Gamespot losing relevance

Gamespot is still one of the most respected videogame review websites out there. They always try and do a proper review so we will have to wait. Plus, the game isn't even officially out yet, so hold on, you'll see a review soon enough.KabalCage

GameSpot has always taken a long time with their reviews of big titles such as BioShock. And normally they have one guy review all versions of the game. And with BioShock having two story lines to run through, I don't doubt that whoever is reviewing it is playing through both version from begining to end. They are always one of the last sites to put out reviews. Don't be surprised if majority of the reviews had someone run through one version and sampled the other.

GameSpot has always taken a long time with their reviews of big titles such as BioShock. And normally they have one guy review all versions of the game. And with BioShock having two story lines to run through, I don't doubt that whoever is reviewing it is playing through both version from begining to end. They are always one of the last sites to put outreviews.

N3MO

GameSpot has always taken a long time with their reviews of big titles such as BioShock. And normally they have one guy review all versions of the game. And with BioShock having two story lines to run through, I don't doubt that whoever is reviewing it is playing through both version from begining to end. They are always one of the last sites to put out reviews. Don't be surprised if majority of the reviews had someone run through one version and sampled the other.

N3MO

[QUOTE="N3MO"]

GameSpot has always taken a long time with their reviews of big titles such as BioShock. And normally they have one guy review all versions of the game. And with BioShock having two story lines to run through, I don't doubt that whoever is reviewing it is playing through both version from begining to end. They are always one of the last sites to put outreviews.

rragnaar

[QUOTE="rragnaar"][QUOTE="N3MO"]

GameSpot has always taken a long time with their reviews of big titles such as BioShock. And normally they have one guy review all versions of the game. And with BioShock having two story lines to run through, I don't doubt that whoever is reviewing it is playing through both version from begining to end. They are always one of the last sites to put outreviews.

THE_DZA

[QUOTE="THE_DZA"][QUOTE="rragnaar"][QUOTE="N3MO"]

GameSpot has always taken a long time with their reviews of big titles such as BioShock. And normally they have one guy review all versions of the game. And with BioShock having two story lines to run through, I don't doubt that whoever is reviewing it is playing through both version from begining to end. They are always one of the last sites to put outreviews.

rragnaar

The fact that GameSpot doesn't put up reviews first has nothing to do with relevance. A well-written, informed review is always relevant. BioShock isn't even out yet, and GameSpot's policy has always been to put up reviews as close to the game's release date as possible.

The fact that GameSpot doesn't put up reviews first has nothing to do with relevance.

UpInFlames

Untimely review are not new for GameSpot but I don't see the problem with just looking at lots of differant gaming sites. If you want to see a review earlier just read someone elses. I also agree with Upinflames a good reviewis always a good review and a late review is only late until it comes out.NinjaBlade753

Sure it does. They arent explicating classic literature, this stuff has a shelf life. I bet you would agree that if they put out a bioshock review in 2 weeks it would be irrelevant. So you can agree there is a line. If the other sites of near equal quality get their stuff out earlier, then the relavancy of the GS review is deminished.THE_DZA

I can't recollect the last time GameSpot put out an early review, if ever. That's simply the way they do things. The quality of their reviews has kept GameSpot relevant for years, not being first to put up one. OXM had their review out weeks ago...who cares? The fact that people are waiting for GameSpot's review and are interested in their take on BioShock demonstrates its relevancy. I really don't understand what's the big deal. The launch page indicates that the review will be up soon. Personally, I expect it to be up on Monday at the latest - which is still before the game's release.

Here's a couple of bits of food for thought.

The Bioshock review embargo for us was today, but we didn't get a retail copy of the game until yesterday. If you'd prefer we burn through the game, potentially miss stuff, and write a half-assed review, we could have done that, but we didn't. We're playing through the game as we would any game, taking our time to see everything we need to see. We'll still have a review up before the game's ship date on Tuesday, so I fail to see what the issue is there. Our goal isn't to have a big contest to see who gets a review up first. It's to provide in-depth info on a game. We take our time with that.

Secondly, part of the reason a number of sites tend to have reviews up earlier than us is because we don't do exclusive reviews. We simply don't do them. We think that's the sort of thing that could potentially have undue influence on the reviews process, and therefore we bypass doing them altogether.

I won't sit here and pretend we aren't late with some stuff. That'd just be a lie. But like I said, we're not the sort to rush reviews just to be first, and sometimes, especially when we have to go out and buy games that aren't sent to us, that forces us to put reviews up later than we'd like. It's something we're always striving to be better at, but many times the situation is simply out of our hands.

Alex,

Can you be sure to address how the PC version scales from lower end (assuming you guys have lower end hardware) to higher spec PCs? No review has mentioned this, it'd be nice to see it commented on.

I disagree. I've been coming to Gamespot since about 1997-98 in some fashion. Back in the days of Desslock. There reviews have always been well written and high quality. While I certainly don't agree with all of them, I respect them. One thing I hate are rushed or incomplete reviews.

The race to be first is just stupid. Some games require significant gameplay before being able to properly review them. I didn't like Halo, Baldur's Gate 2, or Planescape Torment when I first started them, but after a few hours with them I finally got into the games and enjoyed the overall experience. I'm glad they take the time to play through a game the way it was meant to be played.

Eh, ever since Greg Kasavin left Gamespot, I've steadily been going to IGN for my review needs.

Oh yeah, and this whole ".5 increment change" didn't help anything, Gamespot.

Eh, ever since Greg Kasavin left Gamespot, I've steadily been going to IGN for my review needs.

Oh yeah, and this whole ".5 increment change" didn't help anything, Gamespot.

Dutch_Mix

Meh, I'm not that big a fan of IGN. They tend to overrate most games.

Wow GS just got the game yesterday, you guys are late in getting review copies as usual :P

Anyways I predict a 10 here folks, you saw it here first :P

GameSpot has always been slower than the other sites. But when you compare the writing quality of GameSpot's reviews to those of sites like IGN and 1UP you will see that GameSpot's reviews are almost always much better written, cover more aspects of the game, and are just complete higher quality. That is why GameSpot is as popular as it is today, so I don't see any problem with it, as like I've said, they've always been one of the last sites to put out reviews for games. But the wait is worth it, trust me. Would you rather have a half-assed review of BioShock? Or a well-written review that covers everything you need to know about the game? I'd rather wait a little longer for a better review.

The game isn't out for another four days. I don't see the problem. It's not like anyone is on the verge of driving to the store right now to buy it.

Atleast it would've been great to have a Rune Factory review.

Here's a couple of bits of food for thought.

The Bioshock review embargo for us was today, but we didn't get a retail copy of the game until yesterday. If you'd prefer we burn through the game, potentially miss stuff, and write a half-assed review, we could have done that, but we didn't. We're playing through the game as we would any game, taking our time to see everything we need to see. We'll still have a review up before the game's ship date on Tuesday, so I fail to see what the issue is there. Our goal isn't to have a big contest to see who gets a review up first. It's to provide in-depth info on a game. We take our time with that.

Secondly, part of the reason a number of sites tend to have reviews up earlier than us is because we don't do exclusive reviews. We simply don't do them. We think that's the sort of thing that could potentially have undue influence on the reviews process, and therefore we bypass doing them altogether.

I won't sit here and pretend we aren't late with some stuff. That'd just be a lie. But like I said, we're not the sort to rush reviews just to be first, and sometimes, especially when we have to go out and buy games that aren't sent to us, that forces us to put reviews up later than we'd like. It's something we're always striving to be better at, but many times the situation is simply out of our hands.

AlexN

I personally prefer to see reviews a few days before a game's release because that will give me enough time to gather funds or whether to decide I should pick up the game or not. When a review is late, it usually doesn't bother me, but sometimes it can make me a little impatient, especially if it's a review I really want to know about.

For example, (now I'm not picking on Gamespot but other reviewers as a whole), Rune Factory came out earlier this week but it wasn't until just this evening a review from a major game site posted a review. Because of the review it allowed me to make a decision whether it's a title worth picking up or not. The review was late, but it took so long for someone to post a review that I had to go to a few stores to look for it because they were selling out from the lack of copies they had.

Anyway, it can go both ways. I don't mind late reviews but when it's about a title I'm really interested in, it does kind of make me feel a little edgy. Again, I'm not picking on Gamespot, but this is how I feel about late reviews.

Actually, I find myself agreeing with the_DZA on this issue. When I can go find a dozen other reviews that end up scoring very similarly, the odds of Gamespot rating it much differently are pretty low. When it does happen, sure, I see what GS has to say on the matter. But most of the time, it just ends up getting a quick glance and that's the end of it- it sort of feels "me too"ish. Why would I read more of the same?

I hope GS will continue its policy of not accepting exclusive first reviews out of journalistic integrity. But when I see a dozen other Bioshock reviews out, I don't thinkthat it's a policy you can actually hide behind. GS knows in general what gamers are interested in, and for big games, games need to be reviewed in a timely manner. If there is some kind of embargo, I'm pretty sure there is no embargo on announcing that you have an embargo- communicate that to the users.

It's not an issue of being first, it's an issue of being timely.

If GS is taking too long with their reviews, perhaps its because they reviewer actually plays the damn game and takes the time to write a concise, coherent review detailing their experience to give the reader a vivid impression of gameplay which then I'm sure must go through an editor.

Its not surprising at all that a higher profile game is going to take longer hit the press so-to-speak. That's when a professional review site like GS needs to be on their "A" game. If it means I wait another couple days to get a professional reviewer's impression, its well worth it. Remember people, access to these reviews are FREE, unlike those gossip columns that EGM passes off as "professional" reviews.

For me personally the issue is that Bioshock is obviously a great game, and I'm anxious to hear what Gamespot has to say about it. I confide in this site for opinions on many games but particularly enjoy reading about the titles that really stand out from the crowd. I don't mind if it comes across as "me too" at this point because most of the other major sites have posted lengthly reviews, I want to be able to look back one month or 5 years from now and read a high quality, well written review from Gamespot.

Yes it sucks that it's not here now and yes it's a bit irksome when reviews aren't posted in a timely fashion but I'm used to it by now. There's other sites that pride themselves on the speed in which they post reviews, that's not what I'm here for. And as far as relevance is concerned, well, as pointed out in this thread already the fact that so many people are waiting to see what they have to say about Bioshock means they're just as relevant as ever. A reputation for being late to the party perhaps, but still very relevant.

The game isn't even out for another four days. Reviews essentially let people know if a game is worth their money. You can't even buy BioShock, so I don't see the problem.

Edit--Just realized that Shame-us said almost the exact same thing...eery :?

Eh...I don't think that's entirely true, DZA. There are some cases where GameSpot is slower than many other major sites, but it's not common, and they remain one of the first - and most trusted - sites on the 'Net. I often have theories pertaining to possible biases at GameSpot (some of which I find painfully obvious), but then again...I have trouble thinking of a source I'd consider to be 100% objective. Let's face it; that's tough to do.

IGN has been beating GameSpot to the punch on a lot of big reviews this year, I'll give you that. I understand a lot of what Alex is saying regarding review copies, though; at PSXE, we sometimes have to suffer through sporadic availability of titles. Sometimes we get actual review copies and sometimes we only get the retail copy, which means we can't get it until the actual day of release. We were one of the first couple sites to put up a Resistance review, for example, but we never even got Rainbow Six Vegas (we have virtually no relations with Ubisoft, unfortunately), so our review was up weeks late. We don't have the same staff power or resources as GS, but I can't imagine publishers always delivering exactly what GS needs without any delay at all in providing the goods.

For the most part, GameSpot is almost always one of the first 10 sites, and usually one of the first three or four major sites, to post a review. You may have a case for some of the hotly anticipated titles here and there popping up late on GS, but I don't think that's the norm.

The rest of the thread is the long version, so I'll just chime in with the short one.

-Quality takes time.
-GS has ALWAYS been last, save for a few exceptions.
-It's not always their fault.

as for the last two posts. I dont understand this line of thinking, why in the world would other sites like 1up and IGN get review copies prior to gamespot. If they are then gamespot should look at how they are managing their relationships with publishers. I understand the logic behind your arguments, if they dont have it they cant reveiw it, but the question then becomes...why they heck dont they have it?THE_DZA

I don't think you read Alex's post. You see, other sites pay money so they can get a game in advance and have a review up quicker. Alex says GameSpot doesn't do that because it inherently creates bias even if it's not intended.

I'd also like to add that I don't care about any site or magazine's opinion except for GameSpot's. And I don't think I'm alone.

Gamespot loses relevance in the gaming community by being last to put out big reviews. The quality of the rest of game journalism has gone up, and gamespots status as being the premier site for reviews is fading. They desperately need to get reviews of games like Bioshock out in a more timely manner, and they really need someone the calibur of Greg Kasavin to head up the feature reviews again.THE_DZA

GS reviews games like critics do movies.

they don't put it up until the release date.

I agree. GameSpot has a lot of potential, but the late reviews are kind of by-the-way, if you know what I mean.

I also dislike the new rating system. Bring back the specific grades!

Wow GS just got the game yesterday, you guys are late in getting review copies as usual :P

Anyways I predict a 10 here folks, you saw it here first :P

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