Susan Arendt said:
Couldn't be because we think the game is actually that damn good, could it?
And of course we're going to encourage people to go watch Gavin - why wouldn't we? He works for us, and our readers really love him. How would we look if we didn't tell people to go watch him?
Susan, the problem is that I've been told what to write by my bosses about more then one EA release. DA2 was a 'GOTY' and a '9 out of 10' before they ever let me see it, because EA was dumping more advertising dollars on us then God. Then I got to play it and it sucked.
So, when I see a site start publishing gushing reviews when all we have is a trailer, it sends up all sorts of warning flags to me, because I once had to write those myself. Particularly when regulars like Gavin are getting something out of it, much as IGN is. I don't write reviews for (video) games anymore, and am glad of it.
MiracleOfSound said:
All the butthurt bitching and moaning from people who haven't even played the game. It's delicious.
Sorry, nice try, but no dice. I have played it.
And at no point have I said that any of the non-staff posters were incorrect in the fact they liked it, I simply stated that I don't trust the review, because members of the staff (which I am including you in, right or wrong) benefited from it, albeit indirectly.
Personally, I didn't like the game, despite the fact that gameplay was fun (except the bugs) because I was playing it to find out the ending of the story, not because I needed another game to play.