User:JackSparrow Ninja/Source reliability

This is a work in process page of Source reliability on video games, which will become a Wikiproject, and ultimately should become a guideline. The goal is to list and detail reliable and unreliable sources to use for video game articles on Wikipedia. Feel free to leave me a message if you want to work with me on this page.

Note: This page is not intended to either praise sources or harm sources for who they are. This page is to reflect the nature of a source's reliability; a positive or negative comment is up to how the source has given itself shape: Wikipedia is not censored

Reliability issue: releasedates
An often discussed issue is the releasedate of a video game, the date or period in which a video game is planned to be released. Developers and publishers of video games often give an early estimate of when they plan to release their product, but this is often merely a year, or at best a period of the year, such as a quarter or a season. Exact releasedates are usually not revelead, or for that matter even certain with the publisher itself, untill a few months before the game's release.

What often makes this an issue is the use of so-called placeholders, a release date that is posted by either retailers or media just to fill in the blancs of a release date. These placeholders are mere guesses however, and more then often are nowhere near correct. Such placeholders should never be used as a source, when a game is more then a few weeks to months away from its officially announced release (for instance, a placeholder in February when the game has officially been announced for Q2).

When posting a releasedate about a game that is a long period away of being released, the only sources that should be used are official announcements or news reports on a releasedate by a source that has shown itself reliable on the issue of release dates before.

Periods
These are the dates in which periods that are usually given to indicate a releasedate, fall. In case a season is given as indication, it applies to the Northern Hemisphere. This is because 3 out of 4 majior regions in the gaming industry, as well as almost all developers and publishers, are located on the Northern hemisphere. When the indication is holiday season, it applies to the holiday season at the end of the year, from the end of November to the end of December.


 * Q1: January - March
 * Q2: April - June
 * Q3: July - September
 * Q4: October - December
 * Spring: March 21st - June 20th
 * Summer: June 21st - September 20th
 * Fall: September 21st - December 20th
 * Winter: December 21st - March 20th

Sources that make use of placeholders

 * Retailers
 * IGN.com
 * Official Nintendo Magazine
 * Game Informer
 * 1UP

Three Speech
Three Speech is Sony's semi-official PlayStation 3 blog. Though their reports are sometimes subjective of nature, the reports come straight from Sony itself.

Xbox Live's Major Nelson's blog
Mayor Nelson aka Larry Hryb, is the Director of Programming for Xbox Livethe popular Microsoft gaming network. His popular blog Xbox Live's Major Nelson provides an "inside" look at operations at Microsoft's Xbox division; in particular, he discusses the online features and functionality first and foremost. Since he is first party, his blog and any news reports coming from it can be considered 100% reliable.

Japanese magazines Famitsu Magazine and Nintendo Dream
As many video game developers are situated in Japan, Japanese magazines are often the first to get new information. Famitsu Magazine is one of the most famous video game magazines in the world, and for a reason. Famitsu Magazine is often the first to report information about games, and can be considered to be one of the most reliable sources when it comes to video game news.

Of other Japanese magazines, Nintendo Dream is most often cited in Western media and has proven it can be considered a reliable source.

Advance Media Network and N-Europe
Advanced Media Network, and its European network site N-Europe, have often shown to be reliable sources. Though they sometimes cite other sources as well, their own news reports have proven to be of good quality and thrustworthy.

N-Europe was the first to reveal the title of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess

Cubed3.com
Cubed3 is an British video game website, focussing on Nintendo. Since 2002 they have considerably grown, and since 2005 they are a serious media outlet whose reports are very reliable.

Cubed3 regularly has exclusive interviews with, often Japanese developers and publishers. Cubed3 was the first to confirm the European release of Tingle RPG.

Jeux-France.com
Though not considered by many, because they are French, Jeux-France is always on top of news items and has at several times had some exclusives through interviews.

It was in an interview by Jeux-France that Nintendo first officially confirmed the Wii controls for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

Electronic Gaming Monthly
There's two parts to EGM to consider as far as reliability goes. First there are their actual news reports, which are (often) well-sourced and could be accepted as a reliable source without much trouble. Second is their 'rumour section', in which they conveniently put those news items they're not certain of.

A research has shown that only half of EGM's rumour reports turn out to be correct. Every year, in the last issue before April Fools, EGM publishes a number of hoaxes. Though most are fairly obvious, information from these issues is best to be used until another reliable source confirms this information, separate of EGM.

Game Informer
Game Informer can generally be considered very reliable, yet every know and then an error is printed. New information that is specifically given in an article, can be considered reliable, but when something is mentioned in a list, it has been an editorial error a few times before.

One such example as mentioned above is the releasedate of The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass. GameInformer put the placeholder releasedate to October 15, 2007, while the releasedate was later announced to be in December 2007.

IGN.com
Though (one of) the biggest gaming press of the world, IGN has a history of false reports. Most often when it concerns release dates, ESRB-ratings or specific details about games, it should be dealt with carefully. Interviews and press releases are safe with IGN, yet when it comes to more specific issues, the information should be screened with care.

As one of the biggest press entities in video gaming, IGN covers a lot of news directly from the developers and publishers, either by press releases or interviews. Editors of IGN do not always have a correct understanding of how to interpretate news, on several occasions leading to incorrect information. The blogs of IGN's editors are often the place of incorrect information, rumours and jokes. Just like retailers, IGN uses place holder releasedates, with little to no clear difference between placeholders and correct releasedates.
 * Pros and cons

IGN copied a faked press release, even containing spelling errors, about a new game from the Neogaf forums. IGN stated for a while that Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, formerly a PS3 exclusive, had become an exclusive to the Xbox 360.
 * History of reliability

NG-Gamer
NG-Gamer is one of the biggest gaming websites in the Benelux, yet the reliability of their news reports is sometimes influenced by the editor reporting it. A number of editors are bad in interpretation of news from other sources, yet in cases that other sources are cited, those sources need be used. However, when NG-Gamer reports their own news, from their industry sources, they have a history of being reliable.

Exclusive news items, reports and interviews have given them a reliable track record in this area. A number of editors are bad in interpretation of news from other sources.
 * Pros and cons

NG-Gamer has had several exclusive interviews, containing new information, with video game developers. The most 'famous' being their interview with Gearbox Software about Brothers In Arms: Hell's Highway. NG-Gamer was one of only two dutch outlets to be given a number of multiplayer beta codes to Halo 3. NG-Gamer was the first to mention, and later the first to confirm the PlayStation Home service for the PlayStation 3.
 * History of reliability

Retailers
Retailers of video games receive regular updates based on the best information given to them directly by game company. However, since the game companies often do not disclose an exact date, or a date at all, until close to the game's release, retailers often use so-called placeholders, which are nothing more then mere guesses. When a game nears its release, releasedates given by retailers are more reliable.

When a game is near its release, only when first indicated by the developer or publisher, retailers are a reliable source for releasedates. When a game is further from its release, retailers very often use placeholders, which are unreliable.
 * Pros and cons

Placeholders by retailers are very often misinterpreted by editors, mostly ip's but sometimes registered users as well.
 * History of reliability
 * One such example can be seen here, where the online retailer Amazon had put up a placeholder date for The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass on March 20th, 2007, when Nintendo had already officially announced the release to be in the 2007 holiday season.

Official Nintendo Magazine
Official only in name, this British magazine is a new version of a magazine under the same name. The name comes from a license sold by Nintendo, rather then the magazine actually being official. Aside from broken promises, in their short lifespan the magazine has already been responsible for many false news reports.

Official Nintendo Magazine has made many announcement of upcoming exclusive news, to promote the next issue, but these have all gone by without delivering anything.
 * History of reliability
 * They announced exclusive news on The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the first 5 issues.
 * They announced exclusive news on Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles.

In their first issue, ONM claimed that the stand used by the Wii -then Revolution- was its power supply. The cover of the first issue read: "World's first hands-on session with the Revolution controller!" A statement they didn't hold true to. ONM claimed Tingle RPG would release in Europe in March 2007. ONM released a teaser that many believed to be of NiGHTS. Soon after, NiGHTS: Journey into Dreams was announced.

Spong
There is little to add to this really. Whenever a news item is sourced to Spong, gamers know it is most likely to be false. They are widely considered the number one gaming site for rumours.

"For those unfamiliar with them, Spong is an infamous game "news" site, known mostly for making up amusing but obviously false game news." Spong state themselves that "SPOnG.com makes no warranty or representation about the reliability or technical efficiency of the Web Site."
 * Pro's and cons

Spong claimed that Nintendo was planning to create organizer software for the Nintendo DS using the Palm OS. Spong claimed Nintendo would show a new generation GameBoy Advance at E3 2005.
 * History of reliability

VGCharts
VGCharts is a website that keeps track of video game sales worldwide, by collecting the published data from companies like NPD and Media Crate. In that sense, VGCharts could be a reliable source, were it not for the often outdated numbers, and the websites' own estimates on numbers.

VGCharts sometimes tends to apply his own estimates, rather then official numbers Not always up-to-date
 * Pros and cons