IGN Editor Married to Nintendo PR Executive

[Mach]

http://vgmwatch.com/?p=1132


Any thoughts? It's not just GameSpot that's been abusing readers' trust.

[Generosity of God]

i honestly dont care.

it's not as if Matt has been rating every Nintendo published game as the best games ever. he's been pretty fair in his comments. as far as i can tell, the relationship doesnt impact his journalism in any abusing fashion.

i dont think their relationship needed to have been made public because there isnt really a sign of corruption there. he rates the good games well and the bad games not so well. isn't that what we ask of the critics? all this has done is make some people distrust him when there's no real reason to distrust.

what did GameSpot do?

[Zeep]

Yeah, I don't see it as that big a deal. Certainly nothing like what Gamespot did (they fired a review writer because he gave Kane and Lynch a 6.0, while Eidos had a huge ad contract with Gamespot for the game).

I used to really hate Matt back in the day, but I've started listening to IGN's Wii-k in Review podcasts and he's really a very fair guy when it comes to praising/attacking Nintendo.

also, did anyone else immediately think of perrin kaplan when they saw this thread?

[Mach]

This is the key part:
Update: For clarity, I want to reiterate the central point of the article. This story is about full disclosure on the part of IGN and Nintendo/Golin Harris. It is utterly disrespectful to their readership to not disclose this situation. The personal integrity of the two individuals is irrelevant. It is also unnecessary to assume that there have been any competitive advantages gained with this situation. Rather, IGN and Golin Harris need to disclose this type of information directly to their readers to avoid any appearance of conflicting interests.

[Bryan]

They shouldn't have tried to hide it. That's the only issue I'd have with it.

Not that it isn't a big problem -- it raises a lot of questions regarding their credibility.

[Mach]

Our entire nation is royally screwed the day the general public completely gives a fingered-salute to ethical journalism. Yes, it's game journalism with this case, but the wrongdoing in this situation can be found in similar cases in the world news media...And some of this reaction that not disclosing conflicting interests is not a big deal is simply disturbing. I hope we can reverse this trend.

[Bowser]

I find this news amusing, if not highly ironic, because in the past Matt has shown very anti-Nintendo tendencies. Not against the videogames, mind you, but the company. He has twisted facts to serve his own purposes, and is quite frankly, an annoyance.

That aside, even if this was true, I highly doubt it would affect his personal stance towards Nintendo- not that I condone his behavior, mind you, but it is highly ironic.

[LiquidEagle]

It's a shame this hasn't been disclosed to us, but I just wonder how IGN/Nintendo/Golin Harris would do something like that. Should they just toss out a press release and say, "Hey, these 2 are married, so... yeah"? It would just feel awkward IMO, and I'm not sure how a company should go about it.

[Cofey]

This is the key part:
Update: For clarity, I want to reiterate the central point of the article. This story is about full disclosure on the part of IGN and Nintendo/Golin Harris. It is utterly disrespectful to their readership to not disclose this situation. The personal integrity of the two individuals is irrelevant. It is also unnecessary to assume that there have been any competitive advantages gained with this situation. Rather, IGN and Golin Harris need to disclose this type of information directly to their readers to avoid any appearance of conflicting interests.
Have you read anything Matt has ever written? There is no way he's biased in favor of Nintendo.

I personally don't really care who he's married to.

[Hazel Rabbit]

I don't think this matters but it should have been told up front to people.

[Mach]

That's exactly the point. All IGN needed to do is just be transparent to readers and let them know.

[Hazel Rabbit]

I have never taken IGN's Reviews to mean much anyway. Too much Maths involved to rate a Game correctly, I think.

[The Dude]

That is not good. It violates one of the fundamental laws of journalism. It's a conflict of interests.

[Shadow Voa]

I just hope they are happy?

[Colin™]

The industry has known about it for years and I sincerely doubt their relationship creates a conflict of interest. Both of their respective companies knew about their relationship when it started.

I mean, seriously, do you think a guy will think twice about a bad review because he might not get fucked? He's married for christ's sake.

[<3frosty]

wahhhh? its not that Perin girl he always flirts with in interviews? im shocked.

[nayrk]

Honestly I don't see how it matters.

OMG TH3Y i5 the MarrIed!!! Th3y shoulD be teh FIR3DDDD

[LaLiLuLeLo]

*puffs a joint*

Hey motherfucker you gotta marry somebody.

[JasonXe]

is she hot? If she is then that justifies whatever score; good or bad.

[Danji]

1. I don't think it's ever effect any of his writing.
2. I don't really think it's any of our damn business due to no. 1.
3. I find it funny that such a thing happened.
4. Jeff Gerstmann is awesome. He was the reason I watched any video from GameSpot back in the day.

[Praxis]

There's no conspiracy here. I don't see why people are suddenly accusing Matt of being biased when he's had an otherwise spotless reputation and suddenly people just now noticed who he's married to.

Let his track record speak for itself.

[Zer0-Sum]

Who cares? IGN is corrupt like Gamespot anyways.

:piss: All Game Review Sites

[TheGreenElf]

I think this is horrible news...
No, not the fact that Matt is married to a Nintendo Exec, but the fact that he is among the most fair and professional reviewers in the business and this site has the nerve to bring up his personal life as "a conflict of interest" when his writings and reviews have never shown anything of the sort. The only poor journalism I see is on the part of the reporting website.

[<3frosty]

I think this is horrible news...
No, not the fact that Matt is married to a Nintendo Exec, but the fact that he is among the most fair and professional reviewers in the business and this site has the nerve to bring up his personal life as "a conflict of interest" when his writings and reviews have never shown anything of the sort. The only poor journalism I see is on the part of the reporting website.

Well said. If the OP really agrees with this, take the link out of this article. Dont let them get advertising dollars from a article like this. Quote it if you will.

[Zeep]

Well said. If the OP really agrees with this, take the link out of this article. Dont let them get advertising dollars from a article like this. Quote it if you will.

You do realize the OP is the author of the article...?

[Colin™]

well then.

Thats just sad.