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REVIEWING GAMES CAN HURT - by Mr Biffo

17/2/2016

14 Comments

 
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Since Digitiser2000 launched, almost all of our review copies have been bought out of our sponsor fund, apart from one or two that I borrowed, and a few I got given when I was a judge for the BAFTA Games Awards.

Even the hardware we've reviewed came out of that fund, so you don't have to do a lot of maths to realise that - with big games costing £50 - we don't make much of a profit from Digi (and we've not yet broken even from the current batch of t-shirts, incidentally...).

But that's ok. Because, you see, something I've avoided doing since starting this site is contacting PR people for review copies - chiefly because I don't want to be beholden to those difficult conversations when I don't like one of their games. Well... so much for that.

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​Another part of my avoidance of contacting PR people is down to me being terrible at asking for things; I hate being pushy.

Also, it has slightly been down to not knowing whether Digitiser2000 is even big enough yet to be on their radar; currently we get around 15,000+ unique readers a month (though that might be closer to 30,000 this month - and thanks to a few viral posts, it spiked sharply in the last couple of months of 2015 to about a quarter of a million...).

On average, however, we can't touch the big sites. I mean, I'd love to beg somebody to supply us with a proper gaming PC so that I can finally review PC games, but... well... I dunno where to start asking for it.


Anyway. This week, I reviewed Digitiser2000's first ever proper freebie review copy. And - hey - now I feel really awful about it!

BREAK THE DUCK

It has been years since I reviewed a game that had been supplied to me by a PR rep, and the game that broke my duck was RPG Tycoon. ​If you read the review, you'll know I thought the concept had potential, but I didn't love the end product.

The review also happened to be incredibly hard for me to write.

Looking at the background before going into the piece, I saw that RPG Tycoon was the work of one guy - Matt Gamble. He's 22 - the same age as my middle daughter, incidentally - doing what he wants to do, and I didn't really want to lay a big, brown cable on a game that he'd been working on for years. He's one young person - he can't hide behind a big team, or corporate infrastructure. He doesn't have the benefit of that buffer.

The decisions made on Matt's game were his alone, and he can't pass the buck. There would be no barrier between me saying less-than-flattering things about RPG Tycoon... and Matt himself. I wasn't about to upset a company: I wrote that review knowing I'd potentially upset a person.

And I don't much like upsetting people, unless they're idiots.

IRONICALLY WHAT?
Ironically, I probably wouldn't have even reviewed RPG Tycoon had I not been contacted by the PR company that was representing it. I wasn't even aware of it.

I've talked before about how a reviewer has a duty to be honest about the games they're reviewing. It's all too easy for critics to get cheap laughs, or play to the crowd. And I know the power of a bad review: I was the guy who wrote what became Pudsey The Dog; The Movie, a film that was universally loathed even before it came out. 

I'm thick-skinned enough to have been able to take the volley of phlegm that came my way over that, but I didn't know about Matt. Life is hard enough as it is, and we're all just one shitty turning point away from having our day ruined. I suspect Matt is too young to have yet built up that wall of scar tissue we all grow over time.

However, to his absolute credit, he dropped me a line on Twitter, and handled it with spectacular good grace:

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GROWN-UPS
​Suffice to say, Matt's mature attitude and generosity of spirit made me feel even more guilty about the review, but I appreciate it nevertheless. I do hope he's as fine about it as he seems, but he displays a textbook way to handle criticism (or - as he calls it correctly - feedback): learn from it, and not take it personally.

Critics are like everyone: we're all different, we all have different tastes, and we all encounter the world through our own filter of prejudices and references. Some critics are honest, some are working to a different agenda (whether they're aware of that or not). But regardless, reacting against a bad review by telling a critic that they're mistaken is completely the wrong way to go about it. It changes nothing.

Creating stuff for public consumption is hard: if you're true to yourself, your creation is symbiotically linked to you - and it can hurt when someone gives it a kicking. Ideally, nobody should ever be discouraged from doing what they want to do (unless, y'know... they're Harold Shipman, or someone).

RPG Tycoon wasn't for me, but there are people on Steam who clearly like it - and good for them. And better still: good for Matt Gamble. May he continue to create games for as long as it fulfils him.

​Here's hoping that whenever I review his next game, we'll both come out of the experience feeling better about ourselves.
FROM THE ARCHIVE:
THAT DRAGON, INTERNET BACKLASH BY MR BIFFO
​
VIDEO GAMES: A PRIMAL INSTINCT BY MR BIFFO
​
THE FEEL THING BY MR BIFFO
​
14 Comments
Euphemia
17/2/2016 04:26:10 pm

You're a MONSTER, sir.

A MONSTER.

Reply
Bootle
17/2/2016 05:06:38 pm

Christ!!! don't let Simon see that twitter conversation he'll be using it as evidence in his Gamergate approved screenshot collage of Journo/Dev collusion that's destroying "Da Ethics"

Reply
Peskyfletch
19/2/2016 06:09:45 pm

God, i love Simon. Mr Biffo could write a few humour arfticles from his viewpoint( "Hey chill guys, this doesn't bother me and i totally don't have an axe to grind BUT...")

Reply
DirtyOldDingus
17/2/2016 05:21:47 pm

I think most sound people would read your reviews as honest views written by someone who is a gamer and loves gaming. Feeling bad about it shows you are decent albeit warped individual.
Matt seems mature enough to understand that the criticism wasn't spiteful, just a honest view and will maybe take that onto his next game.
Developers get more out of a well written critical review rather then 0/5 worst game ever,this game is #### lolz review that litter websites and forums.

Or indeed like above you may just be a monster

Reply
Mr Biffo
17/2/2016 06:04:03 pm

I am all of the above! And thanks, chaps.

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Paul Morris
17/2/2016 05:51:28 pm

Two things, one is that given you disliked said game, did not you score of 9 missed opportunities out of 23 imply that Matt had taken 14 opportunities therefore, not a bad score (paradox?)

secondly, I watched your Pudsey movie when you defended it on here and with an open mind I didn't think it that bad, certainly not the worst film ever and well, liking a crude joke or two, your pig shit jokes at least made me smile. The world is fidkle.

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Mr Biffo
17/2/2016 06:05:43 pm

Cheers, Paul. I don't think it's terrible in the way it was made out to be. Obviously, it's not brilliant - and not the film I wanted it to be (and part of that is my own fault) - but it could've been far, far, worse considering everything.

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Adam
17/2/2016 10:59:54 pm

For some reason i can't put my finger on, these 'behind the Digi curtain'-type articles are always my favourite on here. Maybe it's just the honesty behind them, i don't know. But I always like to read them.

As for the game review, why not see if Matt Gambell will give you an interview about it for the site? He seems like a decent chap, and i'd be interested to read about how he got the game made on his own.

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Mr Biffo
18/2/2016 08:45:37 am

Ta, Adam. Glad you like the more honest, personal pieces. I'll try to keep them going - hopefully it helps keep Digi distinctive.

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Steeeeve
18/2/2016 10:36:44 am

You haven't broken even on the current batch of T-shirts? According to the online shop what I just tried to use to buy one, they're all sold out. I wanted to give you cash-monies in exchange for emblazoning the face of Zombie Dave and/or Mr. T across my chest, but computer says no.

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Mr Biffo
19/2/2016 02:39:30 pm

Whaaaa? We didn't order as many as last time... but... What size do you need? We're down to our last Mr T - but we should have plenty of Zombie Daves left.

Reply
Mr Biffo
19/2/2016 02:40:55 pm

But wait! I am now informed we are out of medium and large ZDs...

And since posting this article we have just broken even, which is lovely. Which wasn't my intention... but a nice by-product nevertheless. So, what size do you need?

Steeeeve
19/2/2016 03:54:38 pm

Well, ideally a Medium. A large, at a push. Do you see?

Rawce
21/2/2016 03:47:48 pm

Same as Steeeeve, I've been waiting for years for a ZD tee only to find out that Medium sold out already, leaving me little choice but to put on weight.

Reply



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