Sony France blacklists the french webzine Gamekult after the zine released Heavy Rain test.
The redactor Poischich who gave a 6/10 to Heavy Rain commented the news on twitter : "Sony is taking distance with the webzine".
We also learn that Sony France asked to a redactor from JeuVideo.Com to modify his review for Heavy rain.
Plenty of unforgettable games have completely messed up their players throughout the years, all the way back from the PS1 days to the dark recesses of the modern internet.
With so many games fighting for players' attention and interest losing out over time, time sink games are at risk of eventually losing steam.
It was worrisome to begin with.
It's a niche genre with only a handful of hits that can stand the test of time.
Only a few will catch on. You need a perfect storm to be successful in GaaS and a bit of luck on top of that. But a potential cash cow will keep them trying and some will go out of business because of it.
Helldivers 2 manages just fine…
Keep production costs low… don’t just make custscenes until the mechanics and enemies are perfected first.
Make so much content that you can drip extra content for years, and the game already feels complete without them.
Most importantly: make weapons, enemies, levels, and mechanics that will stand the test of 1000 hours. This might require more devs embracing procedurally generated leveled, which I think separates Helldivers 2 from Destiny’s repetitiveness.
Nameer from eXputer: "Some exceptions aside, I don't think the battle pass is a net positive for gaming with how they're implemented in most live service titles."
I like the way Helldivers 2 does battle passes. It allows you to make purchases on each level of the battle pass and gives you the option of choosing which item to unlock first. The more purchases you make using medals the further you progress. There is no timer and you can earn medals towards purchasing stuff via personal orders and Major orders.
I haven't played much live service games that have battle passes but I remember some games that have battle passes where you progress through it linearly using an exp system. What makes it really bad is that the battle pass will have like 50 or more levels with the cooler stuff being closer to the end. They also have an in-game shop that sells exp boosters so you can reach the end of the pass before it refreshes. Everyone ilse will have to grind their way through.
battle pass in fortnite is perfect; buy one and it buys the rest for every other season as it gives you more money than the first cost. so 8.50 and season ends with you getting 13.00, it pays for the next and you have some pocket change to save up for cash shop. All of which is optional
"We also learn that Sony France asked to a redactor from JeuVideo.Com to modify his review for Heavy rain."
They expect to change every Heavy Rain review they don't like? Nobody objected when they gave Mass Effect 2 a 7
Hmmm... I guess you can't have an opinion.
these id!0ts from gamekult are not gamers.
me2 a 7?
heavy rain a 6?
only stvpid people are running that site.
Gamekult and JeuVideo didnt play the full game.
I HEARD that 2012 is the end of days.
For people not being much conscious of the situation, I'll sum up (I used to work for French biggest professional website).
Usually, publishers like Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, THQ, etc... send review copies (or codes for downloadable games) of their games to professional websites so they can write their reviews upon it. For smallest publishers and games, websites must buy the games themselves if they want to review it.
But review copies are usually sent for free, so publishers expect websites to soften their opinion, which explains why games like Fallout 3, Ass' Creed or GTA IV have been critically acclaimed disregard their flaws. Gamekult is the second biggest French professional website and they are known to be hard with their reviews but totally unbiased (if you understand French, you should listen to their podcasts, they're awesome).
And Heavy Rain received a 6/10 mostly because it's boring, there are too much QTEs and some animations are too much rigid. Sony reacted like they did with Kotaku, blacklisting Gamekult, which means they potentially will no longer receive games published by Sony for free, unless both parts find an agreement (re-reviewing the game or changing its score for example).
In USA, a similar case happened with Kane & Lynch, where Gamestop editor Jeff Gerstmann have been fired for having given a low score to the game. I doubt Poischich (the Gamekult editor who wrote the Heavy Rain review) will be fired as well as being hard but fair is a real motto at Gamekult. Yet, partnerships with Sony may be in trouble in a near future for GK, as much for review copies of games as advertising revenues.