This e-mail is just one of many I receive all the time. In the world of videogame journalism, we as critics are often told what we can say and when we can say it. At times this makes sense. For example, if a particular Publisher is about to reveal several big announcements, they can give us the information beforehand with a verbal or signed NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) that we will not reveal the information to the public until a certain time. But when the press is shown a Preview or told we can write about a Beta, there are still many rules in place. These rules include:
(1) Always be positive
(2) Remember this is an early build
(3) Element X Y Z will be fixed and changed upon release
(4) Disobey any of the above and you will be banned
Not only do the rules above apply to Previews but some Publishers are willing to extend this to include even Reviews. At times we have been told that we are not allowed to give a game a bad score. If we refused to take it down or revise the score, we had to have a second writer cover the game who had not been tainted by our previous coverage. If we refused, the company threatened to blacklist us.
http://www.cvgames.com/?p=2722
Good long read enjoy!
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