Back in the day, when I used to frequent a certain web-site, I was really impressed with their coverage of games in Asia. They would have reviews of some of the bigger titles months before the game reached our shores (eg. Final Fantasy VIII, Chrono Cross and Vagrant Story (yes, all RPGs and all Squaresoft games)). It was nice that they did this since in all those games cases it added to the hype prior to the game's eventual release in North America.
Now of days, games don't take months to reach one continent from the other. outside of a few RPGs that require some significant localization, you can expect most games to be in stores within a few weeks of each other. But yes, there are those rare cases that a game may come a few months later.
Recently, the site that shall not be named has begun to do 'import' reviews but not labeling them as such. They would have their Australian or British divisions review games and consider them as normal reviews. For example, with this, every FIFA and/or Soccer title is reviewed by a Brit and games that arrive in Europe first are reviewed in advance by someone in that region (eg. LocoRoco 2 was reviewed by their Australian branch). Other sites do import reviews, but always signify the difference so gamers know that the review is coming from a different part of the world.
So my question is, should gaming sites review games that are not available in their specific market? In my eyes, the answer is no. A game should be available in that region in order for a review to be considered valid. For example, Eurogamer recently proclaimed Chrono Trigger DS as their 27th best game of 2008; problem is, the game is scheduled for release in Europe in Feb of 2009. How can a game be a quality title in 2008 if people in Europe can't legitimately purchase the game at their local electronics shop?
How fair is it for me, a freelancer reviewer at a Canadian gaming site, was to write a review for Patapon 2: Don Chaka. I bought the game while visiting Japan, I've played enough that I could give my recommendation on it and post a fair review (except in regards to multiplayer), but would be viewed as a fair review...probably not.
I like how in general most sites avoid reviewing Import titles. 1up could have easily posted a view on the recent Capcom Fighting game for the Wii, but did not, and I think that other sites should also not review games that are not available in stores the site is based in. We may live in a Global economy, but 90% of gamers regardless of how 'hardcore' they are, do not import games.
Maybe I'm wrong on the subject, but I would rather sites mark their games as imported reviewed instead of passing it off because it can be misleading. An Aussie might be better at reviewing an upcoming Rugby game (if one ever comes back) and give it a great score. Their 9/10 might be fair from an Australian perspective, but put the hands of someone from another part of the world and things will be different.
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