Why You No ReviewZ?

Welcome one and all, to the greatest show on Earth!

Also, you know -- lies.

Well, not all lies, just that first bit! So, obviously, it's update time, and after a lengthy discussion with an editor, it has come to my attention that we have not done any reviews for quite some time, and why is that you may ask? Well, because we haven't been sent any!

Over the course of the last few months, we haven't received any review copies, all the big release games we've had (Horizon, Resident Evil 7, Sniper Elite 4, Mass Effect: Andromeda) we've purchased ourselves, and we wanted to actually sit and enjoy them, not rush through to reach the review dates.

That's not to say we wont be doing reviews in the future, quite the opposite. We've been speaking to editors and publishers, and, all being well, we should start hitting the reviews even harder than before!

Another question, asked by Dernnsmire2 on Discord, was "how do you get review copies, and what's the kind of thing you have to do?"

Well, Dernnsmire2, my newest buddy, this question we have answered numerous times, on articles, podcasts, videos, you name it! But it's pretty simple; you be patient. Publishers wont just send you a game, that's not how it works.

We're lucky (very lucky, in fact) in that we have numerous contacts we can approach about such things -- like, how we've gone from multiple review copies a month, to zero -- and actually resolve problems, or at least get an answer as to why things have changed.

Normally, publishers will cut you off if you break any of the review rules, a big one being if you break the embargo set on the review, which, is essentially the publisher giving you a date when the review can go live, and not a second before.

Now, I've always been very vocal about embargo's, as sometimes (and generally only sometimes) they can deter the public away from any negatives before the games released. Now, this doesn't happen all the time, but there have been times a review embargo has literally been the day of release, even though I've had the game for weeks/months, which means many people will have already brought a game before reading any reviews (which, if the games a train-wreck, you've wasted your money). Obviously, any/all reviews are personal opinion, and people won't always agree on a games good/bad points, so reviews are not something to base your entire purchase on, but generally, if 95% of reviewers think a games bad, there's a 95% chance it's pretty shitty.

Now, moving on, the reason we haven't reviewed anything for a while, as stated before, is because we hadn't been sent any review copies, and whilst initially we assumed we had done something wrong somewhere down the many years (we are absolute dickheads), it was actually quite the opposite, and whilst I cannot divulge any industry meetings here, I will say that certain people, are indeed, quite the shit biscuits.

But, I digress, and whilst we may not actually appear so, we at Podcast vs Player are very professional when it comes to business and clientele.

And also boobies.

So, with the shocking revelations that we are business folk, and we also like boobies, what the heck is new?

WELL, we have recently done another collaboration with the always impressive Aviators, for a new series of Goldeneye:Source. The new series is called 'The Song That Never Dies', and you can see the full James Bond Intro Sequence collaboration below.

And once that's been viewed, the very first episode of the new series is available for your eyes and ears also!

Also, coming up soon, we have some guests on the Podcast, and if any of you follow us on Twitter (which you should!), then you'll have a pretty good idea who they are! We're also newbies on Discord, so if any of you would like to partake in some community stuff, you can find us on the advert below these very words!

"But what the hell have I been doing?"

Well, I've been busy editing the latest videos, planning the next podcast and discussing up and coming content with various people, including a new addition to our Developer Hub: 'Romans I XVI Gaming', with a brand new game to boot! 

There's also some more videos of myself and Zoe playing more 'Free Game Bullshit', as well as videos from both Dan and I, AND, for the first time ever, we are allowing some extra folk to the Goldeneye:Source PvP Server, for added cradle shenanigans!

On top of that, here's a rundown of the last few posts!

Cal and Dan play: Pantropy  video 

Living A Lie: Atom Universe  article 

Cal and Zoe Play Spooky For Free  video 

Updates from Cal  article 

Podcast Vs Player: Episode 108 - X-Men's Legion  podcast 

Updates from Dan  article 

Guts and Glory: Cycle to Work Day with Cal  video 

Dan Heals People: Battlefied 1  video