Rumored "bad news" incoming about Sony review event, game reviews, or something completely different

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aceattorney said:
It's not just about "career suicide." It's about being sued. Breaking an embargo or terms of use is breaching a legally binding contract.
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If they had journalistic integrity the. They wouldn't sign into those agreements to begin with. They could get out there and investigate and try to dig up some details outside of signing an NDA and just waiting to get spoon fed. But what I was more referring to was all this twitter BS. I doubt they have any agreement that is legally keeping them from speaking about what they are all up in arms about, just doesn't seem likely. They are simply afraid to bite the hand that feeds.
 
Mcmasters said:
Nnnot really. The review is based off of the entire film. When my team and I have a pre screening we allow our VP members to see the entire feature and then give their opinion. We wouldnt know what to change or if there needs to be a re-shoot if we only showed what we wanted them to see. Most reviews are based on the master edit or in the can.

Previews maybe. Not reviews....
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I'm not talking about being given access to the full film. Of course reviewers watch the full film. I'm talking about post-screening reviews. A reviewer is given a screening of the full film, then given media assets (photos, video, b-roll) to incorporate into their review. The reviewer is not permitted to select any scene or clip they want from the film to incorporate into the review; they are only permitted to use the media they are given by PR.
 
The Wolf King said:
If the reviewer gives an honest review the footage shouldn't matter as much.
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aceattorney said:
That's why reviewers aren't restricted in terms of being able to express criticism. They are fully capable of doing so, and they don't need video footage to criticize.
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That only works if the reviewer is able to play the entire game before the review, and only can use approved footage in the review (which yes is a common practice in other industries), but some of this is leading to that reviewers are not getting review copies of games and are instead given controlled environment footage to review. This type of practice would not allow an nonrestrictive honest criticism
 
xbgamer7 said:
Seriously why isn't Sony getting more slack for this? If MS did this the press and forums would be rip them a new one.
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If its true that this is only effecting the small journalists then the big ones won't report it.
 
Obscene Jester said:
If they had journalistic integrity the. They wouldn't sign into those agreements to begin with. They could get out there and investigate and try to dig up some details outside of signing an NDA and just waiting to get spoon fed. But what I was more referring to was all this twitter BS. I doubt they have any agreement that is legally keeping them from speaking about what they are all up in arms about, just doesn't seem likely. They are simply afraid to bite the hand that feeds.
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I'm not so sure we're talking about the same things. Anyway, journalistic integrity and getting info based on an NDA do not conflict with each other.

And when so much BS floats around online, it's pretty dishonest to post unsubstantiated rumors you might come across, and pass them off as fact.
 
A7MAD said:
It's the weekend? Not for me but you guys I mean.
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Day doesn't matter with gaming news, bad press comes out about MS on on weekends all the time. Also, just look at yesterday, before we found out the bad news had nothing to do with MS everyone thought it was MS doing something shady and it was all over ign, gaf, n4g. This, barely a blip.
 
xbgamer7 said:
Seriously why isn't Sony getting more slack for this? If MS did this the press and forums would be rip them a new one.
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Not that I am trying to defend any of these behaviors, but from what I hear, both Sony and Microsoft are doing this. Keep in mind, they are not doing anything to the big sites (IGN, GS, GT etc) and this only affects the small fry review sites. Again, not saying this is right neccesarily, but honestly these companies have the right to do whatever they want with their properties until they are released.
 
xbgamer7 said:
Day doesn't matter with gaming news, bad press comes out about MS on on weekends all the time. Also, just look at yesterday, before we found out the bad news had nothing to do with MS everyone thought it was MS doing something shady and it was all over ign, gaf, n4g. This, barely a blip.
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Does it take effect on the weekend though? Devs & corp guys are all at home...
 
aceattorney said:
I'm not talking about being given access to the full film. Of course reviewers watch the full film. I'm talking about post-screening reviews. A reviewer is given a screening of the full film, then given media assets (photos, video, b-roll) to incorporate into their review. The reviewer is not permitted to select any scene or clip they want from the film to incorporate into the review; they are only permitted to use the media they are given by PR.
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My mistake. I guess I misunderstood you. Proceed...:)
 
aceattorney said:
I'm not so sure we're talking about the same things. Anyway, journalistic integrity and getting info based on an NDA do not conflict with each other.
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They do when the terms of the NDA keep you from being honest about games or even restrict what parts you can be honest about.
 
xbgamer7 said:
Day doesn't matter with gaming news, bad press comes out about MS on on weekends all the time. Also, just look at yesterday, before we found out the bad news had nothing to do with MS everyone thought it was MS doing something shady and it was all over ign, gaf, n4g. This, barely a blip.
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Yeah. I was just going to say this.... Good job! :)
 
Obscene Jester said:
They do when the terms of the NDA keep you from being honest about games or even restrict what parts you can be honest about.
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I've seen a lot of NDAs as a part of reviews, and they don't say anything about not being honest. Most of them have to do with embargo dates more than anything else.
 
Obscene Jester said:
Not that I am trying to defend any of these behaviors, but from what I hear, both Sony and Microsoft are doing this. Keep in mind, they are not doing anything to the big sites (IGN, GS, GT etc) and this only affects the small fry review sites. Again, not saying this is right neccesarily, but honestly these companies have the right to do whatever they want with their properties until they are released.
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Microsoft isnt doing this for the X1 however. The tour is already underway with retail units. Consumers are getting hands on with the X1 right now. Sony at the moment, are trying to control the perspective before consumers get their hands on the product. Two different practices here.
 
I only read through the 1st couple pages and I just wanna say even though PV is a obvious xb fan(so what) it seems to me that he has went out of his way to make this a fair multi-format gaming site and I hope his vision takes off.
Also PV will eventually get a ps4 and gaming PC I think :banana:
 
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Mcmasters said:
Microsoft isnt doing this for the X1 however. The tour is already underway with retail units. Consumers are getting hands on with the X1 right now. Sony at the moment, are trying to control the perspective before consumers get their hands on the product. Two different practices here.
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Exactly.

aceattorney said:
I've seen a lot of NDAs as a part of reviews, and they don't say anything about not being honest. Most of them have to do with embargo dates more than anything else.
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Ace I knew you were an xbox mvp, but did you ever do reviews?
 
For those of you who haven't put 2+2 together...

The problem with review events is that you only get invited and get all the nice swag, the nice hotel room and beach access if you get invited to the review event. If Sony is unhappy with your review you don't get the invite to the next review event.

The PS4 is having massive technical problems, and the reviewers are being asked to review it at one of these review events. The reviewers all know that if they review the PS4 honestly they are ending their career as they will never be able to review another Sony product again.

There is no direct quid-pro-quo, it is implied.
 
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XBoxNeo said:
For those of you who haven't put 2+2 together...

The problem with review events is that you only get invited and get all the nice swag, the nice hotel room and beach access if you get invited to the review event. If Sony is unhappy with your review you don't get the invite to the next review event.

The PS4 is having massive technical problems, and the reviewers are being asked to review it at one of these review events. The reviewers all know that if they review the PS4 honestly they are ending their career as they will never be able to review another Sony product again.

There is no direct quid-pro-quo, it is implied.
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Damn....
 
xbgamer7 said:
Exactly.

Ace I knew you were an xbox mvp, but did you ever do reviews?
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Yep, I was recently re-awarded the Xbox MVP award (I think this is my seventh consecutive year). I do video game previews and reviews, but not frequently. Doing journalistic stuff is a hobby of mine, and not my job, so if I get the opportunity and have the time, I'll do it.

XBoxNeo said:
For those of you who haven't put 2+2 together...

The problem with review events is that you only get invited and get all the nice swag, the nice hotel room and beach access if you get invited to the review event. If Sony is unhappy with your review you don't get the invite to the next review event.

The PS4 is having massive technical problems, and the reviewers are being asked to review it at one of these review events. The reviewers all know that if they review the PS4 honestly they are ending their career as they will never be able to review another Sony product again.

There is no direct quid-pro-quo, it is implied.
Click to expand...

Yes, there is a fear of being blacklisted, but Sony's not afraid of negativity from journalists. Most companies welcome criticism, so long as it is reasonable, and that the positive aspects of the game/system are also discussed.

My feeling is that Sony just wants to control their messaging perfectly to avoid what Microsoft has been accused of doing (i.e., mishandling their messaging). Sony probably also is finalizing their online services up to the last minute, so allowing press to dig into stuff that isn't ready doesn't make much sense.
 
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aceattorney said:
Yep, I was recently re-awarded the Xbox MVP award (I think this is my seventh consecutive year). I do video game previews and reviews, but not frequently. Doing journalistic stuff is a hobby of mine, and not my job, so if I get the opportunity and have the time, I'll do it.



Yes, there is a fear of being blacklisted, but Sony's not afraid of negativity from journalists. Most companies welcome criticism, so long as it is reasonable, and that the positive aspects of the game/system are also discussed.

My feeling is that Sony just wants to control their messaging perfectly to avoid what Microsoft has been accused of doing (i.e., mishandling their messaging). Sony probably also is finalizing their online services up to the last minute, so allowing press to dig into stuff that isn't ready doesn't make much sense.
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Then by that logic, Microsoft SHOULD be doing the same thing as Sony in this regard or just a complete flip flop of circumstances all together. Still confusing to me at least....
 
I am one of the reviewers being affected by this
i will not give out my name or which review site i work for, because i don't want to risk getting found out
Essentially, what the problem is, is that the big devs for next gen consoles are adopting a new policy (and by "big devs" i mean almost every dev for the new consoles at launch)
Essentially, the policy does two things. First, if we want to make a review, we have to send it to the company of the game being reviewed and get the review accepted before we can publish it without it being taken down. Secondly, it makes it so that we have to sign terms with companies before reviewing their games.
The reason this is only affecting SOME of us, is because we are assigned games each, and some of us have to go out and sign these policies with the publishers before we can do a review. The problem here, is that some publishers (Such as EA and Ubisoft) are making us play their games in their studios, under their supervision, and on their consoles. One dev required that I had to go to the studio and watch one of the developers play the game while i watched and took notes which would then be published as a review (that would have to be accepted by the dev first.)
The reason Sessler is upset, is because he doesn't think this is Morally acceptable. He wants to review games how he likes, but since developers are making us do silly thiungs like watch them play, he's upset and doesn't wanna be a part of this big "scandal" (as Sessler told me) that they are putting on, which would essentially turn "Reviews" into "Advertisements".
you could say he's overreacting and being childish, but as someone who has worked with him before, i can really understand why he's so angry. I'm angry too, you know.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?fo...he_industry/&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13828998365146
 
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M.Wallace said:
I am one of the reviewers being affected by this
i will not give out my name or which review site i work for, because i don't want to risk getting found out
Essentially, what the problem is, is that the big devs for next gen consoles are adopting a new policy (and by "big devs" i mean almost every dev for the new consoles at launch)
Essentially, the policy does two things. First, if we want to make a review, we have to send it to the company of the game being reviewed and get the review accepted before we can publish it without it being taken down. Secondly, it makes it so that we have to sign terms with companies before reviewing their games.
The reason this is only affecting SOME of us, is because we are assigned games each, and some of us have to go out and sign these policies with the publishers before we can do a review. The problem here, is that some publishers (Such as EA and Ubisoft) are making us play their games in their studios, under their supervision, and on their consoles. One dev required that I had to go to the studio and watch one of the developers play the game while i watched and took notes which would then be published as a review (that would have to be accepted by the dev first.)
The reason Sessler is upset, is because he doesn't think this is Morally acceptable. He wants to review games how he likes, but since developers are making us do silly thiungs like watch them play, he's upset and doesn't wanna be a part of this big "scandal" (as Sessler told me) that they are putting on, which would essentially turn "Reviews" into "Advertisements".
you could say he's overreacting and being childish, but as someone who has worked with him before, i can really understand why he's so angry. I'm angry too, you know.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=de2ccb8ca8943c06669720e0a267a9f6&loc=http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=705022&v=1&libId=bfc6b067-6dc1-4495-9bcd-e474ce048635&out=http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1pbsgd/regarding_sesslers_bad_news_about_the_industry/&ref=http://www.neogaf.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2&title=Regarding Sessler's "bad news" about the industry - NeoGAF&txt=http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/commen..._the_industry/&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13828998365146
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Well that situation doesn't sound ideal at all, would turn most reviews into more BS then they are now
 
Yeah, if that's true, I completely understand why he's angry. Seems like there should be some sort of legal way around this. I assume if they wait until the game releases officially, and play it and review after, they can say anything they want?
 
Good find MW!

Seems like it's not just Sony if this is accurate, seeing as EA and Ubi are mentioned!
 
M.Wallace said:
I am one of the reviewers being affected by this
i will not give out my name or which review site i work for, because i don't want to risk getting found out
Essentially, what the problem is, is that the big devs for next gen consoles are adopting a new policy (and by "big devs" i mean almost every dev for the new consoles at launch)
Essentially, the policy does two things. First, if we want to make a review, we have to send it to the company of the game being reviewed and get the review accepted before we can publish it without it being taken down. Secondly, it makes it so that we have to sign terms with companies before reviewing their games.
The reason this is only affecting SOME of us, is because we are assigned games each, and some of us have to go out and sign these policies with the publishers before we can do a review. The problem here, is that some publishers (Such as EA and Ubisoft) are making us play their games in their studios, under their supervision, and on their consoles. One dev required that I had to go to the studio and watch one of the developers play the game while i watched and took notes which would then be published as a review (that would have to be accepted by the dev first.)
The reason Sessler is upset, is because he doesn't think this is Morally acceptable. He wants to review games how he likes, but since developers are making us do silly thiungs like watch them play, he's upset and doesn't wanna be a part of this big "scandal" (as Sessler told me) that they are putting on, which would essentially turn "Reviews" into "Advertisements".
you could say he's overreacting and being childish, but as someone who has worked with him before, i can really understand why he's so angry. I'm angry too, you know.

http://api.viglink.com/api/click?format=go&key=de2ccb8ca8943c06669720e0a267a9f6&loc=http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=705022&v=1&libId=bfc6b067-6dc1-4495-9bcd-e474ce048635&out=http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1pbsgd/regarding_sesslers_bad_news_about_the_industry/&ref=http://www.neogaf.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=2&title=Regarding Sessler's "bad news" about the industry - NeoGAF&txt=http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/commen..._the_industry/&jsonp=vglnk_jsonp_13828998365146
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Interesting. So it sounds like this fuss is about what big publishers are doing, not about the PS4. Jumping to conclusions confirmed (maybe, I don't want to jump to conclusions myself).
 
This sounds totally believable to me. Apparently, these scumbag corporations weren't happy enough with review embargoes that prevent people reading about how sh*tty their games are until launch day. Now they need to interfere with the review content itself. If reviews are going to be tampered with like this, I'm going to be buying far fewer games, and I'll just rent everything. We'll see how they like that.
 
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