Gaming coverage in newspapers is starting to find its footing alongside other, more established entertainment features, though its a far cry from the quality of content or dedication exhausted by specialist publications and a number of online outlets (some of which are actually associated the daily rags.) Though The Sun may not appear on our front page as often as the Star, it has still adopted an anti-gaming stance from time to time, despite propping up a frequent video game column.
Helmed by editor Lee Price, today’s gaming coverage saw what would appear to be one of the world’s first reviews for upcoming Rockstar title, Max Payne 3, The Sun awarding it a suspicious 3.5 out of 5. The section which writer Jean-Claude Suttun had played however was just a single player demonstration and obviously not representative of the full game, prompting industry-savvy readers to respond. The Sun later amended its web version of the story with the following statement:
Clarification: In the paper this morning, you will’ve noticed that we gave Max Payne a score of ‘3.5’ – or 70% as it’d be online. We’d like to clarify that this was a mistake, and that we have NOT reviewed nor marked the game yet, and won’t do so until May 18th, its release.
70% is by no means a bad score, though for a majority of casual gamers it will have connotations of “probably not as good as CoD or FIFA,” which many who have seen the game will know is probably an unfair observation. Though the “review” won’t have a major impact on public perception, it could still sway a number of would-be buyers and highlights The Sun’s care-free approach to video game coverage. We probably wouldn’t see the same mistake happy when reviewing a blockbuster such The Avengers or the next Adele album, eh?
cc_star
Saw an Avengers trailer rated it 5/10. Is that what they did?
Looked all Michael Bay-ey & didn’t get across the snappy dialogue of the full film.
Faulker
The Avengers wasn’t that good though. I’d give it a 6/10…maybe 6.5, but even that is really stretching it. The film however was far better than Transformers 3.
Dom El
Personally I thought it was great – the dialogue was snappy, and I also found it hugely unBay-esque as I could actually follow the action and didn’t leave the cinema with a headache from the sound of suppressed gunfire! Either way it’s definitely worth seeing.
ico
Fairly woeful rag and it’s a shame that even their general ineptitude and ignorance will garner them column inches and publicity. I value their in depth gaming knowledge as much as I do Alan Titchmarsh’s. I personally would not read it for free. But that’s just an opinion of course.
fattyuk
I was surprised to see a review of the back to the future games in the sun oO how long they been out now?
aycizzle
They’ve just been released in a physical format, hence the recent reviews.
Paranoimia
I played the original Max Payne game. 3.5 out of 5 does seem a tad on the high side for a game in this series. :-)
TheDemocrodile
Like anybody cares what they think of games, any self respecting gamer knows where to get their reviews from.
wonkey-willy
yes i whole heartedly agree IGN is my number one place for news previews and reviews…..
*laughs like eddie murphy*”get the f**k out of here..
bmg_123
I prefer Gamespot myself…
Sympozium
Eurogamer > all.
Jim Hargreaves
Alex will be round with the ban hammer this weekend ;)
Awayze
Amazon review section :/
Sympozium
Well at least they didn’t get pressured by Rockstar to give it a 5/5.
TSBonyman
They hardly needed to post clarification – it’s not like anyone looks to the gutter press for their game reviews.
bluewolf
Everything The Sun does is “a mistake”.
indigo19
I consider reading the sun, or anything published by news international a mistake.
powerslave
Don’t Buy The Sun
JFT96
I’m surprised even the dates correct on this paper.