Electronic Gaming Monthly’s Editor-in-Chief Dan “Shoe” Hsu has an interesting editorial in the latest edition of his magazine. The bulk of Hsu’s column deals with topics familiar to VGMWatch.com readers: publishers bullying game publications; overly positive previews; and editorial integrity. In fact, Hsu himself has covered these issues in past columns before. However, what makes his latest editorial unique is what he’s always shied away from doing in the past: it names names.

According to Hsu, Midway’s Mortal Kombat development team, Sony’s sports game division, and Ubisoft have all allegedly banned EGM from further coverage of their products. The reason: Apparently, they didn’t take too kindly to EGM’s review coverage of their games. Still, Hsu maintains that EGM “won’t treat these products or companies any differently.” We have yet to confirm these allegations with the publishers mentioned. However, if the editorial’s claims are accurate, VGMWatch.com is certainly disappointed with these publishers’ behavior. As corporations, publishers have every right to ban any publication they want for poor coverage. But that doesn’t make it right. Gamers should feel disrespected as well.

VGMWatch.com staff will be contacting the companies involved with this story for further comment. In the mean time, readers may want to pick up the current issue of EGM to view Hsu’s editorial for themselves.

You would think this an article about Jeff Gerstmann, but it’s not. Despite the hailstorm of controversy (firestorm has been a bit overused of late, after all) surrounding the debacle over at GameSpot, there are other happenings that the Watch would be remiss to overlook.

Last week the New York Times published a piece called “Some Essential Hardware (Even Away from the Street)”, an article aimed at executives who needed both functional gadgets and tech that could provide some relaxation. Slotted into relaxation considerations were the Wii, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and while the Wii got its due factually speaking, there were tremendous blunders concerning the PS3 and 360 information – including price, processor type, and “best-sellers” that, ya know, haven’t been released yet.

Fortunately, the New York Times has since publicly admitted error and posted a correction. We think their addendum to the article best sums up its flaws:

An article in Business Day on Friday about favorite gadgets of executives referred incorrectly to the video game Gran Turismo 5. It has not yet been released, and thus is not a best-selling game. The article also referred imprecisely to the game Halo 3. It is the first game in the Halo series designed for the Xbox 360; the earlier games, though playable on the Xbox 360, were designed for the original Xbox. The chip in the Xbox 360 also was misidentified. It has a Xenon chip, not a Cell processor. And the article also misstated the price of the Sony PlayStation 3. The PlayStation 3 starts at $399, not $299.

Sure, perhaps the Halo mistake is forgivable, and maybe we can understand slipping up on “what’s under the hood” of the PS3 and 360. But also quoting the PS3 price as $299 and, more so, calling an unreleased game a “best-seller”? Perhaps the Gran Turismo 5 slip up wasn’t a slip up at all, and the Times forgot to mention the consultation of the office Magic 8 Ball for sales forecasting.

All jabs aside, errors do happen, and the important thing is that the Times did exactly what any reputable publication would do by posting a public admission of error. However, this piece is too sloppy for most any news outlet, let alone the New York Times. It wasn’t merely the fault of the writer, but also the copy editor(s) and anyone else associated pre-publication. Hopefully now they’ve got their article submission process ironed out again.

Sony’s 40GB PlayStation 3 model for Europe has caught a lot of interest in the press, and rightfully so. Recently GamesIndustry.biz sat down with Ray Maguire, UK managing director for Sony. The full interview can be found here, but what’s of note to me is how Maguire tries to downplay the competition in typical - and humorous - fashion.

GamesIndustry.biz: With the 40GB model you’re very close to Microsoft’s price of the Premium Xbox 360, and matching the price of the Xbox 360 Elite. Although the skus are different, was it a conscious decision to come with a competitive price, a price that puts the PS3 on the same shelf as your rival next-gen console?

Maguire: No. We responded to the research we’ve been doing on what consumers feel about our products. They asked us to do this to get the next level of consumers in and that’s what we’ve done. That’s the only focus that we had – out[sic] consumers, not our competitors.

In other words, yes, it was a conscious decision to make it competitive with the 360 and Wii. Good try though, Mr. Maguire.

Today, VGMWatch spoke with representatives from SOE’s PR division regarding Monday’s story. According to PR managers Katie Hanson and Michael Shelling, the editor event in Las Vegas has been cancelled. We only have their account to report at this time.

The game industry can only hope that other publishers will discontinue any similar practices that violate clear ethical principles of journalism. The problem is media outlets and PR firms are not used to having a third party entity conduct oversight into their business practices. However, growing pains are expected when an industry matures. We’ll keep you posted as more information comes our way.

For Immediate Release: Game journalists, Sony Online Entertainment may want to pay you for your opinion. Here’s how it works.

WHEN: The event is scheduled for August 2, 2007.

WHERE: It’s taking place at the SOE Fan Faire event in beautiful Las Vegas, Nevada.

HOW: It’s simple. In traditional Vegas fashion, leave your conscience at the door (in this case, your journalistic one). In essence, you and five other lucky journalists will discuss current and future SOE titles with Sony producers. It will be NDA’ed, so unwind and relax. Your honest opinion is highly valued so you’ll be comfortably rewarded for your time. The publisher will be providing hotel, airfare, and, of course, $1,000 for your take on its titles. Worried the event won’t be worth your time? Don’t be. Several other journalists test drove a similar SOE event in late 2005. Needless to say, it went well.

WHAT: the heck?!?! Shame on you, Sony. And shame on the journalists who take up this offer. Leave it to the game media to bring yet another form of prostitution to the city of Las Vegas.

And remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas…except for certain game publications’ editorial content once the NDA’s expire.

P.S. This article was not produced by Sony Online Entertainment.

One magazine that seems to garner massive amounts of praise throughout the gaming community is EDGE — and that’s whether or not people have even read it. I guess that’s one of the benefits of being British. I’ve read the publication before, usually when I’m enjoying an afternoon at Barnes & Noble, and I find it to be a good read with very solid, snappy copy.

However, I’m at a bit of a loss over a recent situation involving EDGE, a contributor, and a pulled column. Paul Rose, a monthly columnist for EDGE, had a recent submission killed “because it was felt to be too much of a personal attack on a certain individual.” [Rose’s blog] That individual just happens to be Sony executive Phil Harrison.

After reading through the article, I believe the justification provided to Mr. Rose by the editorial staff of EDGE seems weak. From where I’m sitting, EDGE must have felt if they were to let this article run that Sony, especially Phil Harrison, would excise revenge on the magazine. For what? Reporting the truth (if Mr. Rose’s article is to be believed in its entirety, which we here at VGMW think that’s the case)? While this article might have garnered a small amount of press if it had run, the fact it got bounced makes it much more of a story and now both Phil and EDGE look bad for it.

While there is a fear about being “blackballed” (Can we run our publication without their support?, Will other companies follow suit?), it’s important to know that publications can challenge the establishment to a certain extent. Look no further than the “blackballing/180″ KOTAKU experienced — and they’re just a single blog (no offense, Crecente). Companies need publications, and publications need companies. Disagreements will occur, and at the end of day each has to do what they feel is in their best interest. I’m just a little saddened that EDGE seemed so worried over article recounting Harrison’s stupidity. If he didn’t want it reported on, Phil shouldn’t have tried commandeering a charity auction.

I contacted Margaret Robertson, an editor for EDGE, who after saying she would contribute to the piece, hasn’t responded back (which is why we’ve been sitting on this story for so long). However, if someone with the publication contacts me, the offer to contribute another side to the story still stands.

David Gornoski’s Take: One can’t help but notice the similarities between this case and the recent Don Imus firing flap. While the game media has much to learn from its big brother mainstream news media, this is one trend the game media should not adapt. Censoring free speech, whether it be egregious racial slander or aggressive commentary on a major business figure, should not become the future of any media format.

…goes to Ellie Gibson at Eurogamer for actually contacting the BBC reporter who set off a minor Internet frenzy by saying in this report that the PS3 would launch 22 months after the Xbox 360. According to EuroGamer, the reporter said the number was “just speculation,” which begs the question… what in the world is a BBC reporter doing speculating that the PS3 will launch over a year after the generally expected Spring 2006 launch.