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Driv3r Reviews. Were PSM2 & XBW honest? (Part II)
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simon71
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Egregious Willy wrote:

Yes, but my point is, who are all these poor saps who've wasted their hard-earned cash because of these "bullshit" reviews? Hands up anyone, please, who bought the game based on one of these reviews (i.e. anyone who wouldn't have otherwise bought it) and was then thoroughly pissed off.


I bought a copy of Xbox World. And based on the extremely favourable review, I would most certainly have bought a copy of Driver 3 had I not noticed this thread.
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GwiDan
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 4:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OctogenarianPussy wrote:
In this case Gwi, it's utter tosh.


I'm trying not to get sued. Wink

simon71 wrote:
I bought a copy of Xbox World. And based on the extremely favourable review, I would most certainly have bought a copy of Driver 3 had I not noticed this thread.


That's the whole point! You'd have bought this game based on these reviews expecting a game on par with Halo/Metroid Prime/Zelda and all the rest of them. It's quite clearly not in the same league as those magnificent gems. Based on the gem scale, Driv3r is a lump of coal.
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Prince Of Evil
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I played the game.

It's sh*t.

*burns £35*

Sad
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KKLEIN
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

GwiDan wrote:
I got a reply from Mia Roberts, Publishing Director of the Future Games division a while ago - it's plenty to be disappointed about. Simply, it's all corporate rubbish; as Eighthours eloquently put, "a cut and paste job". According to Miss Roberts, Future staff would never bow to any kind of pressure when it comes to reviewing, opinions are the writers' own and not influenced by outside or commercial pressures. Future never has or will tamper with review scores.

That's extremely difficult to believe.

Bah.
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Jonny_Darko
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

gamesindustry.biz wrote:
/-------------------------------------------------------
GamesIndustry.biz Weekly Update - 24/06/2004
-------------------------------------------------------/

The launch of Driv3r has been telegraphed for weeks as being an important event - not necessarily because of the anticipation for the title, which is the annoyingly-monikered current generation update of the well-received PSone franchise, but rather because of the huge impact its success or failure will have on the future of its publisher, Atari.

For a second year running, Atari has effectively bet the farm on a single title - with some estimates suggesting that the game will need to sell four million units worldwide just to recoup its huge development and marketing budget, while speculation runs rife within the business community that should the game fail, Atari could well go to the wall. We've all been here before, with last year's Enter The Matrix; it sold millions of units, and Atari lived to fight another day. Something else also gives a distinct sense of deja vu - like Enter The Matrix, early reviews of Driv3r have divided broadly between those which consider it a disastrous failure, and those which have lauded it to the heavens, with the bulk of opinion seeming to come down in favour of a critical slating.

What's different, this time, is that the divided opinions have ignited a firestorm of discussion and debate over the entire issue of reviews and the politics which surround them. Accusations of review scores being "sold" in return for advertising and other such incentives have flown back and forth, publications have been forced to admit to reviewing from incomplete code and taking Atari's word that bugs would be fixed, and the whole question of how trustworthy reviews actually are has been given an airing once again - along, of course, with the ultimate question of the credibility of publications which are supported by advertising for the products which they attempt to review impartially.

These are important questions for the games media, but there's a single more important question which won't be answered until the sales figures for Driv3r finally appear - namely, just how relevant are reviews at all?

Driv3r may have achieved incredibly - arguably ludicrously - high scores from some publications, but major sites such as IGN and Gamespot have both criticised the game harshly, as have several other publications. It seems likely that the balance of professional critical opinion will come down heavily against the title; but while Atari is unlikely to be happy with this situation, nobody seems to believe that this critical slating is going to make Driv3r bomb.

In fact, even those journalists who have slated the game admit that it's probably going to ride high on the charts for months; and while review scores might drive sales lower than they would have been otherwise, Driv3r will probably still sell the four million units it needs to shift with ease.

Reviews certainly aren't irrelevant; hardcore gamers rely heavily upon them, and those elusive "key opinion formers" probably read reviews, even if their friends don't. But there's little doubt that the Driv3r episode should prompt much navel-gazing in the games media, and perhaps some deep thought among publishers. If a game can be released in an unfinished state, filled with fairly serious bugs and - in the opinion of many professional critics - badly designed in the first place, and still sell four million units, then a host of problems are raised. Where are those purchasers getting their information from? Why are poor reviews failing to influence them, and what can the games media do to help this situation? Will bad experiences with hugely hyped games damage their interest in gaming as a hobby, and hurt our industry in the long run?

None of the answers are apparent - but it's important that answers are found, both for the future of the games media, and for the future of the games publishing industry as a whole.


Personally from Future's response I get the impression that they're hoping this will blow over. I don't think it will. Or if it does we'll all just be back here again in a few weeks going through the same crap. Poor Mia Roberts doesn't seem to have realised how big this is snowballing and as a result seems to have made herself look a bit daft.
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E.Peterus Unum
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kalibur wrote:
One of the biggest tragedies to my mind was Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty...10/10... I dont know how many people have played this but, it is absolutely terrible, i havent heard a person say it was more than 6/10...


Probably not many people, it's quite a niche game Wink
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I bought a StarSucks T-Shirt today down Camden Town for £6.99 and it is so funny the way it satires StarBucks.
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GwiDan
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KKLEIN wrote:
GwiDan wrote:
I got a reply from Mia Roberts, Publishing Director of the Future Games division a while ago - it's plenty to be disappointed about. Simply, it's all corporate rubbish; as Eighthours eloquently put, "a cut and paste job". According to Miss Roberts, Future staff would never bow to any kind of pressure when it comes to reviewing, opinions are the writers' own and not influenced by outside or commercial pressures. Future never has or will tamper with review scores.

That's extremely difficult to believe.

Bah.


You'll be glad to know I haven't let it drop with management, then.
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KKLEIN
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One forum discussion has basically ballooned out of control & is now not only a major discussion on other message boards but on gaming sites & the media as well. I can't wait to see what PSM2 & XBW say, if anything, about all this. They can't just ignore it can they?

It’ll be on BBC news’ website next. Maybe.
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E.Peterus Unum
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kalibur wrote:
One of the biggest tragedies to my mind was Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty...10/10... I dont know how many people have played this but, it is absolutely terrible, i havent heard a person say it was more than 6/10...


Probably not many people, it's quite a niche game Wink
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I bought a StarSucks T-Shirt today down Camden Town for £6.99 and it is so funny the way it satires StarBucks.
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Vyper
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KKLEIN wrote:
Quote:
Of course there are a few gripes. For one, shouldn't there be more traffic? Considering how incredibly hard you are, the police could also benefit for a little extra beef? Where's the helicopter support? Where's the blood? What about the filthy language, for f*ck sake (not censored in review - quite frankly that's out of order imo)?

Does no one else find it strange that swear words are censored on here (where you're supposed to be 13 and over) because it might reflect badly on Future if people take offence, yet they have no problem with swearing in the mags (which anyone can buy)?
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Vyper
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

KKLEIN wrote:
One forum discussion has basically ballooned out of control & is now not only a major discussion on other message boards but on gaming sites & the media as well. I can't wait to see what PSM2 & XBW say, if anything, about all this. They can't just ignore it can they?

It’ll be on BBC news’ website next. Maybe.

Unfortunately though casual gamers will have read none of this, and will probably never hear about it. Because of this Driv3r will still make its sales target anyway and most of the people who've bought it will be none the wiser. Its all very well getting the whole of the net up in a fury about this but the number of people who will take notice (ie, the 'serious' gamers) is pretty low compared to the number who won't (the casuals)
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GwiDan
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anybody fancy emailing the BBC Online Newsdesk? They might be able to investigate further, and it would make compelling reading for the technology section of their site.
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Jonny_Darko
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I actually think the Beeb might well be interested - with their adherence to unbiased editorial policy.
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pieman
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

True Vyper, but will 4river or what ever they call the next one sell if people on the whole have a bad memory of the game? I suppose the question is are consumers that shallow that a lot of glossy advertising can convince them that a game is worthy, when it isn't.....
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jamiej
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PostPosted: Thu Jun 24, 2004 5:36 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

HAHA oh yes beeb unbiased....heehee Laughing Laughing
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