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Games Journalism! Wainwright/Florence/Tomb Raider/Eurogamer/Libel Threats/Doritos

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ClosingADoor said:
Totally different websites. Eurogamer just sells a license and have nothing to do with the other languages websites. Just like how there are multiple Kotaku or IGN sites.


They're probably pissed about it, but they can't really monitor every editor, freelancer and reviewer on about twenty foreign websites.
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These twenty foreign websites should do this on their own, or original Eurogamer takes away their license.
 
Oersted said:
David Rayfield asked for it.

7wNEz.png



bish gets all the credit ;)
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LOL what a tool.
 
Dennis said:
From the BLOPS 2 review thread.

"hmmm, who should we get to review this new COD game....oh, I know! Lets use that guy who used to do PR for Activision! Bet he knows his COD!"
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EG's editor in chief Tom Bramwell had this to say about it:

I've spoken to the boss of Eurogamer France and he tells me that the review was commissioned before he got to see Eurogamer.net's new policies last week, which meant that they couldn't be considered before the review was commissioned. I shared them late Thursday, so that makes sense.

The editor is going to add a disclaimer to the review making the author's circumstances clear, and in addition to that they are planning to do a separate review of the PC version written by another writer to help settle any of their readers' lingering concerns.

This is the latest I have although they are still in the process of sorting this stuff out, so if it's not apparent on their site immediately then please bear with them a little longer.

As I said on Twitter, we'll use this as an opportunity to have a broader discussion about how we work with our European partner sites and how we share and act on editorial guidelines. As ever, thank you for your patience as we try to do this stuff better. I promise we won't stop talking about it and won't brush things under any carpets, however inconvenient that may be for us in practice.
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I can't be bothered to read 100 of pages of this but did anything happen regarding this fiasco?

Did Geoff ever reply about that pic? What happened to that girl with the tomb raider twitter account? Did Eurogamer have a change in policies because of this?
 
Oersted said:
Journalists wouldn´t write about a politician, with him sitting right next to them.

Game journalists would review a game, while sitting in the publishers office, making photos with the game devs and taking one of the press kits.
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This must be a joke post, right?
 
FartOfWar said:
A few regulars on the old 1UP gaming forum resented GAF. They wondered why former 1UP staff who never frequented their own forum spent so much time here, whether posting or patrolling threads for posts about themselves. We/they were here and not there because compliments made on your own site, though valuable, are much like mom's support, where GAF is the pretty people in the bar. Don't dismiss this. How many of us can turn to a corner of the web where people we've never met know our names and talk about the things we say, write, and create? Don't underestimate that heady and highly addictive drug. It's when those pretty people in the bar talk shit instead of swoon that we return to mom (or twitter followers) in search of comfort and sympathy. We say GAF is irrelevant, caustic, a vocal but meaningless and unrepresentative minority. And then, undeterred, we come back for the very reasons that lead us to find those offending posts in the first place.
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Yep. Folks can't have it both ways. You can't be trolling GAF for stories, mentions of your name, etc., one second and then turning around the next and saying, "GAF is worthless." Shawn hit the nail on the head: When criticism is offered, they flee to an audience of like-minded peers which reinforces group think.

During my time in the field I definitely noticed the pattern of behavior Shawn is describing, which is why I refer to video game "journalism" as extremely insular and nepotistic. These journalists like the little bubble they've created where they can play by their own ethically obtuse rules, pass off low-quality writing as journalism and count on personal relationships pushing them up the career ladder.
 
I've spoken to the boss of Eurogamer France and he tells me that the review was commissioned before he got to see Eurogamer.net's new policies last week, which meant that they couldn't be considered before the review was commissioned.
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if the boss of eurogamer france requires draconian enforcement to consider commissioning an activision PR staffer to write a black ops review something of a faux pas, maybe he shouldn't be the boss of eurogamer france.

while i'm sure bramwell had to fight tooth and nail for even this concession and has probably made himself something of a hate figure in the eg.fr offices, a separate pc review isn't nearly enough.
 
ghst said:
if the boss of eurogamer france requires draconian enforcement to consider commissioning an activision PR staffer to write a black ops review something of a faux pas, maybe he shouldn't be the boss of eurogamer france.

while i'm sure bramwell had to fight tooth and nail for even this concession and has probably made himself something of a hate figure in the eg.fr offices, a separate pc review isn't nearly enough.
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There's a eurogamer france?
 
So... Not sure if this had been said, and I'm not trying to defend the ridiculous behavior of some of these writers, but has anyone thought that maybe we (as in GAF), are not the entitled audience they speak of. GAF aren't the ones who want top 10 articles every day.

Think about the stupid inane immature comments that show up after a review on any of these websites. Or the ridiculous letters they get from 14 year olds who think that anything that comes out on Xbox 360 must be a 0/10. Think about the audience that writes those comments.

I feel like we may be the few adults standing in the crowd of children in front of a clown yelling "You're balloon animals SUCK! Get a real job!"

I think there is an audience for what we want, just a much smaller one. These critics/writers/PR shills, whatever you want to call them... need to figure out what they are, who their audience is, and then stop trying to pretend to be anything else.

Either you want to be a professional and not get all the clicks, or you want to make a fool of yourself in front of children for money.
 
Polygon's Russ Frushtick (who reviewed CODBLOPS II) has given some details about the review event here.

The event was held at La Costa Resort in southern California. It's a gorgeous resort, home to a PGA-level golf course, god knows how many swimming pools and some nice amenities. As part of Polygon's ethics policy, we don't accept travel or accommodations from game publishers, so the flight out and the cost of the stay was footed by us.

Despite the upscale setting, I spent three straight days indoors, playing Call of Duty. Activision set up Xbox 360 debug consoles in everyone's room, so that we could play through the single-player at our leisure. For multiplayer (adversarial and zombies), two large conference rooms were set up like LAN rooms, with around 30 stations, each running the game and all networked together. Essentially, if I wasn't eating, I was either in my room or in one of those conference rooms.

(Speaking of eating, Activision provided a buffet for all major meals. I took part in it when I felt like discussing the game with other reviewers, but I also payed for a chunk of my meals on my own.)
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spirity said:
It's not the first time David Rayfield has shared views on this topic.

Why The Video Games Industry Shouldn't Live In Fear of Penny Arcade and why PA should "Fuck Off".
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The entire article is like a slow-motion train wreck, and yet I feel pride and accomplishment in braving through almost all of it (I mean, the point of a trainwreck is that, though horrible, it's hard to look away; this managed to be a trainwreck and yet be incredibly boring). Few times in my life have I seen such deliberate twisting and coloring of reality. However, I particularly liked that, the final straw, the thing that made him say "fuck off" right after, is the fact that PA are hypocritical for being against booth babes, when they host that annual Dickerdoodles contest. I mean, right, because they clearly are THE EXACT SAME.

It seems to me this person kind of gets that there is a problem with booth babes because people more intelligent than him are complaining against it. It seems to me, however, that nobody sat with him to explain the evident, and thus he somehow believes that the problem is sex. A person with such comprehension skills has no business writing anything, gaming or otherwise.
 
Weltall Zero said:
The entire article is like a slow-motion train wreck, and yet I feel pride and accomplishment in braving through almost all of it (I mean, the point of a trainwreck is that, though horrible, it's hard to look away; this managed to be a trainwreck and yet be incredibly boring). Few times in my life have I seen such deliberate twisting and coloring of reality. However, I particularly liked that, the final straw, the thing that made him say "fuck off" right after, is the fact that PA are hypocritical for being against booth babes, when they host that annual Dickerdoodles contest. I mean, right, because they clearly are THE EXACT SAME.

It seems to me this person kind of gets that there is a problem with booth babes because people more intelligent than him are complaining against it. It seems to me, however, that nobody sat with him to explain the evident, and thus he somehow believes that the problem is sex. A person with such comprehension skills has no business writing anything, gaming or otherwise.
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I think the even more damning thing about that article (although what you have commented on is straight up moronic on the part of the author), is the fact that he ropes Ben Kuchera in with the PA guys and declares him guilty by association (not that I believe the accusations thrown at Penny Arcade are any more valid, but I digress).

He all but outright states that Kuchera is a hypocrite and his insightful criticisms of the game and games journalism industries are invalid because he is employed by PA. The PA Report is a serious games journalism outlet (without quotes around the word journalism), wholly removed from the goofy, comical side of Penny Arcade. It is certainly a part of the Penny Arcade brand, but considering that, it is still about as far removed from a mouthpiece for Penny Arcade as you can get. But somehow because Ben Kuchera's paychecks are signed by guys who make occasional dick jokes, and who maybe said something sexist a few years ago, his entire body of work is invalid, and you get to pretend that his criticisms of your industry are rendered moot? That's a straight up ad hominem attack to deflect attention away from the legitimate problems with his industry, and frankly it's quite childish.
 
Thanasis Deitus said:
I think the even more damning thing about that article (although what you have commented on is straight up moronic on the part of the author), is the fact that he ropes Ben Kuchera in with the PA guys and declares him guilty by association (not that I believe the accusations thrown at Penny Arcade are any more valid, but I digress).

He all but outright states that Kuchera is a hypocrite and his insightful criticisms of the game and games journalism industries are invalid because he is employed by PA. The PA Report is a serious games journalism outlet (without quotes around the word journalism), wholly removed from the goofy, comical side of Penny Arcade. It is certainly a part of the Penny Arcade brand, but considering that, it is still about as far removed from a mouthpiece for Penny Arcade as you can get. But somehow because Ben Kuchera's paychecks are signed by guys who make occasional dick jokes, and who maybe said something sexist a few years ago, his entire body of work is invalid, and you get to pretend that his criticisms of your industry are rendered moot? That's a straight up ad hominem attack to deflect attention away from the legitimate problems with his industry, and frankly it's quite childish.
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Or to put it in other words, it's akin to saying Woodward and Bernstein's reporting of Watergate was invalid because the Washington Post also ran Peanuts comics. I mean, what the hell do Charlie Brown and Linus know about politics?
 
Dennis said:
From the BLOPS 2 review thread.

8bit said:
Eurogamer.fr 9/10 : http://www.eurogamer.fr/articles/201...ty-black-ops-2

Reviewed by ex-Activision PR bod http://www.linkedin.com/in/julienchevron

Eurogamer.fr affiliation probably not likely long for this Earth.

via https://twitter.com/britishgaming
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"hmmm, who should we get to review this new COD game....oh, I know! Lets use that guy who used to do PR for Activision! Bet he knows his COD!"
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If you choose "Bitter gamers are at it again", go on to the next page
If you choose "Storm in a teacup LOL I'm not worried" turn to page 44
If you choose "Lets move on, nothing to see here honest" proceed to N'gai Croals Twitter, the comfort food of the digital age
 
FartOfWar said:
A few regulars on the old 1UP gaming forum resented GAF. They wondered why former 1UP staff who never frequented their own forum spent so much time here, whether posting or patrolling threads for posts about themselves. We/they were here and not there because compliments made on your own site, though valuable, are much like mom's support, where GAF is the pretty people in the bar. Don't dismiss this. How many of us can turn to a corner of the web where people we've never met know our names and talk about the things we say, write, and create? Don't underestimate that heady and highly addictive drug. It's when those pretty people in the bar talk shit instead of swoon that we return to mom (or twitter followers) in search of comfort and sympathy. We say GAF is irrelevant, caustic, a vocal but meaningless and unrepresentative minority. And then, undeterred, we come back for the very reasons that lead us to find those offending posts in the first place.
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So true. Garnetts half hearted attempt at keeping up the Yours part of the title never felt right to me. Finally I just made the Jump here.
 
Kotaku again:

Black Ops II is a great shooter, but that alone doesn't make it worth playing to me. Black Ops II's triumph is found in how it assembles modern-day issues, ultimately making it impossible not to feel like I was staring into the mirror of my society. If the the constant question with games of Call of Duty's ilk is whether or not they hold some responsibility in what they depict, then Black Ops II feels like an answer. An answer that shows that the things that make us reconsider things, as "responsible" media does, do not always have that intention—and they don't have to. I think that lacking that explicit purpose actually accentuated the crisis I felt as I realized that as much as I enjoyed what I was playing, I didn't like what the game revealed.
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He was so close. So incredible close.
 
Oersted said:
Yes, he almost reached a certain standard-level (standard outside the gamingindustry). Only thing he had to do is to jump to the right conclusions.
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That's a shitty thing to call him out on though. You realize this, right? Re-read what you just wrote. Do you really think there's only one right conclusion to draw?
 
Rufus said:
That's a shitty thing to call him out on though. You realize this, right? Re-read what you just wrote. Do you really think there's only one right conclusion to draw?
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Did you read the review? She is describing Call of Duty as a game which fetishizes and celebrates war. As a example of a game where ethic and moral quandaries fade into the background if something is entertaining enough. As a game which is less humane. A game which put her into a crisis.

Do you know how such things get rated? Games which put the consumerist to sit in front of a tv, to watch one action figure after another pound and blast one another to death. Games which require no dialogue, no plot, no characters, no humanity.
 
I draw my own conclusions from that (i.e. I have no interest in those games and don't play them), but how do you go from that to wanting to dictate what Stephen Totilo (or anyone else) should think?
 
Rufus said:
I draw my own conclusions from that (i.e. I have no interest in those games and don't play them), but how do you go from that to wanting to dictate what Stephen Totilo (or anyone else) should think?
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That "anyone else" person is Patricia Hernandez. She described what she is thinking about the game.

The plot is sometimes confusing or unclear, and eventually I found myself not caring about it anymore.
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She is describing Call of Duty as a game which fetishizes and celebrates war. As a example of a game where ethic and moral quandaries fade into the background if something is entertaining enough. As a game which is less humane. A game which put her into a crisis. Which troubled her. She is worried that we become less humane.

These are her thoughts.
 
Oersted said:
That "anyone else" person is Patricia Hernandez. She described what she is thinking about the game.



She is describing Call of Duty as a game which fetishizes and celebrates war. As a example of a game where ethic and moral quandaries fade into the background if something is entertaining enough. As a game which is less humane. A game which put her into a crisis. Which troubled her. She is worried that we become less humane.

These are her thoughts.
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I'm still failing to see where you think the "wrong conclusion" was reached.
 
Weltall Zero said:
The entire article is like a slow-motion train wreck, and yet I feel pride and accomplishment in braving through almost all of it (I mean, the point of a trainwreck is that, though horrible, it's hard to look away; this managed to be a trainwreck and yet be incredibly boring). Few times in my life have I seen such deliberate twisting and coloring of reality. However, I particularly liked that, the final straw, the thing that made him say "fuck off" right after, is the fact that PA are hypocritical for being against booth babes, when they host that annual Dickerdoodles contest. I mean, right, because they clearly are THE EXACT SAME.

It seems to me this person kind of gets that there is a problem with booth babes because people more intelligent than him are complaining against it. It seems to me, however, that nobody sat with him to explain the evident, and thus he somehow believes that the problem is sex. A person with such comprehension skills has no business writing anything, gaming or otherwise.
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let me guess,you are a Pa fan
 
reggieandTFE said:
Well, we all have the same simplistic take that Phil Kollar is a fat, awkward man child with a mild case of Asperger's as well, right?
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Come on dude this thread has been great so far with lots of good insights and critism. Let's keep personal attacks out of this.
 
Wow, caught up with David Rayfield's article.

Shorter David Rayfield:
"Back when Boy George was culturally relevant, I was an even shittier music journalist and no-one complained then. Why do you guys keep calling us out like ravenous wolves?"
 
McBradders said:
I'm still failing to see where you think the "wrong conclusion" was reached.
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She thinks basically two things about the game: It is great. It is great because it reflects everything what is wrong without even knowing it, while making you less humane.


Still not getting it?
 
Oersted said:
She thinks basically two things about the game: It is great. It is great because it reflects everything what is wrong without even knowing it, while making you less humane.


Still not getting it?
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So your problem is she can't like the game while simultaneously pointing out the moral issues such depictions of war may have on a player?
 
Oersted said:
Imagine a reviewer would say about a movie it makes you less humane. Imagine the rating.
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It doesn't say that it makes you less humane. It says that it made her reflect on a lot of stuff both in herself and in society as a whole. I'd imagine a movie that caused a similar reflection would be rated quite highly.
 
ultron87 said:
It doesn't say that it makes you less humane. It says that it made her reflect on a lot of stuff both in herself and in society as a whole. I'd imagine a movie that caused a similar reflection would be rated quite highly.
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It reflects that, according to her, because it resembles what is wrong. To stay in the picture, it is not Platoon, it is a propaganda movie appealing to our animal instincts. And it puts her in a misery enjoying that.
 
http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/3DS/Pocket+Gamer/news.asp?c=46618

Nintendo offered us a review code for its upcoming Paper Mario: Sticker Star RPG. But, it came with a catch. We weren't allowed to play if we didn't agree to a certain rule.

Reviews were only allowed to mention content that takes place before world 3–4.

We politely turned down Nintendo's review copy.

Other websites around the world have not, we should point out - there will be reviews for this game that are restricted from saying anything about the latter half of the adventure.
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