why do reviews come out at such erratic times?

some games a week early, some a week late. is it solely at the request of the game's publisher (or whoever) or is it solely based on when the reviewers get the game? i would imagine it also has to do with how long the game may take to review, but even huge games like fallout 3 and skyrim were reviewed day 1 (if i recall correctly). im sure the answer is a simple one but im a bit curious.

It depends on when the publishers give the game to the critics or maybe the word 'allow' is more appropriate. Sometimes, they give it to them beforehand, sometimes, it's on the public release date.

You're talking about embargoes. Sometimes embargoes are imposed to curtail any negative press about flaws or to prevent spoilers about a game until it's released.

To answer the bold, the reviewers were probably given the game 1 or 2 weeks par to release. So it would give them enough time to see most of the game and so they can write their review.

All of the above. It depends on when the reviewers get the game, if publishers have an embargo, how long it takes to review the game, or what type of game it is.

Yeah I forgot they are called that. But in case of Destiny, the embargo felt like 'Don't do this now or we'll lose our money'.

ya shitty games prevent reviews from being released early cause they know their game sucks and will hurt their sales. Most developers games that are good they have no fears and don't care if they release reviews early.

Actually most big name releases nowadays have embargoes of some kind.

Examples include today's reviews of Borderlands: The Pre Sequel, and Bayonetta 2 (which is very early as it releases on the 24th), usually games have an embargo of the day before release or the actual day of release itself. A good example would be The Evil Within, which has an embargo date of tomorrow.

Some worldly advice, it's always been like this, at least the last 18 years I've been a gamer. There's no set in stone release date for reviews.