We will keep this one brief and to the point. In light of the issues raised by the continuing (yes, it really is still going strong) #GamerGate controversy, we have thought, a lot, about a Pixel Judge ethics policy.
For the most part, it's common sense really. Don't take gifts from developers/publishers in exchange for review scores. Don't take gifts period...without making it absolutely clear that we have done so. Don't have personal relationships without disclosing them, and all that. But one point that we, personally, have been caught up on is disclaimers regarding acquisition of review codes. Most of our staff feel it is pointless to indicate that we were given review codes by x company because it should be obvious. And it really is a given, when you think about it. It simply would not be possible to continue if we were expected to purchase every single game for ourselves. But others (like myself) feel that the method of acquiring any game should be clearly stated for transparencies sake.
So, we come to you instead. We want to let you, our current and future readerbase, decide for us. What do you want to see? Do you want us to have a disclaimer on every review stating if we bought or received a review code? A standard disclaimer on the site that all games are reviewed via code given by x company? An 'all codes unless otherwise stated' were purchased/given as review? Something else entirely that we haven't even thought of?
We want Pixel Judge to be known for integrity, not only when it's hard, but especially when it is. Because that is when it really matters. And the best way to do that, is to let you, not us, decide how we go about being transparent to our readerbase.
So. How do you want us to do this?
Posted 09-12-2014, 12:55
Review codes are the norm. They'll give them out to anyone these3 days. I mean, literally anyone. Numbers are limited, sure, and the more popular games are intentionally kept as scarce as possible because they want people to buy their games. But even then, all you really need is a YouTube channel with a couple hundred subscribers and you're still more likely than not to get one just for the asking
Posted 09-12-2014, 00:30
I suppose it depends on how commonly devs send review codes to reviewers. Normally, receiving a game for free would be considered a gift, but since it's for your job, that's just standard operating procedure, right? How difficult is it to claim that you are a game reviewer and be handed a game early? (Not that you guys aren't legitimate!) If it were something more exclusive than that, I could see how one might argue that it is something that should be disclosed.
Posted 08-12-2014, 15:34
We have some broad "we like x" stuff in the about section already and, generally, the idea is to have people who are interested in a game be the one to write the review. But yeah, I really do think it should be a given that most games will be from a review codes. It's just one of those things. If you disclose some people will say you're biased, if you don't some people will say you're trying to hide something...yeah, you can't really win no matter what you do.
I'm generally of the disclose everything side of the coin. If someone wants to say that makes us biased well...yeah, no duh. Of course I'm biased. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that and, in fact, it's pretty much impossible to be impartial about, well, anything really. Reviews re inherently about your opinion of whether the game is worth playing. And whilst there are certain things that can be judged objectively (framerate, poly budget and what have you) whether it's "good" is entirely subjective. So, by saying how we got a game, we at least give people the context they need to decide, for themselves, how much they want to trust x score. Let's face, doesn't matter how you got it, someone will come along and argue it makes your score subjective.
"Of course you gave it x/5. You got it for free!"
"Of course you gave it x/5. You paid for it and need to justify the cost to yourself!"
Posted 08-12-2014, 12:49
I don't think any outlet should disclose how they received a copy of X game. That jsut fuels the whole "well, you gave Final Fantasty 1000 a perfect score, oh and I see you got a review copy...hmmmm", it just gives off a bad vibe when it comes to the legitimacy of the review. Instead, more websites should share with their users the sort of people the reviewers are. "I see Bobfish is reviewing the latest Formula 1 game, from his profile and previous reviews I can see he is an avid fan of the sport, I trust his reviews!" - now, if people see you are reviewing the next Pro Evo game and they know you have no interest in football at all, then they will not trust the review purely because they have gotten to know your tastes etc. (These were just examples, I have no idea if you do or do not like football).
Stating before hand that you have received a review copy doesn't make for a trustworthy review, even if the content and score is 100% the reviewers choice and wasn't swayed by the Dev/Publisher. Perhaps you guys should do a podcast discussing each member of staff's tastes in gaming so the site users can then decide on which reviews to trust based solely on the reviewers taste and personality rather than whether or not you were given a free game to boost the score...