It appears that Eidos is willing to stand behind their products 110%. I guess that would mean that in addition to the 100% strong-arming of videogame journalists, the company has decided to also put forth an extra 10% in lies.
On the official Kane & Lynch website, Eidos blatantly falsified the words and scores of a handful of publications, in an obvious attempt to glorify what is generally agreed to be a mediocre product. Among the misrepresented reviews were those from GameInformer, GameSpy, and Kotaku, each listed as having granted a final verdict of "5 out of 5 stars." In actuality, the scores were 7/10, 3/5 and [no review score given], respectively. (Yeah, that last one wasn’t even a twist, they just conjured it out of thin air!)
The star ratings have since been removed from the Kane & Lynch website, and Eidos, of course, has stated that they were intended purely for design purposes. Design, huh? I guess 5 stars are pretty, aren’t they? Might as well put them right next to the website names and their review snippets, right?
This comes hot on the heels of Jeff Gertsmann’s firing from an 11-year position at Gamespot, which allegedly stems from his unfavorable review of the game, which came complete with a 6/10 rating and a less-than-flowery "tone." That particular issue already has the videogame reporting industry (and readers) up in arms, and this latest fiasco is sure to only add fuel to the fire.
My take? Publishers who do business this way can $%&# off, simply stated. How do the GN faithful feel about it?
