We investigate the current state of gaming journalism, from the constant and senseless finger wagging to allegations of bribery.

The subject of reliability in journalism is a touchy subject, especially when it falls under the irony of another journalist pointing the problem out. However, there is no question that there are fishy things going on in the journalism industry, especially the gaming journalism industry. From the constant and senseless finger wagging about who is or isn’t playing favorites with systems, whether or not a certain outlet accepted a bribe for coverage, to another outlet goofing on coverage; there is something afoul in the industry of gaming journalism indeed. The question is, how much faith do you readers put into the coverage you are given?

The whole basis for me writing this came from something I read over the weekend about how publishers sending journalists bits of swag that range from a little plastic toy to something along the lines of Bungie’s $800 Halo 3 treasure trove is blurring the lines of honest coverage for those titles. While the question is nothing that hasn’t been asked before, something about the accusation that buying titles out of pocket is more likely to lead to more honest coverage as opposed to receiving  it from the publisher just doesn’t strike a chord with me.

Maybe it is something in my consciousness that allows me to believe that my fellow gaming journalists have the integrity in them to not be swayed by some little trinkets to give glowing reviews to games they would tell me face to face are complete crap. Though more likely, people don’t give enough credit to a person’s opinion instead looking for any reason as to why a person expressed the “wrong” opinion.

On one hand you have a situation wherein you receive a title from a major company, let’s use Bungie’s Halo 3, and you are on the review for it. Hold on, a giant box comes in for you that included the legendary edition version w/ helmet and special edition Xbox 360. How would that make you feel? You just received the biggest title of the year and $800 worth of schwag just because you are on the review, for free. Easily enough, you might not be the one on the review and the package could have gone to someone else. How do you feel now?

On the other hand, you have the situation where you have to go out at midnight and pick up your copy with no free goodies just a wallet $120 (assuming you bought the legendary edition) emptier. How do you feel now?

In which situation are you more likely to write an “honest” review?  If you picked any one of those, slap yourself in the face and look up the word integrity. If you said both of them, congratulations, you won the game.

The fact is, just because you spent your own money on a particular title doesn’t mean your opinion is going to be any more honest, you may have just spent $120 on a crappy game but don’t want to own up to the fact you got robbed for your buck. Since most stores won’t let you get your money back on a new item, you are stuck making this crappy game the best experience you can. On the flip side, maybe you did get this game for free; at least you have nothing to lose by giving it a bad review now.
 
Like I said before, people give way too much credit to schwag and not enough credit to opinion and not just journalist opinion but their own opinions as well. To base your purchases on word for word someone else’s opinion without forming your own conclusion means there is something wrong with your thought process. Reviews are given to express the reviewer’s opinion of that product and merely offer you an idea of what you are getting for your money should you be interested in the product and not to tell you how to spend your money.

How much trust you place in any journalist is solely up to you. If you feel like you can’t trust a particular outfit, then move onto another one until you find one you are comfortable with. Trust me when I tell you that most journalists would prefer you disagree with them and follow your own opinions rather than blame them because you bought something you weren’t satisfied with based solely on their review.