rocketpig said:
I don't think that's the case. EGM said similar things when Ubisoft tried to pull restrictions on them and Ubi ended up pulling all advertising from the magazine for quite some time. When it hits the bottom line (like one of the top five publishers in the world pulling adverts), you know that it stops being a ploy and turns into a real statement by the publication. Attention is nice but it has a habit of going away very quickly. Losing tens of thousands of dollars a month doesn't compensate for a little forum talk over how "respectible" you are. |
I agree, EGM's move wasn't based on bringing in more advertising dollars or reader purchases. That said, EGM has certainly had an agenda in the past. It might not have been advertising sponsored... but they have had a goal before that's clearly effected reviews. They seem to be doing a little better these days though...
As a side note, the only reviewers I truly trust are those who I know. In other words, I trust our own reviews. That's about it.