Game site / mag opinions

by narcogen , Andover, Massachusetts, Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 18:54 (4294 days ago) @ Cody Miller

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.

Based on a ViDoc? I hope not.

Based on a complete release?

Destiny, in that respect, is no different from any current AAA title from a major developer/ publisher. Although perhaps the Aliens: Colonial Marines kerfuffle will adjust that. The game's metascore is in the 40s on all three platforms it's been released on so far.

EGM gave them a 90, so perhaps they're proving your point.

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?

Actually, I would. I would give inside information to Penny Arcade, because they tend to only advertise or endorse games they generally like. So if they hype the thing, it's because they like it.

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.

I would not lump Ars in there, but since PAR essentially bought their game reporting from Ars by hiring Kuchera away from Ars, I can see your point. I would certainly not call Ars "amateur". They are mainstream tech press just like Game Informer is mainstream game press, and there is some overlap.

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?

I think you're completely wrong about ME but that's an argument for another day.

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.

There's some truth to that. Entertainment journalism is not investigative journalism. A fundamentally confrontational approach is not only not necessary, but in many cases, undesirable. Many mainstream outlets retreat even further from that, to a point where they cannot provide honest reviews.