A Question of Ethics

I would like to start off with an apology. I possibly have already offended someone I consider a friend, and others with an outburst of mine due to the subject matter of this blog post. I apologize for any offense caused and hope that they can provide forgiveness as appropriate.


On to the main body of this post… people may think I'm being hypocritical of the game industry and reporters when I make this post, however I have never, received compensation for any review that I have made for any product, be it video games, books, movies, or any other electronic item that though my years of sales, I have sold. I consider the practice unethical, immortal, and completely wrong. Why? Buying a review violates my every sense of ethics, and while I do not disagree with the reception of items for the purposes of reviewing, giving people items for other reasons is a violation, in my opinion. 


Today's E3 was impressive… so much so that I want to take a little more time before I write about what I saw, though I think the place I am going to start with later will be the video of Star Wars… back to the point. Today's E3 Microsoft showed off the new Xbox 360 slim. I hit a major problem when they announced that EVERYONE in the audience was getting one shipped to them for free. I personally hit the roof for several reasons:

1. This immediately read to me as Microsoft attempted to influence reviewers by giving them the systems.
   
2. Microsoft may or may not have intentionally rubbed the systems into the noses of everyone watching the press conference… that they were giving some away for free, but only if you were at E3.
   
3. The fact that Microsoft has done so letter to provide compensation for people who have purchased multiple 360's due to the console's initial poor manufacturing. I know of people who have purchased 4 or 5 of the consoles, and instead of saying "Hey look, we are coming out with this new system, here's 25 bucks to spend on our store, or towards a new system" they gave attendees (who are only members of the press) the systems.
   

Addressing number one, I think I have already mentioned my problem… the fact that some reporters, reviewers and other third party representatives to the public are becoming highly biased. I have no problem with a GameStop employee saying "I don't like the PS3 because XXX" or "I'd recommended the 360 because YYY", but when a magazine gives every game a 5 or higher out of 10… even for shovel ware games… I have an issue. Expressing an opinion is fine, it's the heart and soul of what Game Reviewers do, making a recommendation because a company gave you a keychain or game system is entirely wrong, just as making a recommendation of one system over another without having tried BOTH systems fairly is wrong.


Number two is slightly more difficult to pin down and in part ties into number one. The main reason I have an issue with number two is that Microsoft make arrangements especially with Spike TV to carry their press conference, and Spike has been advertising this. Microsoft knew blatantly that people would be watching this and looking at their conference, instead of saying "and we have something special for everyone who attended" or even just sending them the systems, they made a point of telling the camera "We are sending them the systems". Again it's a personal issue, and one I will deal with , I apologize for anyone who is offended by this, but I do feel that it was a bit of a snub, even if an unintentional one.


Finally I think that some type of compensation from Microsoft other then the extended warranty (that only some people with certain errors qualify for) would be a nice jester on their part instead of giving away systems to reviewers and members of the press. We know that they will be getting them if only though their companies for review purposes, I accept that. I accept that their companies get a discount for them (hey you buy bulk and see the types of discounts you can get) that's fine. But this just felt a bit like a dig, a lot along the lines of number two, in which it was a "they are here and you are not. Too bad, so sad, suck it up and deal with it". Was it intentional? I don't know, but it certainly didn't feel like showing any type of love or respect for anyone outside of the press.