I completely agree with you that not 99% of the games are crap. It is more like 99.99%. Just look at how many new games are launching each day, more than 9 out of 10 are crap. Don't be confused by what TA is recommending because TA only pick the good ones to present to the readership (Kudos to that). There are countless other crappy shit being uploaded by the minute. Counting all those crap, the app store is indeed full of crap.
Can you please prove how this is a fact? Have you read TA's official position on reviews vs. editorial content? It is not, in any way, uncommon for a publication to run feature or editorial content in tandem with objective reviews. FFS, this practice is everywhere you look. Take Entertainment Weekly for example (there happens to be one sitting on my counter right now). Have you ever seen an issue of EW with a huge cover story featuring the big popcorn blockbuster of the moment only to flip to the back to ironically be deflated by a mediocre review? I have - a number of times. How about this? Entertainment Weekly is published by Time, Inc. Warner Bros. Pictures is a subsidiary of Time, Inc. Let's look at a few of the WB's films that EW also reviewed. License to Wed (2007) Grade: C The Bucket List (2007) Grade: D Orphan (2009) Grade: D+ I could go on, but it's rather a lot of html markup to for a Friday night. I think the point should be becoming pretty clear. If hundreds of years of publications have dealt with this very issue, what makes iPhone game reviews the outlier? Why and how is it a "fact" that iPhone game sites publish biased reviews based on sponsorships and advertisements when it is clear that publications such as Entertainment Weekly (that have serious affiliations with the content they review) have no problem printing professional, objective reviews? I am not saying that all publications are created equal or that we should unconditionally accept the idea that any rough-and-ready blog is trustworthy. But it remains maddeningly foolish to continue to question the integrity of Touch Arcade simply because of ignorance of the publication process. TA has officially stated its review policy in regards to advertisements and sponsorships. At this point, what more do you want them to do? Do you want the admins to send notarized letters to your moms that promise they are being impartial?
Ahem. Thank you jensen for wasting my time. I don't even have words to describe how foolish and senseless those accusations are. Every thing you said has been proven wrong in the thread and I'll be just repeating them if I try to argue here. If you still don't think you were completely wrong here then please Don't let the door hit u on the back on your way out.
It is accurate to say that often times, I have found TouchArcade editors to be rather supportive of games. Though I am confident that games are reviewed objectively, I do tend to wonder why so many games are given positive ratings, or commended greatly by the reviewer, as compared to other sites such as Pocketgamer. However, over my course of searching for reviews, through many review sites, I have found no site more reliable and up-to-date than TouchArcade. Furthermore, having read Arn's response, I understand why we do not see many negative game reviews. Almost all the games I have, I have found through TouchArcade. As a community, I believe that the purpose of such websites is to help the reader find good games to buy. Writing just as many reviews about lousy games which nobody wants to buy is a waste of time on the reviewer's part. If we have any queries about the quality of a game that is not featured in TouchArcade, the forums are always available for us to ask questions. Hence, now that I understand the intention behind the lack of reviews of low-quality games, I honestly think that the Administrators decision to only bring high-quality games to the attention of the community is the most efficient way of running the site, for both reviewer and the userbase. And as Jensen earlier stated, he did not understand fully the policy of the reviewers when writing this thread. As is apparent from the responses of others in this thread, they also did not understand the policies of TouchArcade reviewers. I also sometimes wonder why TouchArcade seemed to, for whatever reason, only feature games in a positive light. Thanks to this thread, my questions have been answered. To flame him for bringing up a legitimate concern is really being quite immature.
I offer a solution. How about TA stating that it is trying to "bring the best of iDevice gaming to visitors" instead of being quiet about that? Seems like a good time to change the catchline underneath the site logo
The review policy stated by TA is just a statement of intents not a law. I don't want to come in details, but anyone that has been reading TA after some days can see the facts I'm referring. Also I don't think I'm flaming neither acussing nor questioning the integrity of TA, I see this normal in a tech review media. For those think I'm are doing this then you don't understand how technological media works. TA is doing well, so they are his high number of readers. Congrats to them.
Frankly, I don't think that changing the tagline would make much of a difference: cynics would still suspect that there's collution between reviewers and advertisers, others would immediatly question the use of the word 'Best' to describe games they think are only mediocre. What I like best about TA is that it's an enthusiast's community. I don't expect reviews to be objective (no review is, by the way), but I do expect them to convey the writer's honest enthusiasm for the game. That's why I found Jensen's original post so offensive -- he pretty much accused TA reviewers of "putting on" their excitement to make money (an accusation he has yet to take back or apologize for). These guys have been covering iPhone gaming since before there was an App Store; I think their efforts deserve our respect and appreciation, even when we diagree with their views.
I figured this would be brought up, and my response is this: You're right. TA's review policy is not a law, and it never will be. With this knowledge, you have choices. (1) You can accept their word and simply enjoy your time here, discovering new games and being part of the community. (2) You can refuse to accept that TA is an honest source of information with a reasonably transparent review policy and just leave the site because you'll never be happy, and you'll always find something "biased" or "suspicious" or of "questionable ethics" etc. (3) You can stick around and continue to question the motives and ethics around every corner, even though the official response will not change. Options 1 and 2 are valid, and I urge you to consider either. Unfortunately, I expect that many will choose Option 3, which is a bit puzzling when you think about it. If you have such an inert disagreement with the way this site is run, what are you doing here? Personally, I don't patronize establishments that I consider dishonest businesses. No. Sorry, but you can't call things "facts" without evidence. You're making some pretty strong accusations here. The burden of proof is on you. Where is the evidence? Remember, we're not dealing with "the law" here, so there's no reason to be coy. First of all, in this post, you stated: In this post, you say: I'm not sure if you know what integrity means, but you are in fact questioning the integrity of TA by claiming that it is a "fact" that they are biased and that they slant their reviews based on paid sponsorships. Considering that TA has officially refuted these claims, this is the definition of questioning integrity. Right now, what you are doing is making accusations. Yes. You can't just say, "This is a fact, wink wink, trust me!" That doesn't fly. If you want to state a fact, give us the evidence that proves your statements are factual. Until that time, you are simply making accusations. OK, enlighten me.
Hi, I didn't came before cause I'm too busy at work. The facts I'm referring can be sawn searching for example articles from ngmoco games vs others and more. I don't need to follow your Options, but I also don't see a point to continue with this thread. So I think enough said.
I am really late to this thread haha. One thing I like about TA is that every review is obviously the opinion of the writer. Some may not like that, but I do. If I wanted to know what features a game had, I can find that out from the description. I want to know what someone thinks about a game. I have not bought every suggested game here on TA, and no one would be expected to. I buy what appeals to me, and what is unearthed from the app store mire. I also seek second opinions, this isn't the only site out there. So those are my thoughts, sorry if they turn out to be repeated from someone else or irrelevant.
And is this relevant for you? If so do a search for Freeverse and see how many articles they have (I don't want to count them) except the Flick Fishing look at the rates from other Apps from Freeverse. If reviews would also be in what is relevant to readers, them some reviews are missing (based in AppStore sales), for example StickWars, one game that has been some months in the top of the 100 list .. and no review here.
I'm not sure I follow your logic. The top 100 lists don't reflect what Touch Arcade considers great games...why should they have to review everything on those lists? If a "game" like iFart is in the top 10 list, you're saying that Touch Arcade should do a review for it? I hope that day never comes...
Well DaveMc99 pointed that ngmoco games haved so hughe articles cause his games rated 3 or more on iTunes. Ranking if a game is good or bad based in the iTunes reviews is as bad as ranking if they are high in the top sellers. But I think that the top sellers is a best way of ranking a game than the iTunes argument. There are games with more than 4 stars in iTunes and no reviewed here.. so ... argument by Dave is wrong. And no, I'm not saying that TA must review all games in the lists. They said some times they will review games they like ... also against Dave argument I also hope that a review for a game similar to iFart would never came in TA.
I am saying that Ngmoco produces quality games. Can you name 1 Ngmoco game that is not well reviewed on other sites?
ngmoco games get articles on the front page because we like their games, it's as simple as that. There isn't any conspiracy to be uncovered or any deep seated bias to be discovered. We post about high profile games and games that we like, that's really all there is to it.
