Former IGN Employee Admits Review Scores Are Skewed Due to Public Relations

[justinian]

Kantor said:

Veknoid_Outcast said:
This is so deeply disappointing. How are video games ever going to be taken seriously when the people responsible for rating and reviewing the games aren't real journalists?

I can barely even go to sites like IGN and GameSpot any more. I much prefer talking to everyone here about upcoming games. The users here are honest with themselves and each other.

As someone who's worked for a magazine and several newspapers, this lack of journalistic integrity really rubs me the wrong way.

As opposed to, say, movie reviewers, who appear to have an average age of 65 and tastes stuck in the 1970s?

Reviews will always be subjective, but they are more objective with games than anything else because there are certain standards - good controls, good graphics, good music and sound in general, good length to which all games can be held, and because they are primarily about gameplay, which tends to be the same within a genre, rather than telling a story, which can be wildly different.

I agree with you. There is however a whole lot of difference between giving your honest opinion of a game (accepting it being subjective) and giving a review that is based on fanboyism.

If reviewers based their opinions on what you have stated then that is all well and good and that's what we expect of them.

However when reviews are based on "favours" from the developers, publishers or whoever then it becomes unreliable.

Unfortunately I believe that is were most game reviewers are at and thier reviews are not based on what you outlined.