Eurogamer amends Robert Florence's article about Geoff Keighley after threat of legal action

DSOGaming writes: "Man, things are not looking good for writers working on all triple-A gaming sites. Yesterday, Eurogamer has posted Rob Florence’s opinion piece about Geoff Keighley, video game journalism, Doritos and Mountain Dew. Naturally, this topic got hot immediately and a lot of people accused Robert for his article. What followed then, though, surprised most of us, as Eurogamer decided to amend Robert’s article."

[Emilio_Estevez]

That is absurd, his opinion and the general message of that piece was spot on imo.

[NYC_Gamer]

What did he write in his original piece?

[Emilio_Estevez]

Not too sure what was changed, but the piece is still up and gives the same message.

[john2]

Cached article before it was amended:

http://cc.bingj.com/cache.a...

[DarkTower805]

Thanks john2, that was an awesome article, one of the best reads in a long time. We all know the entertainment business is corrupt, and the video games portion is no different. We NEED guys like this to call journalists out, call console makers out. This industry has gotten out of hand.

[StanLee]

He basically question the impartiality of games' journalists. As gamers we've long held our own suspicions when we see publishers wine and dine journalists, that's nothing new. What he did was name names and call out behavior which can be considered a conflict of interest. I applaud him for being brave enough to.

[HammadTheBeast]

The things removed were 2 paragraphs about another "journalist" Lauren Whitman. Robert wrote about her tweets, one which was basically about winning a PS3 from Trion games,and saying nothings wrong with it, and the second was saying they Tomb Raider was suddenly amazing and that she was now 'obsessed' with it. Back to back tweets. Suspicious? Definitely. Hoped I helped.

[Sarcasm]

I guess he doesn't like Mountain Dew and Doritos

[Nimblest-Assassin]

Seriously, his job is to advertise... he might have been a journalist when he was still with gamespot, but now look.

He produces the VGA's
He promotes food and beverages associated with games
He promotes new games

I never took him as a journalist, but rather an advertiser

[JellyJelly]

One of the best articles I've read on here.

[crxss]

lmao i've always disliked geoff keighley, and this picture is priceless.

[Syntax-Error]

They took out the paragraphs of the names of the journalist he mentioned that entered the tweetmy game for a free PS3 competition. They also took out how they were involved with this nonsense. Good stuff. Makes you discredit certain journalist when reading their reviews

[Christopher]

@Nimblest

Go to his profile on Wiki and say that. The point is, everyone sees him as such and calls him as such.

So, doesn't really matter what an individual perceives, it's what he is actually called and advertised as.

[bicfitness]

Well the irony is that any number of journalists at Eurogamer or in media outlets elsewhere are guilty of accepting swag bags, preview "parties" - more party than preview, free consoles or games from every manufacturer and publisher on the planet.

Its hard to play whistle-blower when you have your hand in the cookie jar. Seems capricious. The whole system is corrupt. They only credible "news" you can get from video games journalism are screenshots and trailers; so that you can see the product and decide if you want to buy it.

All the rest is just product placement and - mostly uniformed - opinion pieces, which we can all do without.

[Cupid_Viper_3]

"Its hard to play whistle-blower when you have your hand in the cookie jar. Seems capricious. The whole system is corrupt."

But it's also very brave and commendable to have a writer stand up to that BS. These so called journalists sacrificed this entire generation of gaming just for few clicks and hits on their websites. Pitting PS3 fans against Xbox360 and taking their eyes off the real issues plaguing the industry.

It's really a disservice to us gamers. From pixel counting to caring about made up weekly sales figures, meanwhile, xbox 360 gamers went through some of the worst defective electronics ever made, and are still paying for services that are free elsewhere. Almost every new game have day 1 DLCs, almost every new games needs to be patched, yet the watchdogs are busy eating chips.

When these things go unchallenged, it doesn't become just an xbox or PlayStation issue, it becomes an issue for all gamers, as most of the industry would rather nickle and dime us if they're given the opportunity. So these practices are something that all gamers should unanimously fight against.

Sigh....I feel slightly better now that I've got that off my chest.

[Servbot41]

You could also just watch a live stream of the game you are looking to buy on twitch tv or any other streaming site. Almost every new game is always streamed by some random gamer, and its the best way to see if a game is worth buying. No doctored screenshots, no hype, misleading trailers, just one dude playing the game.

I've bought (and avoided) quite a few games because I liked (or didn't like) what I saw on a stream, and I've never regretted a purchase since.

[wages of sin]

That's well and good Cupid but the bottom line is the gamer makes the ultimate decision to buy or not.

Back in the 80's as a young gamer we spread the news about games by word of mouth. Sure we had magazines, there was no internet as we know it, but they weren't cheap and it's always better to talk about gamges face to face with your friends. If you bought a stinker that was your fault. Personal responsibility. Sure reviews account for something but the way "gamers" bitch and moan about games journalism you'd think people would pay them no mind about anything game related. Yet here we are talking about games on a gaming site.

Furthermore it wasn't just 360 gamers that got shafted this generation. Sony and Nintendo both did their own dirt.

Some of the comments here are just sad. How can just disrespect someone like that over videogames? His job is to give people information about games. He doesn't get into this is better than that. If all of you are such good writers, honest, well informed and thinking that game journalism needs reformation then do something about it. If not then shut up. You're like people who complain about the government but you don't vote.

[insomnium2]

@wages

It's futile to vote. One vote never changes the result.

When I was a kid in the 80's I bought games based on cover art alone. LOL!

[Ranma1]

What did Geoff Keighley do wrong?

I dont think Geoff is an asshole

[Godmars290]

At the very least, he's always come off as a tool to me. Someone who'd sell anything put in front of him.

Not trustworthy.

[Bimkoblerutso]

He's a corporate shill. He is the executive producer of the Spike TV Video Game Awards, an award show that is essentially just one big circle-jerk of advertisement shenanigans, and as the photo suggests, he's no stranger to throwing his integrity in with whoever will pay him.

It's different with celebrities and the like that take on sponsorship deals. To be a journalist, to be someone that claims to speak and report from a position of non-bias, it is ESSENTIAL to distance yourself from these outside influences for the sake of impartiality and journalistic integrity. It's just a clear conflict of interest, and someone that falls into bed with these sponsors so readily and so openly and then claims to be, or is at least looked upon as an "expert" industry consultant, is, in fact, and asshole as far as I'm concerned.

[animegamingnerd]

watch angry joe's interview with him on why the VGA'S suck then you will see why everyone hates him

[geth1gh]

Geoff Knightly is a real piece of shit and one of the leaders to continue "corporate" gaming since he represents it's counterpart, "corporate" game journalism.

If you don't believe me, here you go...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[schlanz]

For the record Angry Joe is one of the few game journalists whose opinion comes of as truly his own, and I respect that. And Jim Sterling.

[Sarcasm]

Who is Geoff Knightly?

[BitbyDeath]

Not sure if 'Sarcasm'... *waits for laughter*

Geoff is affiliated with the GameTrailers website

[DragonKnight]

AngryJoe is awesome. He's like the new Tommy Tallarico in my opinion.

[sjaakiejj]

Sure, Geoff wasn't really nice about it, but AngryJoe should really have done his research. AJ portrayed himself as a real amateur, with questions that have readily available answers.

[Hufandpuf]

In all fairness, Jeff had an event to host and I don't think that that was the right time to interview him. Sure, Jeff could have been a little nicer but come on, would you sacrifice time hosting an event or answering questions that you only need to Google to find out?

[geth1gh]

@ Hufandpuf

Angry Joe agrees with you. I think he said over and over again that this wasn't the environment to host a interview but that was all he was offered.

I am not the biggest fan of Angry Joe. I respect him but the whole "angry" aspect really turns me off to him most of the time.

He hit it head on with this though. Interview or not, as I stated in the original post Knightly is one of the major players in helping major corporations push their way into the gaming market and squeeze every penny out of gamers.

It's just one of those guys that you know really deep down that hes just there to get cash first and foremost. I honestly can't imagine him actually being more than a very very light casual console gamer.

[wastedcells]

Who is his daddy and what does he do.

[geddesmond]

Disagree. You can't make accusations against people without proof. I could say Robert Florence is in the pockets of the publishers who don't get praise from the journalists he shamed and my accusations hold the same ground as his, with no proof. Or that he only wrote that article to gain a big following between gamers fed up with the way gaming journalism is and this was a means to further his career. How his next steps will be starting his own website off the back of gamers who think hes not corrupt and will get honest opinions from him.

I mean we all know gaming journalism is a mess. Too many amateurs reviewing games and journalists that hold bias with certain publishers not giving games what they deserve or giving games high scores that should be lower but naming and shaming with no proof is slander plain and simple.

[Knight_Crawler]

I understand everyones concern but this is to be expected.

The main revenue that gaming websites get are from advertisement - they have yo be bias or they wont make any money - lets say Haze had paid Ignition to advetise Haze and they had to review it...do you think the Haze develoeprs would appreciate Ign giving Haze a bad review.

[BlackPrince 42]

This guy got Gerstmanned for giving an opinion no one wanted to hear. Plain and simple.

[NYC_Gamer]

It's a real damn joke.These so called journalist are like cheap whores they would do anything for swag/ad space profits..Nooone of these paid off previews/reviews should be trusted from these huge mainstream sites..That's why i'd rather trust real gamers advice who play games for the love of being apart of the culture over these petty bogus journalist.

[vortis]

Same here man.

After that Mass Effect 3 thing it was obvious who was who in the gaming industry.

Never again...never again...

[HammadTheBeast]

Exactly. They get paid for bending over for big companies, and get bribes all the time. You should see the stuff they're packing into cars after E3. Bags upon bags of goodies.

[Soldierone]

If I'm not mistaken.....doesn't this just prove he was right? Irony at its best.

[baldulf]

He really hit a weak spot, for sure.

[kwyjibo]

The writer of the Eurogamer piece has stepped down from the publication, what's the point in writing opinion pieces if they're going to censor your opinion?

This is a shame, as the piece was spot on, and Eurogamer have lost a funny and talented writer. Check out Rob Florence's Consolevania stuff on youtube, anyone who describes Peter Molyneux as a "polo neck wearing effeminate nazi dracula" is good in my book.

All this has created a complete Streisand effect and only highlighted the original article. It's sadly, also meant that the female writer questioned in the pre-censored version has been subject to a torrent of misogynistic abuse.

Great going games journalism!

[vortis]

You can do opinion pieces, they just have to be top 10 lists about boobs, butts and cosplay or games we hear about all the time, or retreads of "sexism in gaming" and "homophobia in gaming". Then you're safe.

Just don't write important stuff about important stuff.

[Gaetano]

Keighley is an objective journalist that rarely critiques and simply just promotes games for people not interested in some douchebag journalist critiquing a game. He doesn't fall for the "review journalism" that plagues video game journalism. He just appeases gamers with facts with no subjective thoughts on games.

Who gives a shit if he gets sponsored by corporate giants? People don't rely on him for his opinion. They rely on him to inform us about games. Simple as that.

[Godmars290]

Yes. He promoted the game "World's Greatest Warrior" on his show Gametrailers which airs on Spike TV, all of which were under the same corporate umbrella. Devoted an entire episode to it while teasing news for some really big game at the time throughout which then aired in the last minute. Basically dangled it like bait while making the whole show about a commercial for a PSN/XBL download. Never saw another episode.

He's not objective - he's amoral.

[ChocolateGiddyUp]

"...folks called him a “piece of shit“, an “arrogant troll” and that he will have to be wary of “enemies” if he attends any games PR events."

What, are full-grown adults going to beat him up and take his lunch money?

This whole thing is just sad.

[KwietStorm_BLM]

lol wary of enemies what a joke. This ain't gang wars. Seriously what are they gonna do.

[stuntman_mike]

reminds me of the gang fight in Anchor man lol.

[CrzyFooL]

the changes have nothing to do with Keighley lol

[stuntman_mike]

since when was keighly a journalist he presents the bonus round and kisses developers arses. he never gives his opinion on anything or critiques it.

[Pintheshadows]

The original article was fantastic. I hope this guy gets given a job at RPS. He'd fit in well.

And he's right, Kieron Gillen deserves his place as a legendary gaming writer. When I read PC Gamer throughout the 90's he made me want to follow in his footsteps. Witty, informative and knowledgeable. Now however, i'd avoid that path like the plague. Integrity in journalism is dead.

Everything is monitored, and kept under control.

[john2]

Ah, the memories. Kieron's review of Deus Ex was a fantastic piece of work. Robert also writes for RPS ;)

[ZeroChaos]

Just compared the two the only things that seems to be edited are the mentions of Lauren Wainwrigh tweet and Dave Cook's hashtag business.

[SOULJER]

SELL OUT little keighley. Giving Canadians everywhere a bad name. Bending over & grabing ankles, for Doritos and Mountain Dew dollars.

[Warj]

The original article was well written and far from a slander piece. The lady who asked for her name removed either is upset she was caught red handed or has such thin skin she shouldn't be called a journalist.

[unknownhero1123]

she even made tweets private a few hours ago lol. don't worry though, i sure she will make public again when she needs to hashtag a game or something.

[GSpartan777]

This article is worded weird. Geoff Keighley is not the reason Robert Florences was let go and the original article was not aimed towards or was it about Geoff. It used him as an example but the article was calling out Lauren Wainwright.

[mrbojingles]

Wow. Intense reaction by Eurogamer

[masa2009]

This is a disingenuous title by DSO: Keighley was the starting point of the article but most of it has nothing to do with him, including the edits.

The edits pertain to some disputable practices by freelance writer Lauren Wainwright and her relationship with Square-Enix, given that she posted some slavishly complimentary tweets about the next Tomb Raider.

This was further explored on Twitter today when people accused her of serving as a communication consultant for Square-Enix, to which she admitted, but said that it didn't represent a conflict of interest, as she never reviewed a SE game... until someone posted a review she had done of Deus Ex HR.

[Warj]

Nice extra info, thank you. Now the question is, does she truly not see a problem or is she just upset for getting caught?

[ironwolf777]

I'm pretty sure that in the real world a 'swag bag' or free consoles or buckets of Mountain Dew simply do not have a significant impact on a high profile journalists reviews.
If there were thousands of dollars stuffed in envelopes being passed under tables then maybe... Just maybe.

[InTheLab]

The guy was spot on and I've been saying it for years. There's no standard in games journalism, therefor, there is no such thing as games journalism...

Wonder if the writer will be black listed for blasting the industry.

[trouble_bubble]

"When videogame journalism grows too wild, a purging fire is inevitable and natural". Anyone have the number for R'as Al Ghul and the League of Shadows?

[kingmushroom]

The best game critics I know are gamers them selfs.

[jnhinsd]

I think the guy was right for calling out game journalism. We have all had our suspicions about this ongoing issue.

[GrathiusXR]

My hands goes up for AngryJoe. Met him at E3 this year absolutely amazing guy. I value his reviews and opinions genuine he is genuine!

[PopRocks359]

Anyone who claims he speaks for me does not get a thumbs up in my book. He's a very arrogant person who gets stupidly angry about a lot of things that don't always really matter.

If you like him that's cool, but personally I think the guy is a brat and makes gamers look bad.

[GrathiusXR]

Really? I find that he has valid points as to why he finds certain aspects in games annoying and what not.

[TemplarDante]

What a brilliant read!
Salute the dude for stating what we knew was happening. He had the guts to write it.

[Klonopin]

This just in... Dorito's and Mountain Dew, now the official food and drink for douche bags. What a great day for humanity!

[PopRocks359]

I guess I'm the only one who usually ignores stuff like this. I really hope this site doesn't start producing dozens of articles about this non-issue. It's not even really about video games.

[caseh]

Of course its about video games, skewed reviews help certain publishers/devs get undeserved attention and sales from games that otherwise would have been overlooked.

If a game is released and it has say 10 reviews, 9 of those reviewers have been sweetened up a bit with freebies etc and the 1 hasn't. The 9 give glowing reviews and the 1 gives it a score it deserves, whose score do you think the average reader will pay the most attention to? The overwhelming majority or the one guy who probably doesn't know what hes talking about...

[PopRocks359]

It feels more to me like people taking the opportunity to piss on a billboard sign, which is pretty much what Geoff Keighly amounts to.

Using Eurogamer as an outlet for that is just sad given that it's, well, Eurogamer. I mean honestly, what is this accomplishing? A whole lot of nothing. The only people who seem to care are the people posting on the internet who are (thankfully) not among the majority.

It's fine if you see a point in all of this, but I honestly don't.

[caseh]

@poprocks359

I think it just comes down to a level of perceived corruption in the industry that most people believed was going on (fixed review scores etc) but had no evidence.

Most people are losing focus of the fact this isn't really about Geoff K but about the journalists promoting games. They are supposed to be giving impartial reviews yet they are being all snuggly with the related PR peeps. Like it said in the article, these people should fear reputable journalists as they have the ability to make or break their products. Instead, these 'reputable' journalists are taking indirect bribes to some extent.

To be fair, it is probably no different to any other media industry but its the fact its been made public and a few people have been woken up.

But for the record, I quite like Geoff Keighley. :)

[MariaHelFutura]

This is more about videogames than 90% of what makes it through the pending section and get's above 100 degrees.

[abzdine]

hahahaa typical journalism nowadays. You have freedom of expression but dont express your opinion on someone. You are allowed to criticize others but not me.

And Geoff Keighley is an ass, an arrogant guy. I wonder how he would be if he was the USA president.

[medziarz]

The whole GameTrailers run by Geoff is basically a anti-Sony, Microsoft-glorifying propaganda outlet. This takes place on every show he hosts this whole generation. It is what is called modern soft propaganda (as opposed to XX century totalitarian, explicit) - highly effective as it is difficult for the audience to notice.

[jetlian]

wrong geoff is sonys biggest fan. Look at all the old bonus rounds he always gave sony praise. Now everyone else is probably anti sony.

Plenty of episodes he'd say "What about playstation"

[brew]

He really likes Sony and a lot of their stuff , like God of War , Uncharted , Heavy rain , inFAMOUS , etc. I'm sure he'll jizz over anything The Last of Us related.

But as a guy in his position , he has to pretend to be excited for some stuff he might not be as interested in and also bend over for the advertisers and some of the "AAA" developers. He has to cave in to the Halo+machine and lick Rockstar's balls as much as possible like every other mainstream site ... because they help drive the media machine that is mainstream journalism.

[violents]

The sad part is the fact that industry people bitched so much he had to change his article proves the point he was trying to make.

[esemce]

Nice one Rab!

http://www.youtube.com/user...

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[isyourhouseonfire]

Eurogamer owns the article. They can do what they please. Had he written correct TO THEIR STANDARDS to begin with then this wouldn't have happened.

He's just not right for the industry if he can't follow company guidelines.