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Why is Adam Sessler tweeting about being afraid and having to leave the industry?
- Thread starter disastermouse
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His post is so infinitely clueless about what is expected of reviewers and the realities they face I'm honestly shocked you even bothered.
taizuke
Member
Believe me is not what i'm hoping. But, if it's making Sessler question his future and it involves Sony then is not exactly good news.
Salvor.Hardin
Banned
Guess that's more confirmation. So let me fet this straigjt - reviewers that choose to review outside the event will be penalized by facing a review embargo?
Wheres the forcing? Its not like that's the only opportunity they have to review. Its also not like they have to go to the event if they disagree with the approach.
plasmawave
Banned
Probably a PS4 with day 1 patch applied or something like that.
They could always wait til the thing launches and then review it tho?
EdReedFan20
Member
In the other thread, someone speculated it has to do with a firmware update. Kagari said that made sense, as the network on PS4 wouldn't be up until that week. I guess maybe that way they could properly review MP features?
What is expected of reviewers and what realities do they face?
TheLegendOfMart
Banned
Maybe Rev 3 cant afford to fly him all around the world to these review events?
Pop
Member
But it's not blocked, there's work arounds. It's been like this for years now.
Who expected that? Certainly not readers who read that the game that they want to purchase is so awesome that it's unmissable....only later on finding out themselves that it's chock full of holes with awful ending.
The incestuous nature of gaming journalists with the publishers is frankly has gone too far. You guys are relying too much on publishers' handout and blame your readers for anything that goes wrong. But we already saw that haven't we during the DRM gate with MS?
James Sawyer Ford
Member
Dragonborn
Member
They may have to wait to buy their own copies like everyone else, no? How's that so horrible?
simplythebest
Banned
My respect for the dude has been fairly low ever since he manufactured that bullshit faux-moral outrage over the GoW trophy, but he isn't Gies-tier so I do feel bad he's in a shitty position. I did enjoy some of the coverage he did for E3, it's refreshing to see somebody in the industry that's half decent in front of the camera.
All that said, it's fucking obnoxious how they're all posting this cryptic drama over Twitter. Like they're trying to be an edgy exclusive cool kids club. "Hey dude...is it about that "THING" that happened today? We totally can't tell all the plebes what it is but lets talk about it publicly anyways, we look so hardcore hur."
This comic perfectly illustrates how I feel about those tweets:
All that said, it's fucking obnoxious how they're all posting this cryptic drama over Twitter. Like they're trying to be an edgy exclusive cool kids club. "Hey dude...is it about that "THING" that happened today? We totally can't tell all the plebes what it is but lets talk about it publicly anyways, we look so hardcore hur."
This comic perfectly illustrates how I feel about those tweets:
Right, Sessler has been known to be quite dramatic on his twitter.
What it seems like it boils down to is that Sony is holding this event for launch system and exclusive game reviews (im guessing as Gies said they are reviewing PS4 AC next week), if Sessler thinks Sony is going to fly a bunch of reviewers and hold an event for every single game they make he is crazy.
AND
If these reviews are enough to through his entire financial stability into question with regards to this job then it doesn't sound like the greatest field to be in.
They don't get the same clicks as the people who put them up first.
1) Gaming journos(not necessarily you) were condescending to gamers who cared aboiut resolution, DRM, used games, but now they care about readers? They care about themselves, not us.
2) Gaming journalists have only themselves to blame for this. They enabled game publishers to get away with shit like this for years. Now the chickens have come home to roost.
I am talking about situations in general. I don't know anything about this specific review event. I really don't. All I can say at this point is that however we (Kotaku) wind up reviewing the next-gen consoles, we'll be as transparent as possible about what we experienced and how we experienced it.
I do know what Adam's upset about (and out of respect to him I'll let him be the one to share it), but it has nothing to do with anything that will affect most gamers.
ProcrasDANation
Neo Member
In your view maybe, but it will be up to you to actually demonstrate that this is a betrayal of transparency for the consumer. If you cannot then the point is mute, no?
Educate yourself on the topic. I'm not typing up a wall of text for a thread full of people who've made very clear over the last two pages or more that they wouldn't care about what would be in it anyway.
Mushroomer25
Member
The difference in views for a review posted before & after release are massive. If your prime form of income relied upon those views, it is crucial you get access to the game ASAP. It's arguably unfair for publishers to demand critics experience the game under controlled conditions if they want that early access.
Review Events certainly go against the idea of an independent reviewer but It would not surprise me one bit to see it become more and more common. The Gaming Press has been far too compliant and frankly incestuous with the Gaming Industry.
Most are just out to get their feet in the door with one of the big three so do whatever it takes. Gaming Press needs to detach itself from the Developer Side of the Industry and stand up
Most are just out to get their feet in the door with one of the big three so do whatever it takes. Gaming Press needs to detach itself from the Developer Side of the Industry and stand up
Salvor.Hardin
Banned
Because people prefer to read a review before they buy a game than after and holding such an event pre launch means many gamers will be getting pretty unreliable reviews.
Quote
Member
They're going to say something like "how will the consumers know what to buy if don't have reviews out!? Think of the consumers!!!! Thhheeeee coooonsuuuuuummmers!"
(By consumers they mean their customers)
Right, then X publisher will just not send you a copy of the game, but will send it to your large competitor. Oh and no previews for you, or E3 appointments.
I feel like publishers have all the power here.
It seems these games journalist are more worried about clicks then the review which is sad.
Sleeplessnights
Banned
I, for one, am okay with getting rid of the larger problem that faces games today and that's game reviews.
It's one of the things that is holding games back, the fear of investing millions into a novel idea because it may not be to the taste of reviewers and thus never turn profit.
It's one of the things that is holding games back, the fear of investing millions into a novel idea because it may not be to the taste of reviewers and thus never turn profit.
forcing how? all they have to do is wait a few days to get their own copies
I would argue that gaming sites have trained users that speed is everything but that is a discussion/debate about the broken business model of websites for another time.
BurnOutBrighter
Banned
This is just like those stupid cryptic Facebook statuses that people leave.
Person: "Never trusting people again."
Friend: "omg what happened?"
Person: "I don't want to talk about it."
Person: "Never trusting people again."
Friend: "omg what happened?"
Person: "I don't want to talk about it."
Does Adam's situation have nothing to do with what Marcus Beer is talking about in the other thread?
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=87649519#post87649519
wonder if nobody is getting a hold of the consoles because it needs the launch day update and 1.0 is kinda buggy. maybe the 1.5 update isn't even done yet.
Funchameleon
Banned
Please provide a lolwtfcomics.com comic to support your argument on this.
robertsan21
Member
ok. I get the issue.
However, why would Sony be the one to want videogame reviewers to only be able to review games at these events? It just does not seem like a thing sony would do.
they been so intune to what we consumers want, and have taken steps to go against the anticonsumer stuff that MS has been doing..Does not make sense that this is whats really happening here.
Sony has nothing to hide with their games, compared to MS who has something underpowered etc etc
The Ps4 Looks Great
Banned
Nobody finds a review event to be kinda grimy? I don't like the sounds of it at all. I'm so tired of reviews.
disastermouse
Banned
In what way is posting this helpful?!? The whole point is 'stop publicly posting shit and then being vague about it' and so then that's exactly what you do. Don't tell us you know what the issue is and then not tell us what the fucking issue is!
So, let me get this straight: You think people are uninformed about the "realities" of reviewers, yet when prompted to elaborate, the best most interesting answer you threw out was "educate yourself on the topic?" Congratulations on matching the quality of the initial post itself.
Wow, this guy sounds pretty entitled.
Mushroomer25
Member
I don't think reviewers are the ones discouraging novel ideas, it's the consumers. Weird games are very rarely sales hits, unless they've got a serious pedigree behind them.
Clicks = money. Tha's what make them live. I don't see how its so surprising. A late review means far less clicks, and in the end less ad money and your website will go kaput.
Not to mention the cost of flying, housing, feeding, renting space and setting up the infrastructure necessary seems like a ridiculous expense for every single game Sony will release >.>.
Didn't you know? They'd miss their preciousss clicks.
That argument seems to match the kind of quality reviews gaming journalists put out these days.
1st world problems. how will they survive
Nice going Gaf, you broke games journalism.
Dragonborn
Member
I don't think that'd be the case though. I mean, if it were, it'd make it even easier to tell who the sell outs are. Win-win for us in that case, wouldn't you say?
Mushroomer25
Member
Like any company, it's in their best interest for their product to be seen under the best possible light. This isn't a consumer issue - and therefore doesn't play into their "pro-consumer" strategy.
I almost could believe that tbh.
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