of doom award. Sure enough, there's probably going to be a ratings fix to "ease the blow" somewhere. You may think this doesn't happen because of journalistic ethic, but do I happen to live in fairy tale land. The only magazine I've bothered with in the past few years is Computer Gaming World. I mean, when you're willing to lambast something like Postal 2 (LINK), then I guess you do deserve a good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darklighter Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 Originally posted by ET Warrior ...so their opinions on a game are useful in making a purchasing decision. Aye, I agree it is useful, but you shouldn't rely on the judgement on just one magazine/website. When I am considering buying a game, I like to look at the scores "professional" reviewers give it. But I look at a whole bunch of magazines/websites, to get an overall opinion of what people think of it. Everyone has a different view of games, different tastes, likes and dislikes, so it's sometimes unfair of accussing people of over or under marking games. With Driv3r, having played it for a while, I can see how some people would find it challenging and a good titles, while others found it a big disappointment and frustrating. I fall into the latter group unfortunately. You can't rely on these review sources, just use them as guidelines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Sitherino Posted July 4, 2004 Share Posted July 4, 2004 I dunno, I usually rent the game then buy it.... guess that's just me. Reviews suck anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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