From today’s New York Times:
But game players are also suspicious of publications’ ties to the game publishers they write about, said David Gornoski, the editor of a Web site called Vgmwatch.com. “We’re seeing situations where publishers are dangling exclusive stories in front of publications in exchange for scores for their products,†Mr. Gornoski wrote in an e-mail message.
Source, please? Evidence, anyone? Let’s start pointing fingers and weed out the criminal element. I don’t want people exchanging scores for exclusives in my industry either, but I don’t have the proof to expose these alleged unethical practices. I mean, the publishers can ask, but is the press biting? Because that’s what’s heavily implied here.
I’ll coroborate the first part. There have been times that publishers have hinted, or simply “shopped around” a review, like, “Well, we have a lot of people interested and everybody wants the exclusive review…what are you thinking of giving it?” Can you blame them for asking? They want to look as good as possible; they see the media as a marketing tool. But when that happens, the mags I’ve worked at have said no dice, every time. If it comes with strings attached or some early information about what it’s getting — even if it’s a game where we strongly suspect it’s going to get a good review, based on all we’ve seen and played up to that point — we say no. But that only covers the mags I worked at when I worked at them, and I haven’t worked for all of them.
So…which mags are taking the bait?
Mr. Gornoski? You’ve got the traffic and the attention from a New York Times article; hopefully you’ve done some investigative reporting and have research to back up your statement. I mean, surely, you’ve learned that lesson, right?
The floor is yours…