I know. I’ve written paid reviews on another site of mine. Sometimes the advertisers ask that the true nature of the post (ie. paid advertisement) not be disclosed to the readers. I refuse to publish ads or write reviews under that pretext myself. If you’re paying for advertising, everyone’s going to know about it.

Perhaps companies such as GameSpot, IGN, 1UP, and others need only disclose the conditions under which each game is reviewed. I’m not sure how this would work since game publishers might not be willing to pay for advertising prior to a review coming out for fear that the scores would seem a little shady.

Or maybe game publishers could be restricted from purchasing advertising until after a site/magazine/etc. has reviewed the game. Maybe advertisers could float a little money to the various blogs and fan sites out there to promote the game and move in with the big contracts after the reviews are out?

I think the only realistic solution is to keep going the way we are now. Take the reviews at face value or look for conspiracies behind every written word and posted score. We live in a world where money talks.

While I wait to be contacted by publishers and marketing companies looking for reviews or advertsing, I’ll continue checking GameSpot, IGN, and the rest for their latest reviews.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to buy another 8 games that have been reviewed as “Perfect!” and “Must Own!” by GameSpot. ;)

Like I said, GameSpot’s lines between editorial and advertising are beginning to blur. It’s sad because as a game journalist (and a real IT journalist), I know of our efforts to legitimize the game journalism beat. This controversy with GameSpot pushes the entire medium several steps backward.

The simple fact that most reviewers receive free copies of the games they are reviewing changes things. My opinion of a game is correlated to the amount of money that I paid for the game.

For example, I’d probably give Gears of War a 4/5 at a $70 price point and a 5/5 at a $30 price point. In that same vein, a game given to me by a publisher for review would probably get a boost to its score due to its price of $0. However, I’d also disclose this information in my review where possible.

I wonder if some reviewers tend to be overly critical as a way of compensating for the bias that comes from receiving free merchandise? I guess I’ll have to wait for some game publishers to target me with review copies before I can come up with any sort of definite answer here.

Like news, the purpose of a review is to inform. If it’s tainted with cash, then its purpose is to deceive. I think GameSpot and Eidos got off pretty easy in the Kane & Lynch controversy.

I’ve reviewed products and sites myself and I find myself far gentler with my review if my palms have been greased with money or free merchandise. I guess I’d be a good reviewer for GameSpot.

For what it’s worth, I’m still a big fan of GameSpot and CNET’s reviews. I think the whole Kane & Lynch debacle was overblown and sensationalized.

I agree that games don’t have to be innovative for people to have fun playing it. What I am questioning is the implied involvement of money and GameSpot’s already-fragile reputation.

This series of perfect scores certainly won’t help them regain the credibility they used to have.

I think “used to” is the key point being made. Even before the whole Gerstmann – Eidos scandal, GameSpot’s scores had been creeping up. For example, they gave Two Worlds a 7/10 when everyone else struggled to give it much better than 5/10.

I don’t mind the fact that GameSpot has eased up on their restrictions. First off, the better the review scores, the better the game industry does as a whole (in theory). And as I mentioned before, I believe that many reviewers rate games too harshly due to the typical reviewers “been there, done that” attitude.

I don’t need a game to be innovative to have fun playing it. I just need the game to fun, even if it is the same old recycled crap that we’ve seen tons of times before.

Maybe I’m too easy on games. I’m just happy to be playing video games, I guess.