UBI demands HIGH review score from magazine (report)

03-01-10, 08:02 AM

Taken from http://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-d...--154456.phtml

""Our reviews are tough, but fair. We will not give up our independent scores for the sake of a timely review," explains the magazine in its latest issue. "This holds true for Assassin’s Creed 2. The publisher asked us to guarantee the score 'sehr gut,' otherwise we would not receive a review copy, thus we will publish our review in next month’s issue. We’d be more than glad to give the game a ’sehr gut’, but only if it deserves it."

As UBI is also the publisher of the highly controversial SHV title, I thought this might be of interest to our rather impotent community.

Safe-Keeper · 03-01-10, 08:11 AM

Wow. I wonder how common this is, "bribing" reviewers by giving them an early shot at reviewing the game, in return for high ratings?

Ragtag · 03-01-10, 08:18 AM

I've never experienced any distributor trying to bribe us for a good review. Not even Ubisoft. I'm not sure what to believe about this.

Dowly · 03-01-10, 08:28 AM

It's my understanding that it is fairly common, atleast when it comes to big and popular review sites/magazines.

It might not be anything to do from the publisher's side, but more from the reviewer's side to keep the publisher happy by giving the game a good score and thus keep good relations to the big game houses.

You only need to go and read Halo 2 & 3 reviews to see which mags/sites are just brown-nosing and which aren't.

Of course, some of the reviews that have higher score than they should can be due to the huge hype some games have, which then affects the reviewer and instead of judging the game from neutral POV, he rides the hype and sees everything through glasses of awesomeness.

I've pretty much lost trust to any but one gaming magazine (well that and Yahtzee

).

EDIT: Ow and then there's of course the case where reviewer from Gamespot got supposedly fired because he gave Kane & Lynch a bad score. But I didn't follow that so closely, so no idea if that was just a rumour or not.

EDIT2: Here's a link to the gamespot thingy: http://kotaku.com/328244/gamespot-ed...--lynch-review

Turbografx · 03-01-10, 08:35 AM

This is not uncommon. I remember some hoopla about a similar situation with Fable, Oblivion, Kane & Lynch, Arkham Asylum and maybe Fallout 3.

Mostly they target the most popular/common magazines. Which has contributed to reviews from them becoming near worthless imo.

In edition to this, if a magazine gives a game a negative review, they can say goodbye to future review copies.

@Dowly, the K&L story is true, Gamespot sold out around the turn of the century.

mookiemookie · 03-01-10, 08:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uber Gruber

I thought this might be of interest to our rather impotent community.

Is this kind of garbage necessary?

IanC · 03-01-10, 08:40 AM

Good for that German magazine!

HundertzehnGustav · 03-01-10, 08:44 AM

I trust Neal...
fact that he gor a copy long after the others got one tells me he aint bought.
he has got an audience that is very demanding, giving hm an early copy, traded for a good score, would have made me supicious.
He got his one late, for what ever reason, and put it through its paces properly. no quick Job, nothing rushed, and also took a look at the more "difficult" subjects.

Game mags want to sell... its their business.
It aint Neal's.

IanC · 03-01-10, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HundertzehnGustav

I trust Neal...
fact that he gor a copy long after the others got one tells me he aint bought.
he has got an audience that is very demanding, giving hm an early copy, traded for a good score, would have made me supicious.
He got his one late, for what ever reason, and put it through its paces properly. no quick Job, nothing rushed, and also took a look at the more "difficult" subjects.

Game mags want to sell... its their business.
It aint Neal's.

I don't think anybody was thinking about Neal. Although now that you mention it... that is a pretty nice wide screen he's playing on...

Onkel Neal · 03-01-10, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uber Gruber

I thought this might be of interest to our rather impotent community.

Speak for yourself

Onkel Neal · 03-01-10, 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HundertzehnGustav

I trust Neal...
fact that he gor a copy long after the others got one tells me he aint bought.
he has got an audience that is very demanding, giving hm an early copy, traded for a good score, would have made me supicious.
He got his one late, for what ever reason, and put it through its paces properly. no quick Job, nothing rushed, and also took a look at the more "difficult" subjects.

Game mags want to sell... its their business.
It aint Neal's.

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Being "first" is great but believe me, I value my reputation a lot more than being first or keeping Ubi happy with our community. And since Ubisoft's marketing have been courting magazines like a sweaty teenager and giving us the cold shoulder, I think only the truly ignorant will say there is a relationship factor on any review I do. If they treat me like a king, or like crap, the game is the game, and I owe myself and you the most unvarnished, fair, and balanced truth I can muster. As always, I am a little more lenient than many coprporate game media, and I admit that openly and my explanation is: I review sub games with a slight bias as an enthusiast, as opposed to a militant consumerist.

Even so, if the game comes up really short, well, then it gets skewered. And a skewering by me... I think most people will agree, that's bad.

cheers
Neal
(quietly working on SH5 review)

codmander · 03-01-10, 09:21 AM

[QUOTE=Neal Stevens;1285625]Thanks for the vote of confidence. Being "first" is great but believe me, I value my reputation a lot ...

that ship sailed years ago

609_Avatar · 03-01-10, 09:38 AM

One of the reasons I always come here to check out a review from Neal before considering buying is because of how he does do his reviews. I find them fair and balanced and I share his "enthusiast" attitude so I rarely find myself in disagreement with his opinion on the overall value of a game.

Neal, I expect that check in the mail as usual, or at the very least, make sure I don't' get that Medic avatar any more!

Onkel Neal · 03-01-10, 09:40 AM

[QUOTE=codmander;1285641]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Thanks for the vote of confidence. Being "first" is great but believe me, I value my reputation a lot ...

that ship sailed years ago

Excuse me? I don't understand what you're trying to say.

EAF274 Johan · 03-01-10, 09:41 AM

That's an eye-opener

If it's true, I'm truly shocked about the lack of business ethos some companies appear to have.

Some 10 years ago I worked for an IT magazine, and back then there was indeed an unspoken rule that you avoid extremely critical product reviews. This was especially true for the big manufacturers/publishers, since you want them to send you their future products for review too. Still, practices like this would have been unheard of. Then again, I was only the final editor... I don't know what went on above my head.

03-01-10, 08:02 AM	#1
Uber Gruber Stowaway Posts: n/a Downloads: Uploads:	UBI demands HIGH review score from magazine (report) Taken from http://www.destructoid.com/ubisoft-d...--154456.phtml ""Our reviews are tough, but fair. We will not give up our independent scores for the sake of a timely review," explains the magazine in its latest issue. "This holds true for Assassin’s Creed 2. The publisher asked us to guarantee the score 'sehr gut,' otherwise we would not receive a review copy, thus we will publish our review in next month’s issue. We’d be more than glad to give the game a ’sehr gut’, but only if it deserves it." As UBI is also the publisher of the highly controversial SHV title, I thought this might be of interest to our rather impotent community.

03-01-10, 08:11 AM	#2
Safe-Keeper Ocean Warrior Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Norway Posts: 3,234 Downloads: 11 Uploads: 0	Wow. I wonder how common this is, "bribing" reviewers by giving them an early shot at reviewing the game, in return for high ratings? __________________ First Strike Mod tester. Hardcore sub skipper.

03-01-10, 08:18 AM	#3
Ragtag Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Oslo, Norway Posts: 654 Downloads: 163 Uploads: 0	I've never experienced any distributor trying to bribe us for a good review. Not even Ubisoft. I'm not sure what to believe about this. __________________ Intel I7-7800x CPU. 16Gb G.skill DDR4 3600MHz. Asrock Taichi X299 mb Palit RTX 2080Ti. Fortron 1000W PSU. BenQ XR3501R LCD.

03-01-10, 08:35 AM	#5
Turbografx Old Stormalong Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: The Gret Stet of Loosiana Posts: 232 Downloads: 104 Uploads: 0	This is not uncommon. I remember some hoopla about a similar situation with Fable, Oblivion, Kane & Lynch, Arkham Asylum and maybe Fallout 3. Mostly they target the most popular/common magazines. Which has contributed to reviews from them becoming near worthless imo. In edition to this, if a magazine gives a game a negative review, they can say goodbye to future review copies. @Dowly, the K&L story is true, Gamespot sold out around the turn of the century. Last edited by Turbografx; 03-01-10 at 08:47 AM.

03-01-10, 08:44 AM	#8
HundertzehnGustav Sea Lord Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Lux, betw. G, B and F Posts: 1,898 Downloads: 66 Uploads: 0	I trust Neal... fact that he gor a copy long after the others got one tells me he aint bought. he has got an audience that is very demanding, giving hm an early copy, traded for a good score, would have made me supicious. He got his one late, for what ever reason, and put it through its paces properly. no quick Job, nothing rushed, and also took a look at the more "difficult" subjects. Game mags want to sell... its their business. It aint Neal's. __________________ In conclusion: SH3 is the shizzle, yo. -Frau Kaleun Another negative about using your deck gun is that you are definately DETECTED, which has long term effects on your relationship with aircraft. -snestorm

03-01-10, 08:28 AM	#4
Dowly Lucky Jack Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Finland Posts: 25,052 Downloads: 32 Uploads: 0	It's my understanding that it is fairly common, atleast when it comes to big and popular review sites/magazines. It might not be anything to do from the publisher's side, but more from the reviewer's side to keep the publisher happy by giving the game a good score and thus keep good relations to the big game houses. You only need to go and read Halo 2 & 3 reviews to see which mags/sites are just brown-nosing and which aren't. Of course, some of the reviews that have higher score than they should can be due to the huge hype some games have, which then affects the reviewer and instead of judging the game from neutral POV, he rides the hype and sees everything through glasses of awesomeness. I've pretty much lost trust to any but one gaming magazine (well that and Yahtzee ). EDIT: Ow and then there's of course the case where reviewer from Gamespot got supposedly fired because he gave Kane & Lynch a bad score. But I didn't follow that so closely, so no idea if that was just a rumour or not. EDIT2: Here's a link to the gamespot thingy: http://kotaku.com/328244/gamespot-ed...--lynch-review

03-01-10, 08:40 AM	#7
IanC Grey Wolf Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Running silent and deep Posts: 902 Downloads: 3 Uploads: 0	Good for that German magazine!

03-01-10, 09:21 AM	#12
codmander Seasoned Skipper Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: cape cod mass. Posts: 678 Downloads: 59 Uploads: 0	[QUOTE=Neal Stevens;1285625]Thanks for the vote of confidence. Being "first" is great but believe me, I value my reputation a lot ... that ship sailed years ago

03-01-10, 09:38 AM	#13
609_Avatar Watch Officer Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: 3rd Planet From The Sun Posts: 345 Downloads: 35 Uploads: 0	One of the reasons I always come here to check out a review from Neal before considering buying is because of how he does do his reviews. I find them fair and balanced and I share his "enthusiast" attitude so I rarely find myself in disagreement with his opinion on the overall value of a game. Neal, I expect that check in the mail as usual, or at the very least, make sure I don't' get that Medic avatar any more! __________________ Avatar

03-01-10, 09:41 AM	#15
EAF274 Johan Ensign Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Gent, Belgium Posts: 228 Downloads: 94 Uploads: 0	That's an eye-opener If it's true, I'm truly shocked about the lack of business ethos some companies appear to have. Some 10 years ago I worked for an IT magazine, and back then there was indeed an unspoken rule that you avoid extremely critical product reviews. This was especially true for the big manufacturers/publishers, since you want them to send you their future products for review too. Still, practices like this would have been unheard of. Then again, I was only the final editor... I don't know what went on above my head. __________________ *Rock 'n' roll is the only religion that will never let you down*