What we already know is official - corruption of game review sites

We've been talking about it a lot here at the watch and we've known it a long time, but now it is also official:

http://www.zeldainformer.com/news/c...iew-scores-are-skewed-due-to-public-relations

I guess this officially means there is no reason to read reviews from any of the major sites?

That's why I haven't been reading reviews from major sites for several years as anything but entertainment.

Anyone with knowledge of gaming history should be fully aware of a high level of corruption, whether it's "subtle" or not.

Also, I think that's pretty rampant in journalism in general - certainly in the US.

Although we all know whats going on, I'm still reading reviews on major sites if can't find a review anywhere else.
But do I buy games based on their reviewer opinion? No.

90% of my purchases are based on player comments here and reviews from here. The other 10 is based on friends recommendations. Come to think of it those are all from here as well in some form.

I only buy magazines because of the games they often come with - printed gaming magazines have become far too shooter-centric in my eyes nowadays, and that's just not my genre.

What's interesting is the question whether this report will be shown on other gaming sites as well, or whether they'll try to silence it to death.

Edit : another interesting piece is that the linked article is chock-full of advertisement links …

Edit 2 : It just occurred to me that I have now the answer to my question asked here : http://www.rpgwatch.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8028

I go by what friends/people I know say about games, never what I read. Been doing that since the 80's and don't plan on changing, and it looks like that's the way to go.


-Carn