The Midagedgamer Report for 3-22-2013
This Week:
IGN in cahoots with EA?, Steam Early Access, Origin likes
you and more!
First we get movie reviews on a gaming website now it
appears that gaming news icon IGN may (or may not) have exclusive access to
content from the upcoming Battlefield 4.
The Battlefield 4 website went live Wednesday and somebody dug into its
code and found a snippet suggesting that IGN already had a promotional article written proclaiming "IGN
predicting Battlefield 4 to be game of the year". A check of the site today shows no evidence
of the code but the suggestion that IGN may be partnering with EA to promote
the game is a natural leap. Whether or
not is true is something entirely different.
It does call into question how impartial a game review can really be
when there's such a close relationship with a publisher. As though movie reviews weren't bad
enough. By the way the BF4 website is here. If you have an Origin account and log into
the website you'll earn the special "I Was There" in-game dog tag to
show all your jealous friends...
Ever wish you had a say in how your favorite game got
developed? Well Valve has just launched
Steam Early Access where gamers can play games that are still in
development. Most of the games are of
the indie variety but include titles like ARMA 3. It's an interesting opportunity born out of
Valves community based Greenlight program.
Smaller developers rarely have the resources to fully flesh out a game
before launch so getting the fans involved could produce a better product. Hopefully the free help translates into discounts
and freebies for the participants.
In case you haven't noticed, EA's Origin service is having a
week long sale that ends March 26th on over 200 games. Some are up to 70% off with Crysis 3 and Dead
Space 3 around $30 US and the BF3 Premium subscription now half price at
$24.99. That's almost funny, now that
BF4 is announced who cares about Premium anyway?
Seems Battlefield 4 isn't the only game IGN has a sneak peak
at. They've released a glowing review of
the upcoming Bioshock:Infinite due out March 26th. Hailing this latest installment of the
Bioshock universe as
"A stunning
original world of retro-sci-fi technology and gorgeous scenery. A cast of fully
fleshed-out, memorable characters who deliver real emotional impact."
I don't know about you but with all this gushing going on in
reviews that sound like they came right out of the publisher's PR department I
have to wonder how impartial IGN really is.
It's not a stretch to suggest that publishers may be willing to give early
access to a review site if they know they're among friends. Even flaws seem to be glossed over in favor
of phrases like, "You Will Believe a City Can Fly"
Really? Even bad reviews
of games like Medal of Honor:Warfighter try to soften the blow by acting
apologist and highlighting irrelevant bright spots like this from IGN's review
of Warfighter.
" Warfighter
strives for this by giving you a genuine impression of what it’s like to live
as a Tier 1 operator, the elite operatives at the center of the modernized
Medal of Honor series. It’s clear from the first cutscene all the way to the
end credits that developer Danger Close has the utmost respect for the
extraordinary skills and bravery of these soldiers.
If Medal of Honor extended the same level of
respect to its players, Warfighter might have accomplished more than its
numerous significant failures and lack of player agency has allowed." from IGN's review of Warfighter
Ok, the last paragraph was somewhat useful but it's a negative
review, so what's up with all this about "striving to give a genuine
impression." How's that even
possible in a game so flawed that even EA (the publisher) had to admit it.
I guess that's why I work for free...
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