Looks like Ubisoft dropped the ball when it came to their review embargo on Assassins Creed Unity. It came out to release without a single review on the game's quality, a clear and obvious decision made considering that since the embargo was lifted, the game's average is around 7/10, which doesn't sell as many copies when you're releasing in a busy time of year. For the record, I am an Assassins Creed fan, I have already decided in my mind to play Unity at some point (need a PS4 first) and from what I've read, it sounds like I would enjoy Unity. Having said that, the technical issues do sound like a bummer, the importance given on in game micro transactions is a real shame (in what world is $99.99 in a game that already costs $60, ever considered micro?) and the review embargo is very anti consumer. Seems like a few big names are that way lately. Call of Duty suffers from some really bad lag in spots and there's issues around the online components of Driveclub and Halo The Master Chief Collection. I can't recall consumer apathy being so low.
But here's the thing, with all this happening there's a debate being had around pre-order culture and the nature of review embargos. But it's not going to change. For one it makes too much money, we live in a world where Destiny breaks sales records in it's first day when there wasn't any reviews because of an embargo. If reviews were as important to people, that wouldn't happen, as people would have waited for the middling reviews of Destiny to come in first and voted with their wallets. Secondly, the majority of gamers are so defensive of their purchases they will defend them to the hilt even if it flies in the face of all logic. It's why going into a comment section of a game rated lower than the average is a disaster. "How dare you not like this as much as I do?!"
I'm not saying review embargoes aren't anti-consumer, they very much are and Ubisoft should be called out on it and hope they don't do it in the future. I'm just saying that we're at a point where the biggest publishers can release games which can have a number of technical issues at launch or even aren't good games in themselves but they are so good at marketing them, that you'll have people ready to defend the game to the death even before it's out regardless of the reviews. It's because a majority just can't accept that the thing they paid for might not be good for them after all and will look past any flaws to only see the good. Big companies know this, they rely on it, which is why they've gotten away with it for so long. It's why I don't see that culture changing any time soon. I would say just be hesitant about putting a pre order down for any game. Read a couple of reviews, look at a few gameplay vids and then make your decision on whether to buy it.
Topic: The Gaming Postwhoring Thread (Read 1165437 times)