Quote Originally Posted by Avilan the Grey View Post
I don't see old fashioned movie, music or food critics being even remotely as chummy with their "subjects".
To be fair, that is an evil of the medium itself. A movie or book review site/magazine can attract advertisers from a wide variety of sources, because just about the entire planet likes movies and books.

But a publication focused on gaming attracts just one kind of advertiser - game companies, the very people they're supposed to be objectively critiquing. A powerhouse like Penny Arcade can get away with insulting their advertisers (look at how many times they've slammed D&D, but WotC doesn't dare leave them), because they stand head and shoulders above the pack. But they are very much the exception rather than the rule. It's a really nasty and ethically muddy state of affairs that I unfortunately don't see changing anytime soon.

There was an article shortly before the game's release about Jessica Chobot, and how a conflict of interest like that would be unacceptable for any other form of journalism, yet somehow gets a free pass in the gaming industry. It's an interesting read.