Comics, Cartoons, and all things related

By Eric Barrett

Another week, another story about video game publishers and video game reviewers. This time it involves a major magazine, Electronic Gaming Monthly, better known as EGM.

According to a column by Dan Hsu, their editor, certain companies don’t like the “less-than-totally-positive previews” EGM has been writing. Anyone who has ever read a gaming preview knows that they are almost always pure fluff with very little based in “final” reality of the game. Usually these previews are nothing more than an advertisement for the game, disguised as “reporting.” So EGM has a somewhat unique stance.

This is the second story in about a month that’s suggested game companies, or more specifically game publishers, are intentionally punishing reviewers for less then positive reviews.

Now this is obviously appalling. It strikes directly at the integrity of a company and the industry. For instance, how can I ever trust CNET (which owns Gamespot, the site of the “original” controversy) with a review?

The bottom line is I can’t.

I will always assume that advertising is guiding their review. Especially when I see negative end-user comments. It will be years before I ever take any pre-release information seriously from Sony, Ubisoft, or anything on Gamespot.

In a digital age, companies can not afford to alienate their customers with heavy handed tactics. People, now more than ever, will find out. And that word will spread. That’s both the beauty and curse of the internet.

Now the question has to be raised, what about comic book reviews?

We all know someone who is convinced a reviewer is a “fan boy” of DC or Marvel. But what can reviewers do to prove their trustworthiness? Or do they even need to?

In my opinion that’s a resounding “yes”. Reviewers of all products need to show that their opinion is legitimate and not store-bought. And in my opinion the only way to do that is to consistently give your honest opinion. If you’re honest, the majority of people will trust you, even if they disagree. But if you’re not being honest, why should anyone care what you think?

The good news for the comic book industry is that it’s a lot more fragmented then the game industry. There are fewer “powerful” sites that review comic books. A bad review of a comic book may upset a publisher, but it doesn’t represent a loss of millions of dollars like a negative review of a computer game.

These factors, I think, help to limit the impact of “biased” reviews. But there’s no question, publishers always want good reviews. The question websites and reviewers need to ask is this: is it more important to get news, any news, from a publisher? Or is it more important to remain honest, even if it costs you?

The answer to those questions will determine the future of the site/reviewer.

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