Attempts to Quell Bias Accusations
IGN staff are fighting back against the Sonic fanbase.
On the heels of a poor review for Sonic and the Black Knight and further accusations and questions on whether staff played the game enough to write that review, IGN’s Matt Casamassina, joined by fellow staffers Daemon Hatfield, Craig Harris and Mark Bozon defended their opinion in a podcast released yesterday…by mocking those making the accusations.
You can take a listen for yourself below. The component of the podcast is dedicated to discussion regarding SBK. They start off by making fun of an angry letter they received regarding the 3.9 score given by Casamassina, and quickly reference the situation regarding Hilary Goldstein, when we uncovered evidence that suggested he did not finish half of Sonic Unleashed in preparation for his equally poor review.
The team supports Goldstein and his words, saying he played a debug copy of Unleashed prior to his review, before moving on to the final edition. It is unclear whether his gameplay on the final edition had any impact on that review.
It’s added in the podcast shortly after Goldstein’s review is mentioned, “Fact checking is not important.”
Take note, however, at something said around 2:44, when the team is criticizing SBK for not having any classic Sonic loops. One of the staffers noted he didn’t see anything, and, quote, “I was there for the whole two hour play period.”
If nothing else, those words may confirm that IGN staff only spent two hours on the game.
The team quickly backtracks and adds that the game, in their view, was only two hours long, “outside of extra missions at the end.”
That is the point of contention. Our previous story regarding Casamassina’s IGN review brought into public knowledge the fact that Sonic and the Black Knight fools gamers with a fake ending, only to have quests continue with characters such as Knuckles and Shadow toward the game’s actual ending. If those quests are what IGN refers to as the “extra missions,” it may only infuriate some in Sonic fandom even more.
There is no direct mention in this podcast regarding the mechanics of the single-player mode beyond Sonic.
You’ll also hear continued comparisons between SBK and the classic Sonic franchise in the clip below. After you listen, we want to know what you think of these crass comments by sounding off below.
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@Sharky: This is true. When Sega died it was kind of ironic how those who used to vow against Nintendo eventually just started loving them with all their hearts.
Remember folks, the last thing we want is to be seen as is like Nintendo fanboys. That’s a big no-no.
*Sigh, if only history went another way. If Sony never entered the market, Sega would still be king. If Nintendo died, Mario would be in Sonic’s current day spot. Fuck if a reliable company bought out Sega instead of Sammy we would still be in a better position then we are today. But nope, we have only the present. I’m going to keep day dreaming about the past thanks. You guys can have your sword waggle, I’m going to buy a Sega CD to play Sonic CD on actual hardware for the first time ever. IMO that sounds more fun.
Ah such drama.
Its shame things can’t go back to the days of ”its just a game, lets have fun” type of thing.
Good Times. Good Times.
IGN, if you want to give a Sonic game a low score, that’s fine. But damn it, try putting effort into your reviews instead of this “nothing like the classics” bullcrap.
Both IGN and Sonic Fan’s should be thrown into a pit of no return. Sega no longer makes all around good games period except for a select few which arn’t Sonic games, and no IGN dosn’t always give a truthfull option but to a point there not wrong either. There are many of games that are ten fold better then some of these shitty Sonic games that have come out since the 2000. I like many diffrent games and many diffrent genre’s but IGN isn’t making bad reviews there just done with these bad games and don’t care anymore. You people should be look at the other games/series out there such are the Fire Emblem’s, The Elder Scrolls, Half Life, Some of the Call of Duty’s, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Bioshock, Guitar Hero’s, and many more. The time is now move on to better games/series which most have better storylines and characters (well some anyway). Just stop your idiotic rants and such.
These guys are animals!
They should show more respect for classic characters like Sonic.
And they still rate themselves experts in whatever they do…
…Video game reviews, isn’t it?
Yeah yeah, whatever…
All of this discussion regarding whether they played the game, or not, is downright ridiculous. And I’m talking about both sides of this nerd war.
True, IGN isn’t the best site for gaming informantion, reviews, etc. Just look at all those adds. They’re clearly selling themselves. It doesn’t matter if the game is good or bad. If the developer pays them a certain amount of cash in order to put adds there, then it’s a guaranteed positive review for said developer’s games. This means, in my opinion, that sites such as GameSpot and IGN are untrustworthy.
In a nutshell, this is what happens:
-Developer makes game.
-Said game is heavily criticizes, or doesn’t meet the developer’s expectations
-Developer decides to bribe the press: “I’ll pay you a ton of cash if we can put our adds in your site/magazine. But you must give positive reviews for our games.”
-The game is successful.
Now, Sonic fanboys should also open their eyes a little. Writing a review is not easy, and can even become boring and stressful. Specially when you hate the game.
The critic has no obligation to play the game up to, for example, 75%. A review can be easily written as long as the author experienced the game’s basic concepts and ideas, and observed technical details at least minimally. So, just because the guy who reviewed SBK only played through half of the game is no proof he has no material or ideas for a review. And if he says that the rest of the game is composed of side missions, then that’s how he saw it. He has no obligation of knowing that said side missions unlocks a secret ending of sorts. Other critics may see this differently, and maybe even in a positive sense.
It all leads to one thing: opinion and freedom of speech.
So, let the guys do their jobs. Even if they absolutely suck at what they do.
So, yeah, all this nerd rage is pointless and stupid. If you like the game, then fine, others might do as well. No need to bash the people who hate it.
Crappy reviewer or not, a shitty game is shitty. End of word.