Comments on: Publisher Influence on Gaming Press http://news.filefront.com/publisher-influence-on-gaming-press/ News for Gamers Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:36:36 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=abc hourly 1 By: Ron http://news.filefront.com/publisher-influence-on-gaming-press/comment-page-1/#comment-8027 Ron Fri, 06 Jul 2007 13:10:30 +0000 http://news.filefront.com/publisher-influence-on-gaming-press/#comment-8027 It's important to keep in mind what was said at the end of that piece. Something to the effect of 'if I say a bad game is good, I'll lose my readers.' This is most definitely the case. Sure, you can miss a review every once in a while, but if you have a loyal readership, and you continually bombard them with reviews that give bad games good scores, they're going to go looking elsewhere for that content. This type of behavior isn't reserved to the gaming industry, but it does appear to be a bit more prominent here. I'd also point out that the reason that a title like Fallout 3 is gracing 20 magazine covers is not because those writers were invited to Bethesda. It's because a vast number of gamers are interested in that title. Let's face it, it's all about numbers (mag sales, circulation, hits, whatever). Putting Fallout 3 on the cover garners numbers, so whether or not a junket was involved, those covers were going to happen. It’s important to keep in mind what was said at the end of that piece. Something to the effect of ‘if I say a bad game is good, I’ll lose my readers.’ This is most definitely the case. Sure, you can miss a review every once in a while, but if you have a loyal readership, and you continually bombard them with reviews that give bad games good scores, they’re going to go looking elsewhere for that content. This type of behavior isn’t reserved to the gaming industry, but it does appear to be a bit more prominent here.

I’d also point out that the reason that a title like Fallout 3 is gracing 20 magazine covers is not because those writers were invited to Bethesda. It’s because a vast number of gamers are interested in that title. Let’s face it, it’s all about numbers (mag sales, circulation, hits, whatever). Putting Fallout 3 on the cover garners numbers, so whether or not a junket was involved, those covers were going to happen.

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