IGN, Others to See Sonic Generations Ad Dollars, Tie-Ins

99 Comments

1. That’s… kind of a letdown. ._.

2. Oh, the /scandal/! The /madness/! How could we be lied to!!
   .. except that the Classic Sonic demo was actually very fun, and that we’re apparently due for a Modern demo soon, anyway.
   C’mon guys, really? We’re, like, a month away from release, now. Don’t start trying to drag us down into drama and doubt /now/. Just /let it go/ already.

3. Also
   PROTIP
   don’t let other people ruin something for you before you actually play the end product. otherwise you could be misled and miss out on something great! don’t let people rule your opinion — YOU rule YOUR opinion!

4. SEGA has to pay to get fair reviews. Sonic Generations doesn’t deserve a low score so they are doing the next best thing xP

5. What the heck is this? You’re creating a story out of nothing. Every company advertises. It hasn’t stopped games from being trashed. If you have evidence of something fake, bring it up. This is just stirring the proverbial pot. Are you trying to poison the wheel? I suppose Sonic Colors and Sonic 4 were paid off. Who can imagine a game that mixes Unleashed daytime/Colors gameplay and Genesis type gameplay getting positive press? Oh yeah, common sense.
   No offense, I like your site. But this is just useless.

6. This sucks for the people that actually believe in these reviews.

7. Come with facts, not speculation. Advertising is nothing new. Man…

8. Look, in the comments, people are just falling for the idea that Sega is buying positive press! Facts? Evidence? Who needs them! Everyone KNOWS what’s REALLY going on, here. This is really irresponsible. Tristan, I know you take yourself seriously as a journalist. Do journalists preemptively speculate on impropieties like this? No. You should edit your post to make it clear you’re speculating on POSSIBLE misperceptions.

9. Crazee: IIRC Colors and Sonic 4 had next to no outside advertising.
   All I’m saying is to keep an open mind and come to your own conclusions…sort of along the lines of what Tony’s saying. Having dealt with Sega trying to steer OUR editorial direction a couple times in the past regarding some stories they didn’t like, I wouldn’t put it past them to pull some strings behind the scenes.
   -T

10. You’re an idiot. -_-

11. You should have used the Drama banner for this.

12. I imagine the people who work at these websites would be rather insulted at the implication of inflating review scores for cash. Places like IGN, gametrailers etc go to great lengths to keep their admin departments (people who arrange these deals) and their actual reviewers away from each other. In most cases the reviewers wont even know what kind of deal their website has made.
    One example is IGN’s Medal Of Honour review; the entire website was COVERED in ads for the game and they gave it a 6/10.

13. TSSZ: The Fox News of the Sonic & Sega scene.

14. Got a real Source to back this up? Advertising =/= bribing for good reviews. Tristan, you’re a colossal prick looking to stir up controversy. Go die in a fire.

15. To be honest, I sort of expected this when I saw that “preview” vid from IGN last week. I’m not saying that Sega IS buying positive reviews, or that Generations even needs to have positive reviews bought; it’s just that you should always be on the look out for things like this in the business world. Money greases palms, it’s the way it goes, right or wrong.
    Either way, you always gotta try your best to not let anyone but yourself influence your opinion of a game, in either direction. Don’t just buy into excess hype (or lack there of) or bad feelings; of course, it’s far easier said than done, and I do it all the time.
    So when IGN releases their preview, I’ll read through it and get excited about the FACTS–what kinds of upgradables there will be, power-ups, special features, unlockables, framerate etc. When it comes to how they think the game plays or controls, what the physics are like, how great (or not great) the level design is (aka elements that depend a lot on perception)–these I’ll take with a critical mind and a grain of salt.
    Is it possible that Sega buying positive reception? Sure. Should you be angry about it? That’s your choice–I mean I would be disappointed but not surprised, it’s not exactly unheard of. Does this change anything about Generations’ quality or lack thereof? NO, that’s up to you.

16. I stand by the story; you all deserve to know where the money’s flowing right now.
    I never said advertising automatically means bribery for good scores, just that it sets up the possibility (and it absolutely does.) If the reviews remain impartial, great. If the scores on the aforementioned sites look a tad higher than the average, you’ll at least be able to connect the dots. Don’t like it? Go to Dale’s pity party on SSMB and complain.
    -T

17. How much were you paid to post this bullshit?

18. I wasn’t joking, Tristan. Use the Drama banner for this story. It needs it more than anything. XD

19. …I’m a little scared now… XD

20. It’s not even my fight. I just think your final line in the article is very unfair. “Something doesn’t smell right”? Every publisher takes out advertising space on gaming websites, it’s not unusual in the slightest. If you’re trying to make reference between the correlation of positive Generations media and the amount of money’s SEGA’s put into advertisement, you need to remember reception has been positive amongst reviewers and fans since it was first announced.
    Also, publishers typically invest 10% of a game’s estimated profit into advertising. Positive reception from the media drives up SEGA’s confidence in the game and subsequently will put more money into advertising. That’s why it seems that game with large amount of advertising get good reviews.

21. Sorry tristan but…
    This is a stupid topic.
    First new bayonetta on TGS, now this…
    I want my old good TSSZ

22. Over the past 20 minutes, I’ve got like 6 updates to my phone over TSSZ’s twitter (maybe 5, one was a correction, I think) so I figured I’d see what the drama is all about, lol. I’m glad Sega’s promoting the hell outta this game, it’s Sonic’s 20th. I doubt that’s what’s behind any hype this game may get, though. Really, Sonic games are rarely, if ever, overhyped by critics in recent years. Contrary to what the header implies, I doubt this’ll budge the critics’ views on the game. Good to know that this will be promoted. 🙂

23. From Tristan’s Twitter: “It’s funny, too: @Sonicwrecks insinuated about as much as I did re: Sega’s advertising but no one’s slamming them. Were they more clever?”
    They had a line about it. You have an article. 😉

24. So THIS is why IGN finally like a great Sonic game, rather than hating a great Sonic game! JK, I’m pretty sure that IGN are past this kinda thing, now they’re so big they don’t need the blingz to survive XD

25. One thing…
    IGN gave Sonic Colors an 8.5, and Sonic 4 an almost too generous 8.0…
    Most critics have expressed they are fans of classic Sonic gameplay which makes up, pretty much, ALL of Sonic Generations, so if IGN give it a good score, that is most probably why.

26. still one fantastic masterpiece

27. @Gooch
    ALL of Generations is Classic Gameplay? XD

28. Matriculated is making excellent sense. Medal of Honor was hyped up quite a bit (shoot I was hyped) and reviews weren’t so hot. I smell false drama stirring…try not to rile the fans up.

29. So, they’re getting a shitload of advertising in the UK.
    I’d be more pleased if it was US news, but whatever helps it.

30. It’s hard to tell who’s actually calling Tristan on his article for being false because they actually believe that it’s unfair to say at this point, or are just asspained because it’s killing their buzz about the game.
    Still, I think it’s early to shout ‘BRIBERY’ when we haven’t seen the preview yet from IGN and the others. If it’s setting it up to be the ‘OMG BEST GAME OF THE YEAR ALL YEARS’ then, yes, it’s POSSIBLE some nudging from Sega was involved. After all, it is just a preview, and we do know how flip-floppy IGN can be about Sonic games come review time. And to be fair, we have seen reviews that were blatantly bribed before, from Sega. Anyone remember that glowing Sonic ’06 review? Yeeeaah. Either they were just plain stupid or a little money was being thrown around. However I do realize the fact that Generations is light years ahead of ’06 in terms of actual quality, so that might just be moot.
    But hey, maybe it deserves every bit of praise it gets? Perhaps having a Sonic game THAT good in the eyes of reviewers is such a foreign concept to us that we automatically go into ‘IT’S A CONSPIRACY’ mode as a knee jerk reaction?
    Who knows, let’s just keep our heads and wait for the preview to show up. Then we can put on our tin foil hats if need be.

31. Tristan, jealous that some of those ad dollars don’t go to you? Sounds like it… or should I say smells like it? 😛

32. Nomad is right. I also feel that this article has a tinge of conspiracy theorist to it, but some of you are acting like children and need to learn how to let someone pose a hypothetical without pissing your pants about it.
    If you don’t believe what he’s posing then post your counter-argument and let a dialogue ensue.
    For the record, I do believe this is jumping the gun a bit. IGN’s video last week was a bit over the top, but if you were an old Sonic fan who played the first Sonic game that you loved in so many years you might have a similar reaction. I have friends that are feeling the exact same way right now.
    The Kane and Lynch debacle is what stirs up these kind of suspicions, but even in that instance the review still went up. Some shady dealings happened afterwards but it didn’t affect the content of Gertsmann’s review.
    I’ve worked in the gaming industry for a couple years now and know several people on the journalist side of things. And I can’t think of a single one that would throw their integrity out the window so easily. Granted I don’t know anyone at IGN, so I really can’t say.
    But the fact stands that though this article may challenge your perspective, you are the one responsible for your opinions, not Tristan. Losing your shit just makes you look LESS confident.

33. Way to suspect bribery, buddy. Im off to sonic stadium to read real articles
    (Enjoy getting your news and screenshots a week or two late, then 😛 -T)

34. @Stephan
    Lol, classic was a poor choice of words, because i didn’t mean classic as in Genesis gameplay…I should have said traditional gameplay, which is to say Sonic gameplay, if you know what i mean

35. Nomad: “And to be fair, we have seen reviews that were blatantly bribed before, from Sega. Anyone remember that glowing Sonic ’06 review? Yeeeaah.”
    They believed that they were playing a beta of the game, and were promised by Sega that all the controls and physics and loading problems would be ironed out for the final version. Once they realized that nothing had been changed, the score was retroactively docked to a 5.5.

36. @Gooch
    Sonic ONLY gameplay?

37. But for the most part, let’s not forget the game actually looks worth being excited for. xD

38. @Goodman
    That’s the way it’s done, my man.
    I read reviews to find out what the facts are, not for the score or the reviewer’s opinions. They help me form an informed opinion about something so I can determine whether it’s worth spending my hard-earned money on.
    @Everyone else
    Calm the fuck down.

39. Also @Nomad and X
    Kudos for the cool heads. I like your style.

40. please shut up i this want the game i dont want any drama from stoping me from getting this game am i right

41. @darkgomugomu and @needlemouse…………….smh

42. omg… you got to be fucking kidding me… just get over it…

43. Im still trying to remember the last time a bad game got a good review…

44. I feel rather bad for reviewers. Ever since the Eidos incident a fair amount of folks just assume bribing for good scores is the norm. It always comes up if someone doesn’t like a game others do. “The reviewers must have been bribed”. Can’t be fun to have your integrity insulted like that, especially considering that, from what I gather, the Eidos incident was a big deal at least partly because it was outside of the norm.
    Besides, it’s kind of a catch twenty two. A lot of games have advertisement. So is every game review biased? For an example, IGN routinely employs huge ads, including ones as the background image of their site. As I recall, Duke Nukem Forever was one of those games; they still trashed it with something like a five out of ten. Not to mention they even do second opinions and contrarian opinions on even the most popular games.
    This is all a veil of cynicism that I find rather unnecessary and unfortunate.

45. I usually look at reviews to see what other ppl think of the game. It doesn’t really change how I feel about the game or anything. It’s just because I’m curious of how it was received by many others.
    Other than that, I just look at it to see the footage and hear about stuff I didn’t know about just like any interview or gameplay vid. If it has new footage or info, and I happen to come across it I might watch it, review or not.

46. @SOS
    Sonic 4, lol
    But that’s another debate for another time 😉

47. But what if the game deserves a perfect score? How can you inflate that?

48. Perhaps providing an outside example of this sort of thing might provide some extra scope. Movies: does anyone here ever pay attention to those quotes writ large and all over the cover of released movies? They usually follow the lines of “two thumbs up!”, “Great fun for the whole family” or “funniest movie of the year!”. I don’t ever bother listening to them if I haven’t seen the movie. Why? Because I know that most likely, someone was paid to write those meaningless words, or at least they were taken out of context. I think we ALL know that. And yet I don’t see mass rages about it on the internet, though perhaps I’m in the wrong corner.
    So say Sega DID bribe IGN to act all positive? What difference does that really make? Are you suddenly not going to like the game? Is Sonic team’s ability to make a good sonic game changed now? It affects nothing between you and the game–whether you enjoy it or not. Who cares what IGN says or what Sega pays or doesn’t people to say; it’ll bring in more sales possibly, so great. If it sucks, people will realize they wasted their money and not buy into future hype, so Sega gets hurt anyway.
    All I’m saying is Big Deal. Just like those quotes on movie boxes, if it sounds like a fake review just ignore it. If Sega isn’t bribing anyone, then great, and whoever wants to insinuate that they are can continue doing so. If Tristan is wrong then he’s wrong; in fact, he never stated conclusively that Sega did bribe anyone. Tristan can post all the junk he wants on TSSZ; it’s his site after all. How many here spend time looking for news and updating it everyday? If I didn’t like it, then I would just stop visiting. I think sometimes people here like to act like a review committee for Tristan’s site.
    Ah well, enough preaching to the choir. Onwards to release date!

49. You’re sensationalizing nothing, don’t get everyone so damn riled up. They’re paying for marketing so more people SEE the game, not buying good reviews. There’s a BIG difference. :/

50. I swear, some of you idiots act worse than a 3 yr old punched in the face.
    Who gives a shit on what this game scores, the real review is made by the player, not some group who will give any game with bazookas or dudes in red hats and overalls a score over 7.
    (EDIT – Inflammatory -T)

51. eh. big advertising doesn’t always mean big bucks. just look at the disaster that was Duke Nukem Forever. :/
    Besides, 9 out of 10 times, a good game WILL sell well. the reason 06, sold poorly was because it sucked. with unleashed, it was the were hog. and with sega all stars racing, it was that people tend to ignore the spin offs in a series. generations is actually 100 percent good (assumption), therefore it SHOULD sell well, and shouldn’t have to be advertised as much as games as Gears of war 3. when people hear a good sonic game is coming out, and not a mediocre/bad one, people WILL notice. just look at the new mortal kombat.

52. @Goodman
    You’re so right. They do that in commercials too. lol
    They’re like “Called best movie of the year!” and I’m like “Didn’t the preview of the that other movie 2 minutes ago just say the same thing?” lol
    Personally, I don’t think it’s necessarily a lie. It’s just it’s meaningless. They’ll say it’s the best movie of the year if it’s bad, but they’ll still say it even if it’s good too.

53. Meh, Sega will pull through. Does Generations really look or play like it will fail? No. It plays fantastic, and I can’t wait to see what’s next 😀

54. @Gooch don’t forget they gave Free Riders an 7.5

55. Listening to an IGN podcast lately, they talked about how the reviewers aren’t even updated on what ads are currently running on the site, in fact, the company tries their best to keep that kind of information away from the reviewers. Brink was all over the front page when it got a mediocre review.
    Gears was advertised when it got a 9.3 or whatever it got. It really depends on the game’s quality and not the advertising.

56. Ha. Some idiots giving a rat’s behind about some random dumbass’ opinion on a video game. Not interested in reviews, good or bad.

57. Goodman so has the right idea…

58. Tristan what are you talking about. I can go find you about three Sonic Colors commercials right now if you would like. Oh, and I can go find some from Unleashed too. Lol youre too funny ;p

59. The drama…. this is hilarious…
    I am laughing so hard right now.

60. @Chillidogz
    Fair point, although my main point is still valid. People who think IGN have it in for Sonic, is old news… Its been old news since Sonic 4/Colors, when they gave both games glowing recommendations, so theres no reason to be suspicious about them being enthusiastic now, not when SG actually looks much better than both these games.

61. Lots of knee-jerking “IT’S TRISTAN, OF COURSE HE’S STIRRING UP DRAMA” going on the comments in here.
    Despite the fact that, you know, this kind of bribery has been an issue in games press for a while. Tristan cited a clear example, even. Dude got fired because he provided a review that was not “on-message” with what the advertisers wanted.
    Other examples have even come up here in the comments, about Sega only wanting to partner with us as long as they could control our message. Tristan told them no, and now there’s a few people at Sega PR who don’t like us anymore because of it. The whole PLAY Magazine deal comes to mind, too – in exchange for the “exclusive first review” of Sonic 2k6, Dave Halverson had to give the game a good score. Yes, he’s publicly said that Sega lied to him and told him the game would be fixed, but that doesn’t change the fact that he was provided exclusive content – something that would drive sales to his magazine – in exchange for passing Sega’s lies on to the reader.
    This is a thing that happens, people. You may not like it, but you’re probably not supposed to like it, which is why it’s usually kept a secret. And it probably needs to stop, some way, some how. But it won’t until you stand up and pay attention.

62. OH. And Tristan, why wouldnt SEGA spend lotsa money advertising this game? It IS the 20th anniversarry after all.

63. @Tristan – Hey, Sonic Stadium doesn’t get their news in a week late or 2. Its rare. Sometimes TSS is ahead of you guys, and sometimes TSSZ is ahead of TSS. Who cares?! If you want world peace like you said Tristan, then don’t go off saying TSS is a ‘behind’ site. The main poster, Shadzter sometimes gets things in late, sure, but he has a life. Don’t think that all TSS does is look up Sonic stuff all day, because they have lives too. So do you Tristan, you have a life too, and shouldn’t work yourself up too much. TSS, Retro, TSSZ are ALL wonderful sites. Don’t hate.

64. The funniest part about this is that Tristan simply gave us some extra details that could POTENTIALLY insinuate foul play. He never really outright accused anybody.
    Now who’s being overly dramatic?

65. @ChaoticFox
    It’s true. I observe more than comment here and I’ve noticed ppl will jump the gun and bash someone or something they’ve grown bias against despite what’s in front of them. Like when IGN said they were excited for Sonic Generations, somehow that got negative feedback just because it was IGN despite them saying something GOOD about the game.

66. Made this comment over at Stadium but Sega extended the embargo so the IGN preview isn’t coming today.
    Source: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEJnmpsNQ_I
    IGNentertainment’s Channel.

67. @sonichedgehog
    its like of odd that Gamepro released its preview but IGN is still under embargo.

68. @Ryan Bloom: Control your message? Are you referring to the occasions when Sega wanted you guys to drop the articles that pertained to leaks and you guys refused? Because I didn’t think that was a particularly crazy request.

    1. dl316bh: We’ve had other situations.
       -T

69. @Tristan Oliver: Fair enough. I’ll take your word for it.

70. @mike
    Unless there’s new gameplay, I don’t see why the embargo is still put.

71. @ricardo:
    That one reason i think that Tristan is a prick. Like you said if Tristan wants peace then why should he deserve it if he shake with one hand while having a knife at the ready in the other hand. And once again he writes an article to stur up site hits and rage in the fandom/community
    I also agree with darkgomugomu,Sloth, and crazee’s comments. Fully. Also especially Bystander comment about if it gets good review its because Sega paid them to do it and if it gets bad reviews its because it deserves it. Does that sound like tristan is a true sonic fan.
    Yeah I know that this message might not even make it cuz Tristan will see it and delete it but I have my right to my opinion.

72. Well there’s still the beautiful video of Sky Sanctuary 🙂

73. I can’t believe how dumb some people are.

74. @ChaoticFox
    Why can’t I just look away from it!

75. @ChaoticFox
    Does that include me?

76. @sonichedgehog: Probably not. He’s talking about the people getting pissed at Tristan over this article. So I imagine you’re in the clear.

77. @dl316bh
    It’s quite ironic because in other cases, all of these ppl here would be the ones accusing IGN of doing exactly this. Mostly because they dislike IGN so much they even when they say something good they want a reason to hate on them. (Regardless of if IGN actually did this or not)
    The point is, with that behavior I’m suprised everyone just wants to fit in and backfire at an article that doesn’t need it. lol

78. Wow Tristan, you’re an idiot.
    Has anyone ever considered, that MAYBE the reason that Sega is going so heavy on the advertising is because it’s being released in the same month as a bunch of OTHER A-list games
    Uncharted 3
    Assassin’s Creed: Revalations
    Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
    Super Mario Land 3D
    Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword *25th anniversary btw*
    Elder Scrolls V
    Saints Row: The Third
    Need for Speed: The Run
    and others
    Specifically, Generations comes out the exact same day as Uncharted 3, so i’m not really seeing an issue with wanting to promote a game for such a heavy release month.

79. @kiegoNiwa:
    Right I completely agree with you, especially the first few sentences. Assassin’s creed was a big title that sold last year so Generations has to have big name advertising for it in order not to be run over by the bus loads of titles that are coming out November alone. The 3DS version has Super Mario 3ds to content to it along not to mention that december might be difficult as well cuz of Mario Kart 7. So I say let them advertise all they want.

80. @Keigo
    See, THIS is the ignorant stupidity I’m talking about. The issue is NOT that the money is being spent on advertising, it’s WHERE that money is being spent. It’s going toward websites that have special “previews” going on – sites that will ultimately review the title and thus determine, in some part, it’s critical and commercial success. If the same amount of advertising dollars were being spent on other sites WITHOUT a potential conflict of interest, there wouldn’t be any cause for suspicion.
    And, for the umpteenth time, NO ONE IS SAYING that there is any confirmed definitive evidence of bribery… just that the potential is there, and it’s something to be aware of. This article is merely a caution to maybe take these sites’ comments with a grain of salt and perhaps encouraging people to form their own opinion of the game, rather than simply swallowing these upcoming previews as wholesome truths that are in no way biased by advertising dollars.

81. I don’t think you’re stirring up drama, Tristan.
    But unintentionally this is what happened… it wasn’t unexpected people’d get mad as hell man.
    Good luck.

82. @Bystander
    “If it gets 8.5 or higher its probably due to bribery and not the games own merit. If it gets less than an 8.0, then the game itself is lacklustre and didn’t deserve any good scores.”
    Based on that statement, the only reason why Sonic Colors and Sonic 4 got a (mixed-to*) positive critical reception from major gaming websites was likely because Sega bribed all of those websites (even though both games got little to no advertising, according to one post I saw here), and not based on their quality. And if the game gets a 7.5 or lower, the game automatically sucks, even though a “7” means good and a “6” means OK in reviewer terms. Oh, I forgot, gamers now believe that if a game gets less than a 8.0, it’s automatically garbage.
    *: for Sonic 4
    Seriously, if you think the game’s gonna fail, why the hell are you here in the first place (unless you want to troll / be 100% pessimistic)? The back button’s on the top-left of your screen.

83. @ChaoticFox
    The only OTHER place they could have advertised without there being a conflict of interest would be Gamestop.com, because of large amount of gamers check that site for release dates *sorta* and pricing details. I highly doubt that gamers would actively and routinely check best buy or walmart for their video game information, so the next best thing would be review sites like IGN and gamespot, because there are more of those than there are retail sites for video games.
    Also in reguards to:
    “This article is merely a caution to maybe take these sites’ comments with a grain of salt and perhaps encouraging people to form their own opinion of the game, rather than simply swallowing these upcoming previews as wholesome truths that are in no way biased by advertising dollars.”
    THIS should be a practice for ALL reviews!!!!! So regardless of if you view this as accusing, slanderous, or just a warning, it’s still utterly pointless article.

84. @Keigo
    It’s not pointless admonition if it isn’t common practice already.
    And it isn’t.
    Obviously.

85. @Keigo
    Or, you know, TV and shit. Facebook. Kotaku. And other nerd website. Places to get the message out to the people who might not already KNOW about the game because they spend all their time on gaming websites where the information is already prevalent.
    The fact that gamers are checking these sites for gaming news PROBABLY means they’ve already been made aware of Generations existence, so the extra ad dollars there are kind of like preaching to the choir.
    Also, it’s not just the fact that these are review sites, but sites being given special treatment with these “first look” previews – it all ties together. And, like I said, it doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but it should at least raise questions. And considering the stupidity I’ve seen in these comment sections, most people could use a healthy dose of realism and take a more informed look at the way this industry functions.

86. The problem with the bribery that goes on with stuff like Kane & Lynch is because video game reviews are taken with more faith than other media. There is a lot of critical dissonance in other forms of entertainment, but simply put, there are fewer Fridays and Transformers 2 among games.
    I’m sure this is due to the higher price of each individual game and from it being the medium under watchdog eyes, the latter causing people to look more into a game before buying one.
    It’s also the medium with a lot of pre-orders, so previews are crucial to major releases like Sonic Generations. It convinces people to pre-order the games, which means early sales.
    On the flip side, either Nintendo doesn’t do this or it hides it very well. Nintendo doesn’t need to bribe anyone anyway.

87. Wow. Tristian… Im not gonna jump and sta\rt insulting you, but Im having this feeling that your trying to kill off any excitement I have for the game. But I have questions and I sincerily hope you reply.
    1: You probably wrote the article because you felt a genuine dissapointment, but why would you feel the need to put it in such a way as to say if Sonic Generations gets great ratings, It’s down to SEGA paying reviewers?
    2. Even so, why would you let that stand in between you and the game? I mean, why should what SEGA, the PUBLISHERS, do stop you from playing a great game?
    I cant help but feel you overreacted, just like most of the guys who commented. You need to relax and get over it. Wait to review day, before making accusations like this. You probably will say “Im not saying that…” But you are very heavily impling it. I await your reply.

88. Nice hater article you got going there Tristan, are you bored?

89. Sega probably did the same for Sonic 4 hence those glorious but very deluded early reviews by IGN etc.
    “Sonic is back baby??” anyone?
    But Sonic Generations looks pretty good so who knows?
    But either way Segabots back off the OP…..he knows how the industry works more than you do 😀

90. Zamio: I’m not trying to kill excitement, but you do need to know where the money’s flowing. That’s all. If the game’s great…then great.
    If it’s not, or there are widely fluctuating opinions on the game and certain sites score it higher than others…this is a good start to begin figuring out why.
    -T

91. @Tristan
    This is slightly off-topic, but do you have any idea when IGN is going to air their preview?

92. @Tristan: But your article is sort of pointing to if the game gets good reviews it cuz of the bribery.

93. @Zamio
    Are you fucking blind? Tristan never made any direct accusations, nor is he at all suggesting that the game doesn’t deserve to succeed. He’s merely pointing out that there is now a reason to question certain websites’ motives when considering their upcoming previews/reviews of the game. This article doesn’t at all insinuate that SONIC GENERATIONS SUCKS AND IF IT GETS GOOD REVIEWS THEN IT MUST BE BECAUSE SEGA BOUGHT THEM.
    It just says that “Hey, just so you know, Sega’s paying lots of money to the people who are about to tell you how good or bad this game is, so maybe take a step back and think about that before you start taking their site’s on-the-record opinions as ‘factual proof of the game’s awesomeness’ – be careful who you trust”.
    Tristan put the facts on the table, but he’s left it up to us to decide what they add up to. You (and everyone else) are more than welcome to and capable of forming your own opinion on the matter. TSSZ isn’t a hype-generator, it’s a news site. It’s not these guys’ JOB to keep your buzz going, that’s Sega’s job. This is news. It doesn’t prove anything one way or the other, but it puts things in perspective and gives you more information to use to make your own informed opinions.

94. @ChaoticFox
    You’ve already said this a few times, so if Zamio refuses to read the previous comments in order to answer his own questions, then I doubt he’ll be back to read Tristan’s answers let alone your more elaborated(though very truthful) summary of the article. More power to you though, it’s nice to see someone with some outspoken leaveheadedness in these comments sections instead of “Tristan you’re an idiot.” Has there been one article without that exact quoted text in the comments? It’s sad.
    ——
    I believe this is a great article, and Ryan brought up a very good example in which an exclusive first-review for a publisher screwed over an editor. PLAY magazine got what is believed to be the first hands on with Sonic ’06, and gave it a -very- positive review. I remember reading it. It’s up in arms whether SEGA truly promised the editors that they would fix the issues before release, but the fact remains PLAY decided to publish a NON-truthful, highly opinionated, and highly influenced review due to advertising and/or exclusivity deals. Personally, I loved Play magazine, but it lost a customer after discovering the game was completely unlike its written review(just as I stopped purchasing Game Informer for their lackluster reviews of Budokai 3 and Sonic Adventure 2: Battle(I know, old games/different editors, but its stuck with me)).
    Since SEGA is planning to advertise the game to its target audience through templates with IGN and Gamespot, it just seems needless and like a waste of money. The game is GOING to get a headline review for BOTH companies since Sonic is still such a controversial icon, thus the game’s reviews get a lot of hits for both websites, thus more ad revenue. It SEEMS pointless that they would fork over so much cash to advertise to gamers that will see the game on the front page anyway(referring to its previews and reviews) instead of saving it for commercial/advertisements on stations/websites with less of a ‘in-the-know’ gamer audience. That’s not to disrespect SEGA’s marketing, I’d hope they know what they’re doing..
    In summary, this seems like a seed that could simply be a profitable marketing tactic for SEGA that could(and HAS) cost someone their job or cost a company to lose valuable customers. Does this mean anything to us, the gamers? If the reviews are influenced in a way to appear more beneficial to the ads, yes, it does affect us.
    Lucky for me, I stopped letting reviews factor in to my purchases a long time ago, and simply read them for entertainment value.

95. Touché, Icehedge.
    Sometimes I figure people are more likely to pay attention if you point things out to them specifically, but you’re right in that I’m honestly just wasting my time by repeating myself.
    Thanks for that.

96. This whole thing has seriously made me start to reconsider coming here though for news. The whole principle feeling behind it all has just….
    I dunno.
    I didn’t think TSSZ would turn into the TMZ for Sonic The Hedgehog. I don’t like that.

97. @Haru
    What’s the matter? Do you feel the fifteen precious seconds it took you to read the article YOU CHOSE TO READ were wasted? Were you mislead by the headline? Do you feel cheated? Get over it.
    You come here because you like at least some part of the way this site operates. Learn to pick and choose what you read based on what is and isn’t of interest to you. No need to cry about the fact that not every article is catered specifically to your interests. If you have a problem with articles like this, DON’T FUCKING READ THEM. Crisis averted! …or do you have some kind of medical compulsion that forces you to click on every possible hyperlink on every site you visit? If so, then you have my condolences. I can only imagine what a hefty cross you have to bear 🙁

98. @ Haru
    Oh boo hoo 🙁
    Who cares? Just don’t read it then….no need to be an attention seeking whore about it!

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