*spawned - The gametrailers comparison video legitimacy discussion

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whome0

Newcomer
This thread has been spawned from the GRID thread. I expect it to get ugly and be pointless, but it keeps this stuff out of the GRID thread!

http://www.psu.com/GRiD-PS3360-comparison-video----or-is-it-News--a0003608-p0.php
Strange accusations, Gametrailers.com GRID PS3/360 comparison video said to have ps3/x360 text labels wrong. If really is a true then must have been a pure human error and nothing more. Someone post-processed labels vice-versa on some clips.
 
If some did it to the original trailer then why did they pull the video.

Gametrailers are guilty as charged.

It's an accusation people here have thrown at them before in their so called comparison videos, guess now there is hard evidence that they do fiddle results to make the 360 version look better.

Shame on you gametrailers :LOL:
 
-tkf- said:
Thread from Gametrailers...

http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=395719
Click to expand...

This is not the first time Gametrailers have done things on purpose to downplay the PS3 version of a game and I do not see this case simply as a human error either.

There where moments for example in other games that they tried to compare effects of both versions but the PS3 footage didnt demonstrate the same effect under the same conditions. They used different conditions that downplayed the actual effect. Knowing by first hand how the effects looked on a PS3, I was amazed by the lack of objectivity. It looked as if it was done on purpose.

Also as suggested by one of the forum members at gametrailers I did not understand why in multi-platform games they always had the 360 box art but almost never if at all showed the PS3 box art. In terms of marketing, you are increasing the presence of one product over the other needlessly and it affects consumer behavior. Which is not right. They should either include all three box arts or remove the logo.

This should worry us about the objectivity of the gaming media and not only because there are many weird things going on that raise questions and not just from gametrailers but from game journalism in general.
 
The issue is that this is not the only similar instance at GT (I remember a Madden comparison that was misleading a year ago and others of which Im thinking were GT). I completely realize that compiling large amount of videos can be taxing although we have no knowledge of the work load per employee or the amount of editors being used in the scenario.

At this point I dont see how the issue can be classified as intentional or a mistake. Though the accusations does draw an interesting point to different impact scenarios in order to compare "physics" between the two versions. Even if this was a mistake Im not sure that the comparison was on the level to begin with. Having the ability to view the original trailer would be a perk on determining the validity of such a claim as this.

This should worry us about the objectivity of the gaming media and not only because there are many weird things going on that raise questions and not just from gametrailers but from game journalism in general.
Click to expand...

I agree that objectivity should be an issue with the gaming media, but I have known very few magazines or sites that have come off as unbiased over the years. I cant help but feel that when viewing the gaming media, entertainment would be a description than journalism.
 
If it happens occasionally and "coincidentally" against the same platform when that happens then you just know that something is not right.
 
Nesh said:
If it happens occasionally and "coincidentally" against the same platform when that happens then you just know that something is not right.
Click to expand...

I completely understand the "Where there is smoke there is fire" concept, though I dont feel as if there is a definable position right now in which we can safely dismiss or crucify GT over this issue.
 
I thought about this whole GTrailers fiasco today when I read/saw the video and... purely looking at just THIS ONE CASE without prior knowledge to claimed GTrailers biases, I can't help but think that there is fishy business going on here.

Let me just say that I have no opinion on the game nor did I know there has been ongoing flame towards GTrailers' supposed biases.

Just imagine this scenario. "Recording man" records X amount of footage on the 360 then records Y amount of footage on the PS3. Let's say that "Editing Man" recieves the files... but for whatever reason they are mislabelled OR they are both PS3 versions but the 360 version was mislabelled. Assuming the "Editing Man" has no agenda, he/she should have looked at the comparisons objectively and saw that the footage was not taken on equal grounds. The two crash scenarios are done at a totally different angle and perhaps even speed. Why release it as "equal"?

We can cut the editor some slack and say hey... he wasn't the one recording so maybe he didn't notice the game play differences on the two supposed comparison recordings. The burden then goes to the "Recording Man". Let's say he FORGOT which version he was playing, but was recording those two obviously different crash angles. He latter plays it back to himself and remembers that the less spectacular crash was meant to be for the PS3, and the flashy one was done for the 360... and then labels it as such. Blah blah blah... I think I'm going off into too much conjecture.

Either way, I can not come up with a logical explanation as to how this error can occur. How can you make a mistake like this and claim it to be an honest mistake when the captured footage, in comparison, is so obviously executed differently in the game? Did the editor just find a bunch of footage, picked out ones that he thought looked better, and labelled it as 360... forgetting that he is editing replay footage and not gameplay footage (thus not noticing the controller buttons displayed for the replay actions)? I don't know how you can spin this as an honest mistake... prior GTrailers history aside.
 
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It was just a stupid mistake. I can't believe how this turns into conspiracy theory crap all the time.
 
If it was only a mistake, how come they dumbed down the "PS3" clips, reducing the contrast to make it look duller?

I don't think there is anyway this could possibly be an honest mistake, the only mistake they made was leaving evidence of what they did.
 
AlphaWolf said:
It was just a stupid mistake. I can't believe how this turns into conspiracy theory crap all the time.
Click to expand...

Aparently they made more than one "stupid" mistake. The thing is that even if this video was labelled correctly this "wrong" version looks 360 postive.
 
Hmm.... this is not the first time GT post biased article against PS3. it would be hard for them to claim innocence regardless of what the truth is.

My theory is MS may be doing a series of sponsored articles on major magazines and sites to build up their European attack. In recent months, we also know MS has hired more talents for their Europe offices (including people from Sony) to beef up their presence. The Xbox gamer day next week should be the first major savo fired across Sony's EU bow (I expect it to be good).

Along the way, the GameTrailer editor(s) may be too eager to accept/extend their personal beliefs to their work, so much so that they didn't check their article properly.


In general, I wish good luck to the gaming press. I see a handful of sites like Kotaku working to expand the gamer base. But some haven't really learned that focusing on versus articles is a zero sum game. They will not help the industry to grow (and hence, limit their own future). We see great sales figures across all software and hardware fronts and yet gaming press could not seem to benefit from them. I wonder what strategy Ziff/Davis (1UP/EGM) is using after their bankruptcy filing. If my memory still serve me, I think 1UP was one of the offenders for posting dubious PS3 comments and articles near launch. They seem better these days but I have not followed them since then.

Like what Peter Moore mentioned, it would be a shame if the industry cannot take advantage of (or take care of) the surge of gamers.
 
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It's an odd addition to the gaming press. I don't remember any head-to-head's etc. last gen. I guess because so many more titles are cross-platform in some ways it makes sense, but I do wonder if journalists have been carried away with the idea and lost sight of the aims of such comparisons, instead just creating fanboy fodder? Any comparison should be to educate gamers as to which version to buy for whichever platform they own.
 
Well, it draws traffic and the outcome/reward is immediate. It's just that it may not help to build a long term strategy.
 
With the amount of attention they garner everyday, gaming media is very powerful. It's ironic that they can't use the same power for themselves.

The business seems to be built around (and optimized for) cashflow -- Advertising vs Cost of editorial team + distribution. They kinda live month by month to balance the money. It may be hard for them to build an innovative platform to break the current mold. But at least people like Kotaku has broadened their reportoire to cover gaming-related lifestyle items and happenings. I am not sure how well it's working out for them so far.

Lately, I saw a post on GAF. Someone is trying to build a gamers' network. I always thought that idea should be the starting point for a profitable media business. Build something for the gamer and serve them well. Do not downplay anyone. Instead project attention on the best aspects of all platform, and then leverage on the community to help solve the real problems everyone's facing.
 
This is absolutely ridiculous -- not the mistake GT made, but the accusations that there is some kind of far-stretching anti-PS3 conspiracy theory.

For example, someone mentioned how GT almost always shows the 360's boxart for multiplatform games -- why wouldn't they? The 360 versions are almost always more popular, so why wouldn't media sites associates the most popular version with the image?

I think too many PS3 "fans" here, and otherwise, are just a bit bitter that the 360 usually has the better version. So when a game comes out and that's not the case, perhaps the PS3 version is better (disclaimer: I've no interest in this game and haven't seen the video), it's a huge conspiracy when that's not acknowledged by a single website.
 
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