Someone Is Using Bots To Balance PS4 vs Xbox One Twitter Contest

When both Microsoft and Sony released their next-gen consoles earlier this year, GameSpot put up an international Twitter “contest” to show which console the fans truly favored. Fans could send a tweet containing #GameSpotPS4 to show allegiance for the PlayStation 4 or #GameSpotXbox to show allegiance for the Xbox One. What resulted in the PS4 vs Xbox One battle was an overwhelming advantage in favor of the PS4 (taken some hours ago), including an 89:11 lean in USA, 9:1 in Canada and 91% to Xbox One’s 9% overall. But now the tides are beginning to turn through some dubious means.

[Nitrowolf2]

this makes me lol, just cause someone out there is actually that butthurt by the results prior. Not hating on you Xbox fans or anything there, just the thought of a person actually spending time doing that XD. Even if it doesn't take much effort, it looks like it struct a nerve

[sobotz]

This is lame, and this coming from an Xbox fans.

[Skips]

Lame indeed...

Anyways, 84% vs. 16% worldwide???

So they are getting murdered, even WITH BOTS???

lol... Ouch... http://www.loler.me/storage...

[jimbobwahey]

Microsoft has a history of attempting to rig online polls, along with bribery, paid forum shills etc. and all other manner of underhanded tactics to bully their way to success.

I find it alarming that people are shocked by the company utilizing bots to attempt to rig another online poll, since you have to be incredibly naive to the way that the company operates to be ignorant of this side of their business.

[shoddy]

It's powa of teh cloud that did this with 300000 server.

[PeaSFor]

"Microsoft has a history of attempting to rig online polls,"

i dont know but i know someone paid or "asked" amazon to remove their PS4 vs XBONE poll.

[pyramidshead]

Not really a direct reply to you sobotz, just fyi.

But with all the hailings of sony fanboys fixing internet polls, rigging them and trolling them to suit their own needs to sway the difference, we now have this, and I just can't help but 'lol'.

[ZodTheRipper]

Can someone find out their IP?
http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-...
Wouldn't surprise me if it's coming from somewhere near Redmond lol

[aCasualGamer]

I really don't need a poll to know that Microsoft has done many things wrong with their next console. Alot of people won't overlook the fact that Microsoft tried to deceive them, that can't be changed by ditching your policies and thinking it's all cool.

[cvflyboy]

why? why? Microsoft is a dirty company and I wouldn't be surprised if they are behind this deception. just another punk a$$ move to add to their portfolio of damage control tactics.

[Goku781]

UNACCEPTABLE!

[nosferatuzodd]

we all know how greedy that company is that's why im glad when their surface failed their phones fail and windows 8 failed

[Dee_91]

Rather its MSFT doing or a random, its equally sad either way...
just smh

[dantesparda]

Pathetic!

[Ritsujun]

They are teh ULTIMATE Xb0ts.

[Eonjay]

wow that is so weak.

[sincitysir1]

I admit that it was me. I regrrt nothing! Microsoft is paying my bills for a week =D

[US8F]

Was that supposed to be funny?

OT: I'm not surprised really. They started with deception, they will continue with deceoption, and they will end with deception. Mark my words, EA and Microsoft are going to screw the gaming industry royally one day.

The power of the cloud and always online where if the game is not successful in the first year, they will shut down the servers and make your CD that you bought for 60 bucks, a paper weight. Wait, did I say $60, yea right, prices would increase too. Even EA are selling their games for $80 in some parts of Europe.

[sincitysir1]

Dont know what crawled up your bung hole but relax tigger.

@Us8f
OT: agreed. If ea can microtransact every ggame they will. Their excuse will be that games are getting more expensive to develop. We will be paying sixty dollars for un finished games.or games that are bare boned. And unfortunately people will still buy into their methods.smh

[HammadTheBeast]

Don't worry, I thought it was funny.

[cell989]

Remember that one troll who signed in on NeoGaf with a Microsoft email account, could be him all over again

[PeaSFor]

like some peoples working on Forza game, acting like random and non-biased gamer while praising Forza and shitting on GTurismo..... and theyve busted

http://www.thebitbag.com/20...

[mark134uk]

No shock we all new ms were doing it!

[TenSteps]

Anyone remember the time when it was metacritic user review scores that was the hot topic in terms of sad butthurt users? Good times.

[2cents]

This is really sad and stupid.

What will this prove? Nothing.

There is no doubt that the PS4 is far more appreciated by gamers, especially when we take into consideration what has happened on both sides since feb. Sony are clear I their message, they have built a beautifully powerful games console that has been made to excel at what it's supposed to... To play games!

The Xbox has shifted it focus onto everyone and everything which has left most people feeling alienated. These polls will only highlight that fact.
But to cheat the polls is just stupid. No one wins here, it just muddies the waters.

Even though I'm getting an Xbox on launch, I am under no illusion that things are going to be rosy, it's anybody's guess as to how well they will fly of the shelves.

My opinion is that Sony holds the baton for gamers, and they will continue to do so. MS need to get their act together and focus on singing one message otherwise they run the risk of loosing gamers trust permanently.

I look forward to the twin launches and the true facts about power, specs, graphics and overall experience coming to light.

[Burackus]

They don't have to get there shit together with people like you, you know they are wrong and you are still buying there product at launch what 2cents does that make?

[2cents]

People like me huh?

I think they are changing, and have been since e3 but there is still much to to alleviate the fence sitters.

I don't think they are wrong, they WERE wrong, and they changed their policy to address the issues. Which is good enough for me to make a purchase decision. I said back in may that if I could still buy disc based games and not require the 24hr checkin I'd be happy. Now that I can buy and own my discs AND still have the cool digital library which I can access on any console, I have the best of both worlds.

They are starting to unify their message but as I said, there is still a ways to go.

I'm still getting both consoles, and I plan on having a great time with them.

Well done on repeating what i already said in my comment above.

[Burackus]

So let me get this right, if i told you that I was going to backstab you, and turned around and said never mind, you would still support me? Call me dumb but if someone is willing to do it once what makes you think they wouldn't do it again later on after they have my money?

[2cents]

Using physical violence as an analogy for a console manufacturers policy on used games is a bit of a stretch, but it deffinatley dramatises the situation to something more serious than it is. it will also compound the problem, so your intention to rubbish me, my decision to purchase a games console, and my moralistic fibre is successful. I hope your pleased with this outcome as you have achieved what you set out to do.

I don't want you to buy an Xbox, I don't need you to buy an Xbox. I posted on this article based on what some idiots are doing by using bots to get votes for a waste of time poll. My thoughts are totally transparent, I have not made a dig at Sony, I haven't singled anyone out, I haven't tried to start an argument. I have simply written my thoughts on this situation.

I know that they will continue to find ways to push to a digital world of entertainment, I know they will continue to find ways to milk every opportunity to make money off of the products and services that they will invest their money in creating for us. What they will learn through trial and error when attempting something new and potentially a piracy gold mine (if the system could be hacked) is that the harshest way of control of their intellectual property is not the best way, 24hr DRM is not fun for anyone.

So we all spoke and the bigwigs at the top stopped and listened to the most deafening universal NO! they had probably ever heard. I recall comments from people at Xbox saying that they had no idea about any of these policies until it was announced in May, that must hurt if your one of those employees.

Now there has been one of the biggest shakeups at MS, you know the deets, and as the dust is only just starting to clear, we are getting more and more positive info regarding the console. So in summation, I'm excited about the console, I'm troubled by the state of affairs at MS.

If you can still find fault with my comments, you can naturally have the last laugh as I'm all out of bubbles. I don't even know if any of what I say makes sense to you, I'm cunfused by so many things on N4G.

[Burackus]

I don't care if you buy an xbone I just asked what cents does that make, I guess my trust is just harder to earn than yours, by the way hear is a vote to bubble up, I think the bubbles are stupid

[Eddie20101]

Desperate times call for desperate lame measures.

[sAVAge_bEaST]

M$'s -famous Reputation Management, in full effect.

[AceBlazer13]

Underhanded console with an underhanded fanbase, lol goes hand in hand.

[drsfinest72]

a poll doesnt mean anything. for example presidential election polls.. their never accurate.

[Godmars290]

And yet someone's skewing results in this one.

[Ritsujun]

mrsfinest72's the joker of the day.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

100k+ votes is enough to give a solid demographic representation.

PS4 9-1 xbox.Seems in line with all other polls recently.

Not looking good for the bone!

[drsfinest72]

No not enough as I said before presidential polls are never accurate and the amount of people who participated on the polls are far greater than that of the ps3 vs Xbox one.

http://www.politico.com/p/2...

Check those polls then check the official election results. Obama won with 61% while Romney 38%. If you fall into these poll hype then your delusional

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Nobody but you is talking about presidential elections (with many more variables then a video games console, and only affects the U.S)

100k votes out of a 1 million pre-orders is great insight into what the masses want.

[YodaCracker]

And who's to say that no bots were used to boost the PS4's votes? Why, that would never happen! Honestly, if you believe these easily manipulated internet polls are any indication of reality, or that the PS4 is going to outsell the XB1 9 to 1 (or even 2 to 1) this November, then you need a reality check.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Show me the votebots for the PS4 then, yoda.

As it stands, the only one with skewed votes in the xbone.That's just the reality of it.

And don't even get me started on on sales.Both will sell out their pre-order stock.

PS4 is launching in 32 countries
Xbone is 13

PS4 is set to outsell xbone atleast 2-1 by default.It will only get more brutal as time goes on.This is the reality of the xbone situtation.The sooner you accept it, the sooner you can stop trying to spin it and spread FUD.

[HammadTheBeast]

Presidential polls don't even matter, the person who's going to be president is fixed way ahead of time.

The media, social sites, and other sources sway votes massively.

Which is why we end up with Bush's and Obama's.

[drsfinest72]

so your a conspiracy theorist now?

@ below. do you think that those would be the only polls country wide? if you were smart you would put things together & know thats not true.

[JP1369]

Did you even read the link you posted? None of those polls asked more than 3,000 people, while the majority were barely more than 1,000. That is far less than 100,000 yet you claim otherwise. You might need to work on both your reading and math skills, little buddy.

[ziggurcat]

must be greenpowerz/thetruthx1...

[cell989]

Or George noob, jokeonyou

[shoddy]

Jokeonyou for sure lol

[ZodTheRipper]

Or it's just Microsoft hiring some people in China like EA did a few months ago.

[pyramidshead]

lol what a lovely little list you guys got there @above & you guys below :P

[HammadTheBeast]

Or me.

[Angels3785]

You guys cannot be forgetting belking....he's tha HFIC (Head fanboy in charge)

[M-M]

Frigid, Belking, WB, Elite24Gamer.

[Hellsvacancy]

Septic, he's another that believes MS does no wrong

[solidjun5]

Ape007. He's delusional.

[Foxhound922]

Don't forget malokevi

[solidjun5]

I was thinking it was thetruthx1. It wouldn't surprised me if it were him.

[ZHZ90]

All of you guys above me forgot about Ksar...

[brew]

Shameful.

[Relientk77]

Wow can't believe they took a Twitter poll that seriously lol

[Enemy]

I remember when Amazon's poll results were so one-sided favoring PS4 that they had to take it down.

Lmao @ using bots. Utterly pathetic.

[Angeljuice]

Maybe those bots all intend to get an Xbox One!!

(If you see Robocop, the Terminator and R2D2 queueing for the launch on November 22nd, you'll know I'm right) ;-)

[MysticStrummer]

Those 300k servers have become self aware and are casting votes for the One.

[dantesparda]

I get the joke but its 300k virtual servers, not 300k physical (actual) servers (individual computers), you can have one computer be 10k virtual servers, but they would all suck.

[Rimeskeem]

really xbox fans? really? come on dont do this to your community it makes you look bad

[PS4isKing_82]

I remember that lol it was like 20,000 to what? 700? Lol poor Xbox fanboys. Another ps2 era defeat is coming and it's driving them crazy.

Edit. Sorry, my reply was meant for Enemy :)

[first1NFANTRY]

M$ ninjas at work yet again. well they're not fooling anyone no matter how hard they try lol.

[SwordandShield]

SMH. Whatever makes them feel better.

[ThatCanadianGuy514]

Aside from the fact that some xbox fanboys are pathetic enough to do this (real shocker)

I've Been saying it for awhile now.The momentum has shifted.

Some people here, for their own sanity i suppose, try to rationalize things and make believe that PS4 and Xbones sales will be close.

No.They wont.

There is no headstart for xbox this time.No free time in a open market all to themselves.

There wont be any repeat buyers due to faulty hardware.

PS4 launching in 32 countries
Xbone in 13

Both will sell out their pre-order stock.PS4 has more stock to sell.Right out of the gate Xbox is way behind.The shocker to the xboys will be Spring 2014, when the new console/holiday frenzy settles down and sales begin to stabilize and xbone lags way behind.

And at a $100 more, and now with both consoles requiring online fee's, people won't have one console for exclusives and one main console, they'll pick one and stick with it.

The more powerful console at the cheaper price is clearly winning these polls.

GG MS, you had a few good rounds in the last two gens, but it's over now.

[jah-Fu]

*shivers*

mmm m m Micheal Pachter!?

[KonsoruMasuta]

This is obviously a ploy from the higher ups at MS. Next they will be sending bots to silence those who refuse to buy their product. I think that.......................... ...................

[sincitysir1]

They took out =[

[Max-Zorin]

It's always that one member of the gaming community.

[rainslacker]

I really hate that guy.

[Hicken]

He's always hitting on my sister.

[PS4isKing_82]

How sad. Sounds like Xbox fanboys are going insane at the thought of losing a third straight console gen to Sony.

[Olympus]

When did Xbox 360 lose to PS3...im from europe, here in the UK the Xbox 360 is king. Its the best selling console by far.

[PS4isKing_82]

Total lifetime worldwide sales? Ps2 won, ps3 won and ps4 will too based off current consumer perception and pre order data.

[TIER1xWOLFPACKx]

The ps3 has sold more than the xb360 olympus

[Hellsvacancy]

"The 360 is king in the UK", lol, i'm from the UK and me and my 20 or so buddies that own PS3 disagree with you

[kingmushroom]

Said no one ever

[Dude Dutch]

No need to react to this kiddy. He joned 2 days ago-. So he better grow up first before trying to speak with the elders......

[5h4h4b]

Shame. Pathetic!

[Empire X]

Wow.

[radecGaming]

LOL butthurt xboxfanboys its PATHETIC

[MasterCornholio]

Wow this is just pathetic.

Motorola RAZR i

[BitbyDeath]

Pointless unless they are actually going to buy those thousands of consoles for real.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Lolz......

[TheSaint]

I'm not surprised by anything MS do at this stage. Yet people keep wanting to give them money.

[cell989]

That poll must have struck a nerve, desperate times call for desperate measures

[MultiConsoleGamer]

Holy crap how embarrassing and pathetic can you get?

They don't even realize this makes their entire fanbase look bad. Clueless fanboys.

[Benchm4rk]

Bots can't buy consoles. Regardless of how the online voting goes the real results will come in a few months when actual sales are shown

[AceBlazer13]

Seeing the gap in votes a little less wider would've helped him sleep better at night,fake or not.

[chrissx]

What a shame. M$ and their hardcore fans are all d same

[AceBlazer13]

Would this be a good time to call them x"bots"

Lol see what I did there?

[kneon]

In this situation the term is accurate and not derogatory so the mods shouldn't get upset by it.

[dragon82]

lol

[Metfanant]

misterXmedia? Elitegamer? Frigid?

[MRMagoo123]

they are all the same person i think lol along with edonus theWB and the rest of them.

[devilhunterx]

The XBOTS are real!!!

[n4rc]

Wow some people are hilariously confused..

When preorder numbers show its 2:1 (probably less now) and a poll comes out and shows such a crazy imbalance and you are up in arms about Xbox fans using bots when its pretty clear its the other way around..

But whatever.. Meaningless polls that can be so easily manipulated should be ignored anyways

Edit: you think bots can't be customized?

The point is.. When a poll shows 4x more then actual orders indicate and the losing end gets critized for using bots.. Its hilarious .. I'm not saying they aren't being used.. Its just funny that people are so invested in useless and inaccurate polls to even bother

[M-M]

Yo that's exactly what I'm saying man, completely agree! People sure know how to pick unique Twitter names though for real. http://cdn.fansided.com/wp-...

[n4rc]

I don't even get that screenshot...

Isn't that 2 accounts posting multiple times? Would that even count? Lol..

Some people are too lazy to even do that right... Lol.. The guy doing it is pretty sad... But again, that poll was inaccurate to begin with and likely influenced by bots and other such means

They all are.. Its why twitter polls are useless

[wishingW3L]

you can tell which are bots because they have names like this: edcvfgbhj.

Meanwhile on the PS4 side almost if not all the posts have avatars and comments that humans can read and not just a bunch of gibberish.

[Hicken]

Actually, it's funny that rather than find it deplorable, you're trying to shift things to make something else look bad.

The polls aren't necessarily gonna reflect the same numbers as preorder numbers, because not everybody's gonna preorder the console they want to buy.

Just like you, though, to deflect, rather than actually address.

[Godlovesgamers]

"Just like you, though, to deflect, rather than actually address."

Sounds like he learned it from you.

Gotta try harder. Your own logic can be used against you; your stance is hypocritical.

[THEDON82z1]

I said it once and I will say it again M$ get YO cancerous A$$ out of the gaming industry. ..you can't be trusted!!!!

[quenomamen]

Well you can only say that if you judge them by their actions.

[THEDON82z1]

Riiight and the actions I see from M$ are full of SH@@@@@T!!!!!

[wenaldy]

Sentient Xbots!!!

[Silly gameAr]

Can't say I'm surprised.

[Chris12]

Well I got a private message overnight from someone trying to convince me that PS4 is better than X1. Seems the desperation is running both ways.

[Sci0n]

Pathetic

[Clarence]

Probably Arron and Larry's handy work .

[quenomamen]

Well it takes a bot to know how a bot works, hello !

[GTAallday]

This dude is a true Xbot. I love puns.

[MasterofMagnetism]

WOW, it bothers them that much that they would resort to such tactics is truly pathetic. This might be an all time low.

[Chris12]

What's pathetic is the reaction in here.

I post I'm getting spammed with pro Sony messages in my N4G message box and I get a load of negatives.

Then look at this story. As tweets are posted under the poll it's obvious if bots were being used. Then the guy supposedly admits he is being paid by MS to do this. At what point do people stop and think how fucking stupid this is. If I was mischievous, or a Sony fanboy, this is exactly what I would do to stir the shit up.

I'm embarrassed to be a gamer right now, it's fucking pathetic. And guess, what, I've had a PS4 per-ordered for months too.

This slur campaign is turning into a joke.

[dragon82]

You dropped your tinfoil hat there bub.

[PrimeGrime]

Lol is this a surprise with even all the new users here that happened to show up after the Xbox One reveal? All the people who magically appeared out of no where on N4G talking about how great the Xbox One is all the sudden and literally doing nothing but that.

Why is this surprising? The damage control has been non-stop, probably will continue even when the system is released.

It is pretty suspicious is all.

[abulon-35]

The horror!!!

[Chaostar]

This is embarrassing for Gamespot too, if they don't sort this crap out their entire poll's credibility is forfeit.

[ironwolf]

Internet polls have no credibility. They never have, they never will. That's why when a legitimate news organization puts one up it always has the disclaimer "Not a scientific poll".

[dragon82]

It's just like internet User reviews at this point. You can't trust them anymore. Too many people dedicating their lives to a "fake" war.

[wishingW3L]

it's not their fault it's Twitter's. It seems the kiddies are learning how to use the tools because bots are on an all times high on websites like Youtube and TwitchTV.

[No_Pantaloons]

Reputation Managers hard at work!

[Red_Devilz]

Not only that, they are using bots to sell their console. :/

[ironwolf]

The SDF is pissed because they didn't do it first. On the other hand , maybe they did and they're pissed because some one else is using their tactics.

[abusador]

I def. Believe it, microsoft has done things like this many times b4. They are just so grimey lol. Even have ejployed ppl to go on popular forums and spread propaganda lol Glad I dontbsupoort these lying, disrespectful losers.

[Vip3r]

At least we know its someone in America that's doing it lol.

[GraveLord]

Desperate move by a fanboy. Or *puts on tinfoil hat* Microsoft themselves.

[larrysdirtydrawss]

not surprised giving ms long like of shadyness

[sAVAge_bEaST]

oh, x-bots.

[TBONEJF]

And someone is a idiot with out the outcome between the two systems that haven't even launch yet.

[Potato2]

This is sad.

[MaverickStar7]

It would seem like there is alot more than Xbox shenanigans there. Like why is Saudi Arabia the number one country with more than double that of the US? And who is leading there? Probably some shady business all the way around.

[Kydawg]

That someone is Microsoft. It isn't good when a multi billion dollar company has to lie and cheat to get people to like them. It's not always about the money, ALL of the time. Remove your heads, from your bosses rear ends, and re-insert your brains.

[kingmushroom]

there you have it the pathetic xbox fan base resorting to cheep shots.

EDIT: or maybe M$ themselfs

[HK6]

Are people really ignorant enough to believe this isn't happening the other way around? It took me all of ten seconds to find this.

https://twitter.com/JCDUSSE...

Hell, he even retweeted somebody's YouTube video that tries to put shame on the Xbox-related bots.

http://grabilla.com/03909-1...

Please feel free to keep living in the bubble of Xbox hate, but please, don't bring your ignorance here and try to play it off as a one-sided affair.

[corvusmd]

People still care about twitter?

[strigoi814]

poor xbox fans...running out of things to do...i guess maybe MS will be buying their own console at launch to balance out the sales..right??? tell me im right??

[iliimaster]

wouldnt expect anything else