Know Driv3r? Yeah, that's the mucho expensive and utterly shitty console driving game that Atari released couple of weeks ago. Well, anyway, reviews of the gold version contained nothing but praises for Atari's ambitious action game. Game was given tremendously high grades, which were then printed on the box as game reached the store shelves.
However, it would seem those grades were "slightly" exaggerated. Namely, reviews of the final, out-of-the-box version revealed that Driv3r is a short, buggy, half-assed and boring game, worth maybe 10% of its outrageous price. Simply put, Reflections' efforts and the budget of tens of millions of dollars resulted in an utter trainwreck of a game that barely scored more than 50% in vast majority of the reviews.
Naturally, one must ask himself, what the hell were those few select magazines (X-Box World and PS2 magazine, to be exact) that received the exclusive gold version thinking when they gave it unbelieveably high grades, when the final game obviously sucks major donkey balls? Don't these ridiculously good reviews that have no basis in reality indicate something sinister concerning relations between Atari and these, supposedly honest and respectable, magazines? Such as - oh, I don't know - bribery?
Yep, the answer is not only blatantly obvious, but also 100% correct. Atari's PR department gave XBW and PS2M exclusive versions of Driv3r under one condition: the game must score at least 9/10. Such a move on Atari's part is understandable - the company which is sinking deeper and deeper into an abyss of financial trouble put everything on stake with Driv3r and simply couldn't afford their high-budget title to flop. Thus they sent exclusive copies of the game to two prominent video gaming magazines in exchange for a grade high enough to be proudly printed on Driv3r's box. An understandable, and financially justifiable move, though it strays far and wide from morally acceptable business practices.
What is completely unjustifiable is the fact that XBW and PS2M accepted their offer and printed their ultra-positive reviews of Driv3r without any qualms or second thoughts, even after it became plainly obvious what utter mess the game was. They willingly cheated their readers and betrayed all principles of responsible and unbiased journalism, all in an effort to gain that small, precious advantage on the fiercely competitive gaming press market. Though both magazines are denying all claims of bribery with ferocity of rabid wolves, the word is out and scandal is inevitable. The damage done to reputation and credibility of these magazines is irreparable, and rightfully so. This scandal is indicative of a much larger problem, namely the happy marriage that exists between powerful corporations and privately owned media, and both sides must know that public won't stand for such an immoral conjugation of two corporate blocks.
And what of Atari? On the short term, their strategy produced the desired result. Driv3r shipped 2.5 million copies world wide, and is likely to ship many more. But lately sales of the game have been in rapid decline, since word got out on what crap the game is. Unbiased reviews are pouring from everywhere, painting a different, more objective picture. If this trend keeps up, and the bribery scandal is blown to sufficient proportion, not only could Driv3r utterly flop and sell just enough to cover the production costs, but Atari's immoral practices could alienate many present or potential customers and seriously impact the company's revenues in the future. Not only that, but if the topic of buying grades from gaming magazines (and only a naive fool would believe that Atari is the only company that practices it) gets enough public attention, certain other gaming companies (cougheidoseavivendicough) might have a few fingers pointed at them. Certainly not a pleasant situation for publishers, or gaming press for that matter.
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However, it would seem those grades were "slightly" exaggerated. Namely, reviews of the final, out-of-the-box version revealed that Driv3r is a short, buggy, half-assed and boring game, worth maybe 10% of its outrageous price. Simply put, Reflections' efforts and the budget of tens of millions of dollars resulted in an utter trainwreck of a game that barely scored more than 50% in vast majority of the reviews.
Naturally, one must ask himself, what the hell were those few select magazines (X-Box World and PS2 magazine, to be exact) that received the exclusive gold version thinking when they gave it unbelieveably high grades, when the final game obviously sucks major donkey balls? Don't these ridiculously good reviews that have no basis in reality indicate something sinister concerning relations between Atari and these, supposedly honest and respectable, magazines? Such as - oh, I don't know - bribery?
Yep, the answer is not only blatantly obvious, but also 100% correct. Atari's PR department gave XBW and PS2M exclusive versions of Driv3r under one condition: the game must score at least 9/10. Such a move on Atari's part is understandable - the company which is sinking deeper and deeper into an abyss of financial trouble put everything on stake with Driv3r and simply couldn't afford their high-budget title to flop. Thus they sent exclusive copies of the game to two prominent video gaming magazines in exchange for a grade high enough to be proudly printed on Driv3r's box. An understandable, and financially justifiable move, though it strays far and wide from morally acceptable business practices.
What is completely unjustifiable is the fact that XBW and PS2M accepted their offer and printed their ultra-positive reviews of Driv3r without any qualms or second thoughts, even after it became plainly obvious what utter mess the game was. They willingly cheated their readers and betrayed all principles of responsible and unbiased journalism, all in an effort to gain that small, precious advantage on the fiercely competitive gaming press market. Though both magazines are denying all claims of bribery with ferocity of rabid wolves, the word is out and scandal is inevitable. The damage done to reputation and credibility of these magazines is irreparable, and rightfully so. This scandal is indicative of a much larger problem, namely the happy marriage that exists between powerful corporations and privately owned media, and both sides must know that public won't stand for such an immoral conjugation of two corporate blocks.
And what of Atari? On the short term, their strategy produced the desired result. Driv3r shipped 2.5 million copies world wide, and is likely to ship many more. But lately sales of the game have been in rapid decline, since word got out on what crap the game is. Unbiased reviews are pouring from everywhere, painting a different, more objective picture. If this trend keeps up, and the bribery scandal is blown to sufficient proportion, not only could Driv3r utterly flop and sell just enough to cover the production costs, but Atari's immoral practices could alienate many present or potential customers and seriously impact the company's revenues in the future. Not only that, but if the topic of buying grades from gaming magazines (and only a naive fool would believe that Atari is the only company that practices it) gets enough public attention, certain other gaming companies (cougheidoseavivendicough) might have a few fingers pointed at them. Certainly not a pleasant situation for publishers, or gaming press for that matter.
More details here
). Therefore it is inevitable that heavily advertised titles and sequels to globally popular franchizes will sell big, at least initially.
