A Drive By and An Execution

As our readers know from previous articles, we do not tolerate the slanted media and industry leveling attacks on our freedom as gamers to choose which platform and or games we play. We have always felt that the gaming community should stand united and force the industry to meet our gaming needs without prejudice. However, the media never lets us down in promoting pandemonium, as we recently discovered two below the belt attacks. We have attempted to contact all those involved in the following incidents.

Attack 1: The Drive by.

Raymond Padilla of rpad.tv was just chillin’ after the GDC convention, writing some kickass articles, getting some serious “scoop” on the competition, when BANG! Outta nowhere, Brian Zucker and Nick Pantazis , of VGChartz.com come creepin’  round the block with some N4G uzis  and peppered his ass to his website. We feel the need to mention that Raymond Padilla didn’t have time to block, there was no time to roll and ducking was out of the question. Neither he, nor we saw this shit coming.

After contacting VGCharts about this attack against Raymond Padilla, Nick Pantazis had this to say:

I discussed the matter with Raymond, and I believe that he may have gotten some real information, however, he admits that the validity of such information is certainly not guaranteed. The way he obtained his information, as he explained it to me, was that he walked around the show floor and asked people in booths what they knew about it. I’m not privy to all embargoed information nor all information under NDA, but in my experience at the events I’ve gone to (including this one), people you are able to talk to by simply walking up to booths are generally PR reps, and not developers as he claimed.

We feel that had this matter been acted upon in an intelligent manner, that there would not have been reason for a story. However that is not how it went down. Brian Zucker and Nick Pantazis, in their haste to refute Raymond’s article, got caught up in the moment and overstepped their bounds. And while they may have had the best intentions towards gamers, they clearly leveled a personal attack showing no proof of their own to discredit Mr. Padilla’s article. After speaking with Nick Pantazis, we here at The Farm feel that if given the opportunity this situation would have been handled differently.

The moral of this story is that even with the best of intentions, steadfast professionals can still succumb to the dog eat dog world of the gaming industry, easily losing themselves in the drama that has long plagued this medium. After all, we are all part of the gaming community, and we forget that what drives us apart should be what bands us together. The play of the game.

Attack 2: The Execution.

Jim Sterling of Destructoid was off dogging FFXIII as is his God given right, (reviews are opinions, people), when a hit-man shows up mob-style at the door in the form of Evan Velez of Dualshockers with a bag of cement in one hand and a copy of trophies and achievements in the other. Apparently, nothing beats a good “whacking” for this self proclaimed fanboy of Dualshockers.

In his desperate attempt to try to one-up Jim Sterling, he showed his ignorance of Destrucoid’s review policy. Can anyone say research? Here is what the Fanboy had to say:

Now, not all games have an actual ending to them. But a game like Final Fantasy – which is based so heavily on story – simply cannot be reviewed unless it’s completed. If you think that’s bad, it doesn’t end there folks. Upon further investigation there are many more questionable reviews that are now popping up.

Still don’t believe it? Have a look at his trophies for yourself. You be the judge. http://us.playstation.com/publictrophy/index.htm?onlinename=jim_sterling

We here at The Farm would be lax if we failed to acknowledge the fact that Jim Sterling is a polarizing figure in the Destructoid arena, just take a look at some of his headlines.

Only Idiots Blame the 360 for FF XIII Problems
Molyneux doesnt think PlayStation Move is a Big Deal
EA Spots Active 2.0 coming to PS3, Snubs Xbox 360
Hey Microsoft, Poland doesnt like you anymore
Why Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will SUCK
UK Charts: Bad Company 2 smacks Heavy Rain into fourth

However, that does not give Evan Velez the right to go Soprano on his ass. If there is anything that we have learned here at SFG it is that we must maintain a sense of morality amidst the ever present media/industry chaos. That even the best of us can be consumed in this PS360 war.

As we stated earlier, we attempted to contact both parties. Evan Velez could not be reached for comment, but Jim Sterling did get in touch with The Farm. Here is what he had to say on the matter:

As far as the character assassination of me goes, they’re doing it wrong. Typically, you’re supposed to make the person who you’re assassinating look worse than you. The overall reaction within the industry right now is that the article in question achieved the opposite effect.

Yes it has Jim, yes it has.  And when asked about Destructoid’s review policy, Mr. Sterling had this to say:

Destructoid policy is that a game can be reviewed when the review has played enough to be absolutely confident in his opinion of the game. We ask to get at least 90% in before writing a review, and obviously aim to achieve 100% wherever possible. In the case of reviews that had no score attached, these reflected special circumstances. For instance, with Velvet Assassin, we only managed a few hours before deciding the game was practically unplayable, and at the very least, simply too demanding of our time and patience. With so little of the game played, it seemed unfair to put up a score, hence we left it without.

This type of purely personal attack directed at the heart of a competitor is without question, in poor form, Mr. Velez. You can’t possibly have what it takes to be a professional in this field if this is the most newsworthy topic you can find to report this soon after the GDC convention. Dualshockers will now be questioned as a reliable source and any articles stemming from Evan Velez will forever be known as flame bait ridden to achieve pageviews at the expense of fellow journalists.

Honestly, how else can we perceive this article? Real nice, Evan.

Summing things up, we would like to remind our readers and the gaming public in general that we simply will not tolerate these types of attacks. We will call them out every time. We may get covered in mud, but we’re used to that, we’re Farmhands.

**Update**

Hear what Evan Velez has to say.