GameSpot's Beef With NIS

No review for Disgaea 4 yet? And still no review for ClaDun 2 or Zettai Hero Project, even though both are excellent PSP games from eons ago? There's time here to review a fitness game by a Spice Girl, but not legitimately engaging software? Did NIS run over GameSpot's dog or something?

why does it matter ... you have obviously already formed your opinion. Why do you need other peoples opinion?

Getting good press here is a useful source of buzz and promotion for smaller developers. And there are plenty of people who don't follow NIS that might like to know that there are good games out there they haven't heard of. People who keep asking where the good RPGs are, for example.

I'm guessing NISA doesn't give Gamespot any ad revenue. That's how things work these days. The more you pay, the better your score, and if there's a 'misunderstanding' then the reviewer gets fired. It's sad because it *should* be the job of reviewers to let people know of games with smaller budgets that they'd otherwise never hear of. That's how it works in the movie industry anyway. here it's the complete opposite

I'm guessing NISA doesn't give Gamespot any ad revenue. That's how things work these days. The more you pay, the better your score, and if there's a 'misunderstanding' then the reviewer gets fired. It's sad because it *should* be the job of reviewers to let people know of games with smaller budgets that they'd otherwise never hear of. That's how it works in the movie industry anyway. here it's the complete opposite

istuffedsunny

Or there's the more prosaic reason that GS review games that people really want to play...which also tend to be the games with the large publishers and large marketing budgets.

For good or ill, a larger number of users would be up in arms over the lack of a CoD (version whatever) than a more niche title, which has to wait.

I think some people confuse "Conspiracy" with "Market forces".

The strange thing is that I always thought Gamespot and IGn walked together in their gaming thoughts, but IGN reviewed Disgaea 4 and actually gave it a good score, and Gamespot didn't show any sign of recognition to the game. Which is awesome by the way.

Or there's the more prosaic reason that GS review games that people really want to play...which also tend to be the games with the large publishers and large marketing budgets.

LordRork

What, like Skydrift? Hector: Badge of Carnage? We Dance? GameSpot does countless reviews of small/indie releases, and I'm glad for it. They just seem to have a blind spot with NIS. I doubt there was a huge outcry of people here demanding the scoop on Street Cleaning Simulator, made by that juggernaut Excalibur Publishing. Maybe I missed it.

From what I understand, GameSpot decides which games to review partly based on the amount of traffic individual game pages get, the ones with the higher traffic getting priority while the ones with much lower traffic rarely get reviewed. It could be that NIS' games simply haven't had enough interest shown to justify reviews for them.

[QUOTE="LordRork"]

Or there's the more prosaic reason that GS review games that people really want to play...which also tend to be the games with the large publishers and large marketing budgets.

Rottenwood

What, like Skydrift? Hector: Badge of Carnage? We Dance? GameSpot does countless reviews of small/indie releases, and I'm glad for it. They just seem to have a blind spot with NIS. I doubt there was a huge outcry of people here demanding the scoop on Street Cleaning Simulator, made by that juggernaut Excalibur Publishing. Maybe I missed it.

[QUOTE="Rottenwood"]

[QUOTE="LordRork"]

Or there's the more prosaic reason that GS review games that people really want to play...which also tend to be the games with the large publishers and large marketing budgets.

Greyfeld

What, like Skydrift? Hector: Badge of Carnage? We Dance? GameSpot does countless reviews of small/indie releases, and I'm glad for it. They just seem to have a blind spot with NIS. I doubt there was a huge outcry of people here demanding the scoop on Street Cleaning Simulator, made by that juggernaut Excalibur Publishing. Maybe I missed it.

You do understand NIS is just a publisher right?

Good question, I'll poke around and see what I can find.

UPDATE!

Okay so I know FOR A FACT that Disgaea 4 is currently being reviewed and it should be posted in the not too distant future. As for the other games I'm getting ready to hunt down Justin now ;)

You do understand NIS is just a publisher right?

Ravirr

You do know NIS publishes and develops the Disgaea franchise, right?

Getting good press here is a useful source of buzz and promotion for smaller developers. And there are plenty of people who don't follow NIS that might like to know that there are good games out there they haven't heard of. People who keep asking where the good RPGs are, for example.

Rottenwood

I really think you are giving gamespot a lot more credit than they deserve. I honestly don't think that a review done by one site is going to change the minds of people who are more apt to purchase a copy of this game after talking with like minded people than reading a review by one of the faceless masses.

To sum up ... reviews don't matter.

I really think you are giving gamespot a lot more credit than they deserve. I honestly don't think that a review done by one site is going to change the minds of people who are more apt to purchase a copy of this game after talking with like minded people than reading a review by one of the faceless masses.

To sum up ... reviews don't matter.

discipleofsin

Interesting, what about the reviewers at GameSpot makes you feel as though they are faceless?

Would quote but gs is acting up. Anyways, yeah I know they they developed disgaea but they also publish a lot more. Much like the other games he listed. This isn't gamespots beef with disgaea thread :3

Well, seeing Disgaea 4 get nearly the same score as Dead Island makes me a little sick, but considering that I have played neither thus far I cannot say more.

[QUOTE="discipleofsin"]

I really think you are giving gamespot a lot more credit than they deserve. I honestly don't think that a review done by one site is going to change the minds of people who are more apt to purchase a copy of this game after talking with like minded people than reading a review by one of the faceless masses.

To sum up ... reviews don't matter.

Synthia

Interesting, what about the reviewers at GameSpot makes you feel as though they are faceless?

heh ... don't feel too offended, it's not Gamespot it's the Internet. Also, I have never seen their faces ... and the fact that, as previously stated, reviews don't matter.

Not a very good review. The only thing I read in it remotely negative was "more of the same" stuff, and I guess that's legit enough but I don't see why it only scored a 7.5. There has been a lot of GS reviews with "more of the same" yet some of them still managed to score much higher. It seems that Gamespot just doesn't care much for games that aren't hyped mainstream blockbusters.

I think this Disgaea is significantly better than all previous ones. Even the characters are better than the original game. I'd give it a solid 8.5.

Good question, I'll poke around and see what I can find.

UPDATE!

Okay so I know FOR A FACT that Disgaea 4 is currently being reviewed and it should be posted in the not too distant future. As for the other games I'm getting ready to hunt down Justin now ;)

Synthia

As always, Synthia, you are the best. The gal goes on the case, and hours later, the review pops up. I might call on you later to get my broker to stop screening my calls.

It's a conspiracy to try to secretly sabotage one of your favorite developers, hoping that their bankruptcy would make your life horribly miserable. On a more serious note, having NIS crash and burn would be one of the better things to happen to the gaming industry. Maybe it'll create a JRPG vacuum that somebody who doesn't rehash the same game every 3 years will fill, so we can get some good games.Greyfeld

Somebody's a Grumpy Gus!

Somebody's a Grumpy Gus!

Rottenwood

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was a fantastic game. Aside from being a deep strategic experience, it had likeable characters and an interesting storyline. Every Disgaea since then has gradually increased in complexity, while decreasing in depth. In addition, all they've done in the past decade is pump out fanservice games for the tiny niche market that they corner, and slap their names on any low-budget title that gets to production.

I'm not so much grumpy as I am tired of seeing my favorite genre flooded by horrible games from a company that should have folded a long time ago. Atlus is pretty much the only company that puts out decent JRPGs anymore.

[QUOTE="Rottenwood"]

Somebody's a Grumpy Gus!

Greyfeld

Disgaea: Hour of Darkness was a fantastic game. Aside from being a deep strategic experience, it had likeable characters and an interesting storyline. Every Disgaea since then has gradually increased in complexity, while decreasing in depth. In addition, all they've done in the past decade is pump out fanservice games for the tiny niche market that they corner, and slap their names on any low-budget title that gets to production.

I'm not so much grumpy as I am tired of seeing my favorite genre flooded by horrible games from a company that should have folded a long time ago. Atlus is pretty much the only company that puts out decent JRPGs anymore.

If you had any appreciation for tactical rpgs, you wouldn't dislike games like Disgaea 4 (which is the first Disgaea sequel which is better than the original across the board), Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom. All of the games I mentioned did interesting things in the tactical rpg genre (a genre Atlus effectively left when NIS decided to start publishing in the US).

And if you think Atlus is the only company that puts out decent jrpgs, that means you've skipped games like Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together and Valkyria Chronicles. Clearly you are one of those gamers who clings to one company like a baby to its mother's skirts.If that is enough for you, fine, but you only reveal your lack of knowledge when you post about games which aren't made by your chosen company. Atlus is a publisher worthy of respect, but by focusing on Atlus and only Atlus you are missing out on a lot of great games.