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Had a bunch of people wanting my thoughts on the latest PS3 price drop rumor ($399/40 GB by year end), especially as I’d had thoughts on it earlier. Just wanted to post this to let you know that I’m not ignoring your mails, but I’m not going to comment on this any more than I did earlier.
Why? Simply put, even though it was my personal opinion, some press (particularly some gaming blogs) spun those opinions as official Microsoft statements, even though they quite obviously weren’t. And that isn’t cool, especially as it can cause extra work for folks (and friends!) here at work who have to deal with clarifying that fact.
The ironic aspect to this is that unfiltered and unfettered access to the thoughts of people working in the industry is what the “gaming press” (however you care to define it) most craves. Unfortunately, taking a sensationalistic tack for the sake of driving traffic simply causes that access to dry up. I’ll still be posting things of interest (for those of you who care!), but in general I’m going to avoid commenting on console platforms for a while.
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Sorry to hear that a few rotten apples spoiled it for all of us. I enjoyed hearing your opinions, especially since you seemed to be more knowledgeable about Sony’s product than Sony’s own development teams (not a knock–a compliment, honest!) and we could tell you’ve been around the block a few times in this industry.
Hope to hear more from you soon.
Cheers,
Matthew
What ever happened to the adage of never giving up your sources (or misquoting them/taking statements out of context)? Back when I was part of the industry, I had sat on several big exclusives because my contacts had requested me not to go gabbing.
I held my tongue, and you know what… I was given more cool stuff to see.
Game journalism today just doesn’t abide by any standards other than personal choice. It’s just a continuing trend where news isn’t reported, it’s spun. Sadly, this affliction seems to have infected all journalism and not just those pertaining to games.
—
I shall return…
Damn, what a shame.
People suck, and thats why I quit law school to get into technology. Did not change the fact, but it did change my opinion on the subject. Most of the people are nice and decent, but some people suck (a lot) and they ruin it for everyone.
That’s a shame though I can’t really see where the sensationalist reporting was. Even your bet with N’Gai wasn’t widely reported on. One you instigated, I might add
I had a tip from a separate source regarding the $399 PS3 who was convinced it was getting announced at Leipzig. Obviously that didn’t happen but I can only speculate that having seen the rumour resurface today, Sony PR has kicked off and lined you up in their sights, even if your post was months ago and obviously not behind the recent speculation. They were unhappy enough about the last price leak, combined with the recent NPD I can well imagine them being doubly upset over another.
No smoke without fire then. A question of when not if for me. Of course, I’m sure it’s a firm no comment from your direction until you claim that steak dinner, of course
Oh, I didn’t mind the bet with N’gai being reported at all. I minded that bet being reported by some as "Microsoft bets Newsweek" (or other varients thereof). That wasn’t kosher… made it very different than a fun (albeit public) bet with a friend. <shrug>
Well, you can’t give us your thoughts, but what’s to stop Saidnamyzo from logging and giving his opinion?
If you can’t comment on sony, can you comment on any news regarding the new 65-nm chipset in the near future? Will the Halo themed xbox360 have it? Are you tired of being asked these questions? If chickens had lips do you think that they would whistle?
You might as well, most comments will say stupid things about it anyway, regardless what you say.
This is why we can’t have good things!
Sorry to hear you’re self-censoring, I found your comments and insights informative and thought provoking.
And relatively agnostic.
This is sad to hear Ozy.
I visit your blog now and again and enjoy reading your posts. I totally understand your reasons and don’t really blame you for your line of thought.
I live in the UK and given the quality of the newspapers here, I’m used to reading brain-poo!
Thanks for the words of support guys. Always appreciated! I’ll still write about the industry – it’s a passion and career of mine, after all! It’s specifically other console platforms that I’ll be writing less on (at least while I work at Microsoft). Not worth the angst of people picking it up as official statements. <shrug>
Oh, I’ll relax that at the end of the year so I can close out predictions I made last year, of course. Only fair!
I don’t see why you would stop because of some silly bloggers trying to get traffic by twisting your words. As long as your orginal material/post is clear then anybody reading will realise the truth.