Game Site Space For $$

Wagner James Au writes "Thought y'all would be interested in part two of my 'Preview Ho' series for Kotaku -- in it, a media buyer tells me how Gamespot and Gamespy sells editorial space on their sites to big publishers for thousands of dollars. In other words, the games you see on the front pages of those sites are often there because publishers paid for that privilege. In their defense, Gamespy's Vice President of Content Publishing tells me the practice is 'pretty common both in print and online'." Nothing surprising here, but it's interesting to see it laid out like this.

Comments

Smaller sites are better anyway

[Shimdaddy]

I read a rant by someone who works as a game reviewer that said that they have a hard time evaluating games fairly. Since a) they don't pay for their own games and b) they play so many games (2 or 3 full games per week if I remember right) it gets tough. That's why small innovations are weighted far more heavily than the acutal "Fun Factor" of a game. I review games at my own site, SkorchedEarth, it's small and personal. Sites like these are the reviews I trust, because it's more of a recommendation from a friend than a review from someone who shares a bunk with game publishers. The biggest problem with them, though, is that there aren't many games reviewed (because I'm super-broke), especially not obscure ones, and it takes a while to publish them (since I don't get the games early, and I have to beat them on my own time). But, this gives the lesser-known reviewers a much better perspective on whether or not the game is worth your scarce time and hard-earned cash.

Obvious disclaimer: I run the site. There are no ads though, so I don't stand to gain from hits, except the joy of watching my server get slammed.