I want to get something off of my chest right here right now, no not sites I used to be affiliated with taking potshots at me or PPG, that is normal and can sometimes be fun exchanging fodder. No, I am talking about sites that charge for reviews of any kind (the point of this editorial is the iPhone/iPod Touch). Here at Pixel Perfect Gaming, we do not accept money in exchange for reviews of games, we don’t even have any advertiser’s here since we are working on finding a way to make it clear that advertiser’s do not influence our reviews in any way (and no better way to do that than to not have ads at all, though in the future we will, so just calm down and unload that cannon our competition has aimed at us right now).
I have just read an article on Wired.com that deals with just this situation. Seems there are sites that are charging for reviews to be written (you can call it a fee to “expedite” the review all day long, it is still being paid to write a review that should be impartial). This is just unacceptable and something that hopefully the fans will see, be disgusted by and stop supporting these sites and support the many that do HONEST reviews of not only iPhone/iPod Touch games but other platform games too.
Apparently, on some sites, TheiPhoneAppReview.com and AppCraver.com as named in the Wired article, iPhone/iPod Touch developers can pay a fee to have their games reviewed “quicker” than others. That to me is still unethical and just downright insulting to ask for money like that (oh it gets worse, read on). Readers follow certain sites, there is no way they can follow all of us, and to know that some of those sites are taking bribes, call it what you want but that is what it boils down to, is just ridiculously sleazy.
Here is a quote from Mr. Campbell, owner of The iPhone App Review site (they charge $25 to “expedite” a review by the way) as it appears on Wired.com:
“The iPhone App Review is not a PR charity,” Campbell said. “We’re a business, and like in any business, there are costs that need to be recovered.”
I would like to point out something here. Yes, any site that is serious about being a success is a business, there are costs to be covered and such. The problem is, these guys are trading their editorial integrity in exchange for money. That is one problem with the Internet, anyone with $50 a year can start a site, with some luck, it will become a success and will get visitors and fans that stick around. That is fine, competition is good, believe me, it is tough finding good trustworthy people that can play games well and also write about them in a coherent manner and work for the pay we offer. That doesn’t mean that we will start taking money in return for reviews, that is just stupid.
Journalistic integrity is now being attacked with sites taking money for “expediting” reviews. Sure, if you do work, you should be paid if possible (if you volunteer at this craft then that is your choice). Most sites on the Internet don’t make money, advertiser’s simply aren’t paying enough for the sites to pay writers. This, to me, doesn’t give the site the right to turn their backs on their readers and accept money for the reviews that are posted, in what should be, good faith.
This problem seems to have reared it’s ugly head with the onset of the iPhone/iPod Touch’s popularity, there are just so many apps being released. The developers are doing anything they can to get reviews posted about their apps, unfortunately, some sites are preying on that weakness. That is something we here at PPG will never do, we will not accept money in return for “expediting”, or whatever these other sites want to call it, reviews of games nor will we allow advertiser’s to influence our reviews just because they spend a lot of money with us (notice, again, right now, we don’t have advertiser’s, this is not because no one wants to advertise here- it is because we are very cautious about reader perception).
This is just sad that I have to write something like this at all. To know that other sites are taking money to do what they should be doing already is just rather incredulous. If you can’t do it without selling your integrity, maybe you shouldn’t be doing it at all, OK?
Let us know what you think about this “trend” we want to know. You can contact me through PPG (goto the staff page and get my e-mail) or leave a comment right here on the page.
