Huge Controversy brewing. Eurogamer, Square Enix, Microsoft, Geoff Keighley

First of all, I am so disappointed that this hasn't been posted here. I hope to god it was posted and I somehow missed it, but if the biggest developing story in the gaming industry isn't posted here two days after breaking then there is no hope left for this forum.

Anyway, a free lance Eurogamer writer wrote this article about this Geoff Keighley pic and game journalists effectively acting as Video Game PR.

Geoff Keighley, meanwhile, is sitting beside a table of snacks. A table of delicious Doritos and refreshing Mountain Dew. He is, as you'll see on Wikipedia, "only one of two journalists, the other being 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace, profiled in the Harvard Business School press book 'Geeks and Geezers' by noted leadership expert Warren Bennis." Geoff Keighley is important. He is a leader in his field. He once said, "There's such a lack of investigative journalism. I wish I had more time to do more, sort of, investigation." And yet there he sits, glassy-eyed, beside a table heaving with sickly Doritos and Mountain Dew.

It's an important image. Study it.Eurogamer

As depressing as that article was, the controversy that followed was even more disgusting. Apparently, the article originally called out two game journalists by name, quoted their tweets about pimping Tomb Raider and other PR freebies. One of those two game journos threatened legal action over her inclusion in the article and Eurogamer was forced to redact that part of the article, forcing the writer of the piece to leave Eurogamer.

This is the part Eurogamer removed from the article.

One games journalist, Lauren Wainwright, tweeted: "Urm... Trion were giving away PS3s to journalists at the GMAs. Not sure why that's a bad thing?"

Now, a few tweets earlier, she also tweeted this: "Lara header, two TR pix in the gallery and a very subtle TR background. #obsessed @tombraider pic.twitter.com/VOWDSavZ"

And instantly I am suspicious. I am suspicious of this journalist's apparent love for Tomb Raider. I am asking myself whether she's in the pocket of the Tomb Raider PR team. I'm sure she isn't, but the doubt is there. After all, she sees nothing wrong with journalists promoting a game to win a PS3, right?

Another journalist, one of the winners of the PS3 competition, tweeted this at disgusted RPS writer John Walker: "It was a hashtag, not an advert. Get off the pedestal." Now, this was Dave Cook, a guy I've met before. A good guy, as far as I could tell. But I don't believe for one second that Dave doesn't understand that in this time of social media madness a hashtag is just as powerful as an advert. Either he's on the defensive or he doesn't get what being a journalist is actually about.Eurogamer

After Eurogamer apologized to this Lauren Wainwright on twitter, the writer of the article resigned. See his tweets below.

And lastly, this is Lauren Wainwright's twitter page. Notice how she is still marketing Tomb Raider. What a f*cking joke.

https://twitter.com/atheistium?protected_redirect=true

The Keighley thing is dumb. The man works on TV, he has to have ads, there is NOTHING wrong with that picture. He is not reviewing games. He is promoting games on a TV show. The man is about as professional as it gets in this industry.

dvader654

Thanks for the summary.

As for there being nothing wrong in the picture, I like Geoff keighley. Unlike most of gaf, I am with you in that the guy is sincere and probably the only person I respect in the industry. But that pic is emblematic of the gaming journalism's close ties with the PR departments... as the article describes. Geoff may just be doing his job, but the other journos are in bed with publishers and that's what the article points out.

P.S I get it. Geoff is basically an access hollywood interviewer/ryan secrest of this industryt, but still you HAVE to draw the line somewhere.

I meant to post about this when I learned of it this morning. Then XCOM arrived...

The whole situation is disgusting. Some "journalists" (there are very few who work in this field who deserve that title) who are obviously participating in shady business get called out, and this is how one of them responds. Disgraceful.

The game industry is so dirty, and Keighley has been on his knees mouth agape for years now. Unfortunately the poster boy for corporate handpuppetry is basically the gamers spokesperson to the world at large. So many people think this industry is on the level, but the whole thing is dirty. Developers rely on publishers, publishers rely on advertisement, gaming journalism rely's on all three so they are bed with developers, publishers and advertisers all at the same time. And if you think that the primary media coverage network for an industry that happens to be funded by the publishers who are making the games they are presenting to us in the first place isn't a conflict of interest and integrity then you are just like Keighley. Surrounded by Doritos, on your knees waiting to take it on the chin. Except you aren't even getting paid.GodModeEnabled

Unfortunately, that's how entertainment journalism works. Access to the material you cover can only be granted by the same people who, regretfully, pay for the majority of your advertising spots. I'd love for there to be an alternative method, but...

Unfortunately, that's how entertainment journalism works. Access to the material you cover can only be granted by the same people who, regretfully, pay for the majority of your advertising spots. I'd love for there to be an alternative method, but...

c_rake

If only Consumer Reports would start reviewing games....

the whole thing is pretty disgusting. you read articles and you want to believe that it is genuine enthusiasm for the game (cynical as i am, there are still big games worth getting excited about) but there are second thoughts sometimes.

Square Enix strikes again, first Jeff...and now this guy...this basically a repeat all over again, except this time legal threats were involved.
What does Microsoft have to do with this again?

the whole thing is pretty disgusting. you read articles and you want to believe that it is genuine enthusiasm for the game (cynical as i am, there are still big games worth getting excited about) but there are second thoughts sometimes.LoG-Sacrament

In my experience, 99% of review dealings are clean. Usually it's just, "Here's a code for our game!" then it's off to review it. Don't hear from them again until it's time to obtain another review code. Reviews only regularly get dirty when exclusivity is involved since those almost always come with conditions that must be met.

To be fair, what is the significant difference in a publisher offering moneys to a gaming interest site for their advertising space and a publisher offering a specific blogger moneys or prizes for their advertising space? I don't really use any of these places for reviews, but I don't see a big difference there. It's all pretty bad.

The gross part is everybody defending it acting like it's not bad at all, but that's kinda the industry as a whole that they work in. Most gaming blogs work that way, and most of them have worked that way since even the old gaming magazine days. I liked PC Gamer back in the 90s, but even then half of it was nothing but ads.

Does anyone who's an adult, actually believe that any "business" is about anything else besides making the most money? Integrity? Professionalism? Ethics? Passion for the hobby? roflmaono

[QUOTE="LoG-Sacrament"]the whole thing is pretty disgusting. you read articles and you want to believe that it is genuine enthusiasm for the game (cynical as i am, there are still big games worth getting excited about) but there are second thoughts sometimes.c_rake

In my experience, 99% of review dealings are clean. Usually it's just, "Here's a code for our game!" then it's off to review it. Don't hear from them again until it's time to obtain another review code. Reviews only regularly get dirty when exclusivity is involved since those almost always come with conditions that must be met.

Bottom line, it's a dirty game whatever court you play on and the truth will usually burn the messenger no matter how noble the cause. It's not what you know, but who you know, or in some people's cases, who's ass they're kissing.The new Tomb Raider is not on my 'must get' list anyway.

[QUOTE="GodModeEnabled"]The game industry is so dirty, and Keighley has been on his knees mouth agape for years now. Unfortunately the poster boy for corporate handpuppetry is basically the gamers spokesperson to the world at large. So many people think this industry is on the level, but the whole thing is dirty. Developers rely on publishers, publishers rely on advertisement, gaming journalism rely's on all three so they are bed with developers, publishers and advertisers all at the same time. And if you think that the primary media coverage network for an industry that happens to be funded by the publishers who are making the games they are presenting to us in the first place isn't a conflict of interest and integrity then you are just like Keighley. Surrounded by Doritos, on your knees waiting to take it on the chin. Except you aren't even getting paid.c_rake

Unfortunately, that's how entertainment journalism works. Access to the material you cover can only be granted by the same people who, regretfully, pay for the majority of your advertising spots. I'd love for there to be an alternative method, but...

The vast majority of "games journalism" is a joke. Most of these so-called journalists serve as nothing but puppets for the big gaming companies to promote their games. The fact that Eurogamer got threatened with legal action for this article (Eurogamer has since edited it) says a lot about the current state of the industry.

The vast majority of "games journalism" is a joke. Most of these so-called journalists serve as nothing but puppets for the big gaming companies to promote their games. The fact that Eurogamer got threatened with legal action for this article (Eurogamer has since edited it) says a lot about the current state of the industry.Vari3ty

In their defense, accusations of libelity are extremely harsh in the UK. I can understand why they'd buckle in that case, though I still hate that the persons responsible for the lawsuit were able to get away with it.

if any of you actually know Robert Florence you would probably agree with him i've been following his work since the days of him being on BBC1 scotland, the man wrote one of the biggest comedies shown in Scotland right now and he's very passionate bout videogames and worked for xbox live, i stand by Robert he's a gen up guy.

But fair play to him, he's probably better off working on burnistoun which i can see them using as a platform for inevitably throwing a dig or 2 at these people.

if any of you actually know Robert Florence you would probably agree with him i've been following his work since the days of him being on BBC1 scotland, the man wrote one of the biggest comedies shown in Scotland right now and he's very passionate bout videogames and worked for xbox live, i stand by Robert he's a gen up guy.

But fair play to him, he's probably better off working on burnistoun which i can see them using as a platform for inevitably throwing a dig or 2 at these people.

razgriz_101

In all honesty, I don't read much of Eurogamer and had never heard of him before reading his article, but respect to him for starting discussion on a subject that is altogether ignored by the gaming press. I wish him the best of luck.

I find it silly to place huge concern on whether or not reviewers are "in bed" with publishers. If this is a widespread problem then publishers are getting shafted on their end of the deal left and right from the looks of things, unless Capcom wanted the RE series to look like garbage. Perhaps EA planned for Warfighter to get a lukewarm reception.

I'm not denying that there is an issue, I think it tends to get blown out of proportion by those who do talk about it though.

[QUOTE="razgriz_101"]

if any of you actually know Robert Florence you would probably agree with him i've been following his work since the days of him being on BBC1 scotland, the man wrote one of the biggest comedies shown in Scotland right now and he's very passionate bout videogames and worked for xbox live, i stand by Robert he's a gen up guy.

But fair play to him, he's probably better off working on burnistoun which i can see them using as a platform for inevitably throwing a dig or 2 at these people.

Vari3ty

In all honesty, I don't read much of Eurogamer and had never heard of him before reading his article, but respect to him for starting discussion on a subject that is altogether ignored by the gaming press. I wish him the best of luck.

hahah trust me, i've actually been fortunate to meet him in Glasgow, and what he said is true its a complete farse.He's a guy who's probably done more than these "journalists" could ever imagine he was a core writer for Chewin the Fat,Mock the Week and a few others aswell as a driving force behind burnistoun.

It's no skin of his nose and to an extent further points out what he's said as being prety much true.

I cant decide who the worst Geoff is:

Any ideas, dvader and S0lid? :P

If this is a widespread problem then publishers are getting shafted on their end of the deal left and right from the looks of things, unless Capcom wanted the RE series to look like garbage.Assassin_87

Ehh...the last whistleblowing journalist said that Japanese developers (particularly Nintendo, possibly also Capcom) tend not to buy their reviews.

Plus I would argue that RE6's reviews represent the dangers of going the complete opposite direction of buying reviews - reviewers having complete freedom to review their games with absolutely no reference to standards or common sense. If RE6 is a 4, 3 or 2 out of ten, there's no way that we should ever see more than a few games scoring 7s or 8s every year. 9s should be an absolutely monumental occurrence, with only a couple a generation, if that's the standard set by that review. /rant

Anyway, the Square Enix thing seems to be a much more interesting element to write an article about, but kudos to those few journalists who aren't afraid to point out the obvious.

OK, I'm a bit confused. Can someone explain to me exactly what is happening here, in the most basic terms possible? All I can figure out is someone is promoting Doritos and Tomb Raider and is doing so illegially, therefore causing a lot of lawyer threats to happen?

[QUOTE="Assassin_87"]If this is a widespread problem then publishers are getting shafted on their end of the deal left and right from the looks of things, unless Capcom wanted the RE series to look like garbage.Planeforger

Ehh...the last whistleblowing journalist said that Japanese developers (particularly Nintendo, possibly also Capcom) tend not to buy their reviews.

Plus I would argue that RE6's reviews represent the dangers of going the complete opposite direction of buying reviews - reviewers having complete freedom to review their games with absolutely no reference to standards or common sense. If RE6 is a 4, 3 or 2 out of ten, there's no way that we should ever see more than a few games scoring 7s or 8s every year. 9s should be an absolutely monumental occurrence, with only a couple a generation, if that's the standard set by that review. /rant

Anyway, the Square Enix thing seems to be a much more interesting element to write an article about, but kudos to those few journalists who aren't afraid to point out the obvious.

I didn't get past the demo, because my initial thoughts (posted in the RE6 thread) were the following.

I like the variety and commend Capcom for offering such a meaty demo, but the graphics were too dark, the controls too mushy, the camera was too close and too spastic and the AI of the enemies which were supposed to be intelligent is terrible. I might pick this up at a reduced price but $60 is too much.

Going back to the official thread, I saw that Capcom is now planning to fix the camera. Are they so out of touch they need gamers to point out the obvious to them? Its great that they made a game with such a meaty single player portion, but its a shame they focused on quantity and not quality. I care nothing about numbers, but the negative reviews of RE6 jibe with my experience of the demo.

Anyway, I don't think reviews should be popularity contests (Rule #1: Never criticize a popular franchise, Rule #2 Always make sure your opinions agree with those of everyone else...).

OK, I'm a bit confused. Can someone explain to me exactly what is happening here, in the most basic terms possible? All I can figure out is someone is promoting Doritos and Tomb Raider and is doing so illegially, therefore causing a lot of lawyer threats to happen?

Metamania

--SquareEnix employee got busted reviewing games

--website was threatened by lawsuit if info got published, they caved but head figure lost his job because of it

--reviews are not to be trusted

--gaming media is full of corruption

--nothing really new here

[QUOTE="Metamania"]

OK, I'm a bit confused. Can someone explain to me exactly what is happening here, in the most basic terms possible? All I can figure out is someone is promoting Doritos and Tomb Raider and is doing so illegially, therefore causing a lot of lawyer threats to happen?

Zen_Light

--SquareEnix employee got busted reviewing games

--website was threatened by lawsuit if info got published, they caved but head figure lost his job because of it

--reviews are not to be trusted

--gaming media is full of corruption

--nothing really new here

OK.

That works.

Thanks!

What a mess. There's only a few journalists in this industry that deserve to be called one and have some integrity. Haziqonfire

.

Thanks for the info man!

Robert Florence wrote a piece about the situation over on John Walker's (of Rock Paper Shotgun) blog. Worth a read.

Robert Florence wrote a piece about the situation over on John Walker's (of Rock Paper Shotgun) blog. Worth a read.

c_rake

Once again, a really good piece by Florence. People who are comfortable with the ways things are now are being incredibly ignorant.

Another article of interest on the situation courtesy of Giant Bomb's Patrick Klepek.

I dont consider keighly to be a journalist anyway. As for the other people who do indeed call themselves journalists..... well, lets say that i share the same view with totalbiscuit in his latest mailbox video.IAmNot_fun

To be fair, there are a few who truly qualify as a journalist (Klepek, for instance, along with the Rock Paper Shotgun crew, Penny Arcade Report's two writers, and a good portion of the Polygon staff). It's just that the majority of reporters working currently don't do much else but parrot what the press releases say.

I don't see what the problem is with the Geoff Keighley pic. It's simple product placement which is nothing new or insidious. As for the other stuff I think that just tends to get exaggerated. It happens from time to time but for the vast majority reviews tend to be straight up and honest or at least I haven't really experienced any glaring examples myself.Archangel3371

It meand GK is being paid by those sponsors and by Microsoft in a not-so-open capacity. That also means none of his "opinions" are his own, and that he is nothing more than a lapdog for paying companies.

Another article of interest on the situation courtesy of Giant Bomb's Patrick Klepek.

[QUOTE="IAmNot_fun"]I dont consider keighly to be a journalist anyway. As for the other people who do indeed call themselves journalists..... well, lets say that i share the same view with totalbiscuit in his latest mailbox video.c_rake

To be fair, there are a few who truly qualify as a journalist (Klepek, for instance, along with the Rock Paper Shotgun crew, Penny Arcade Report's two writers, and a good portion of the Polygon staff). It's just that the majority of reporters working currently don't do much else but parrot what the press releases say.

It's a shame that the publishers are able to have such a strong influence over many different aspects of the games industry, but I guess that's what happens when you have all of the money. Personally I don't think that the bigger gaming journalists are outright corrupt, and I'm glad Robert Florence doesn't think that's the case for Lauren Wainwright. What I do think is that it's too easy for publishers to exert a subtle influence on the preview/review/news process when they're cutting all of the checks.

Another article of interest on the situation courtesy of Giant Bomb's Patrick Klepek.

c_rake

Thanks for that. I figured he would make a comment on it, either on the Bombcast or on their site. Klepek also pretty much said what I thought he was going to say. That's why I love his work on the site.

The whole thing seems predicated on the assumption that the bloggers for gaming sites are some sort of "professional journalists" in the first place. I really don't see it that way at all. You've got some college kid who loves video games, like any kid he's a fanboy of certain games and doesn't like others, and he's not interested in various genres either. So he gets a job at a gaming site and he's sent to a big fancy meet 'n' greet put on by a publisher, he gets wined and dined, he gets to schmooze with the big guys - and he was a fanboy of this game franchise to start with. Do you really think you're going to get a fair and unbiased review of the game? Maybe if it was Walter Cronkite, but not this beer swillin' college kid.

Same with other un-hyped games that this guy isn't interested in. He blasts through game after game writing review after review, then he gets stuck reviewing this thing that he's not interested in and oh god...I am soooo bored. The game gets a crappy review just because he didn't want to play and was forced to in order to earn his paycheck. That's pretty obvious if you read some of these reviews.

That's why I think all this stuff about conflict of interest is a small secondary issue. Compared to the rampant unprofessionalism in the industry, it's hardly worth mentioning.

i don't know why people are getting touchy on advertising. advertising in games have been for the most part non invasive to a gaming experience. i'm not getting an advertisement for mcdonalds in mass effect or a ford car in final fantasy. there isnt an advertisment that pauses the game for 5 seconds. its either in game where it makes sense or its on a loading screen...

the weirdest one ive seen is ea advertising battlefield 1943 on a ring matt in fight night round 4

This isn't video game news. It's just stupid "journalists" bickering. It does effect us or the industry.

i don't know why people are getting touchy on advertising. advertising in games have been for the most part non invasive to a gaming experience. i'm not getting an advertisement for mcdonalds in mass effect or a ford car in final fantasy. there isnt an advertisment that pauses the game for 5 seconds. its either in game where it makes sense or its on a loading screen...

the weirdest one ive seen is ea advertising battlefield 1943 on a ring matt in fight night round 4

jsmoke03

This isn't about in-game advertising. It's about this:

GAF has a nice summary including some more dirty secrets from that woman.

• Keighley surrounded by doritos followed by gaming bloggers retweeting a hashtag for advertising to win a PS3 makes Florence of Eurogamer curious.
• Florence writes an article saying how things are shady and some sound like straight up PR e.g. Wainright orgasms for everything Squenix.
• Eurogamer/Wainwright send libel threats to Eurogamer, at which the article was edited to remove mentioning of Wainright.
• Wainwright responds in twitter "Apology accepted" and something in the vain of applying her law classes to use.
• Florence either steps down or is forced to resign to avoid any libel threat.
• Both sides deny any threat or are not talking about it directly, but twitter posts hint that such threat existed. Florence is not confirming or denying whether he was fired or he stepped down.
• "GAF and **** combine forces to see this standalone complex issue" alongside digital protest from Penny Arcade and more, showing what happened.
• Wainwright's profile shows she is a freelancer for Square Enix. She admitted it and denied doing any reviews for Square Enix or shilling (she is wrong. She reviewed Deus Ex, Tomb Raider and did countless previews).
• All this fiasco is too much for her and she privatize her twitter account. Next thing you know, she starts deleting tweets, videos and articles, and edits her profile to remove any mention of Square Enix freelancing.
• People find some comments of her thanking someone called Korina that used to work at Ubisoft.
• Korina Abbotused to work at Ubisoft and is currently the marketing executive at...Square-Enix.
• David Jaffe offers Keighley Mountain Dew.
• Gaming journalism.

The Keighley thing is dumb. The man works on TV, he has to have ads, there is NOTHING wrong with that picture. He is not reviewing games. He is promoting games on a TV show. The man is about as professional as it gets in this industry.

dvader654

Same with other un-hyped games that this guy isn't interested in. He blasts through game after game writing review after review, then he gets stuck reviewing this thing that he's not interested in and oh god...I am soooo bored. The game gets a crappy review just because he didn't want to play and was forced to in order to earn his paycheck. That's pretty obvious if you read some of these reviews.Jackc8

I'm in that situation right now, actually. Sort of.

Got assigned to review a small adventure game that came out recently and, though its got some charm (in a deranged sort of way), it's been moving along soooo slooooowly. Hoping it picks up soon because it's pretty great otherwise.

The key, I find, is to just remind yourself that this is a job. You know you're gonna end up writing about something you otherwise wouldn't play because that's just the nature of reviewing things for a living. If someone lets their general disinterest in the game infect their assessment, then they shouldn't have bothered trying to break in to the business in the first place. An open mind is essential.

First of all, I am so disappointed that this hasn't been posted here. I hope to god it was posted and I somehow missed it, but if the biggest developing story in the gaming industry isn't posted here two days after breaking then there is no hope left for this forum.

Anyway, a free lance Eurogamer writer wrote this article about this Geoff Keighley pic and game journalists effectively acting as Video Game PR.

[QUOTE="Eurogamer"]Geoff Keighley, meanwhile, is sitting beside a table of snacks. A table of delicious Doritos and refreshing Mountain Dew. He is, as you'll see on Wikipedia, "only one of two journalists, the other being 60 Minutes correspondent Mike Wallace, profiled in the Harvard Business School press book 'Geeks and Geezers' by noted leadership expert Warren Bennis." Geoff Keighley is important. He is a leader in his field. He once said, "There's such a lack of investigative journalism. I wish I had more time to do more, sort of, investigation." And yet there he sits, glassy-eyed, beside a table heaving with sickly Doritos and Mountain Dew.

It's an important image. Study it.S0lidSnake

As depressing as that article was, the controversy that followed was even more disgusting. Apparently, the article originally called out two game journalists by name, quoted their tweets about pimping Tomb Raider and other PR freebies. One of those two game journos threatened legal action over her inclusion in the article and Eurogamer was forced to redact that part of the article, forcing the writer of the piece to leave Eurogamer.

This is the part Eurogamer removed from the article.

One games journalist, Lauren Wainwright, tweeted: "Urm... Trion were giving away PS3s to journalists at the GMAs. Not sure why that's a bad thing?"

Now, a few tweets earlier, she also tweeted this: "Lara header, two TR pix in the gallery and a very subtle TR background. #obsessed @tombraider pic.twitter.com/VOWDSavZ"

And instantly I am suspicious. I am suspicious of this journalist's apparent love for Tomb Raider. I am asking myself whether she's in the pocket of the Tomb Raider PR team. I'm sure she isn't, but the doubt is there. After all, she sees nothing wrong with journalists promoting a game to win a PS3, right?

Another journalist, one of the winners of the PS3 competition, tweeted this at disgusted RPS writer John Walker: "It was a hashtag, not an advert. Get off the pedestal." Now, this was Dave Cook, a guy I've met before. A good guy, as far as I could tell. But I don't believe for one second that Dave doesn't understand that in this time of social media madness a hashtag is just as powerful as an advert. Either he's on the defensive or he doesn't get what being a journalist is actually about.Eurogamer

After Eurogamer apologized to this Lauren Wainwright on twitter, the writer of the article resigned. See his tweets below.

And lastly, this is Lauren Wainwright's twitter page. Notice how she is still marketing Tomb Raider. What a f*cking joke.

https://twitter.com/atheistium?protected_redirect=true

Florence shouldn't be apologizing to Wainwright for anything. She's the one who threatened his argument with libel, after all.

Florence shouldn't be apologizing to Wainwright for anything. She's the one who threatened his argument with libel, after all.

Vari3ty

You can bet that these corrupt journalists will, at the very least, be more discrete in their dirty dealings for a while.