Worrisome Tweets

I saw a bunch of different reviewers tweeting about a super frustrating game this weekend without mentioning what game it actually is. Obviously, under embargo. Arthur at Polygon, Sessler at Rev3, and our own Jeff.

If you think about what PC games are coming out soon you get Sim City (not getting reviewed pre-release), Starcraft 2 (Brad would review, not Jeff), and Bioshock Infinite. Bioshock makes the most sense because it already went gold and would likely be sent out super early for reviews. Looking a little more closely I saw this;

Chase works for the PR company representing said game. A quick glance at Access Communications' client list ( http://www.accesspr.com/clients/current/ ) reveals 2k and Irrational.

Of course, this could just be one super irritating part, but this worries me a bit about a game we all have irrationally (pun intended) high hopes for.

I hate it when Arthur and other journalists talk massive shit on Twitter and when asked to explain, they clam up tighter than a virgin on prom night (well, my prom at least).

I know that doesn't do much as far as the topic goes, but it pisses me off. Keep your damn mouth closed if you can't talk about it.

@oldirtybearon: they can hint but they can't just say shit like that blatantly. If you're smart (like the OP was) you'll figure out what they're talking about, they're just trying to help the best way that won't get them into trouble with a large publishing company

Oddly enough this makes me more interested in the game.

Hopefully, it's just a borked review code or something.

That went from "meh" (Gies) to "hunh" (Sessler) to "shit" (Gerstmann).

@animasta said:

That's bullshit. If they're so worried about what a publisher thinks then there's something critically fucking wrong with that relationship.

Ha, 'defining insanity' - so, constantly dying and having to replay a section over and over?

I wonder if this just means they're going to have a decent-sized day 1 patch.

Though, I'm still not convinced it's Infinite. Sounds a little early for that. (3 weeks out? Shouldn't we be hearing this in two or so weeks instead?)

Ya know if it is indeed Bioshock I wouldn't be surprised. Not sure if they are implying its just balls hard which... honestly I don't see happening on a normal difficulty setting or if its something that is just straight out offensive or broken but I've had sort of a sixth sense about this game for awhile now. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out being utter shite. Now, I don't want this game to fail I really don't I'd rather be proven wrong and be absolutely guilted into buying the damn game but I just dunno man... I think there is just too much pomp and circumstance surrounding this game.

Either way... I guess we'll find out shortly.

Jeff should contact some PR like Sessler did and get some of their sweet Gin while he's at it for help.

The only reason they can't talk about the games is because if they suddenly bad mouthed a title a month before it came out, the game would sell like hot garbage. Look at movies nowadays, where Twitter posts can affect the box office on Sunday for a Friday release. If ANYONE reviewing media did something like that, they'd stop getting access to it and then there would be no reviews.

Or they could just buy their own games for reviews...

i'm psyched for some controversy.

Please, please let them be talking about the Walking Dead Survival Instinct.

Well, according to this Wikipedia page, the only other 2K game coming out any time soon is Major League Baseball 2K13 (March 5). I highly doubt it's that (also, it's only on 360 and PS3, so it would be a bit weird for Jeff to be throwing a mouse).

or else they get blacklisted, they get to rush a review out and have it be a substandard piece of content and also they can never hint about anything like that with that publisher again.

It's easy to say things like that without considering everything that goes into a review or whatever

I don't think it's the sort of worry that would affect the actual contents of the review, at least not with these guys. Well at least not with Sessler and Jeff. Don't know much about Arthur Gies.

All this means, if it means anything at all, is that one section of the game is difficult. This seems to have nothing to do with story, characters, setting, or gameplay for the rest of the game.

Yes, that specific portion that is giving trouble is worrisome, but the part I'm excited for, the only part I care about, doesn't seem to be affected. Hopefully we can just set it on easy at that point.

I'm making the assumption all three are talking about the same game. We only know for sure that Sessler is playing a 2k game. Jeff could technically be playing something else entirely. It just seems unlikely.

Are you guys sure it isn't the new God of War game coming out?

Dale North suggests to Sessler that he may be playing the same game, and Dale North's tweets today seem to specifically reference Kratos. And it's out in another week.

(and Sessler direct messaged Dale North about it. So, this really sounds like the new God of War game)

Jeff mentions throwing his mouse. God of War is on PS3. The others may, but Jeff's not talking about that game.

The game Sessler and North discussed was represented by Access Communications who do not provide PR for any Sony subsidiary. That and Jeff threw his mouse. Seems highly unlikely. But who knows.

It's not about being worried about what a publisher thinks, it's about breaking embargo. If Jeff gets on Twitter and says "BIOSHOCK INFINITE SUCKS DON'T BUY IT" two weeks before the embargo is lifted, then Giant Bomb isn't being sent 2K games anymore. There's nothing to be gained from that and then no one wins. Giant Bomb can't get their reviews in at a reasonable time and the content that the users want isn't being provided to them.

While I'm not convinced they're talking about Bioshock Infinite, seeing as Jeff talked about tossing a mouse it's not likely to be God of War, at least in his case.

@voodoopc: Yeah and then they'd either be a week or two late with the review or some publications would rush through the game and pump out a shitty review. These kinds of deals between publisher and editorial website provides reviewers the time needed to form an opnion and write a good review and still give us timely content.

then refer to the second half of my post - the one that says "if you can't talk about it keep your damn mouth closed."

If embargoes are the reason they can't talk publicly, then they shouldn't be talking publicly. Now it just makes people like Arthur look scummy for trying to skirt the agreement he made with the publisher to gain access to whatever title he's badmouthing.

@CollegeguyMike: Maybe Sessler and North are playing a different game than Jeff. hm.

It just seems early for them to be reviewing Infinite. I mean, it's not supposed to be a long game. Why would the developer give the game to them three weeks ahead? Wouldn't one week make more sense? It's not like some giant JRPG that may need two weeks for a reviewer.

Either way, Sessler is the one we know is either playing Bioshock Infinite or MLB 2k13. Which seems more likely? I doubt you hire Sessler to review generic baseball games. Unless the PR woman was contacting him about some bad Beefeater gin. She replied directly to his tweet about his frustration and he confirmed it.

John Drake guessed that the game Jeff is playing is Sim City. Which I think is a reasonable possibility, as I think he's playing a different game.

Sim City was not sent to reviewers. They held events for it last week. It's why most sites aren't publishing reviews at the time of release.

I suppose it's -possible- that Sessler is playing Infinite; it just seems a bit off to me. Though, even if it's a progress-breaking bug, that's something that can be patched. Sessler and North wouldn't be playing MLB 2k13, but I have a hard time believing they're playing Infinite at this point either.

It's not Simcity as Jeff said on tumblr that they won't review it till it is out, because of all the server stuff. Also Simcity is a Ryan review surley?

mhm. Well, then screw John Drake! ;)

It's not a matter of possibility. Sessler is playing one of those two games. That part's not speculation.

Oh, he said that? That it was either of those two? Well, then maybe they're all playing different games. ha. I don't know; it doesn't make sense.

@_chad said:

This seems like the better bet. And it's Activision's game so you can expect the reviewers to be 'scared' of them.

One thing to consider as far as Jeff's tweet goes, he said he "tossed the mouse" out of his hand. If it is BioShock Infinite, it's extremely rare that a company would send out the PC version of a game prior to release. They almost always send a console version, usually 360.

I guess we'll find out later huh?

oh man- this is interesting. I WILL BE FOLLOWING THIS THREAD. KEEP AT IT GUMSHOES.

Also, what game has "chain puzzles"?

That seems to at least be connected to the game that Sessler is playing.

He tweeted this or did he

BioShock Infinite's version of hacking mini-game?

@oldirtybearon said:

It's the reality of game reviewing. Review embargos are put in place so that negative reviews will have a smaller impact on sales (they claim otherwise but it's pretty obvious that's the case: "everyone should have a chance to review it!" "we need review embargos to save the children and fight the terrorists!" etc). If you want the media to be less controlled by corporate interestes you make sure public service stays up, running, and funded by public means. Game reviewers are met with an ultimatum: either you shut up about the game until we say you can talk about it, or we're not sending you any more games ever again.

Okay, I am really thinking that Sessler and Dale North are playing God of War: Ascension.

@ChaseJustChase, the PR representative that contacted Sessler, specifically lists God of War: Ascension on his resume. http://www.linkedin.com/pub/chase-chase/10/232/b54

And considering Dale North specifically mentions Kratos, awkward platforming, and "chain puzzles" in tweets today, this sounds to me like GoW:A.

Can't be sure, but seems more likely to me(as it's coming out in a week) than Infinite.

2k's PR probably wouldn't be helping Sessler with an Activision game.

That has switched in the last 18 months. Lots of games send Steam codes now. Infinite is very much a PC game. Giant Bomb rarely reviews the Xbox version of games which have large differences now. They almost always do PC.

Good spotting! Hope so!

Yeah, and Gies keeps talking about God of War. Mentions about PS4, and Uncharted. Probably God of War.

Gies did mention they will be reviewing Sim City, that there was a caveat they got around or something. Could be that Sim City decided to give review copies, Jeff picked it up because Ryan is out. Would explain the mouse/PC comment.

Yeah, and he notes God of War: Ascension on his resume but not Bioshock Infinite, which I think would be pretty prominent if he was specifically helping with it.