Author's Note: I had not planned on writing anything for a week or so, but current events being as confused as they are, and with so many people running in so many directions like a flock of chickens introduced to a live greande, I felt compelled to at least add my own thoughts on the situation.

Consider the life of a professional game reviewer.

They meet with developers many consider the best in the business. They get hands-on previews of the newest, hottest games. They get to play new releases at least a week before the general public can even purchase them.

They are also subjected to intense scrutiny over their reviews, whether or not the fans agree with them. I've seen some of the comments about Reviewer X and how he should have seen to it that Generic Shooter #45,987 got a 9.0 to make it at least Editor's Choice... or how Reviewer X overscored the same game, even though it was a horribly derivative game not worth the DVD it was pressed on.

And now, it seems, that if said game is advertised heavily, the developer has a say in the process as well.

I'm sure that, if the rumors are true and a certain reviewer was terminated/ resigned over his handling of a certain game, it's not the first such game given special treatment and, if necessary, a padded score based on advertising dollars; in fact, given some of the scores I've seen for heavily-hyped games, I'd wager that they have more to do with outside influence than their own merits.

SO... a show of hands, friends and neighbors: how many of you are in the employ of a major game developer?

*waits patiently... counts hands... tallies results*

So few of you? I thought there'd be at least one... :lol:

With that said, we now have a new burden, laid on us by the overwhelming deluge of silence from the Gamespot powers-that-be: we have to be our own best source of reviews... because chances are, reviewer bias by ad dollars not isolated to GS.

A review like this, which is quite honestly an anti-EA rant more than a review, won't cut it anymore.

Neither will a fandroid's gushing like a schoolgirl over her first kiss (no offense to the intelligent schoolgirls :D ).

Each and every user of this site must do better, since it appears we are the only ones upon whom we can count now. We must write more like this: straightforward and detailed.

I know it seems daunting... in fact nearly impossible. It's not something will happen overnight, but mark my words: if it doesn't happen... the only games anyone will end up buying are those with the biggest advertising budget (if Halo 3 didn't have MS behind it, would it still have gotten a 9.5? Would it still have deserved one?).