IGN Caught Manipulating Game Reviews [UPDATE: IGN Responds]

PixelJunk SideScroller was recently reviewed on IGN by Daemon Hatfield, and given a score of 6.5. After apparently reading through the review, the creator of the game, Dylan Cuthbert, realized that Daemon had not played the game propery, and that he had in fact rushed through the game on casual difficulty. He called him out for this on Twitter, only to get a vehement statement of denial from Daemon, who then promptly proceeded to delete the section of his review that made it clear that he had rushed through the game.

This is disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful. IGN continues to sink even further.

SOURCE

EDIT: Daemon responded to the issue on his blog. THis is a quote from what he said:

"That is technically a true statement, although after completing normal mode there is a brief scene telling you you've unlocked hard mode. That scene was not significant to me, but upon reflection I thought maybe I wasn't being fair. So I removed the above sentence from my review, not to hide anything but in a hope to not mislead anyone into thinking there isn't a brief little something at the end of the game, however insignificant. To me, this wasn't an important change to the review -- it didn't change my score and all the important information about the game is still there. Tweaking articles is common practice on the internet. Should we notate every change to an article we make? Perhaps, but IGN doesn't have a standard in place for doing so."

Make of this what you will, folks.

Can't say I'm suprised...

IGN is trash. What else is new?

That happened on GS here recently too, with that Global Agenda review. The difference here was that the Global Agends review here was quite convincing.

Nobody really cared though.

Ah oh! you been caught!

And people trust IGN?

Ah oh! you been caught!

finalstar2007

As I said in the UC3 thread, IGN is terrible and lol.

And you wonder why IGN loves ez mode games like COD.

ha thats awesome

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

Ah oh! you been caught!

charizard1605

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

Ah oh! you been caught!

finalstar2007

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

[QUOTE="charizard1605"][QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

Ah oh! you been caught!

finalstar2007

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

this is some serious business, folksprinceofshapeir

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

[QUOTE="charizard1605"] Didn't you recently call IGN one of the only credible review sources? :PFizzman

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

Not fair i agree, they better re-review it, i bought the game yesterday but havent played it yet, been playing the new infamous game, wonder how much they gave that tho im sure greg gonna review it

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

[QUOTE="charizard1605"] Didn't you recently call IGN one of the only credible review sources? :PFizzman

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

princeofshapeir

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

Are you implying that the content means that being truthful and honest isnt required?

I really wish Chris Roper and Matt Cassimasina still worked there.

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

mems_1224

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

So if you get burnt out that means you dont have to do your job?

Hilarious response.

I really wish Chris Roper and Matt Cassimasina still worked there.

VendettaRed07

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"][QUOTE="Fizzman"]

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

Fizzman

Are you implying that the content means that being truthful and honest isnt required?

As a previous poster pointed out, this happened on GS too.

Still pretty low though.

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"] VIDEO GAME SITES ARE SUPPOSED TO BE DRIPPING WITH JOURNALISTIC INTEGRITY, I AGREEprinceofshapeir

Are you implying that the content means that being truthful and honest isnt required?

What? Yes they do. The amount of traffic that IGN gets that a ton of people respect their opinion and they should be given an accurate and honest opinion.

This isnt some high standard. It's the bare minimum to be a journalist or reporter.

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

Yea so? one reviewer sucked dosent mean everyone on that site suck too lol.

mems_1224

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

I sure hear its very tiring job but im sure they dont have to review everything besides this didnt just happen only at IGN, it happened on GS too and many other sites but the guy should re -review it to show how great it is

Whilst I disapprove of score manipulation :P Is it not possible that Daemon had been exaggerating the result of finishing the game to make a point? E.g. "A swift kick back to the title screen with no more than congratulations" emphasises his argument about the game being short and feeling unrewarding. Although yes, that does look slightly suspect.Ravensmash

He wouldn't have changed the review if that was the case.

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"] i'm implying that these sites are made solely for entertainment and don't adhere to the same standards of integrity as the new york timesprinceofshapeir

What? Yes they do. The amount of traffic that IGN gets that a ton of people respect their opinion and they should be given an accurate and honest opinion.

This isnt some high standard. It's the bare minimum to be a journalist or reporter.

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"] i'm implying that these sites are made solely for entertainment and don't adhere to the same standards of integrity as the new york timesprinceofshapeir

What? Yes they do. The amount of traffic that IGN gets that a ton of people respect their opinion and they should be given an accurate and honest opinion.

This isnt some high standard. It's the bare minimum to be a journalist or reporter.

Parents who look at reviews to buy thier children a game? You need to get out of system wars and try to remember that the real world exists.

I cant tell if you are being serious because your responses are so ridiculous and poorly thought out.

[QUOTE="mems_1224"][QUOTE="Fizzman"]

No, but it ruins their journalistic integrity. If they rushed through one game and made up the review, why wouldnt they do it again?

Fizzman

So if you get burnt out that means you dont have to do your job?

Hilarious response.

Ah oh! you been caught!

finalstar2007

Not like this is the first for IGN. Anyone remember the God Hand review lol?

[QUOTE="finalstar2007"]

Ah oh! you been caught!

Wanderer5

Not like this is the first for IGN. Anyone remember the God Hand review lol?

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"] i'm implying that these sites are made solely for entertainment and don't adhere to the same standards of integrity as the new york timesprinceofshapeir

What? Yes they do. The amount of traffic that IGN gets that a ton of people respect their opinion and they should be given an accurate and honest opinion.

This isnt some high standard. It's the bare minimum to be a journalist or reporter.

[QUOTE="VendettaRed07"]

I really wish Chris Roper and Matt Cassimasina still worked there.

charizard1605

Yeha I agree rich is really good, Craig was one of my favs to. They seemed to actually really care about the quality of their work. Oh well..

PixelJunk SideScroller was recently reviewed on IGN by Daemon Hatfield, and given a score of 6.5. After apparently reading through the review, the creator of the game, Dylan Cuthbert, realized that Daemon had not played the game propery, and that he had in fact rushed through the game on casual difficulty. He called him out for this on Twitter, only to get a vehement statement of denial from Daemon, who then promptly proceeded to delete the section of his review that made it clear that he had rushed through the game.

This is disgraceful, absolutely disgraceful. IGN continues to sink even further.charizard1605

Yeah, IGN lost its credibility:

Zelda anyone? I'm so giving this a 7.5 RichIGN

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="mems_1224"] do you have any idea how many games these guys have to play? they aren't gonna put 100% effort into every review. like any other job, they get burnt outmems_1224

So if you get burnt out that means you dont have to do your job?

Hilarious response.

They pick the games they review. They didnt have to choose to review the game but instead did a half *** job and got caught lying.

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"][QUOTE="Fizzman"]

What? Yes they do. The amount of traffic that IGN gets that a ton of people respect their opinion and they should be given an accurate and honest opinion.

This isnt some high standard. It's the bare minimum to be a journalist or reporter.

Fizzman

Parents who look at reviews to buy thier children a game? You need to get out of system wars and try to remember that the real world exists.

Are you serious?

IGN is clearly the most respected site in gaming, people. This is nothing, of course. Afterall, IGN is clearly the largest and most widely used outlet out there so it has to be respected.

Edit: Hey, it's what I learned in the Uncharted 3 thread. >.>

Interesting way to see if a reviewer actually reviews the entire game.

I applaud the dev of that game. Very smart.

[QUOTE="Fizzman"]

[QUOTE="princeofshapeir"] you forget the fact that people who care so much about a review score are rather patheticmems_1224

Parents who look at reviews to buy thier children a game? You need to get out of system wars and try to remember that the real world exists.

Are you serious?

Why not? IGN is one of the biggest gaming websites on the planet. Their opinion holds a ton of weight outside of SW.

Yeah, IGN lost its credibility:

[QUOTE="IGNtwitter"]

Zelda anyone? I'm so giving this a 7.5 bbkkristian

IGN is clearly the most respected site in gaming, people. This is nothing, of course. Afterall, IGN is clearly the largest and most widely used outlet out there so it has to be respected.

Edit: Hey, it's what I learned in the Uncharted 3 thread. >.>

Stevo_the_gamer

It's the most fair, unbiased, and best review site on the net.*

*=When it's giving important exclusives AAA scores.

Interesting way to see if a reviewer actually reviews the entire game.

I applaud the dev of that game. Very smart.

Crazyguy105

Agreed was truly smart not to mention they werent afraid to show him in da face! :P.. these devs have created some amazing PSN games even if you dont want to play the games and got extra cash buy them for support

I like Daemon, fav person on IGN, but that is very unprofessoonal of him to rush through a game and then remove it from his review.

I wonder can IGN be trusted again for reviews? I will never forgive them for a 7.6 to Kingdom Hearts II.