By: Wagner James Au

In this column's March debut, we laid out the basics that gave life to Preview Ho, explaining how hyped-up previews are the enemy of good games, since publishers use them to secure shelf space from the major retailers, no matter how crappy the ultimate title. (And read this great Escapist story to understand how dependent the industry is on chains like Walmart.)

Later in the month, we found out it was even worse than that, with major gaming sites selling premium editorial space to publishers. When called on it, one editor adorably defended the practice by saying it was "pretty common both in print and online".

I was curious what the game industry's leading advocate thought about the practice, so I contacted the press office of the Entertainment Software Association but despite repeated requests, received no answer. Though they're sponsored by publishers, you'd think the ESA would be disturbed by a "pretty common" practice that's totally at odds with its goal of presenting the industry as a respectable medium with fair, ethical standards for promoting their product. (What, they'll take a controversial move like banning booth bimbos from E3, but they can't say anything about this?)

But hey, maybe the ESA doesn't check their e-mail much.

Anyway, let's roll out the two top candidates for April's biggest Ho, and explore how they work, like most of the gaming press, to serve the publishers' interests (who are also their advertisers) at the expense of you, the gamer. (And yes, we started with way more than two; believe me, Preview Ho could be a daily column.)

The first Ho contender was spotted by Kotaku editor Brian Crecente on the blog of a site called, appropriately enough, RedAssedBaboon. (If a Preview Ho were a baboon, he'd have a...) Props to Red Assed's "Rappateng" for joining us, whether he knows it or not, in a bloggers' call to arms against the gaming press. His post focused on "Splinter Cell Essentials" for the PSP, a game that was, on review, almost universally slagged, even by Gamespy, which gave it a withering 2/5 review. But Gamespy's preview by Will Tuttle called it "One of the best games on PSP".

And that's the line Ubisoft used in the advertising for the game.

Pause and consider that. Gamers like you stop at the PSP retail shelf, presented with a few dozen games to choose from. You pick up "Splinter Cell Essentials", maybe because you like the Clancy franchise— and hey, since Gamespy says it's among the PSP's best games right on the goddamn box, you blow your $40 on that one.

I contacted Gamespy editor John "Warrior" Keefer for an explanation. Staggeringly, Keefer says he authorized Ubisoft to use the "best games" line in their advertising copy for "Essentials".

"It is the publisher's job to try to make their game look as good as possible in their marketing of the game," Keefer e-mailed me. "My job is to make sure they don't use our quotes out of context. All quotes have to be approved through me." For the preview, Tuttle actually played just three levels made available at the time by Ubisoft, which is also a Gamespy advertiser— and that was enough, both of them insist, to nominate "Splinter Cell Essentials" into the Best Game pantheon of an entire platform.

"Bottom line is that it was unfortunate that the game was radically different from what Will originally saw," Keefer explained, "which makes our quote stand out even more. He said he stands by the original quote because at the time he made it, the graphics and lighting were phenomenal and it did a very good job of fleshing out the universe. Unfortunately, the rest of the game did not pan out with the demo."

The qualifier "at the time" is particularly delicious— sort of like a Nevada working girl who says you're her favorite client ever, because at the time, she's trying to pry a $40 tip from your fingers. Still, we have to credit Keefer for at least attempting an explanation.

The other nominee in this month's Ho search is PC Gamer, as helmed by editor-in-chief Greg Vederman. As it happens, Vederman brought himself to our attention by publishing a widely-praised editorial announcing that his magazine would no longer accept ads from "virtual gold farming" companies which sell gold coins from World of Warcraft and other MMORPGs.

In the US at least, this is still a small cottage industry, so it's hard to believe a teeny company like IGE could afford to spend much in advertising, certainly not compared to multinational corporations like Microsoft, Sony, Vivendi, and EA that already swamp the front pages of magazines like PC Gamer.

But still, it's at least some kind of stand, isn't it, with Vederman the lone hero of the gaming press drawing a line in the sand?

Maybe in his own imagination. Because here's the thing: the pages of PC Gamer may not run ads from virtual gold companies, but the magazine's entire preview section is an advertisement.

Have a look at May's issue:

Preview for "Medal of Honor Airborne" from Electronic Arts, by Chuck Osborn: "[This game] has already done something I previously thought was impossible— it's gotten me excited about yet another WWII shooter... I'll be there, ripcord at the ready."

Preview for "World in Conflict" from Massive Entertainment, by Logan Decker: "ITS UPCOMING RTS PHENOM... ABSOLUTELY BLOWS OUR MIND." [sic... and sick]

But the clincher is the cover story, an extensive preview of BF2142, also from Electronic Arts (via DICE studios). Now Battlefield 2 is a great game for its genre (though hardly 2005's all-time best), but judging from advance gameplay footage, BF2142 is basically just a mech warrior-themed add-on, with little new added to BF2's basic design. You'd have a hard time convincing preview writer Dan Stapleton of that, however, since when shown a library of futuristic weapons and vehicles in action he is capable of achieving orgasm:

"Come the end of the year," he promises, "DICE will be giving you an all new reason to practice your skills... [in a game] that fundamentally changes the nature of warfare. Could BF2142 be our Game of the Year in the making? It wouldn't surprise anyone here and... we're not so bad predicting the future."

I guess it wouldn't surprise me, either, since in May's Letter From the Editor, Vederman speaks obscurely about how he "inked this month's Battlefield 2142 cover contract" with Electronic Arts, and that he personally "brokered the deal". In my experience, a "deal" that is "brokered" usually involves an exchange of money or services, so it's unclear what Vederman means here, unless it was just that; his phrasing certainly leaves that impression. In any case, something was expected by Electronic Arts when they let PC Gamer have exclusive advance coverage of their unfinished game. (What that was, exactly, will have to remain secret between EA and Vederman,. Greg Vederman didn't reply to my e-mail asking for his commentary for this article.)

Here is what Vederman said in his acclaimed editorial denouncing gold farming companies: "For the record, PC Gamer's official stance on these types of companies is that they are despicable... [because] they all-too-often ruin legitimate players' fun." Call me crazy, but it will also ruin players' fun when they pre-order copies of BF2142, Medal of Honor Airborne, and World in Conflict, based in part on the hype PC Gamer gave them, then discover all-too-often that they've wasted their time and money on ass product. (For by simple iteration of Sturgeon's Law, they'll be lucky if even one in three of these games truly lives up to the magazine's hype.) This is not even mentioning how press previews like PC Gamer's are used by publishers to promote and market their product, or as we saw with Gamespy and Ubisoft, actually made part of their advertising campaigns.

It's why Vederman's refusal to accept gold farmer ads is so disingenuous, considering all the thoughtless, unqualified boosterism of incomplete, undistinguished titles PC Gamer does on behalf of its potential advertisers. It's sort of like the madame of a Paris whorehouse waddling into her lobby filled with clientele and pointing a chubby finger, not at the banker or the Parliamentarian or the bishop already paying their bills, but at the peg-legged dwarf with 20 Francs waiting his turn in the back of the room, and thundering "ZIS IS A RESPECTABLE ESTABLISHMENT! WE DON'T TAKE ZE MIDGET AMPUTEES IN ZIS PLACE— GET OUT!"

Which is also why, after a close race, Vederman helps PC Gamer take April's Preview Ho crown.

For in the end, there's no bigger Ho than a Ho on its high horse.

Send samples of egregiously fawning game previews and information on backroom deals that influence them to au@kotaku.com, including previews that are used in advertising copy. Tips from editors and writers in the game press especially welcome—all correspondence kept strictly confidential.

Update: Although we try to give companies opportunity to respond before a column is run, PC Gamer's Dan Morris had this to say, "Wagner James Au made a ridiculously cursory attempt to contact PC Gamer for comment on this article, sending one email to a general reader mailbox. Our spam filter killed it, probably due to his misspellings in the subject line. He failed to follow up, despite the fact that editors' email addresses are prominently published in the magazine, or, for that matter, that I have repeatedly invited him to contact me by phone for comment on stories such as this.

If he had made a serious attempt to get comment from us, we'd have told him that PC Gamer accepted nothing from EA for our Battlefield 2042 cover story. I continue to be dismayed that Au is allowed to skirt the most basic ethical consideration of his trade — a good-faith effort to get comment from his subjects.

Sincerely, Daniel Morris, Associate Publisher, PC Gamer" We have offered Mr. Morris a comments invite which he may or may not use to respond to any questions from readers in the comments.