Fun with PR!

Saint_Proverbius · Post by **Saint_Proverbius** » Fri Aug 23, 2002 9:47 am

[Company -> Update]

I love <a href="http://www.fatbabies.com/">Fatbabies</a>, I really do. In their most recent <a href="http://www.fatbabies.com/fatmusings.html">musings</a>, they managed to supposedly get ahold of an email from <a href="http://titusgames.com/">Titus</a> PR mogol, Jim Maquire. Here's the email for your amusement, and mine:<blockquote>From: Jim Maguire [mailto:jmaguire@titusgames.com]Subject: Downforce and BarbarianImportance: HighI wanted to follow up on a package I sent to your attention yesterday. It contains a retail copy of Downforce PS2 for your review. I have also included a little something extra for you, which will not be distributed to all media at this time. There is a gold disk copy of Barbarian PS2. I would like to arrange for some good review coverage on Barbarian as soon as possible. The game is yet to ship, so it is a very special opportunity to receive this code so early.I want the review to emphasize a few things :: That this is offering something new and exciting to gaming, Barbarian is a great party-game and multiplayer experience with the ability to have 8 characters onscreen at once battling in an all out brawl.Aside from the 300 story branches in Barbarian the multiplayer aspect absolutely makes this game thrive.If you have any questions please contact me directly.Also, if you can forward me a copy of the review text before it runs, I would really appreciate it.Thanks for your time and enjoy!!!!Jim Maguire --Jim MaguirePublic Relations ManagerTitus Software CorporationNorth American Operations949-223-5938jmaguire@titusgames.com</blockquote>You have to love PR these days. Just for kicks, check out the <a href="http://ps2.ign.com/articles/363/363694p1.html">IGN review</a> of the game.

Deathy · Post by **Deathy** » Fri Aug 23, 2002 10:31 am

I have yet to hear "Marketing" and "honourable" in the same sentence without "is not" in between them.

Saint_Proverbius · Post by **Saint_Proverbius** » Fri Aug 23, 2002 10:59 am

I wish they'd start making good games, so I could sell out.

Deathy · Post by **Deathy** » Fri Aug 23, 2002 12:49 pm

Surely you would sell out for a bit more than being able to review a game before it ships?

"I'm not going to do this until I see a $2000 cheque in my mailbox."

Saint_Proverbius · Post by **Saint_Proverbius** » Sat Aug 24, 2002 12:30 am

Actually, it was a joke, Deathy. See, if they were making good games, they wouldn't have to tell reviewers to make them sound good.

Crow of Ill Omen · Post by **Crow of Ill Omen** » Sat Aug 24, 2002 12:48 am

Regardless of the validity of that mail, or any other evidence, the reviews speak for themselves. They often demonstrate very poor knowledge of the reviewed game and gaming in general. Previews, like the two you posted recently, are particularly prone to obsequeiousness.

Now that more people are cottoning on, I'm not sure how long this status quo can prevail. Once the inherent lack of value in the lip service reviews has been accepted as common knowlege, there will be a reaction.

Saint_Proverbius · Post by **Saint_Proverbius** » Sat Aug 24, 2002 4:34 am

I didn't really notice this trend until I started working at Vault13.net and was covering Fallout Tactics reviews. It was amazing how many of them got the facts wrong, like how many MP modes the game had, saying it used the Fallout engine, and so on. FOT also got reasonably good scores too, despite being incredibly buggy, having generally poor gameplay, getting the setting wrong, etc.

Crow of Ill Omen · Post by **Crow of Ill Omen** » Sat Aug 24, 2002 4:59 am

The day I realised something was wrong was when I realised I was putting more faith in Amazon user reviews than all the pseudo-journalists on Gamespot.

Other than the blatant boot-licking I also think they have a serious problems with their staff quality and diversity. Adrenaline Vault still gives an impression of genuine interest, but none of the others do.

Rosh · Post by **Rosh** » Sun Aug 25, 2002 2:10 pm

It's one of the reasons why I like PCGR.com. Sure, there's a few idiots that post crap reviews, but the mods weed them out. From the selection, you can generally see what people think of a game without any PR bullshit.