1UP justifies SCEA's pulled prerelease support with MLB 08 review

The latest review of MLB 08: The Show by 1UP may have shown that SCEA's decision (among a few other companies) to pull prerelease support from 1UP/EGM was the right one.

[sonarus]

there goes 1up hating again. Of all the popular reviews i.e. gtrailers, ign, gspot(lol), game informer i find theirs the most questionable. They always come up with some random element in a game to pull a score down. Seems to happen more often to sony games too. Nice to see sony taking a stand. Now lets see how gamespot handles the next insomniac game. That 7.5 on ratchet was a little to harsh

[Iamback]

Same guy that gave Ratchet PS3 a 7.5, also gave 8.5 to GOW:chains of olymp.

[Lifendz]

and I echo the sentiments of the author: kudos Sony. 1up is obviously biased against your sports games. Probably because you pulled pre-releases from them. Giving the game a B- is insane. I heard the last 1up yours podcast and Garnett and the guys were bashing the game for being a sim and not having an arcade mode. Give me a break. If I read a review of Madden that bashed it for being a sim I'd throw the review away. The game is supposed to be a sim!

I thought Hilary Goldstein was the biggest xbox fanboy out there yet he was able to speak glowingly about the game. What gives Garnett?

And then that idiot Garnett went on and on about how there's no games coming out this summer. After nearly 15 minutes of diatribe he finally acknowledged a little game called Metal Gear Solid 4. Ninja Gaiden II anyone? GTA IV will surely last us all for a while. I don't know what's going on over there. If it weren't for Shane that show would be unlistenable.

Shane, please jump ship (cuz it's sinking) and go to IGN. I'd love to hear you and Greg Miller on podcast B3yond. You could have Jeff Haynes spot! ;)

[sonarus]

well to be fair the story was short and the game wasn't perfect. But, it still is the best psp game available.

[oohWii]

Had MS or nintendo done this, you Sony sheep would be saying that they are censoring reviewers whose reviews don't favor their products. This is so typical of you blind MORONS. Because this is exactly what Sony is doing!

[Kleptic]

When did MS ever pull pre-release packages for reviewers because they were getting unfair reviews?...there were insider confirmations of the kinds of 'gifts' some of these reviewers recieve from MS...and mentioned that neither Nintendo or Sony went to such lengths...

more over...The Wii actually has fanboys?...I didn't know people like you existed......just a future warning...this probably isn't the best website for your kind...I can pretty much guarantee that not many people will share your opinion...

[oohWii]

"this probably isn't the best website for your kind" Ok, did I turn left when I should have turned right end entered N4B (News for Biggots) instead of N4G (news for gamers) And what kind would that be man, people that don't have Sony company logos tatooed to their chest. Yes, believe it or not, the wii does have fans/fanboys. And based on current sells figures, we have twice as many as "YOUR KIND" have.

So don't hate the player homie, hate the game. I really can't believe you were STUPID enough to make such an ignorant comment. Funny though, MS give gifts and you whine, Sony pulls support for people not giving their games perfect scores, (prob the real reason the dude from gamestop lost his job.) and you call MS a monster. Snap, snap, snap, wake up fool!

[GunShotEddy]

The article focuses more on the author complaining about reviews rather than publishers not supporting media. Who cares. A review is only an opinion. Do we now need opinions about other people's opinions?

[Iamback]

You and I and most likely smaller % of folks see it as that, just an opinion, but lets not fool our selves. Reviews matter, not matter what people say. most of the gamers look at reviews before buying game, so good reviews help sales, that is 100% for sure.....very bad reviews....well you know... don't help.

[Lifendz]

don't try to deflate the entire discussion. We all know it's just an opinion. Thanks Captain Obvious. We're here to discuss those opinions. That is, in part, what a forum is for. When a game as good as The Show gets high scores almost everywhere save for the two places thought to have an agenda of some sort, well it's at least discussion worthy. If you're not interested in this discussion then don't post in it.

[GunShotEddy]

I'm in the wrong for having an opinion about an article, which is nothing but opinion, that discusses a review that is nothing but an opinion?

Amazing that you would point out this is a forum for discussion, yet you condemn me for discussing. Beautiful irony.

[Lifendz]

You can have any opinion you want but have an opinion. Telling us all that we shouldn't waste our time on it is neither saying you agree or disagree; it's telling us what you think should be post worthy.

Again, we all know the review is just an opinion. That's obvious. You weren't citing an opinion on the review, you were just saying that "guys it's an opinion so just move on." That was my whole objection to your post.

If an article doesn't interest me, I wouldn't go into the posts and tell everyone that they shouldn't be discussing it or worried about it because it's only an opinion. I'd either offer something to the discussion or ignore it. What you did is essentially the equivilant of walking up to two people having a discussion about a movie review and telling them that it's just an opinion and they shouldn't worry about the review.

[T_O87]

they F***ing deserve it , giving 2k8 baseball a higher review score than mlb08 the show , i mean WTH ?!

Edit: and yes SCEA definitely made the right decision

[Lifendz]

and everyone that agrees with Sony's decision on this one. This is evidence that 1up has some sort of agenda against Sony sports games.

[Kleptic]

haha sports games?...or sony in general?...

[Iamback]

8.5 from gamespot
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3...

1UP just showing their hate

[Iamback]

I am European so i dont know a sh.t about baseball and dont care, but it seems this game is getting great reviews
http://www.gamespot.com/ps3...
1UP is just showing their true face

[kingme71]

I thought XPlay reviewed it rather harshly too. They had a faceoff with 2K and they gave it to 2K. They are about the only ones that thought 2K outdid the Show.

[SL1M DADDY]

Glad to see that Sony is calling poor reviewers out like this. I for one was behind them when I read they were not letting 1up have a copy of the game for early review. Now we see why yet again and kudos to Sony for showing us all how pathetic 1up is.

[Primetimebt]

So 1up/EGM had to rent the game to play it and review it.. LOL. I'm sorry 1up is a joke when it comes to reviews and Sony game division isn't the only one who thinks so Ubisoft, and Parts of Midway. I just hope Midway, and Sony pull all there game divisions from pre releases from 1up/EGM. Game Informer and IGN are the only ones who actually mean something.

[klashawnd]

Anyone with a PS3 I advise you to play both demos for MLB 08 the Show and MLB 2K8 and judge for yourself. Personally, I played the Show demo first and then MLB 2K8. I promptly deleted MLB 2K8 from my HDD after 2 games lol.

[Skerj]

I don't even like sports games but somehow I got into The Show from the demo. Maybe down the line I might pick it up and try it out but it wasn't that bad.

[Lifendz]

and i don't even know the controls. I just got stealing bases down. Now I need to get it so that I run to second or third in some instances. Batting is a fine art and pitching is a chess match every time. I got one guy out with a sick curve ball and I was so proud of myself.

Has anyone struck out Matt Holiday? He's like amazing in that demo.

[lim_ryan]

wow from my experience MLB the show its the game man.....
2k8 the pitch control like playing street fighter so difficult....

[meepmoopmeep]

didn't the parent company file for bankruptcy?

[CPTN MITCHELL]

they both suck. xplay said that if u own mlb07 not to get 08. guess what? I do own 07 and I just got 08 which is way better than 2k8. my review is 2k8 5.5/10 mlb08 8.5/10

[Alcohog]

Very embarrassing on 1UP's part. What a joke!

[SIX]

Just wondering because I heard that they where. Could also be the reason Bryan Intihar moved on. As I understand it he was the only PS3 supporter on that podcast. The other guys try to be impartial but instead come off as pretty transparent.

[tonsoffun]

you really have no clue there bud 1UP/EGM is home to the BIGGEST Sony fanboy I have ever heard: The man go Shane Betenhausen (sp).

They are not owned my MS and I certainly see/hear no bias towards any platform from anyone other than shane

Seriously, everyone here is entitled to an opionion regarding the review, but what if the reviewer just did'nt like the game? Having listened to thier podcasts for almost from the beginning, I can honesly say that the biggest MS fanboys have moved on and what is left is, IMO a reasonably unbiased view.

Think of it this way, if they released a favourable review and the game did'nt recieve that great a score, they would have been accused of kissing up and if, as they have done, they would have been accused of being biased towards Sony sports products. They were and are between a rock and a hard place.

The decision for certain games publishers to pull pre release reviews for 1UP or any other company is just sour grapes - they are taking thier ball and going home with it. Creating an artifical environment where you only give pre release games for review to companies that are known to give good reviews is only going to screw us in the long term.

[Kleptic]

it wasn't because 1up didn't give The Show a good review...it was because it was deemed as unfair in light of other games in that genre...and it happened a lot more than once...

did you read the article?...look at what they criticize in The Show...and compare that with the 2k08 review...its very clearly a broken system over there...

that is why this is happening...SCE has recieved hundreds of 'bad' review scores on some games...but when a review score from a certain website is significantly and consistantly lower than other major websites...yet has blatantly incorrect comparisons with other games of that genre...other agendas start to become apparent...

and yeah...they are not as blatantly biased towards MS as they used to be I guess...most likely because MS hired all of those guys...but there is still a very flawed review system at 1up...however big a fanboy that Shane guys is, the company he works for obviously has no problems trying to swing it the other way...

[tonsoffun]

I did, and not being someone who likes Baseball games, I really can't comment on any of the technical aspects of it: BUT I do think that the criticisms are valid.

And lets be fair to a B- is a very good score for any game, so I just don't see why there is such an uproar. Again, though the general consensus is that this game is a vast improvement on other similar baseball releases, one of which got a higher review score, so I do see why there is some animosity there.

The only reason they seemed so biased is that they had the biggest MS/Bungie fanboy I have ever heard: Luke Smith and since he was the media whore of 1UP at the time, I believe that it just seemed to be biased.

Again, all these comments are purely my own opinion, but I do think some of them valid.

[novaIS350]

I give 1up a couple hours before they come out with an explanation. These guys are a joke. Except for Shane, he is cool in my book.

[anh_duong]

i am actually against companies putting pressure on reviewers even if they are showing some prejudice. i really do not like 1up since i think 1up are biased against sony but i am all for freedom of the press. 1up is a joke but 99% of people can see through this cr@p of a review anyway.

game reviewers should be allowed to act independently regardless of how screwed up they are.

[Altis1]

Since when is a B- a 67%.
B- translates to 80 - 83%.

[Lifendz]

A B- for the game is still too low but I don't know how they do that conversion. A C- should convert into at least a 75.

[ShAkKa]

I tought this company went on bankrupt.
I own the show since day one and i love it`s the best baseball game i`ve played since mvp05.
A few days back i downloaded the 2k8 demo and deleted after the first game i played,yes thats how bad it is,framerates,animations,graph ics,everything is just a mess.

[Altis1]

I think the said that as an April fools joke like Lego Halo.

[pwnsause]

these guys were taking lots of heroine if they proclaim the 2k8 is better than the show. being a baseball fan for all these years, I take this as an insult. its time we as gamers start protesting and try to get these bastards out of the gaming industry, they are hurting this industry.

[Ri0tSquad]

Theres your proof.