Gaming WALL-E

[Bindibadgi]

http://www.bit-tech.net/gaming/2008/07/27/wall-e/1

WALL-E is Pixar's latest gut-wrenchingly cute, but curiously geek-pleasing robotic adventure movie. Now Andy takes a look at the game of the film on PlayStation 3 to see if there's a spark of electronic life to be found in this little android or not...

[notatoad]

Originally Posted by andy

He is, strangely, at peace – though that is something that obviously cannot last and which, like a bull in a china shop, is destined to be shattered as soon as a girl appears and tells him it just isn’t right to spend all day scratching himself.

this is why i love bit-tech reviews.

[outlawaol]

Meh, not all things made movie are made game worthy.

Wall-e rocks to all extents of robotism. He defiantly beats out that beeping doofus R2-D2 for sure....

[MiNiMaL_FuSS]

was a fairly boring film and looks to be a rubbish game, ah well, dark knight do any better?

[HugoB]

Originally Posted by MiNiMaL_FuSS

was a fairly boring film and looks to be a rubbish game, ah well, dark knight do any better?

Did you see the same WALL-E as I did? I prefered it to The Dark Knight!

Small correction, it's EVE, not Eve (Another abbreviation, standing for Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator

[atanum141]

I wonder how much bit-tech got paid to review this rubbish?.

[Mentai]

Originally Posted by Hugo

Did you see the same WALL-E as I did? I prefered it to The Dark Knight!

Small correction, it's EVE, not Eve (Another abbreviation, standing for Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator

Blasphemy :O

[jezmck]

Originally Posted by atanum141

I wonder how much bit-tech got paid to review this rubbish?.

More than you were paid to post that sarcastic comment.

What is it about being paid to do something that you don't like?

[atanum141]

Originally Posted by jezmck

More than you were paid to post that sarcastic comment.

What is it about being paid to do something that you don't like?

I thought Bit-tech was more "high brow"

Either way everyone can be bought.

[MonkeyNutZ]

O_O Go and see WALL-E now!

Frankly WALL-E it tied with Dark Knight as best-film-ever.

[Da Dego]

Originally Posted by atanum141

I thought Bit-tech was more "high brow"

Either way everyone can be bought.

I would sincerely expect a little more common sense out of you, atanum. We don't get paid to review things, ever. But sometimes random things come across our desks (Andy via Joe's desk gets a LOT of games, some of which we don't even choose to publish a review on) where we say "Hmmm, the FILM wasn't too bad! Maybe the game stands a chance?"

It may be the eternal optimism that one day there's a halfway decent movie -> game conversion. Or maybe it's that it was Pixar and so theoretically could have been halfway worthwhile. But it certainly wasn't because we were paid.

Simply because you don't like the focus of ONE review doesn't mean you can start saying we sold out. :P

[atanum141]

No i understand that the whole concept of not getting paid and how the site works based of Ads or reviews but i thought there would be tighter product reviews, these sorta games annoy me but having looked in the past the site does seem to have a habit of reviewing movie games. Its weird that this is a modding web site but reviewing a product which does not really apply for the core person who visits this site is strange but yes it would be short sighted of me saying that the site has sold out but atlest its nowhere nearly as bad as some of the other American sites.

If it were between reviewing this game or the site closing down then i'd review the game and get paid.

Either way the movie was awesome.

[Nexxo]

Originally Posted by atanum141

No i understand that the whole concept of not getting paid and how the site works based of Ads or reviews but i thought there would be tighter product reviews, these sorta games annoy me but having looked in the past the site does seem to have a habit of reviewing movie games. Its weird that this is a modding web site but reviewing a product which does not really apply for the core person who visits this site is strange but yes it would be short sighted of me saying that the site has sold out but atlest its nowhere nearly as bad as some of the other American sites.

No but yeah but...

Over the last 3 months Bit-Tech reviewed (count 'em) 28 games, of which four were related to recently released films. Hardly a biased proportion. Moreover the reviews of these games appear by no means biased in their favour, giving balanced reviews with scores of 5 (WALL-E), 6 (Bourne Conspiracy), 6 (Incredible Hulk) and 7 (Lego Indiana Jones) respectively.

And gosh, imagine a site that is about modding and overclocking PCs that are primarily used for games actually reviewing some games. Who would have thunk.

Frankly, you just made a dumb throwaway comment, and when you were picked up on that, you compounded it by not just admitting that you made a dumb throwaway comment but by making an even dumber comment. Just keep digging yourself in deeper now...

[Flibblebot]

Originally Posted by atanum141

I wonder how much bit-tech got paid to review this rubbish?.

Originally Posted by atanum141

I thought Bit-tech was more "high brow"
Either way everyone can be bought.

As Da Dego already said, nobody at bit, myself included, ever gets paid to review a game. Ethics aside, if we were paid by companies to review games, we'd lose all credibility - this is especially important after the Gerstmann/Gamespot fiasco. If we were to be offered any kind of incentive, not only would we turn it down, it would also make us question the motives of the developer or publisher in question.

As for why we chose to review WALL-E...there are a number of reasons: firstly, there is always the hope that a movie-based game can be good (although that is a very, very slim hope). We were wrong on that count, but had to try the game to find out. There was also the possibility that, since Pixar are essentially a computer company, the game might actually be good. Again, we were wrong (but we still hold out hope for the next Pixar film/game). And while many of bit's readers are still at school or university, there are a number who are old enough to have families. Since WALL-E is such a huge phenomenon (ironically, given the nature of the film), pester power from kids plays strongly with the parents. Now they've read the review, they can say to the younglings, "no, you can't have the game of the film. Andy says it's crap"

See? We provide a service to the whole community

As for my own reviewing technique, I'm careful not to read other reviews before I play or write. What you see is my own opinion, nobody else's. If PR material is provided with a game (as it often is), I tend to ignore that since it usually just contains marketing blurb trying to tell you how a good a game really is (even if it's really, really crap. That's what PR companies are for). Very rarely, I will mention bits in a review, if it's relevant (Sins of a Solar Empire is a case in point, where the PR blurb spoke about the extensive beta testing and Stardock's decision not to include copy protection on the disk).

I have my own sense of ethics, and as far as game reviewing goes, no, I cannot be bought - and I resent the implication that I, or any other bit-tech team member for that matter, can be bought.

[atanum141]

As far as the reviews go the quality has always been great, ive never questioned that. All i question why review something that does not apply or interest the core viewer of the site?

Yes i do question the reviewer, but as many of the guys here on the site are actual fan's of the subject that they review and have in depth knowledge about what they review. So coming out of the blue with a movie game, epically given its a movie that out at the moment and having a decent idea at how company's promote or market(pimp) their product does bring doubts.

Yes i did imply that reviewers can be brought off but i never said this site specifically? After the whole Gamespot situ it does bring into question the gospel the reviewers preach. But thats why one of the reasons why ive made this site/forum my primary source for news/review. Its the lack of that PR BS that overflows in the other reviews and its simply off putting.

I apologize if you've felt that ive said something seriously out of order but its just that i question odd things out of the ordinary and this just seemed odd.

@ Nexxo: I suffer from Foot-in-mouth syndrome.

[sheninat0r]

Originally Posted by Nexxo

And gosh, imagine a site that is about modding and overclocking PCs that are primarily used for games actually reviewing some games. Who would have thunk.

I think that pretty much covers it. Just because Bit isn't covering ONLY hardware [or, as you seem to imply, ONLY modding-related stuff], doesn't mean they've been paid off, or that they're doing anything wrong - Bit is, of course, a modding site, but it is also a technology site and a computer site, and you seem to have forgotten that. Otherwise, why even bother with a hardware/software or a gaming forum?

[ParaHelix.org]

The movie sort of appeared from nowhere, the game sort of "exists". And to top it off, it looks like something made in tacky game studio software, I think I speak for most of us when I say this is not worthy of Bit-Tech.

[Bionic-Blob]

Originally Posted by ParaHelix.org

The movie sort of appeared from nowhere

woot? the trailer/teaser has been out nigh on 2 years

[[- pio -]]

[...] that is something that obviously cannot last and which, like a bull in a china shop, is destined to be shattered [...]

Ah, yes. The fragility of bulls is a fact generally overlooked by the general population. Good thing we have Bit-Tech to set things straight!

[Cthippo]

Actually, Mythbusters did an expirement with a bull in a china shop.

The bull ran around and was very careful not to run into anything, resulting in a busted myth.