BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged [Updated]

[Oct 18, 2011, 5:38 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

BF3Blog has a report by way of Norwegian news outlet NRK on what would appear to be attempts to manipulate review scores for Battlefield 3 by determining who receives review copies of the upcoming shooter sequel based on their preconceptions about the game, its beta test, and the competing Call of Duty franchise. They reproduce a questionnaire asking questions about potential reviewers including their review scores of previous Battlefield games, whether they are a Call of Duty fan, and even their present view of the game. They also note that: "A number of Norwegian gaming outlets, including popular ones like Gamer.no and GameReactor*, have been refused review copies of Battlefield 3 due to their review scores of past Battlefield games." They also quote a portion of an apology from EA Norway marketing manager Oliver Sveen saying: "this should not have been sent out. We have made a mistake and we apologize. This is not something that neither should have happened earlier or what we intend to continue."

*Update: We received a note from one of the publications mentioned in this story, as Gamereactor writes to explain: "We would like to have our name removed from the article, we have received a preview code and have not had any problems with EA. We have had nothing to do with the 'shenanigans'. it seems to be a matter between EA Norway and a major newspaper, why dedicated gaming media are mentioned also must be a misunderstanding." The contact was from their Danish arm, but they operate as one entity, and say none of their Norwegian colleagues can understand why they were mentioned in this article.

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22.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 21:59

Prez

I seem to be afflicted with Double-Post Disease lately.




Prez on Soundclick http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=604888

21.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 21:30

Matshock

born2expire wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 20:35: Who cares? 99% of the reviews will be the console code, and the reviews will be on the single player also. 2 things I couldn't care less about. I read "...don't expect gun play, only melee combat..." in about half of the Dead Island reviews I surveyed. After playing Dead Island I can tell you they didn't even finish half the game before writing their review. Then the last 90% Rage review I saw had paid Rage banners on all four sides of the article. I check various forums- it's at least easier/faster to sort the good info from the troll posts. Long story short- I bought Dead Island because of the good word of mouth after the last patch and skipped Rage because it's a corridor shooter, YMMV.

20.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 21:26

Wowbagger_TIP

They also quote a portion of an apology from EA Norway marketing manager Oliver Sveen saying: "this should not have been sent out. We have made a mistake and we apologize. This is not something that neither should have happened earlier or what we intend to continue." Translation: "You guys will get a pass this time around, and we'll probably fire the person who was dumb enough to put this in writing. Don't expect to get off so easy next time."

19.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 21:17

Quboid

Beamer wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 20:08:
Quboid wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 19:47:
This is depressingly inevitable. I doubt any big budget games are any different, apart from being a little bit more subtle. A little bit.

virtually none are like this.
and this Is nothing like Kane and lynch.

as mentioned thus would be reported daily if it was common.
game reviewers are nice and dependent enough without needing blatant manipulation.

There's nothing to be reported if it is done with a bit of subtlety. If they had looked at reviewers' past reviews to see their thoughts on Battlefield, they could have trimmed the list without drawing attention.




- Quboid

18.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 21:16

entr0py

As an ordinary customer I've noticed how review scores start at their absolute highest point and only level out after the game has been out for a week. Even if I didn't know the details, it is obvious that publishers are pulling shenanigans to make sure only the most favorable reviewers get it first. What irritates me more is that it can only be done with the collusion of gaming sites and magazines, and they are supposed to be on the customer's side. They don't need to give in to the Pavlovian treatment of publishers. If the sites that got early copies put off their reviews, and replaced them with articles educating customers about quid pro quo early reviews, it would completely foil the practice.

17.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 21:07

Mordecai Walfish

Dades wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 17:54:
I wonder if the questionnaire required Origin

LOL. 100+ hours of beta gameplay is required of potential reviewers. Also, we will be scouring your chat logs to ensure you are not badmouthing it in any way and are a TRUE fan of the series. Kthx




Playing: MechWarrior Online, Natural Selection 2, PlanetSide 2, NFS: Hot Pursuit, Torchlight 2, Sine Mora, GTAIV, River City Ransom(NES), Final Fantasy IV Complete(PSP), Patapon 2(PSP), Dariusburst(PSP)

16.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 20:35

born2expire

Who cares? 99% of the reviews will be the console code, and the reviews will be on the single player also. 2 things I couldn't care less about.

15.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 20:08

Beamer

Quboid wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 19:47:
This is depressingly inevitable. I doubt any big budget games are any different, apart from being a little bit more subtle. A little bit.

virtually none are like this.
and this Is nothing like Kane and lynch.

as mentioned thus would be reported daily if it was common.
game reviewers are nice and dependent enough without needing blatant manipulation.




------------- Music for the discerning: http://www.deathwishinc.com http://www.hydrahead.com http://www.painkillerrecords.com

14.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 20:00

Matshock

EA is still EA- can't deny that. Who was the two-bit marketing hack that came up with that one? It will be interesting to see if they actually manage to steal market share from COD's fan base though. They're certainly pulling out all the stops to do so.

13.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 19:47

Quboid

This is depressingly inevitable. I doubt any big budget games are any different, apart from being a little bit more subtle. A little bit.




- Quboid

12.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 19:35

Nighthawk

The only reviewer who tells it like it is is Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw and his Zero Punctuation reviews. While he may seem to hate every game, I find his points to be valid even if I enjoy a game he tears to shreads.

11.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 19:18

finga

This happens all the time when PR is deciding who to send review copies to, but usually they do this research themselves and don't send out frigging questionnaires to determine who will give them the best review scores.

10.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 19:01

Wallshadows

this should not have been sent out. We have made a mistake and we apologize. This is not something that neither should have happened earlier or what we intend to continue. Crocodile tears and they only regret getting caught...

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 18:39

Blackhawk

Cutter wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 18:22: Blackhawk wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 18:09: This is why the 'reviewer conspiracies' are so silly. Try and manipulate a bunch of media outlets, and a bunch of media outlets are going to have articles about it. Just because 1 or 2 come forward doesn't mean a whole lot. How many do not? Probably a great deal. In short the only reviews I trust are peer reviews from people I know who like similar games that I do. Anytime s publisher tries this shit these sites should just award them a big fat zero and the reason why that is. I was a reviews manager for a mid sized gaming site (now gone) and dealt with a lot of publishers, big and small, for years. In all that time, I had exactly one try to influence a review, and that was a small indie developer. Had a company the size of EA tried to pull something like this, they'd have been our front page. Why? Because we'd get more readers on something like that than we'd get putting out the review four days early. It is possible that the 'Big Five' have enough to lose that they'd cave, but the rest of the gaming press would have more to gain reporting this kind of conduct than they would accepting it. If this kind of thing was common, you'd hear about it a lot, lot more than you do.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 18:23

nin

xXBatmanXx wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 17:45:
HAHAHAHAH GOT YOUR JUNK CAUGHT IN YOUR ZIPPER!!!!!

"Oh man! How'd you get the beans above the frank?"




RollinThundr Apr 17, 2013, 12:25: Eh really tossing stuff like that in there only to get your panties all bunched up. If you really want to call that trolling sure. Mr. Tact Apr 17, 2013, 12:33: Pretty sure that's the definition of trolling...

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 18:22

Cutter

Blackhawk wrote on Oct 18, 2011, 18:09:
This is why the 'reviewer conspiracies' are so silly.

Try and manipulate a bunch of media outlets, and a bunch of media outlets are going to have articles about it.

Just because 1 or 2 come forward doesn't mean a whole lot. How many do not? Probably a great deal. In short the only reviews I trust are peer reviews from people I know who like similar games that I do.

Anytime s publisher tries this shit these sites should just award them a big fat zero and the reason why that is.




"Are you crazy? Is that your problem?" - Jack Burton

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 18:10

Draugr

I just assume stuff like this was the norm, EA just moved it from the realm of the unspoken into the daylight. Why else does so much garbage get good coverage and/or scores when it isn't worthy, Bad taste can only accounts for so much.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 18:10

[VG]Reagle

There has been some overly positive posts on BF3 right here on Blues news from posters that only have a few posts.

A few of us were suspicious that they were hired to "promote" BF3...




[VG]Reagle Beagle

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 18:09

Blackhawk

This is why the 'reviewer conspiracies' are so silly. Try and manipulate a bunch of media outlets, and a bunch of media outlets are going to have articles about it.

Re: BF3 Norwegian Review Shenanigans Alleged

Oct 18, 2011, 18:05

Overon

Kane and Lynch Gamespot controversy again!

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