Do you think Bethesda will drop review copies to game sites and reviewers in good time?

With enough time for decent play throughs before the review embargo drops?

For that matter, will Bethesda set the embargo 7-10 days before launch (in 100 days)

or will it do a Destiny or Ubisoft and embargo reviews until after the game launches !!

So far I think Bethesda has played a marketing masterclass.

The Showcase was genius and clearly both Fallout Shelter and the Pip-Boy have been wildly successful.

It's interesting that after the reveals, Bethesda are keeping the suspense and are saying nothing more, for now.

I hope there is enough confidence in the game that reviews are allowed in good time.

I also hope that further reveals are not too extensive so as not to spoil the game.

How do you think Bethesda will market the game in the next 110 days?

Produce more Pip-boy Edition!

I can't imagine Bethesda being worried about reviews so I'm sure we'll get them in plenty of time.

As far as pre-ordering the game based on reviews (or even now) I really don't have to do that anymore due to STEAM. The last dozen games I've bought have been through STEAM and I really like the system, so as much as I love having a nice box to sit on my desk I imagine this game will be downloaded. Which means, I can watch all the reviews I want both before and after release and buy the game the moment I'm ready to play.

Now if FO4 comes out with a version that has a bobble head or deck of cards or something ... that would change things.

If Skyrim is anything to go by then reviews will be embargoed until launch day. I'm sure Bethesda were very confident about Skyrim, and I'd be astonished if they weren't getting very positive feedback from games journalists in hands-on presentations at least (possibly also in informal conversations).

How far games companies get feedback from games journalists who are writing reviews and (perhaps) asking for guides to the main quest so they can get through it before moving on to other parts of the game, I have no idea. Maybe none.

I'd be astonished if games journalists didn't get the game in good time. If Bethesda are confident in the game they'll want as many glowing reviews out as quickly as possible after game release, and print magazines have lead times of something like a month. Websites reviewers may get their copies at the same time, or perhaps later to help avoid embargo breaking.

Does anyone know what standard practice in the industry is?

The newest issue of PC Gamer boats a preview of Fallout 4 I was excited for a good read. Not so, it was only one page and 3/4's of it are pictures the rest was common knowledge. The preview for Hitman Agent 47 was 3 pages (I think), so it looks like IO Interactive needs the pre-publicity more than Bethesda does.

I don't think there will be any early info; Bethesda doesn't need to sell this game, so I expect reviews may be very near or after release in November,

A game with a day one review embargo either:

1. Is already assured success and doesn't need early reviews, or
2. svcks

Truly I hope and expect it will be the former, but a review embargo of a few days ahead shows confidence in the product and respect for the audience.

I do not put any faith whatsoever in game reviews/reviewers. I don't think I have ever seen a 'bad' review of a game....... Maybe decades ago, but, of late, reviewers are just paid PR shills for game companies.

Some reviews of lesser games get pretty poor ratings in PC Gamer. I think I've seen some reviews for major games with less than average ratings, but I can't recall any at the moment.

Scorpia used to get in a lot of trouble at CGW when she called a bad game a bad game.... I miss her!

I'm thinking there may be a map or something in the hard copy, so I'm hesitant to purchase on Steam. I think I'm gonna have to wait it out and go get the hard copy when available.

The one benefit of this, to us on the forums, is that the teasing of any new information about anything will be immediately lapped up and deconstructed, and that could slightly spoil things. A lot of fans are now just avoiding marketing places altogether, and I don't blame them. I don't want any one influencing my playthrough, and I presume neither does anyone else. It svcks that we have the wait that long until any possible reviews, but the pay-off will be worth it.

Heh, you just don't read the right reviews - "Aliens: Colonial Marines" Metacritic average score 45. That's bad. You just have to know what the bottom line is .

And while reviews rarely tell you for sure if you'll like a game, you can often work that out from reading the text carefully and from previous experience, and they're often a decent indicator a the professionalism and quality of a game. Sure, they're only going to pick up on the most ubiquitous bugs - when a game is released to thousands or millions of players a lot of bugs will crop up that may never appear on a reviewer's machine, and reviewers may (depending on publication) play down bugs knowing a bunch of them will be fixed by release.

As for reviewers being paid shills... accusations of bribery and fraud with no actual evidence are tantamount to libel and slander. So... are you a slanderer ? While I'm sure reviewers know they risk losing early access to review copies if they are... shall we say 'overzealous' in their reviews, they also know they risk losing readers, subscriptions and advertising revenue if they excessively lenient.

After reading many of the 'wrong' reviews then, I just gave up on the whole scene. I know what kind of games I like, and coming to a forum, and reading what folks there have to say about it is far more informative than anything a reviewer will write.

Also, consider the motivations of reviewers. If they write a bad review for some particular game, what do you think the likelihood of that particular company giving them the opportunity to review their next game? The whole 'game review' thing has been monetized well beyond any expectation of honesty, or integrity. Wanna sue me for slander/libel? (you a game reviewer?) Knock yourself out. My lawyers will have a field day with that one.

Ah, sorry, what was meant as a light hearted tease was obviously misjudged on my part .

And I agree, knowing what you like and picking up other players' views is a pretty good way of judging games. On the other hand, magazine reviews have pointed me towards games I'd have never thought to try - including the whole RPG genre.

I did acknowledge the pressure on reviewers, but I suspect I annoyed you too much for it to really sink in. There are pressures both ways on reviewers, and while some games companies may have enough influence to override a website or magazine's main source of income (advertising revenue based on high readership), I suspect they're few and far between. Can't prove it, though, I don't have insider knowledge.

Multiple effects increases ratings, first ifs fewer obvious turkeys the internal review processes are much better, yes you get some like Colonial Marines also very bugged stuff like latest batman on pc.

But this was far more common 10 years ago and before the industry is far more professional today.

Far more games and you review the most popular ones.

Last the reviewers tend to be fans of the game they review, review times is also pretty short so lacks might not show up.

As for bribes, more probably is silent treats to don't do adds and similar unless the game get good or at least decent reviews.

Ooops. Ok then, no worries.

A fair few of my friends are gamers, with similar taste in games as mine, so, I get introduced to 'good games' by them. I find that I trust their opinions FAR more than any game reviewer. (in fact, it was one of my friends that first introduced me to Daggerfall.... blessing and a curse that...... )

Could be. But surely if a magazine or website loses a lot of readers who believe (or find) that the reviews are biased, then nobody will pay to advertise there? Not other publishers, not hardware manufacturers... no-one. You might similarly argue that a publisher would say to a magazine "You gave our rival's gave what score?! 87% for that heap of derivative, unimaginative slop? Do you want our advertising or not?"

S'okay, the curse of typed communication .

Oh, and I hope you billed your friend for all the hours you lost to Daggerfall

Why read a review when you can watch someone actually play the game on Youtube or via live streaming and then decide for yourself.

Do people really read reviews on games still? I just watch let's plays if I'm unsure about something.

True so it hits both ways but its still an issue. As I understand it has also been some objective requirements for previews with strict limits that to talk about and not.

Not about spoilers who makes sense but rather weird issues, like doing an preview of Skyrim and not being allowed to mention dragon fights and not being allowed to say you was not allowed to talk about dragons.

Then stuff start to look very fishy.

I tend to ignore any professional review of an EA game at this point, and most others I take with a grain of salt. I generally wait on player reviews if I'm on the fence about a game. Even some regular YT'ers like Angry Joe will influence me a lot more than any pro review.

Dang. I good map would be desirable.

Yep. A review, if it's properly written, is based on at least several hours of gameplay. Maybe 6 for short shooters, 20 or so for long RPGs. A let's play will either be just an unrepresentative snippet, or will hold spoilers for much of the game. Not so good if a game is story driven, fine if it's all about the gameplay.

And, of course, it takes maybe 10 minutes to read a review (a bit longer if you're reading it carefully). Some people don't have time to be sitting through long videos. Like me (well, perhaps when I've booked leave from work, like at the moment, but not otherwise).

Horses for courses, I guess

Oh, previews, yes. But who in their right minds buys a game based on those? If you absolutely have to pre-order it and not wait for a bunch of full reviews... well, you're going to buy it anyway, aren't you?

Perhaps I'm weird, but I never pre-order - and boy, did that save me a bunch of cash a few times .

I might pre-purchase the hard copy in the Beth store, actually. Comes with a hard copy of the game guide, among others.