Again, Matt, how long have you been a journo or do you just work for Game and/or submit stuff to their website which, by it's very nature, isn't exactly subject to the same shenanigans as, say EuroGamer, for example? It's not quite as straightforward as you're portraying...
Another big and typically corporate method is the purchasing of advertising space and publishers who pull advertising from sites if a bad review is given... Obviously, purely coincidental, I'm sure... though it's fairly well documented to have happened a good few number of times...
I'm not a "journo" by any mans but have written reviews for game for over 10 years as was encouraged by local and senior management.
Not point was I ever asked to sugar coat anything nor was a review ever pulled.
Publishers have every right to pull their advertising if they dont get their own way but 9 times out of 10 its only going to hurt their own brand by acting in that way.
Take the game "remember me", it got middle to meh reviews but the company still maintained their adverts while others like Sega for the travesty that was "colonial marines" pretty much pulled their adverts over night.
You would be surprised how straight forward advertsiing actually is.
I dont understand your take on Eurogamer as I personally class that site as one of the more harsher reviewers going, who are not afraid to lay into bad games or point out poor executed ideas.
There are sites that are pretty much only there to rip apart new games with no mercy but I find those sites to be while sometimes funny and entertaining, do lack an real depth other than to make insider jokes and snide remarks.
The only true "unbiased" review will be your own and what you take from the game playing experience yourself.
Any decent reviewer should try to not only talk like a real person (and more importantly like someone who has just picked up and played the game) and not a voice box of the marketing department but also "take as they find", give both the bad with the good.
There will always be disagreements about game ratings / number of stars etc but thats fairly subjective as well as getting a few "keyboard warriors" who go all out to have an argument for no reason other than they think a game shold be 7/10 then a reviewer gave it 8/10.
Its easy to accuse bribary when you hear about freebies being given to reviewers all in the name of marketing / getting their respective brand out there and recognised by the game buying public at large.
Is this any different than ads at the start of youtube vids/spotify songs or for that matter ads during tv shows / radio shows? ( I mean just try listening to an hour of talk sport and see how much of that hour is made up of ad content and how much is actual real content)
All this stuff creates ad revenue that pays for the content that we all enjoy for free on IGN / Eurogamer / Game etc
You cant compleatly stop bad practices like MS buying good reviews for the xbone or devs throwing a strop but you can temper this with giving honest reviews.
I'm not a "journo" by any mans but have written reviews for game for over 10 years as was encouraged by local and senior management.
Not point was I ever asked to sugar coat anything nor was a review ever pulled.
Publishers have every right to pull their advertising if they dont get their own way but 9 times out of 10 its only going to hurt their own brand by acting in that way.
Take the game "remember me", it got middle to meh reviews but the company still maintained their adverts while others like Sega for the travesty that was "colonial marines" pretty much pulled their adverts over night.
You would be surprised how straight forward advertsiing actually is.
I dont understand your take on Eurogamer as I personally class that site as one of the more harsher reviewers going, who are not afraid to lay into bad games or point out poor executed ideas.
There are sites that are pretty much only there to rip apart new games with no mercy but I find those sites to be while sometimes funny and entertaining, do lack an real depth other than to make insider jokes and snide remarks.
The only true "unbiased" review will be your own and what you take from the game playing experience yourself.
Any decent reviewer should try to not only talk like a real person (and more importantly like someone who has just picked up and played the game) and not a voice box of the marketing department but also "take as they find", give both the bad with the good.
There will always be disagreements about game ratings / number of stars etc but thats fairly subjective as well as getting a few "keyboard warriors" who go all out to have an argument for no reason other than they think a game shold be 7/10 then a reviewer gave it 8/10.
Its easy to accuse bribary when you hear about freebies being given to reviewers all in the name of marketing / getting their respective brand out there and recognised by the game buying public at large.
Is this any different than ads at the start of youtube vids/spotify songs or for that matter ads during tv shows / radio shows? ( I mean just try listening to an hour of talk sport and see how much of that hour is made up of ad content and how much is actual real content)
All this stuff creates ad revenue that pays for the content that we all enjoy for free on IGN / Eurogamer / Game etc
You cant compleatly stop bad practices like MS buying good reviews for the xbone or devs throwing a strop but you can temper this with giving honest reviews.
I reckon if you like a game or a demo then buy it no matter what the reviews say.
I bought Black Ops on the PS Vita and read some reviews before I opened it just in case and yes it did review very badly.
However I decided to keep it and have had hours of fun online with it! Hit detection, lag and spawn points might be a problem but it's still fun for a portable game!
I reckon if you like a game or a demo then buy it no matter what the reviews say.
I bought Black Ops on the PS Vita and read some reviews before I opened it just in case and yes it did review very badly.
However I decided to keep it and have had hours of fun online with it! Hit detection, lag and spawn points might be a problem but it's still fun for a portable game!
Exactly!
Reviews are only there at the end of the day to give a person a flavour of the game from someone elses point of view which may or may not be similar to your own.
You still make up your own mind whether to buy the game or not.
By the way I loved black ops on the Vita, shame it got panned and didnt sell well.
I would argue that Killzone on the vita has a better story and game play than the PS4 Killzone.
Reviews are only there at the end of the day to give a person a flavour of the game from someone elses point of view which may or may not be similar to your own.
You still make up your own mind whether to buy the game or not.
By the way I loved black ops on the Vita, shame it got panned and didnt sell well.
I would argue that Killzone on the vita has a better story and game play than the PS4 Killzone.
Kllzone on the Vita certainly held my interest a lot longer and I still play it now.
It's also nice to see that there are still people playing Black Ops on the Vita - glad I re-purchased it when it was on sale!
Kllzone on the Vita certainly held my interest a lot longer and I still play it now.
It's also nice to see that there are still people playing Black Ops on the Vita - glad I re-purchased it when it was on sale!
Totally under rated and sadly unlikely to get a sequel.
I thought it played well and recreated the COD action on a hand held despite missions being quite short in lengh.
Hope we get a few more shooters on the VITA and not just rely on remote playing PS4 games (nothing wrong with that but would love some hand held specific games)
Also Uncharted vita is really good but would like to have the PS3 games ported over, probably will have to wait until PS Now gets up and running.
Totally under rated and sadly unlikely to get a sequel.
I thought it played well and recreated the COD action on a hand held despite missions being quite short in lengh.
Hope we get a few more shooters on the VITA and not just rely on remote playing PS4 games (nothing wrong with that but would love some hand held specific games)
Also Uncharted vita is really good but would like to have the PS3 games ported over, probably will have to wait until PS Now gets up and running.
The Vita NEEDS another Uncharted game!! Loved Golden Abyss and finished 3 times so far.
Reckon they could port them but they probably won't!
A proper call of duty game on the Vita would be nice but I reckon Activision won't green light one any time soon!.
I've actually been holding off playing Borderlands 2 on PS3/PC because I want to see how the Vita version turns out. Just wish they would bring out more FPS type games or Tomb Raider type games for the Vita as they work surprisingly well. Even the MGS HD collection on the Vita became my preferred choice due to the touch screen with the selection menus.
Wasn't there a campaign from Sony not so long ago where they invited Vita owners to suggest which games they'd like to see on the Vita?
The Vita NEEDS another Uncharted game!! Loved Golden Abyss and finished 3 times so far.
Reckon they could port them but they probably won't!
A proper call of duty game on the Vita would be nice but I reckon Activision won't green light one any time soon!.
I've actually been holding off playing Borderlands 2 on PS3/PC because I want to see how the Vita version turns out. Just wish they would bring out more FPS type games or Tomb Raider type games for the Vita as they work surprisingly well. Even the MGS HD collection on the Vita became my preferred choice due to the touch screen with the selection menus.
Wasn't there a campaign from Sony not so long ago where they invited Vita owners to suggest which games they'd like to see on the Vita?
I really hope that Sony put out another Uncharted game for the VITA.
It wouldnt surprise me if Sony pin all their hopes on PS Now streaming to the VITA to make up for the lacking third party support which will in turn get more people to buy VITA's (that and remote play with PS4)
Its getting more and more like the VITA isnt so much a stand alone hand held system anymore but more of a streaming device that links into other Sony services.
I really hope that Sony put out another Uncharted game for the VITA.
It wouldnt surprise me if Sony pin all their hopes on PS Now streaming to the VITA to make up for the lacking third party support which will in turn get more people to buy VITA's (that and remote play with PS4)
Its getting more and more like the VITA isnt so much a stand alone hand held system anymore but more of a streaming device that links into other Sony services.
Too true - it's good to see devs supporting remote play though!
Just hope sony improve the streaming tech with new updates.
Would love to see more cross buy games and triple AAA titles on it though.
I'm not too bothered about AAA games on the Vita. The AAA games on the main consoles have been a bit disappointing in the main.
Look at Thief getting between 6&7. The COD games getting a mixed reception and even though I am a fan we could do without any more Assassin's Creed games. And for all of the fanfare The Last Of Us got it is just another enter an area, clear an area of bad guys and then restock on supplies and move onto the next area with a few cut scenes thrown in.
Give me fun games like Rainbow Moon than another disappointing AAA game.
As far as the Vita is going I am looking forward to FFX and Freedom Wars. We also have Gravity Rush 2 coming. The plain fact is that the Vita is supported well by the Japanese software firms; it is the Western ones that are fraidy-cats, bringing out average games and looking at getting quick returns for inferior product.
I'm not too bothered about AAA games on the Vita. The AAA games on the main consoles have been a bit disappointing in the main.
Look at Thief getting between 6&7. The COD games getting a mixed reception and even though I am a fan we could do without any more Assassin's Creed games. And for all of the fanfare The Last Of Us got it is just another enter an area, clear an area of bad guys and then restock on supplies and move onto the next area with a few cut scenes thrown in.
Give me fun games like Rainbow Moon than another disappointing AAA game.
As far as the Vita is going I am looking forward to FFX and Freedom Wars. We also have Gravity Rush 2 coming. The plain fact is that the Vita is supported well by the Japanese software firms; it is the Western ones that are fraidy-cats, bringing out average games and looking at getting quick returns for inferior product.
Wow, never heard the last of us described like that, while the game play did get a little repetative and the infected/bad guys lacked variety, the storyline and emotional impact as well as the ending struck with me for a long time.
Even the DLC which these days for other devs is a way to get more cash out of the gamer, in this case really fleshed out Ellie and gave an already deep character even more depth.
Your views are your own and if all you got out of the last of us was the impression of clear area, rinse and repeat then so be it, your view is as valid as any other.
I for one would love to play more Assassins Creed, the last game was essentially "pirates featuing assassins" but did add some interesting new aspects to the storyline and will look forward to play this years AC offering.
Of course the Vita is better supported in Japan mainly becasue its a success over there while every where else its being classed as a disapointment (not my words, just sale figures, I love my VITA)
There is little point in Western devs putting out games for a platform that isnt selling well (just look at the WII U!)
COD is repetative game play which has not really evolved at all but in fairness it appeals to teenagers and older who party up with their mates and go kill everything in sight, for those types of playes the storyline is something either to lightly touch on or as is becoming more the case, something to ignore and jump straight into multiplayer.
I have to say that the last few AAA games (GTA,/AC4/Need for Speed/ etc) have been quite amazing and will still be enjoying them for quite some time.
I would argue that Theif isnt strictly speaking a triple A as its not a franchise (apart from the original pc games all those years ago) but more a cross gen release with due to new games being thin on the ground, having a large amount of publicity.
I would argue that there is a place for both large AAA releases as well as indi games to fill in the niche gamers needs.
If you want to play something different then I would highly advise the game "going home" which if you loved the emotional side of the storyline for "the last of us" will really love this game.
I think that in the majority of cases embargoes are used more as a marketing tool. Having reviews go up on hunreds of sites, blogs and YouTube channels all at the same time will bring far more attention to the game than having a steady stream of information trickling through that might take days or weeks.
I would argue that Killzone on the vita has a better story and game play than the PS4 Killzone.
I'd agree with ya 100% ... I'm currently replaying killzone on my PSVita & I'm enjoying it more then I ever did Shadowfall on the PS4! :eek: ... Mercenaries is an awesome game & well worth buying ASAP! ;-)
To clear things up I did like The Last Of Us and the emotional scenes but I thought that it was over-praised a lot. I like the Uncharted games too. The Infected were fun to fight but I thought the humans were just clones lifted from Uncharted. I would have preferred fewer sections fighting humans and more fighting the Infected. I felt, dispite the flaws in the game, Beyond Two Souls at least tried to vary the gameplay with varying results. And I felt more affected by Beyond Two Souls' storyline than The Last Of US.
I am also enjoying revisiting Red Dead Redemption which I started but lost due to my first PS3 dying before I was a PS+ subscriber and I am playing Assassins Creed 4 but feel it would benefit from GTA gaps between releases.
Good games sell well on the VITA. A GTA-exclusive would easily sell a million and more. If Persona 4 has sold around that mark then GTA would.
To clear things up I did like The Last Of Us and the emotional scenes but I thought that it was over-praised a lot. I like the Uncharted games too. The Infected were fun to fight but I thought the humans were just clones lifted from Uncharted. I would have preferred fewer sections fighting humans and more fighting the Infected. I felt, dispite the flaws in the game, Beyond Two Souls at least tried to vary the gameplay with varying results. And I felt more affected by Beyond Two Souls' storyline than The Last Of US.
I am also enjoying revisiting Red Dead Redemption which I started but lost due to my first PS3 dying before I was a PS+ subscriber and I am playing Assassins Creed 4 but feel it would benefit from GTA gaps between releases.
Good games sell well on the VITA. A GTA-exclusive would easily sell a million and more. If Persona 4 has sold around that mark then GTA would.
I'm not sure it is over praised but would say that if you play the game now after hearing all the lype then you will have had your expectations set to such a high level that nothing will satisfy you.
I agree that AC should be a 24/30 month release cycle which will allow greater quality of both story and game mechanics but then same can be said for COD in that respect.
I'm sorry but Beyond Two Souls is a total misfire from a studio who should really know better.
Loved Heavy Rain and had high hopes for Beyond but after playing it all the way through, it just felt at times unfinshed and at others like you were no longer playing a game where you had choice in your actions but rather it was an "on rails" storyline where you would get from point a-b regardless of what you said or did.
Uncharted are classics and look forward to the next gen release, the third one did play at time like a greatest hits collection of levels but it was still head and shoulders above any of its piers.
GTA was tried on PSP and DS but failed to attract its core following, GTA LCS & VCS were fantastic feats to fit such an open world on a hand held but the same token the levels were stripped down and could be compleated quickly so there was no challenge.
I would think that GTA Online if streaming through a PS4 onto the VITA would be interesting and if enough people used it then maybe we would see a full next gen (hand held) game but that is of course a big if.
I would also point out that Borderlands 2 will have to sell big as well to prove that there is an audiance on the VITA and to attract other devs.
Comments
I'm not a "journo" by any mans but have written reviews for game for over 10 years as was encouraged by local and senior management.
Not point was I ever asked to sugar coat anything nor was a review ever pulled.
Publishers have every right to pull their advertising if they dont get their own way but 9 times out of 10 its only going to hurt their own brand by acting in that way.
Take the game "remember me", it got middle to meh reviews but the company still maintained their adverts while others like Sega for the travesty that was "colonial marines" pretty much pulled their adverts over night.
You would be surprised how straight forward advertsiing actually is.
I dont understand your take on Eurogamer as I personally class that site as one of the more harsher reviewers going, who are not afraid to lay into bad games or point out poor executed ideas.
There are sites that are pretty much only there to rip apart new games with no mercy but I find those sites to be while sometimes funny and entertaining, do lack an real depth other than to make insider jokes and snide remarks.
The only true "unbiased" review will be your own and what you take from the game playing experience yourself.
Any decent reviewer should try to not only talk like a real person (and more importantly like someone who has just picked up and played the game) and not a voice box of the marketing department but also "take as they find", give both the bad with the good.
There will always be disagreements about game ratings / number of stars etc but thats fairly subjective as well as getting a few "keyboard warriors" who go all out to have an argument for no reason other than they think a game shold be 7/10 then a reviewer gave it 8/10.
Its easy to accuse bribary when you hear about freebies being given to reviewers all in the name of marketing / getting their respective brand out there and recognised by the game buying public at large.
Is this any different than ads at the start of youtube vids/spotify songs or for that matter ads during tv shows / radio shows? ( I mean just try listening to an hour of talk sport and see how much of that hour is made up of ad content and how much is actual real content)
All this stuff creates ad revenue that pays for the content that we all enjoy for free on IGN / Eurogamer / Game etc
You cant compleatly stop bad practices like MS buying good reviews for the xbone or devs throwing a strop but you can temper this with giving honest reviews.
I reckon if you like a game or a demo then buy it no matter what the reviews say.
I bought Black Ops on the PS Vita and read some reviews before I opened it just in case and yes it did review very badly.
However I decided to keep it and have had hours of fun online with it! Hit detection, lag and spawn points might be a problem but it's still fun for a portable game!
Exactly!
Reviews are only there at the end of the day to give a person a flavour of the game from someone elses point of view which may or may not be similar to your own.
You still make up your own mind whether to buy the game or not.
By the way I loved black ops on the Vita, shame it got panned and didnt sell well.
I would argue that Killzone on the vita has a better story and game play than the PS4 Killzone.
Kllzone on the Vita certainly held my interest a lot longer and I still play it now.
It's also nice to see that there are still people playing Black Ops on the Vita - glad I re-purchased it when it was on sale!
Totally under rated and sadly unlikely to get a sequel.
I thought it played well and recreated the COD action on a hand held despite missions being quite short in lengh.
Hope we get a few more shooters on the VITA and not just rely on remote playing PS4 games (nothing wrong with that but would love some hand held specific games)
Also Uncharted vita is really good but would like to have the PS3 games ported over, probably will have to wait until PS Now gets up and running.
The Vita NEEDS another Uncharted game!! Loved Golden Abyss and finished 3 times so far.
Reckon they could port them but they probably won't!
A proper call of duty game on the Vita would be nice but I reckon Activision won't green light one any time soon!.
I've actually been holding off playing Borderlands 2 on PS3/PC because I want to see how the Vita version turns out. Just wish they would bring out more FPS type games or Tomb Raider type games for the Vita as they work surprisingly well. Even the MGS HD collection on the Vita became my preferred choice due to the touch screen with the selection menus.
Wasn't there a campaign from Sony not so long ago where they invited Vita owners to suggest which games they'd like to see on the Vita?
I really hope that Sony put out another Uncharted game for the VITA.
It wouldnt surprise me if Sony pin all their hopes on PS Now streaming to the VITA to make up for the lacking third party support which will in turn get more people to buy VITA's (that and remote play with PS4)
Its getting more and more like the VITA isnt so much a stand alone hand held system anymore but more of a streaming device that links into other Sony services.
Too true - it's good to see devs supporting remote play though!
Just hope sony improve the streaming tech with new updates.
Would love to see more cross buy games and triple AAA titles on it though.
Look at Thief getting between 6&7. The COD games getting a mixed reception and even though I am a fan we could do without any more Assassin's Creed games. And for all of the fanfare The Last Of Us got it is just another enter an area, clear an area of bad guys and then restock on supplies and move onto the next area with a few cut scenes thrown in.
Give me fun games like Rainbow Moon than another disappointing AAA game.
As far as the Vita is going I am looking forward to FFX and Freedom Wars. We also have Gravity Rush 2 coming. The plain fact is that the Vita is supported well by the Japanese software firms; it is the Western ones that are fraidy-cats, bringing out average games and looking at getting quick returns for inferior product.
Wow, never heard the last of us described like that, while the game play did get a little repetative and the infected/bad guys lacked variety, the storyline and emotional impact as well as the ending struck with me for a long time.
Even the DLC which these days for other devs is a way to get more cash out of the gamer, in this case really fleshed out Ellie and gave an already deep character even more depth.
Your views are your own and if all you got out of the last of us was the impression of clear area, rinse and repeat then so be it, your view is as valid as any other.
I for one would love to play more Assassins Creed, the last game was essentially "pirates featuing assassins" but did add some interesting new aspects to the storyline and will look forward to play this years AC offering.
Of course the Vita is better supported in Japan mainly becasue its a success over there while every where else its being classed as a disapointment (not my words, just sale figures, I love my VITA)
There is little point in Western devs putting out games for a platform that isnt selling well (just look at the WII U!)
COD is repetative game play which has not really evolved at all but in fairness it appeals to teenagers and older who party up with their mates and go kill everything in sight, for those types of playes the storyline is something either to lightly touch on or as is becoming more the case, something to ignore and jump straight into multiplayer.
I have to say that the last few AAA games (GTA,/AC4/Need for Speed/ etc) have been quite amazing and will still be enjoying them for quite some time.
I would argue that Theif isnt strictly speaking a triple A as its not a franchise (apart from the original pc games all those years ago) but more a cross gen release with due to new games being thin on the ground, having a large amount of publicity.
I would argue that there is a place for both large AAA releases as well as indi games to fill in the niche gamers needs.
If you want to play something different then I would highly advise the game "going home" which if you loved the emotional side of the storyline for "the last of us" will really love this game.
I'd agree with ya 100%
I am also enjoying revisiting Red Dead Redemption which I started but lost due to my first PS3 dying before I was a PS+ subscriber and I am playing Assassins Creed 4 but feel it would benefit from GTA gaps between releases.
Good games sell well on the VITA. A GTA-exclusive would easily sell a million and more. If Persona 4 has sold around that mark then GTA would.
I'm not sure it is over praised but would say that if you play the game now after hearing all the lype then you will have had your expectations set to such a high level that nothing will satisfy you.
I agree that AC should be a 24/30 month release cycle which will allow greater quality of both story and game mechanics but then same can be said for COD in that respect.
I'm sorry but Beyond Two Souls is a total misfire from a studio who should really know better.
Loved Heavy Rain and had high hopes for Beyond but after playing it all the way through, it just felt at times unfinshed and at others like you were no longer playing a game where you had choice in your actions but rather it was an "on rails" storyline where you would get from point a-b regardless of what you said or did.
Uncharted are classics and look forward to the next gen release, the third one did play at time like a greatest hits collection of levels but it was still head and shoulders above any of its piers.
GTA was tried on PSP and DS but failed to attract its core following, GTA LCS & VCS were fantastic feats to fit such an open world on a hand held but the same token the levels were stripped down and could be compleated quickly so there was no challenge.
I would think that GTA Online if streaming through a PS4 onto the VITA would be interesting and if enough people used it then maybe we would see a full next gen (hand held) game but that is of course a big if.
I would also point out that Borderlands 2 will have to sell big as well to prove that there is an audiance on the VITA and to attract other devs.