Microsoft Bribes Media in an Attempt to Inflate Scores of Lackluster title Halo 3
BLOG – This is perhaps the schwag bag to end all schwag bags…
Game journo Dean Takahashi with The San Jose Mercury News showed off his big $800-plus bag of Halo 3 propaganda sent to him by Microsoft.
He’s sending back the free stuff, which he called “nothing less than a bribe to try to get me to be favorably inclined to accepting the idea that Halo 3 is ‘the entertainment event of the year.’â€
Included in the huge personalized duffel bag of goodies are Xbox 360 controllers, a Halo 3 Xbox Live headset, a displayable Master Chief helmet and a $480 Halo 3 limited edition Xbox 360, not to mention a first aid kit and some UNSC-issued food.
Check it all out on the Dean & Nooch on Gaming video podcast (and how Halo 3 made Takahashi barf).
Hot off the heels of massive disappointment spreading far and wide amongst the horde of Halo fans regarding the quality of Bungie’s latest effort has apparently worried Microsoft to the point of intentionally bribing the media to stifle negative discussion of their premier title, Halo 3.
Reviews of the flagship title have been overwhelmingly positive which is in stark contrast to the critical feedback received by the majority of Halo’s fanbase. Dan Hsu, the head hancho of 1up, has opted to give the title a perfect score of a 10/10. This is unsurprising, as Mr. Hsu has been notorious for controlling the damage that has been associated with Halo 3′s last-generation graphics, describing them as having a ‘subtle beauty’. If by ‘subtle’ he means nonexistent, we’d be inclined to agree. Perhaps Dan Hsu is looking to secure a position as a prominent game designer within Microsoft studios like previous 1up editors Luke Smith and Che Chou? Moreover, Eurogamer, a publication that has a long history of scoring lower than most media outlets, has decided to give Halo 3 a perfect score as well. One can only wonder why these inflated scores exist, despite a title that boasts graphics that marginally look improved over its predecessor, framerate hiccups, 640p resolution, and gameplay that lasts only 5 hours to complete? I guess giving the media nearly a thousand dollars in products certainly can’t hurt.
You can fool the media, but you cannot fool the fans.
IN other news, Halo 3 sold 45 000 copies in japan its first day. that’s more than lair and warhawk sold together in this past week.
5 hours to complete? Try it on Heroic or Legendary. The main campaign takes about 9-10 on easy, which is a joke. It’s more of a 15-20 hour campaign if you play Legendary with one person.
To stay on topic, every company sends out schwag bags. They just go with the scale of the game. Halo 3′s one of the biggest franchises out there, so they send out nice schwag bags.
oh, and don’t even bother to mention to report the $170 million in sales on the first day. Because that’s not big news.
7 of 10 articles on your front page are about Microsoft and the 360. Where’s the playstation news?
Microsoft ships you off to Gitmo if you give Halo 3 an unfavorable review.
Dean Takahashi…..One of the most well know and respected gaming journalists today. In other news, Halo 3 made $170 million dollars in it’s first day, and recived critical acclaim with a score of 96 at metacritic.
one there is no way you can complete the game in less than eight hours even on easy
two, i think we have established that no one gives a shit about the graphics
three, who the fuck is takahashi? why would they bribe him if no one knows who the fuck he is? if someone from g4, nay, gamespy, or other respected media came forward i may suspect some foul play
but SAN HOZE MERCURY NEWS? who the fuck cares?
oh by the way, the nunnavut ignuktuk canadian news gave lair a 10/10 so lets go bitch at them
This is totally and completely dissimilar to the “How to Review Lair” books that sony sent out.
“You are too dumb to understand that Lair is a good game. By reading this manual, you will learn that Lair is a 10/10 game. Attached is $100.”
They offer him a free game and the guy sends it back? Good job. If I hated Halo 3 and was given a free $130 copy of it, I’d simply keep the game and/or sell it on eBay and give it a 0/10 review.
If Takahashi would be nice enough to tell us what IS the entertainment event of the year, then I’d say his statement is justified. Otherwise I’d say it’s just a publicity stunt to make himself look like an idiot.
P.S. Nice attempt to delete my account there SDF. Free speech is such a drag, ain’t it?
I like how every review of HALO 3 states that its graphics are amazing, yet SDF sticks with this “It ugly and not even in HD” story. Pretty lame. I having a tough time deciding now what game of the year is going to be? HALO 3 or Bioshock? Maybe even Mass Effect? If you PS3rd place fans dont know what Im talking about, its because these games will never be on your console. Maybe by 2010 Sony can have a game of the year… If Microsoft feels sorry for them and lets them have an exclusive. lol
so, got your halo 3 swag bag yet??
No……
Guess microsfot don’t consider you to be actual reviewers
I’m sure SONY never gives free stuff to any retailers or reviewers. I mean at one time didn’t SONY say they could sell 5 million PS3′s even if they released the system with no games? (actually now that I come to think of it, they sort of did release the system with no games). They would never have to create interest or buzz for a product. It’s SONY. Arrogance and lies will sell it for them.
I should have posted the link in my original post but here it is.
http://www.maxconsole.net/?mode=news&newsid=7847
Sell 5 million at launch even without games. Now is it any wonder why so many people want to see SONY fail?
So how long have you guys been following the game industry? Five minutes?
Developers and Publishers do this all the time, not just Microsoft. It’s all part of marketing.
In another point. If the PS3 is such an amazingly good system, why do you almost never post any articles that provide evidence toward that? You never promote the PS3 based on it’s own merits. Instead, you just take repeated potshots at the competition. If Microsoft and Nintendo were really as inferior as you claim, you wouldn’t act like you’re so afraid of them.
people still don’t get that this site is obviously and horriby fake.
I’d say SDF is doing a great job fooling people – but I pretty positive it’s the reverse – the fools are believing SDF.
lame !
Don’t you people have something better to do? Like cure AIDS, or scrape the bird shit off of buildings. At least you would be doing something productive.
Sony sent out Lair review kits, as if to say, “Hey, you were reviewing it wrong.” At least Microsoft bribed their reviewers with something useful, instead of sending out a lackluster game and a how-to guide to tell them how to do their job.
How about some Sony news. Now, to change topics to the article that SHOULD have been written:
PS3 version of Unreal Tournament does not disappoint! I hear it controls well without motion supplement. It looks great and caters to the hardcore crowd of FPS gamer. I couldn’t be more excited!
Hey, how about this breaking tidbit!
Ratchet and Clank delayed AFTER going gold. How could SDF spin this? My suggestion: Sony’s newest gem too advanced for gamers, so release has been postponed until the gamer at large can tolerate a game so full of awesome and win. “The Cell usage is off the charts”, says Greg Phillips, Sony Computer Entertainment line producer. “If it were released, it would instantly kill any other console gamer where he stands. We need to harness this power and focus it into the greatest experience imaginable. I’m being told that will take about a week.”
What the guy got is the same bundle you can buy in stores.
All the major developers do this. It’s not a bribe, per-se`. It’s a handout from the developer saying “Review our game!”
The book “Paid to Play: An insider’s guide to video game career choices” explains in the journalist section. “The software companies know [the journalist] needs that all-paid trip to the Bahamas to experience the latest first-person shooter.” And a lot of writers take them up on their offers. But for those that want to portray their articles with a smidgen of integrety, it’s best to turn them down.
My point is everybody does it. Sony, not least of all.
So….Microsoft send duffel bag with Halo 3 junkie to bribe. Where’s the news about the Lair ? The reviews on Lair was bad so Sony send a manual and saying that “you’re reveiwing it wrong”. Seems like that Sony was bribing as well.
I played Lair and I did tried to like it but I can’t.
So why don’t you give us an honest news about PS3, oh nose you can’t find anything GOOD honest review on PS3 because THERE’S NOTHING GOOD ABOUT IT!
NO BIG DIFFERENT about Sony and Microsoft bribes.
Typical SDF, this really shows me that this site is just a joke site, the main person that runs it has posted like 4 times. The game really takes about 20 hours for a casual gamer if they play it on Heroic, even more if its on legendary, and about 15 hours for a hardcore FPS player. SDF, you suck. You havnt had any news about the PS3rd because there’s nothing going on with the ps3. Your just sad that microsoft and bungie studio’s made a blockbuster game that is most likely movie material.
Oh, and the bag-o-goodies was just a perk package, atleast they diddnt give them a “how to review Lair” manual, you guys suck, this website has lost its humor, now its just getting old
Oh Wow 5-9 hours to finish the game and i have some people talk shit to me about Heavenly Sword only lasting 7 hours Ey what goes around comes around and no Halo 3 only sold 4,500 copies in japan not 45,000 Microsoft is on the bottom of the food change out there, and now is on Second on the US.
unlike a lot of people, ps3up very much gets the joke, and knows how to play it forward.
Unfortunately, I can’t play along with the joke as directly as he does.
Hat-tip to you, PS3UP…keep fighting the good fight (whatever the hell that means).
Yeah games that make $170 million in the U.S. on the first day are bad. I guess we’ll have a ‘real’ news story over the weekend about how MS lied about how many copy’s where sold. And I guess I was seeing things when on Monday at just the ‘one’ GameStop I went to we had 200 people there. And another 100 over at the Wal-Mart that was across the parking lot.
So why do you guys hate Microsoft? Is it due to the fact that we have games on our system? And that those games are good? And you spent $600 on a system that doesn’t have anything besides bad movies in Blue-Ray and your ‘big title’ looked good but had some bad controls?
I’m really starting to get bored of this website. All they’ve done for awhile is ‘Halo 3 is a pile of crap’ and’ Microsoft eats babies’ Come up with something new already.
BTW: Your Halo 3 review really didn’t stand up to its high expectations.
Crap. My shift key didn’t work on my quotation marks.
@ taygee
“people still don’t get that this site is obviously and horriby fake.”
The fact is true, that this guy received a $130 game and sent it back in a heartbeat without thinking twice. Once you look past the obvious lies, you see the source the bs was based on.
“I’d say SDF is doing a great job fooling people – but I pretty positive it’s the reverse – the fools are believing SDF.”
Like PS3UP? You can’t be 100% sure he’s “playing with it” since he hasn’t posted anything that would point to that direction. You just jump to the conclusion that he does, because maybe you can’t bare to think that he actually DOES believe all the stuff SDF has to offer. Just a thought.
I was waiting for an SDF article concerning the “inflated” scores of Halo 3.
funny as shit watching M$ fanboys get exited! LMAO
@dr34m3r
I believe wholeheartedly that this site is a spoof of some sort..
If you read through the very deliberate and very obvious nonsense throughout the majority of the articles on this site, you can’t help but notice it’s deliberate hyperbole.
The point that people don’t get it with their knee-jerk reactions is the point.
PS3UP has been supporting nearly every anti-competition article on the site, often with the same level of ridiculousness of the original articles themselves.
It’s clear to me that he/she/it does get the joke, and enjoys fomenting the ire of those who don’t get it.
And yes, this aricle has direct elements of truth -that’s the method this site uses to prolong the existence of the joke. They can’t reasonably only post the 100% BS articles without jumping the shark entirely, and letting everyone in on the joke. They want people’s negative reactions.
And PS3UP is determined to help them.
It’s excellent internet blog social satire, really, in that it doesn’t take itself seriously, but at the same time is perceived as serious.
What the hell? Why the hell is all these Microsoft fanboys at a site called
Sony Defense Force? Are you stupid? Seriously, that is just ridiculous though, if it is true. Can’t believe that guy actually got the Halo Bundle. What the fuck is wrong with Microsoft?
YOU OBVIOUSLY DIDN’T READ THE REVIEW THAT THEY WROTE.
“But the fact that I vomited doesn’t mean it’s a bad game. During the 11th hour of the game, a weird zooming effect in the graphics and the intestinal terrain gave me a sharp feeling of motion sickness. I went right back to playing.”
YOU GUYS ARE WAAAAY TOO BIASED AND YOU DO NOT TALK ABOUT ANYTHING SONY. THIS SITE SUCKS.
do retards reviews Halo 3 on this sony site, i mean, come on, H3 sold more games in pretty much the first day then the PS3 is doing now. U guys must not be very smart, and u probably dont even play the game before u review it. I mean Killzone 2 isn’t even out yet and ur saying thats the best when H3 sold more than enough copies to kick ur ass in the competition
@ @dr34m3r
Thanks
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Halo 3 broke every sales record any game has ever had in the entire history, I’ll say that’s a pretty clear win in the Microsoft vs Sony wars ^^
Unless you wanna count as you always do SDF with every sony title as one big familly, haha, cunt.
either way, microsoft still pays devs to delay games or makeing them shitty (ea) EGM even confirmed it
I like Halo 3.
Im a fan.
You’re a Fag.
This game takes 5 hours to complete, it must suck, oh wait, didn’t Heavenly Sword ALSO take only 5 hours? Yea it did, and Halo 3, can take much longer, try finding all the skulls, turning them all on, and playing on legendary.
I got Halo 3 and enjoy it. It isn’t a perfect game (no game is) and therefore does not deserve a 10/10, but it is great noentheless and a nice wrap up for the series.
And no, Microsoft didn’t give me a Halo 3 360 to say that.
P.S. I know your site is mostly there to simply piss off Xbots in order gain hits and popularity, but it still gives me a few chuckles.
Like Sony’s never “bribed” anyone. Like I said, everybody does it. This dumbass is making a big deal out of nothing. That’s the same bundle you can buy instores, but a smart journalist will send it back to prove their non-bias.
@OMGWTFBBQ: Not to mention, you know, the multiplayer. Which is basically what Halo has been designed for since day one.
ok halo 3 ummmmmm well like the only downside of it is wait i cant think of wone becuase halo 3 rocks and killzone 2 will suck cause the first 1 was to be a halo killer well look how that turned out yea not so good get somethin that can top halo 3 lol wait u cant cause its not gonna happen
5 hours to complete? oh I’m sorry you must mean Heavenly Sword. You know? You’re 10/10 game? Must not be too bad a thing if it doesn’t detract from a score at all.
[...] of spending the development budget on bribing respected videogame “media” outlets like Microsoft did with Halo 3, Sony is devoting those resourced to delivering a genuine, awe-inspiring, next generation [...]
i already knew microsoft does this for all their games, thats the only way any 360 exclusive gets above a 0/10