Game site / mag opinions

by Cody Miller , Music of the Spheres - Never Forgot, Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 14:41 (4076 days ago) @ HawaiianPig

No one is willing to say it's "good", nor is anyone willing to say it's "bad". Gaming sites make their bread and butter on being able to make definitive statements on the quality of something...

No major gaming website or magazine will ever take a stance and say Destiny is bad. None. It can't happen.

Gaming sites and magazines do not make their bread and butter on reviews, but rather exclusive looks and first reveals or other inside information. Nobody takes reviews seriously since it's common knowledge that they are universally terrible on such sites and magazines. Why?

Because these publications make their money from people clicking to see reveals, and from ad revenues for games, they need to not piss off the publishers or developers. Gaming journalism is not like real journalism. You don't go out and investigate and create a story yourself. If you want an exclusive sneak peek, the publisher has to give you the material. So short of espionage, you need a relationship with the publisher to get material to print.

If you were Activision, would you give exclusive info to say, Game Informer, if Game Informer has been writing negative impressions of Destiny? Their readers are now disposed to thinking of Destiny in a critical light, so why do your reveal there? Why not give it to Kotaku, who has been writing positive things about Destiny, whose readers will be more excited with the info you give them?

What's worse is if a publication trashes Destiny, Activision probably won't be as keen to give them info about all their other games. And Activision has some pretty hot games that people will want to read about.

Only amateur sites, sites like Arstechnica on which gaming articles generate a tiny fraction of the site's revenue, or sites that make their money other ways like Penny Arcade can give games like Destiny an honest look.

Remember Gamespot's Kane and Lynch review? A bad review (which was charitable really), got the reviewer fired. Remember the Mass Effect ending controversy? You know, the game which was built on your choices changing the story, that had an ending that was basically the same for everybody? Players were unhappy. This is a legitimate criticism of the game. Did any major reviewers mention this? When players mentioned this, why did the gaming publications defend the developer? Did any major publications criticize blizzard real ID?

This is why the gaming press is highly critical of Zynga, yet give Bungie Aerospace and Certain Affinity a pass when they themselves clone games and release a game with the Farmville business model respectively. Who cares if you piss of Zynga? Nobody reading gamestop is the market for Zynga games. But don't piss off Bungie.