GamePro Slammed By Angry Gamers Over The Conduit Review

Both fans and media outlets took umbrage to the review, slinging harsh words at the established publication.  The first viewable comment below the article proclaims “DO NOT LISTEN TO THIS IDIOTS [sic] REVIEW,” claiming that readers should take a look at IGN’s review instead.

Another Conduit fan took a more diplomatic approach in Sega’s official Conduit forums, responding to GamePro’s claim that “The Conduit doesn’t blow Goldeneye’s graphics out of the water the way Halo 3 outshines the original Halo or Killzone 2” by posting two comparative pictures of Rare’s 1997 title for the Nintendo 64 and High Voltage Software’s current game for the Wii.

And fellow review site IGN Wii chimed in with a bit of mockery in its June 29 podcast stating, “It is really just a damn shame that Sega did not give GamePro a version of the game that actually had an options menu in it.”

But GamePro didn’t remain entirely silent on the matter with a staff member not involved in the review responding to the backlash via Twitter saying that the complaints were from, “Just a bunch of crybabies not seeing the star count they wanna.”

Not everyone was displeased with the review though, and a poster in the comments section of GamePro’s site noted that, “Just because you disagree with a review, or opinion, does not discredit it in anyway.”  However, presenting a final review of a title without experiencing approximately half of the game (the better half at that) and without understanding how the underlying controls options work?  For many that may be just exactly how you discredit it.

As a comparison, our very own review was delayed by approximately two full days due to technical problems with our router – something that bothered us since we didn’t want to review the game without fully accessing the online multiplayer.

So can a company publish a review of a title by only playing half of the total package and not understanding the underlying options menu?  It would seem to most gaming journalists that the answer is: “Yes.”  However, as IGN stated in its podcast, “If you mess up like that, it’s unfortunate if you’re reviewing a game, because it shows you didn’t really do the research you needed to do.”

As a multi-platform magazine, it makes more sense for GamePro to cater to its Nintendo audience and not detest the Wii in and of itself, dreaming of “what the [Conduit] would have been like on the 360 or PS3.”  If every title on the Wii is viewed from the angle how it could have been on a more graphically powerful system, then no Wii game will ever be good enough – not even the exalted Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

Rushing a review for the sake of meeting a deadline or getting better advertising exposure for the website may be a reality in today’s gaming journalism, but it sometimes costs you more in the end.