I don't think you know what trolling is. Examples can be found throughout the past few pages, though. The above is a perfect one.

Well,i just thinkt that,if you re a professional journalist,you shouldn t inply nothing related to a competitor if you don t have any definitive proofs.

Theres no room for guesses if you are part of a respectable site like forbes.He shouldnt have published that article.

"It happens a lot"
No.  No it does not.  I've never heard a single solitary credible source in all the time I've followed all the bullshit that goes on in this industry heard of a publication - physical or digital - sending a review off to a developer to review it BEFORE publication.  I've heard of devs pressuring for a score change after the fact.  I have heard of black listing.  I have heard of plenty of underhanded psychological manipulation.  But what you are suggesting is something I have never seen done.  Cause it's a giant scandal waiting to happen and neither party wants that kind of heat.  You either get the early code and early embargo, or you don't.  That simple.  Devs don't give them often because they rarely feel comfortable doing it or they just don't feel like doing it. 

I think this is a matter of what sells the magazine more at this point - EDGE's Issue 311 had Assassin's Creed on the cover and featured reviews of Kingdom Battle, Sonic Mania and Lost Legacy. Metroid, on the other hand, couldn't possibly be what sells Issue 311. It wasn't that hot of a game (mostly because it's on a late-cycle handheld) compared to these 3.

I think EDGE capitalizes on Odyssey to sell its Issue 312, hence why they got the game so early and of course, Nintendo might be pushing too so things can be put in place.

That doesn't mean it had ultimately influenced the score. Issue 312 would have been as hot even without Odyssey getting a 10. But they needed that very game that everybody talks about to get the larger periodic circulation.

My two cents are that no publication/reviewer should receive special treatment over any other, as that inherently raises an issue of bias. Being the first to review a major title is a massive boost to a publication, so obviously they would never want to do anything to damage a business relationship which benefits them financially.

I'm definitely not saying it wouldn't have been a 10/10, but this type of thing just shouldn't be happening. Every developer/publisher in the industry should not give benefits to one publication over another.

Ok. I have 10 people quoting me at this point. I have given my reasons why I think its a bit suspicious. If you think I'm trolling or hating on anyone, then nothing I say will convince you otherwise. I'm obviously in the vast minority on this subject, so it doesn't really matter what I think anymore. Lets just drop it and Ill shut up when it comes to this sort of thing in the future.

Why would i order it from their site when i can just walk into my local newsagent and order it there? I get it that much quicker that way.

Well, I'm telling you not to shut up about these sort of things in the future. You raised a pretty fair point. The issue you questioned is symptomatic of what is going wrong with game reviewing as a whole. It is absolutely right, in my opinion, to challenge these sort of practices, so we may avoid bias, collusion and even corruption.

People going numb over this is concerning. But this could be a separate thread.

They don't release their reviews early they release on the magazine's scheduled date this is very common for big outlets that had magazines CVG for one also had this for years before the magazine side of things went bust and how is it unfair to other reviewers that part makes no logical sense because their reviews are going to be out before the game's launch and another review isn't going to have any bearing on them. It doesn't happen a lot you'll need to provide evidence of that happening a lot to make that claim.

The are a number of 10s given out after release as well like Bayonetta 2 and Rockband 3's 10s came after release.

Thank you. I like talking about this kinda stuff, but it can get a bit overwhelming at times