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On Early Driv3r Reviews, World Exclusives

Posted by simoniker on from the controversy dept.

(54)T-Dub writes "SPOnG has a very interesting article about Atari's latest iteration in the Driver series: Driv3r. Back in May there was a SpOnG messageboard post claiming that Atari was demanding a 9/10 score in exchange for early review code. In the heated race for the early reviews, two UK-based Future Publishing publications, Xbox World and PSM2 ran cover stories for Driv3r, and coincidentally gave the game a 9/10 score. XBox World even dubbed it 'the new GTA' while PSM claimed to have 'the World's first and only review' of the PS2 version. As earlier reported on Slashdot Games, subsequent reviews for the quite buggy Xbox and PlayStation 2 versions of the game have hovered in the 60s. Having shipped 2.5 million copies it's estimated that Atari is gambling over $60 million on this game." While the source is hardly concrete, and claims of 'bribery' are likely overblown, it's interesting to ruminate on how getting an "exclusive review" affects game scoring, a phenomenon not limited to Driv3r.

3 of 53 comments (clear)

  1. Yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Don't get me wrong, I love the president. But a recent interview with Irish television leaves me confused. Here are two quotes:

    "People join terrorist organizations because there's no hope and there's no chance to raise their families in a peaceful world where there is not freedom ... so the idea is to promote freedom and at the same time protect our security.

    "These people are willing to kill innocent people. They're willing to slaughter innocent people to stop the advance of freedom," Bush said.

    So which is it? Do people join terrorist organizations because there is not freedom or to stop the advance of freedom?

    Please advise. Thx.

    1. Re:Yes by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic
      Perhaps he means that terrorists join terrorist organisations because they misperceive a lack of freedom as a consequence of American freedom.

      I'm not sure either statement is a terribly rigorous analysis - what about people who were recruited into terrorism by the CIA? Like Osma for example.

  2. Re:Can you handle the truth? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Hmm... I don't think so. She fit my medium-sized "Carly Simon" (I'm hoping that catches on) pretty far down her throat. Plus, I pulled back at the last second and was able to leave a little goo dripping from her nose. Well worth the loss of journalistic integrity.