In a ruling that could send shock waves through the video game blogging world, the Federal Trade Commission has ruled that bloggers will have to disclose gifts or money they receive from companies in exchange for reviewing their products.
Beginning December 1st, bloggers will be covered under existing FTC guidelines regarding journalistic disclosure of cash or gifts in exchange for reviews of products. Failure to follow the guidelines could result in fines up to $11,000 per violation. So that means there may be a lot of disclosing going on, people.
I'm not sure how the guidelines work yet, but I imagine, honestly, that the majority of video game company gifts sent to reviewers won't fall under the guidelines -- there's likely a monetary minimum amount for gifts, and promotional t-shirts, desktop figurines and other branded-clutter would likely fall under that threshold. Besides, many online reviewers, in my experience, review games for the love of games themselves!
Comments
Displaying 1–14 of 14
SlickyFats
Can we set up a poll? Morgan Webb is my vote for modeling it.
RRODisBack
Uh oh, no more $1,000 Halo goody bags in exchange for a good review.
blasphemous
damn RROD you beat me to it!!! but ultimatly this is a good thing for gamers, not so much for MS or the others
IcemanMX
Ok, serious question: How does the FTC define "Blogger?" In G4's case it is obvious since it is a business and people get paid to do the review by the (parent) company or whoever owns G4TV.
But what about someone like me? Do I have to disclose if any game publisher (or company) sends me a trinket even if I write a review of a game on my page in a social networking site? What if I have my own personal website (not for profit) where I write about my thoughts and musings? Do I have to give a disclaimer every time I ramble on about a game?... Even if nobody reads it or visits my crappy site?
-M
TheSiwentKiwwah
Microsoft/Bungie wouldn't be any more guilty of that than any other dev company. Everyone gives out swag--hopefully the reviewer would be past giving a game a good review just because of gifts--it would ruin their credibility, which I'm sure wouldn't be worth ruining their career for a pillow, or whatever.
T_Rexx
Another blow to M$..., but I think they will rebound. They are good @ backdoor deals.
Seriously tho, this is a good ruling seeing how companies try to get unfair advantages by dangling goodies to bloggers in return for favourable reviews.
On a different note...what about companies branding their logo on multi-plat game Ads as if they are exclusives?
Shockwave562
this is good for the whole industry and good for the consumer. I want real reviews from unbiased people. that's not a total possibility yet but this will help pave that road
LarcenousLaugh
While neat, this isn't going to change the culture of mistrust that is already quite prevalent. The concensus by those with the largest mouths is that this has been affecting reviews for years, while the reviewers themselves say it doesn't. All that matters is that you either agree with what you read or you don't, defending the indefensible/fighting the unprovable will always be the area of contention between the fanboy who's always right and the establishment that is always wrong.
BlainN
Patrick would have worn it.
N8R
It seems like this goes for all bloggers across the sphere of commercialism and not just video games. Honestly, I don't think that the VG journalism industry are the ones that are gonna be hit the most by this.
Think about celebrity gossip bloggers and the publicists who know them.
DPsx7
I'm with those two above. This will end all of M$'s good reviews. There's no way they'd have any if it weren't for a few payouts. Bribery is the only way M$ gets anything positive.
So how about it you G4 editors, are YOU guilty of hyping so many poor 360 games while ragging on the PS3 and Wii for so long? Although like was also said, the mistrust is already in place. It will be difficult to lose that image.
Shockwave562
I think Mass Effect, Halo ODST, Gears of War, and Shadow Complex are just a few that begged to differ DPsx7... what a ridiculous concept. just because you're a fanboy of another console you think their good reviews are only earned by money? please. do me a favor and pretend like you are more educated than that.
osubluejacket
The real question is: What reviewer could be so easily bought and still retain a job?
EVERY producer of entertainment media, be it film, tv, book, or game does the "schmooze and swag" thing. Just because they hand out a gift basket of goodies does not guarantee that the review will be favorable.
Furthermore, AAA titles (like your Halos, Gears of Wars, Uncharteds, and Killzones) are going to have blindly loyal fan-bases that will snatch up new titles in those series regardless of their review. It's the lesser known titles (Mirror's Edge, the original Bioshock, Assassin's Creed, etc.) that need those reviews to drum up interest. Such titles seem less likely to hand out big money gifts to the reviewers.
DPsx7
I collect games and have yet to find something worth playing to get a 360. It's all crappy kids FPS's and sports. There's no variety, so I'm left wondering how anyone could review it favorably without being paid off. Maybe not directly, instead through their bosses or marketing departments. If someone else isn't familiar with PC's and can tolerate them, so be it. Are any 360 games deserving of reviews over 60% though? Absolutely not. Perhaps I'm just too critical, having years of gaming experience compared to some writers who may not.
And no, I gave up on PC once they started with DRM and the Steam virus. That BS killed HL2 for me. Sadly that means I have to give up FPS's until they support M/KB (or I find a Splitfish), but that's about all I used it for. My PS2, PS3, and Wii get everything and I've countless classics I'd play if I had the time.
Displaying 1–14 of 14
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