Shoe Names Names
Kyle at VGM Watch recently reported that EGM editor-in-chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu has an editorial in his publication’s latest issue wherein he fingers a handful of particularly manipulative publishers. Hsu reprinted the article at his 1up blog. Here’s an excerpt:
For the time being, you’ll get little, late, or no coverage of the following products: anything Mortal Kombat (they didn’t like our reviews), anything from Sony’s sports department (ditto), and now, anything from Ubisoft (it seems our coverage of Assassin’s Creed was the last straw). So in case you’re wondering why you’re seeing so little of these games in our magazines and on our websites, now you know.
What do we do now? Nothing. We won’t treat these products or companies any differently, and we’ll just cover them to the best of our own abilities, with or without their support. Because, after all, we’re writing for you, the reader — not them.
This isn’t the first time Hsu’s editorialized about the unpleasantries that go on between press and publishers, but as far as I know it’s the first time he’s named names. And if you listen to 1up network podcasts on a regular basis, particularly the Games For Windows podcast, you’ve heard their editors bemoaning their relationship with the industry on a regular basis.
Hsu’s public response to this bullying is laudable, and if his colleagues in the gaming press want to maintain credibility, they should follow suit. I’m finding it easier and easier to write off large press outlets that don’t offer this kind of transparency, especially in the wake of Russ Pitts’ Escapist piece that draws some disconcerting lines between the movie critic shenanigans of one Peter Hammond and the recent developments at GameSpot.