Jimquisition: Integrity, Journalism, and Free PS4s

Weaver

Overcaffeinated
Apr 28, 2008
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Zachary Amaranth said:
Jimothy Sterling said:
I do not believe getting a game "free" makes you kinder to a game. If you believe that of me, you are welcome to, though.
Well, obviously it does make them kinder. Ride to Hell: Retribution has a metascore 5 points higher than the user score. Can you say "bought off?"

I'm kidding, of course, but I think it sort of drives home the silliness here.
Of course, Ride to Hell didn't give out any review codes :p

The game is, of course, dreadful and in places functionally broken but I wonder if reviewers would have been a bit kinder to it if they didn't have to shell out personal money for it. Similarly, Prime World: Defenders( The tower defense game) had no review codes has a pretty low Metacritic score but I actually thought the game was pretty fun for the $10 it cost. Certainly at least a 70, but it has a 58. Most user reviews rate the game higher too.

Of course, pointing out two examples does not prove the rule, but I personally think I would have been a bit more lenient with my Final Fantasy 13 opinions if it cost me 0 dollars than if I dropped a whole $60 on it.
 

sushkis2

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Apr 14, 2011
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erttheking said:
Welcome to the 21st century, where everything has a catch to it and people can't do a single nice thing without someone accusing them of actually being horrible people and people's views are biased and paid for if they disagree with you. Have we become so cynical that every action at every turn is something to be looked at with distrust and scrutiny?
This is literally the best quote I have read as of late. It can literally be taken out of context towards any news article nowadays.
 

Fappy

\[T]/
Jan 4, 2010
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That bit about Greg Tito was brilliant. Also, ebay the fuck out of that PS4! It's got your DNA all over it now!

YOU'LL MAKE BANK!
 

ex275w

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Mar 27, 2012
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Silentpony said:
Jimothy Sterling said:
Silentpony said:
Jimothy Sterling said:
Silentpony said:
Clip
CLIP
Did you see the PS4 reviews from a lot of outlets that got "free" games? Knack and Killzone both got pretty average scores, which was doubly funny as a lot of gamers predicted they'd both get 10/10s due to all these "gifts."

I do not believe getting a game "free" makes you kinder to a game. If you believe that of me, you are welcome to, though.
Not specifically, no. I do not believe getting a free game makes you or any other reviewer kinder to a game. But looking at the endless lists of perfect scores (Again, granting not every game gets a perfect score) but many of the AAA ones do, and looking at like Jeff Gerstmann(Again, don't know the real story, just what I read.) who got fired for reviewing what was it, Kane and Lynch, badly? Or the Meta-critic users banned for bad reviews. Or the Sony Petition to ban bad game reviews. Or that you-tube guy(Totally blanking on his name) who kept getting Copyright infringements on the gameplay for his lets play, specifically on the games he reviews as bad. Of course its fair to say game companies want good reviews; that's just good business.
But that does mean they have a vested interest in choosing who they want to review their games. I mean you got shit from Konami for not playing along and saying their games are great. Good for you, and you've been vocal about how that's unfair/wrong/bullshit and all the other happy words. But what does that mean about the game critics who are NOT black listed? For every game controversy you or those like-minded start, there's dozens of '10/10' 'terrific' 'amazing' 'best game ever' reviews from the same sites! Is this a case of guilt by implication? That those who aren't getting shit from disturbers/makers are playing by the deal?

Please, again, not blaming you or anything. But like you said I think a week ago/two weeks ago, when a company says 'you don't know what happened behind the scenes' when excusing a poorly received game, you said that was the problem. I'm agreeing with you. That does seem to be a problem.
The guy I think you are referring to is TotalBiscuit/TotalHalibut also known as the Cynical Brit (kind of redundant if you ask me). Jim has had experiences like that with the Hydrophobia reviewers and recently Microsoft's PR trying to temper/change his opinions.
As for games receiving lots of 10/10, I see it as a case of reviewers being excited gamers at the end of the day. Although a game like GTA 5 for example will also receive higher scores than other games because it's relatively simple to complete the story or to learn all mechanics compared to a more complex genre like fighting games. They require learning lots of mechanics, timings, combos, exploits to master and completely enjoy. So reviewers have an easier time with GTA 5 and are more willing to give a higher score, of course this is not always the case. This is why I feel review sites should have more specialized reviewers, but that's another topic.
 

Thanatos2k

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Aug 12, 2013
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1337mokro said:
So... Jim is going to be in Mass Effect 4 now... After all he liked a game console, that got Chobbit into the game so I expect the same for Jimmy. That will be an interesting role to see him play. Wonder how many people will "romance" his character.
Will we get to punch him in the face?
 

loa

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Jan 28, 2012
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Why waste breath for idiots who say that?
It's like arguing with someone who wants to tell you that "there never has been good backwards compatibility and no one wants it anyway", at some point there is just no salvageable brain matter for you to work with and you're talking to a brick wall.
 

Kataskopo

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Dec 18, 2009
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You know what, I don't know if you are incredibly smart or just everyone is mostly stupid, but anyway you really stand out.

But really, it makes them sound whinny and immature. Besides, that happens in other industries as well, from movies (even Moviebob talks about it here!) to books.
 

Jman1236

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Jul 29, 2008
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Rabidkitten said:
Whats the game with the white cyber ninja? Is that killzone?
It's warframe, it's a f2p online game for ps4 and pc.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRuNPRDUN9s
 

bdcjacko

Gone Fonzy
Jun 9, 2010
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I am wondering how many of the people whining about the game jornos getting free system also subvert the ads on the game sites.
 

Mike Fang

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Mar 20, 2008
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As a journalist myself, I certainly understand people's concerns and it is a bit of a touchy subject. But Jim's also got a good, legitimate point; this is about providing necessary resources for him to do his job. Now when a person's job is evaluating and critiquing entertainment, it does add an all new layer of nuance to the whole issue. One can rightly argue "sure it's a tool to do your job, but you're getting PAID to play video games, it's awesome enough as it is, do the companies really need to be pampering reviewers even MORE by making their games and systems free?" But on the flip side, one can also rightly argue "Gaming for fun and gaming for work are not the same thing, because one is done at your leisure with things you like and done in a relaxed mindset, while the other is done because you have to with games you may not necessarily want to play and done while concentrating on all aspects of the game to scrutinize, analyze, take notes, compare to other games of the same type, and later on likely do some research on the development to determine how certain things came to be."

There's no doubt critiquing games as an occupation is going to have some very big upsides to it. You get access to the latest games, often without having to pay for them, and your occupation coincides with your hobby so there's no question for many it sounds like a dream job (and for some no doubt it would be). BUT it is still work, your reviews have to reflect thorough analysis of the game in question, do so within a deadline, you're not likely going to be at liberty to cherry-pick your assignments and will have to play what you're required to instead of what you want to. Like movie critics, book critics and restaurant critics, there's little doubt game critics love the subject matter of their job, but they are expected to have informed opinions on it, and that often doesn't come without research on parts of the subject that you don't pick up on just by watching them. You've also got to play through/sit through/read through/swallow the lousy drek to be able to know by comparison what's better. And the hell of it is, as with any sort of publicized articles or broadcasts, there will be criticism of your reviews; from the people with differing opinions that want to debate you on it, to the people who think you left things out or missed something or ignored something about a game to the ill-tempered jerks that want to tell you - in ugly tones of voice - how to do your job and think you're incompetent.

So in a nutshell, yeah, I have to imagine being a game critic is an incredibly fun job at its high points. But I can't imagine it's all wine and roses.
 

Chairman Miaow

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Nov 18, 2009
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Just as my laughter had subsided from you showing off your lovely PS4, You game journalismed. You game journalismed everywhere and I could not control myself.
 

hazabaza1

Want Skyrim. Want. Do want.
Nov 26, 2008
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I wonder if Jim does that to everything he brings up to that podium.

Gross
Erotic
Gross
Erotic
Can't really decide which now.
 

1337mokro

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Dec 24, 2008
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Thanatos2k said:
1337mokro said:
So... Jim is going to be in Mass Effect 4 now... After all he licked a game console, that got Chobbit into the game so I expect the same for Jimmy. That will be an interesting role to see him play. Wonder how many people will "romance" his character.
Will we get to punch him in the face?
No only the donkey punch is allowed.