Journalist to MS: Take your $800 Halo 3 bribe back, Halo 3 isn't all that

[Zeus]

Dean Takahashi has called the the $800 worth of free Halo 3 stuff Microsoft sent him as nothing less than a bribe in a bid to get him all enthralled in what is billed as the biggest 'entertainment event of the year'. As a result he is sending back all the free stuff in what he deemed as a subtle bribe attempt by Microsoft.


Game journo Dean Takahashi with The San Jose Mercury News showed off his big $800-plus bag of Halo 3 propaganda sent to him by Microsoft.

He’s sending back the free stuff, which he called “nothing less than a bribe to try to get me to be favorably inclined to accepting the idea that Halo 3 is ‘the entertainment event of the year.’”

Included in the huge personalized duffel bag of goodies are Xbox 360 controllers, a Halo 3 Xbox Live headset, a displayable Master Chief helmet and a $480 Halo 3 limited edition Xbox 360, not to mention a first aid kit and some UNSC-issued food.


News Source: <A href="http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7262&Itemid=53" target="_blank">next-gen</a>

[thePANICHIOteam]

He could have said it was crap and kept the stuff......... Surely hes just an idiot?

[hawke12]

MS can Send me A Grab Bag like that!

I'll say whatever They Want! ;)

[notarf]

so the dirt is finally coming out

[mattrb]

I could have sold that on ebay and bought a few ounces of wiid.

[hawke12]

so the dirt is finally coming out

Like MS is the ONLY Company (Game Related or Otherwise), That send Review People(Teams) FREE Merch?

Very Doubtful ;)

[dee]

He should have given it to someone who wants it - make a kids day and just pass it on, instead of trying to make a statement by sending it back.

[shemmy]

if this is what some guy i've never heard of working for some paper i've never heard of gets, what they hell did they people at ign/gamespot/1up, etc, get?

[androctonvs]

now if only the "journalists" out there could do the same...

they hype the wii to no end, yet the games SUCK.

they hype halo 2 HD to no end... yet it's still the same game

[Frak-Frakistan]

Microsoft paying $$$,playing dirty and hitting under the belt!!! so whats new?


XBOTS have something to learn here.

[mmicrosysm]

MS can Send me A Grab Bag like that!

I'll say whatever They Want! ;)Same here, I'll even say the RRoD is a myth and /or urban legend.:D HAHA

[Mikeyy]

I knew it. People where bribbed to give it a 10/10.

Too bad the masses are still blind.

Here comes some Halo 2.5 owner to dissagree.

[Sinar]

Like MS is the ONLY Company (Game Related or Otherwise), That send Review People(Teams) FREE Merch? Very Doubtful ;)
Reviewers that gave sony platform games bad ratings such as lair got a guide on how to review games, at least we can't say ms is being cheap they are just skipping a step :D

[AlphaTrion]

This guy is an idiot. MS is not the only company to give away free stuff. anyone watch The Oscars ? the gift bags are filled with expensive stuff. he is reading to much into it. someone should email this a_hole and tell him shut up. if he doesn't like halo, so what ..move on!!

[miserabillis]

it doesnt matter what reviewers say ppl would have still bought halo3 it has hardcore fans but still ....but still think how much money MS has wasted on the reviewers..ign/gamespot/gamtrailer..........
and the goodies you get at award ceremonies is because you are stars/musicians and when ppl see you with that item ppl will buy it and they give those items before release to make ppl see it for good time and make every1 aware of it its not the same thing..like i would'nt buy halo stuff worth 800 $ because Dean Takahashi has got them!! lol

[Happsai]

Reviewers that gave sony platform games bad ratings such as lair got a guide on how to review games, at least we can't say ms is being cheap they are just skipping a step :D
MS is just lucky that they have things to bribe people with. What does Sony have to bribe reviewers with? PS3 and games? No thanks.

Seriously though, I doubt that the bigtime reviewers got any special bribes. Giving gaming goods to them would have very little value to them. But give a bag of goodies to a smalltime independent, and you've got yourself some good advertising by word of mouth. Besides, there's the chance that this wasn't a bribe rather than a publicity stunt for the independent bloggers. If it were a bribe, MS would have to outright ask for a positive review. The video gave no such indication.

[AlphaTrion]

it doesnt matter what reviewers say ppl would have still bought halo3 it has hardcore fans but still ....but still think how much money MS has wasted on the reviewers..ign/gamespot/gamtrailer..........
and the goodies you get at award ceremonies is because you are stars/musicians and when ppl see you with that item ppl will buy it and they give those items before release to make ppl see it for good time and make every1 aware of it its not the same thing..like i would'nt buy halo stuff worth 800 $ because Dean Takahashi has got them!! lol


just because he got gifts you just assume MS paid others too? where is the proof?

[miserabillis]

just because he got gifts you just assume MS paid others too? where is the proof?

well theres another video in 1up they recieved the same thing and they got so happy :P

[Happsai]

just because he got gifts you just assume MS paid others too? where is the proof?
Precisely.

Let's simplify the scenario to what this is:
If an author says to me "Here is my book. Please review it" and it's the fnacy, illustrative, hardcover, special edition, it is still not a bribe because it is still my job to review it impartially. What I do with it is my business because it was a gift.
If the author says "Here is my book. Give it a positive review and you can keep it". That is a bribe!
Since MS didn't imply any tradeoff with their gift and the review was to be impartial, there is no evidence of bribery here.

[vingadorjr]

Ive become a fan of this guy... theres still some brain among the human beings.

[xllzerollx]

ill take that 800$ crap, and make it 8k on ebay!!

[Vesica]

just because he got gifts you just assume MS paid others too? where is the proof?

Every major review site got one, gizmodo even posted a unboxing video.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/halo-3-swag-rebagging-plus-apology-303223.php

[RZRX]

lol, crafty.

I haven't played Halo 3 yet (Legendary Edition sitting in front of me) but I really doubt it's anywhere near Bioshock quality despite the review scores.

[miserabillis]

Every major review site got one, gizmodo even posted a unboxing video.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/halo-3-swag-rebagging-plus-apology-303223.php
lol see it >D he pwn all ms fanboys
btw 1up also has a video

[blade47167]

Reviewers that gave sony platform games bad ratings such as lair got a guide on how to review games, at least we can't say ms is being cheap they are just skipping a step :D

It wasn't a guide on how to review games tard pack. It was a guide on how to use the motion controls to properly guide your dragon. How to hold the controllers and such since the reviewers were having such a tough time learning how to control something that doesn't use a stick to move it.

[ENF]

Well its not like sony doesnt give 42 inch free tvs (lol).... everyone does it ..come on.
MS might had tried to bribe him but he could have return it with out making all that buzz ... and at the same time he's trying to say " im a good journalist because i refused to accept microsoft's gift to be bribed and so on...." but in the reality hes trying to make a public headline and a name to himself and trying to par with the sony fanboys who are jealous because games like this one cant generate money for $ony. now $ony is gonna send him a ps3 and a bravia HDTV and he's gonna hail the ps3 and Lair...lol.
be realistic come on people.:D

[Raist3d]

He could have said it was crap and kept the stuff......... Surely hes just an idiot?

It's called ethics. I applaud him for it.

- Raist

[Raist3d]

This guy is an idiot. MS is not the only company to give away free stuff. anyone watch The Oscars ? the gift bags are filled with expensive stuff. he is reading to much into it. someone should email this a_hole and tell him shut up. if he doesn't like halo, so what ..move on!!

No, they aren't the only company, but given what he did in the midst of all this hype, it was probably one of the few blatant attempts at it. This is not being an idiot, it's called having the courage to stand by ethics in journalism. The idiots are the ones that think the "clever man" should have kept the stuff and tow the line.

- Raist

[pCeSlAyEr]

It's called ethics. I applaud him for it.

- Raist

I don't see how its ethical in any way. this nobody just wanted some media attention and thats exactly what he's getting.

as for MS and there gift bag... so what? its not like it was cash... it was all things related to the halo franchise. so if you don't like halo... well then whatever.

[GazP]

If your involved in any form of industry you tend to get a few freebies off clients. This guy has made himself look a bit of a tit as he won't be the only one who got these goodies, MS will have sent out thousands of these packs to journalists and other people. If he felt so bad about it he should have just E bayed the lot and gave the money to charity.

[Soldiers On LSD]

I don't see how its etical in any way. this nobody just wanted some media attention and thats exactly what he's getting.

as for MS and there gift bag... so what? its not like it was cash... it was all things related to the halo franchise. so if you don't like halo... well then whatever.

Exactly what I think. Bribe would be $5000 on a check with a Halo 3 background.... Definetly this guy, what his name again?, want some hits on his website. :rolleyes:

like the one below me, Ebay the stuff and give the money to charity. He would have looked less like an arse.:p

[sigma8]

This guy is an idiot. MS is not the only company to give away free stuff. anyone watch The Oscars ? the gift bags are filled with expensive stuff. he is reading to much into it. someone should email this a_hole and tell him shut up. if he doesn't like halo, so what ..move on!!

Well, those are the Oscars. Not videogames. Just because it happens with Oscars doesn't guarantee it happens with everything. I doubt scientists send all sorts of gifts to the Nobel prize selection committee--simply because it happens with the Oscars.

That said, I am sure it does happen with videogames, too. No proof, I have no contacts. It's just a hunch. They try to copy the film industry in many ways, and it's a well known fact that convention-goers (and all game reviewers are basically convention goers) love swag.

I think that an $800 gift bag is probably a bit excessive though. I would bet money that Halo 3 has taken the cake in terms of freebies thrown at journalists.

[sigma8]

like the one below me, Ebay the stuff and give the money to charity. He would have looked less like an arse.:p

Whatever. He doesn't look like an arse to me. He won't look like an arse to a lot of people. I think it's great he exposed MS's gift tactic. Hilarious. Some people will enjoy this news, others won't.

[JacKz5o]

Halo 3 is definitely not all that..

[AlphaTrion]

Every major review site got one, gizmodo even posted a unboxing video.
http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/top/halo-3-swag-rebagging-plus-apology-303223.php

so is that a pay off???

[AlphaTrion]

Well, those are the Oscars. Not videogames. Just because it happens with Oscars doesn't guarantee it happens with everything. I doubt scientists send all sorts of gifts to the Nobel prize selection committee--simply because it happens with the Oscars.

That said, I am sure it does happen with videogames, too. No proof, I have no contacts. It's just a hunch. They try to copy the film industry in many ways, and it's a well known fact that convention-goers (and all game reviewers are basically convention goers) love swag.

I think that an $800 gift bag is probably a bit excessive though. I would bet money that Halo 3 has taken the cake in terms of freebies thrown at journalists.


it also means just because he got something it shouldn't be taken that MS is trying to bribe him. HE and some others are viewing it that way. My point is MS is not the only company that gives out free stuff. too many are reading more into it. I never finished Halo and most FPS games make sick where is my free gift.(joking) but seriously he needs to quit being a cry baby!!!

[bobbyballard]

Journalists are privy to promotional ****.

Was it a lot of promo ****? Yes. Yes it is.

It's all apart of their marketing strategy. I highly doubt they needed to buy review scores to sell the game. They gave him **** that are somewhat decorative or functional so everyone around him will see (or receive freely) something that has to do with Halo 3.

I see this as an attempt at making the fucker an advertising whore.

Or course, you CAN say it's bribery. I guess.

Either way.

[Shadowhunta]

Halo 3 is definitely not all that..

Have you played it???? HAVE YOU?? if not then shhh and go sit with the rest of the PS3tards who are slagging this game off simply because their console has'nt done quite as well as the 360.
All you do in every post you make, it seems is slag off MS and the 360 and Halo 3 every chance you get...grow up and get a life for crying out loud..i'm a pc engineer,i am used to playing pc games,but even i converted to consoles once i saw what they could achieve..so don't go calling me an "xbot" or "Xbawtz" or whatever it is that you,Leet Haxorz and all the rest of the hater idiotic PS3tards call them nowadays..in the end its all a case of we have our own preference as to consoles and games,so have a coke,smile and shut the f**k up!

Done.

[sigma8]

it also means just because he got something it shouldn't be taken that MS is trying to bribe him. HE and some others are viewing it that way. My point is MS is not the only company that gives out free stuff. too many are reading more into it. I never finished Halo and most FPS games make sick where is my free gift.(joking) but seriously he needs to quit being a cry baby!!!

Well, but they are. The Oscar gifts are basically bribes. The gifts they send are not being sent out of <3

They are hoping to influence the reviewer to view their product more favorably.. not by an outright bribe, but by extra nice. I think this "bribe" might be noteworthy...if it was substantially bigger than the usual "bribe". If previous bribes consisted of a copy of the game, a keychain, and some movie tickets...worth $100.. and this one is worth $800... Then that's noteworthy..

Just because MS sent the same "care package" to every journalist doesn't mean that it's not a bribe. It just means they are trying to bribe EVERYBODY. And just because every company sends a little bribe every time they deliver a game to journalists...shouldn't excuse MS from the scale of their "bribe", if in fact their bribe is substantially larger than what is considered acceptable.

I mean, if someone showed up to a secret santa with a $200 gift instead of a $20 gift, it would turn some heads and people would cry foul.

[Betatester]

what a stuck up b*****

[whackawookie]

a bribe usually has conditions in order to receive the payment or objects. i dont see ms asking for the stuff back if a review is bad and i doubt there is a piece of paper saying "accepting these items means you agree to the following terms". If you want to give something a bad review then your going to do it, this guy is just getting all up in arms because nobody knows him and its his ticket into the spotlight with a huge title like this. its the britney fan agenda only for video games

[sigma8]

a bribe usually has conditions in order to receive the payment or objects. i dont see ms asking for the stuff back if a review is bad and i doubt there is a piece of paper saying "accepting these items means you agree to the following terms". If you want to give something a bad review then your going to do it, this guy is just getting all up in arms because nobody knows him and its his ticket into the spotlight with a huge title like this. its the britney fan agenda only for video games

You don't seem to know how bribes work. You can try to bribe a person. The the bribe can fail. They don't usually give you your money back. If that happens, you either up the bribe, or you don't try to bribe them again.

Of if you're a big corporation that does it as a policy, you probably just bribe them again next time.

Maybe you are confusing it with blackmail? Or perhaps a "sale".. When people in the CIA give trade secrets to the KGB. That's a sale. A bribe may start the ball rolling on that, but if the KGB bribes a CIA agent, and the agent says no...the KGB isn't exactly going to ask for its money back...as to do so would most likely expose the fact they tried to bribe.

[MadMax31]

If this is true, I don't understand why MS did it :confused:, it doesn't need to bribe for good reviews, the reviews speak for themselves and everybody who has play it agrees with me, maybe doesn't deserve a 10 but surly it's better than an 8 and with that is better than anything the PS3 has to offer...:rolleyes:

And yet MS didn't invest to promote Bioshock (IMHO game of the year), which deserves the 10 that many reviews have giving it.:mad:

[danight]

MS can Send me A Grab Bag like that!

I'll say whatever They Want! ;)

me to.... thats some cool stuff :D

[pCeSlAyEr]

isnt this the same guy who said the game made him vomit?

[msanchez]

I've actually heard of previous attempts by ms to "bribe" people. I seem to remember some blogger getting a laptop for something, and he put them on the spot for it. I can't remember what happened. It's true though that all companies probably do this, but if he feels that it was a bribe then more power to him for returning the stuff. I wouldn't mind getting a 360 myself, but I've got enough junk at home, so spare me the rest of the crap they sent.

[Blades]

Microsoft paying $$$,playing dirty and hitting under the belt!!! so whats new?

XBOTS have something to learn here.


Ummmmmm.......Yea, like Sony's never done this either.:rolleyes:

This is called PR people. It has been happening for years. The free sh*t that Gamestop gives away for pre-orders? Yep, PR. Buttering you up for the respective game. "the game sucked, but I did enjoy the coffee mug that came with it......" lol

Again, nothing new, companies do it all the time.


As for Next Gen, returning it. Stupid. Their sales/popularity must be down and they must need there 15 min. Well there you go Next Gen. here is your 15 min. :rolleyes:

The least they could have done is had a contest or something and give it out as prizes. Or Ebay it.



;

[phallius]

RROD has killed M$'s marketability. They are now sending free systems to reporters so they can at least say reporters didn't ruin their own systems by playing games. Of course, this is all bribery. I would also bet those systems they give to the press are fully tested against the RROD. As I predicted, ppl are now overplaying their 360's and inviting the RROD. In about a month, M$ is going to have a catastrophe on their hands. That's when about 4 million systems go belly up. M$ thinks they can solve the problem with 2.0 billion dollars of repairs. Try about 4-6 billion. The systems are faulty and they will all die eventually anyway. Of course this is all speculation. :D

[aic007]

RROD has killed M$'s marketability. They are now sending free systems to reporters so they can at least say reporters didn't ruin their own systems by playing games. Of course, this is all bribery. I would also bet those systems they give to the press are fully tested against the RROD. As I predicted, ppl are now overplaying their 360's and inviting the RROD. In about a month, M$ is going to have a catastrophe on their hands. That's when about 4 million systems go belly up. M$ thinks they can solve the problem with 2.0 billion dollars of repairs. Try about 4-6 billion. The systems are faulty and they will all die eventually anyway. Of course this is all speculation. :D

You haven't been sniffing glue have you? If you can predict the future, what are the lotto numbers going to be for next week? Use that special talent for something worthwhile. There are plenty of people who haven't had issue with their 360's.

You want to talk problems, look at the every console Sony launched before the PS3. PS1 had internal parts that melted, had to be flipped like a flapjack to work. The PS2 had millions of lasers die right after warranty expired, the PSP had probably the worst LCD's when they launched. I returned 3 due to stuck pixels, and now it just sits in my backpack since there is nothing I find interesting on it.

As for the gifts everyone does it. Record labels send CD's and concert tickets to radio stations and reviewers, including Sony. It's part of the business and always has been. Why he felt he had to go out and make a big scene saying he was bribed is anyones guess. Has he posted a review of the game yet? Did he start of by saying "while MS tried to bribe me into giving this game a positive review...."? I hope he never gets sent another game to review from anyone, they might also feel like the are trying to bribe him. Oh my god, they gave me the special edition instead of the regular one, BRIBE.

**edit**
found the review

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/aei/2007/09/review_halo_3_.html


Guess what, he like the game and gave it a positive review so all that bribe **** flies out the window, or he just wanted more hits to his column.

[grapeape]

isnt this the same guy who said the game made him vomit?

Yep the same guy who's headline yesterday was "Takahashi: 'Halo 3' worthy of the hype"

http://www.mercurynews.com/search/ci_6991875?IADID=Search-www.mercurynews.com-www.mercurynews.com&nclick_check=1

"I vomited while playing "Halo 3." But that doesn't mean it's a bad game. During the 11th hour of the game, a weird zooming effect in the graphics gave me a sharp feeling of motion sickness. I went right back to playing."

[Tarran]

isnt this the same guy who said the game made him vomit?
Exactly (*link removed since others have already posted it*). For all those here that seem to want to hold him up as a paragon of virtue, please remember that this is someone that claims to have played the game for 12 hours straight (and just noticed a weird zooming effect in the background during the 11th :rolleyes: ).

Before he "complained" that MS was buying favorable reviews, what did he say about the game? Well, he ended the review like this...
Overall, I’m happy with the game. It is not my favorite game of all time. That honor goes to Halo. And last year’s ”Gears of War'’ was more fun and more artistic. But Halo 3 will provide hours of entertainment for millions. Go Spartans!

So, someone that gave a glowing review to a game is whining about how reviews may be influenced by lavish amounts of swag. Some journalists should be applauded for their ethics, but not every attention-whore is one of those people.

Everyone knows that MS hyped this game like crazy and spent obscene amounts of money doing so. Whether that hype was warranted is debatable, but I find it difficult to believe that every favorable review should be tainted. If the reviewer is going to say that MS is buying favor, then he should have had some negative points to say about the game to justify implying why EVERY OTHER reviewer needed to be bought off. Instead, he fed the hype when it suited him and then decided to call a gift basket a bribe when those 15 seconds were up. Textbook example of DQS (drama queen syndrome).

[nwo504]

i think halo 3 deserves a 8.8/10

[MadonnaProject]

what a moron. he so should have kept it.