09-06-2005, 09:09 AM
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#1
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Pro
OVR: 10
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Pittsburgh
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Gamespot amazes me with their biases.
It used to be that I suspected Gamespot had an anti-EA, Pro 2K bias, perhaps even a "slant". However, this year, I think its more than a mere suspicion.
Here's some snippets from some reviews from this year:
MLB 2K5: (Regarding the past ball problems)
..."On the upside, it seems to happen to CPU-controlled teams much more often than human-controlled teams, so you probably won't mind the flaw as much when it results in extra runs for you or if you primarily plan to play the game against another person." (8.4 score)
NHL 2K6:
"...With that said, we still noticed a few glitches here and there in the franchise mode. For one, during a couple of different seasons, the standings would just stop registering overtime losses and shoot-out losses. As much as we'd like to believe that the NHL's want of higher scoring was purely the reasoning for this, it looks more like a stat-tracking glitch that just happens at random. Another issue comes from games played during franchise. Every once in a while, weird graphical glitches rear their ugly heads, like an entire game against Vancouver where goalie Dan Cloutier never had a helmet on. We weren't ever able to reproduce any single issue more than once, but generally speaking, it seems like franchise games are a little more prone to glitches than other modes."
(and-from Alex Navarro's related blog post on the review): "As you can see by the score, it's definitely a great game. Maybe not as amazing as it's been in years past, but hey, it's the end of a console generation--everything's going to feel a little stilted. Anyway, regardless as to the slight drop in amazingness, I still enjoyed the hell out of playing it, and will likely continue to do so for the next several months." (end quote)
(Score: 8.5)
(remember that forgiving quote in Navarro's 2K blog post: "it's the end of a console generation--everything's going to feel a little stilted.")
Hmmm... I guess that is the rule only when applied to 2K's games?
And yet Madden 06 gets an 8.2 in comparison? Hey- everybody has an opinion and is entitled to it, but accross the board, Gamespot forgives 2K for just about any mis-step, while penalizing EA at the same time. NHL 2K6 has the same graphics as last year and a sound/commentary DOWNGRADE from last year, yet Gamespot goes out of its way to promote their games despite flaws and criticize EA's flaws.
(They made NO mention of any franchise problems, spy problems, or crazy AI trading in ESPN NFL 2K5 last year, yet have two sports blog entries by Navarro and Brian Ekberg calling out EA for the running back "tell" (and informing everyone how to do it, and calling it "Gross")
That's fine, and EA deserves it- but why is the same critical fire not directed towards 2K's games?
That's not to say I don't agree with the 8.2 assigned to Madden, however the loftier scores for two also-buggy 2K products (MLB 2K5, NHL 2K6) really seem to show a trend at Gamespot.
I'm not seeing much balanced coverage, that's for sure.
What do you guys think?
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