Ben-DutkaAs one might expect, this is the kind of inflammatory story that ruffles many a feather.
Polygon is a generally well-respected website but now they're facing accusations of bias and even flat-out lying during their in-depth live-stream presentation of the Xbox One .
The "lie" – I put it in quotations because I'm leaving it up to the readers to decide – was spotted by FuriousFanboys , a site decidedly less well-respected. However, they may have a point: After a demo of Dead Rising 3 where it seems that the voice commands had trouble registering on the Xbox One, Editor-in-Chief Chris Grant said several times that the one advantage Xbox One has over PS4 is that Microsoft's system supports remote controls and the PS4 does not.
He said services like Netflix are better on the Xbox One because of this remote support, and he was quoted as saying that the PS4 "does not use remotes at all." You can see through a series of Tweets the response this received. The PS4, like the PS3, fully supports HDMI-CEC controls, and most TVs today have a remote that can be used to operate the PS4. Grant's explanation is that while the PS4 can be controlled "by a specific TV through HDMI," this isn't the same as remote support.
It seems clear now that Grant was referring to universal remotes, and he simply misspoke when he said the PS4 "does not use remotes at all." However, there have been some rumors that Polygon may have some Microsoft funding of some sort. That isn't proven, of course, but maybe it's worth mentioning, don't you think?
"However, there have been some rumors that Polygon may have some Microsoft funding of some sort. That isn't proven, of course, but maybe it's worth mentioning, don't you think?"
This comes to my mind…:
polygon(dot)com/game/killzone-shadow-fall/10076
Last edited by Neo on 11/20/2013 10:50:38 PM
Well…you know…
and check their Last of Us review 😉
Or their Killzone review.
It appears the Polygon dude didn't really know what he was talking about. That's what I take from the Twitter confrontation anyway.
In early January 2012, Vox hired Chris Grant, editor-in-chief of Joystiq, to launch a new gaming site with Vox. Also hired were Brian Crecente, editor-in-chief of Kotaku, and Russ Pitts, editor-in-chief of The Escapist, to run the site, along with Justin and Griffin McElroy, Chris Plante, Arthur Gies, and Russ Frushtick, and Tracey Lien and Emily Gera for the roles of Senior Reporter, Australia & Senior Reporter, UK, respectively[citation needed].
Here's some Wiki info on Vox Media, the parent company of Polygon.
Last edited by Temjin001 on 11/20/2013 11:00:41 PM
http://www.polygon.com/pages/about
I also notice Michael McWhertor. He comes from Kotaku as well.
seems like a pretty big outfit. maybe big enough for someone like MS to approach ….
Last edited by Temjin001 on 11/20/2013 11:03:20 PM
and holy crap the founder is Tyler Bleszinski
yes, Cliffy B's brother…. ouch
It sounds like a creatively staffed shill "news" site.
Dead Rising 3 has waaaaay more issues than they will let on. I'll just leave it at that.
Hm, I dunno much about it, I've sourced Polygon a few times but don't know enough to cast aspersions except to say that the Killzone review does appear to be a purposeful disservice to gaming consumers.
Plus it's strange to even mention the PS4 during your Xbox One story let alone to tell people why it is "better."
Netflix isn't better on Xbox one when you have to be a gold member in addition to paying for the service.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
Netflix just got cool on PS3, we got the new interface that PC doesn't even have yet.
Arthur Gies being on their payroll says it all. Never read Polygon.
What'd he do?
Huge Xbot formerly from IGN who wrote said Killzone review.
oh lord, IGN was really bad for awhile there weren't they?
Ignorance, it's abundant. Especially in the U.S. when sony and microsoft are involved.
I din't even know people used universal remotes anymore. Not after the HDMI standard is well established.
Baffling isn't it? We had those in the 90s
I didnt even know about the HDMI standard till this.
Mind……blown.
They seemed pretty objective about both consoles. Maybe they didn't get the remote thing right, but they both had negative things to say about Kinect, and even agreed that the PS4 he'd the better controller. The only thing that was really pro Xbox was that it is more of a total media box. WWhich imo is really the truth.
Agreed.
I think it stems far beyond the remote issue.
Yep. A non-story. Ludicrous to think these guys are secretly on the take from anyone.
@telly,
Have you ever read or listened to one of Arthur Gies' reviews?
He bleeds Xbox green every day thanks to all of the dump trucks full of cash that seemingly must have been backing up to his house since his IGN days.
If the Xbox had a knob, he'd be all over it, trying to have its baby.
it is definately miss leading but idk about lying persay i just cudn't say definately ling.
happy gaming =)
I think the worry over this particular comment is a bit overdone, but I also wouldn't trust Polygon's opinion as far as they could throw it. They're not bad when they're reporting facts, but their reviews, in my experience, aren't much chop at all (methodologically, not just the outcome). Too much ego, not enough accountability imo.
Actually Ben failed to mention one very important fact.
When the guy from furious fanboy tweeted to Chris Grant, correcting his misinformation, Chris replied with something along the lines of "Who are you wierdo?" then blocked him, and posted another tweet calling the guy a "creep".
People lashed out because his behaviour was extremely unprofessional, but thanks to this, there are A LOT more people who know how crap Polygon is.
That is a hugely important fact, and a big blemish on their professionalism. If a journo is told they messed up, they should fix it, not block the person telling them and abuse them. That's bollocks!
Ben, typo on last line of paragraph 4?
"Grant's explanation is that while the PS4 can be controlled "by a specific TV through HDMI," this isn't the same as report support."
I'm guessing you meant "remote support".
EDIT: Feel free to delete this comment.
Last edited by Nynja on 11/21/2013 11:27:43 AM
If I were to buy an Xbox One…why would I be touting universal remote control support as a selling point? Why would I use a remote control…is there something wrong with Kinect?
He obviously was trying to sell XBOX Ones with all his might, lol.
After reading this article a trolling idea came to mind. What if a Game dev at some point had a character in his game say "Xbox off". Would it turn the Xbox1 off? Is the Xbox1 smart enough to know it didn't come from the player but from in-game?
Ben, someone stating misinformation is one thing, but you have taken it out of the context.
Polygon did a livestream for the PS4, and they spent the entire time being extremely critical of everything, then scored it a 7.5.
They then did a livestream of the Xbox, and were extremely forgiving, scoring it an 8.
Then when someone from furious fanboy corrected Chris Grants information on twitter, Chris called him a wierdo, blocked him, then tweeted to the world how he was a creep.
Based on their behaviours and attitudes towards both consoles during their streams, it was pretty obvious they are totally biased. Several times I watched the voice commands NOT work during the livestream, but they never really considered it a problem, one guy even said "I had a lot of trouble with my voice commands at home, but it was probably the room I was in, the kinect is awesome!"
Like wtf. What a moron.
I don't think that they were misunderstood at all, they didn't know the PS4 had that feature.
Last edited by Akuma_ on 11/21/2013 6:53:36 PM
It's not just the demo of Dead Rising 3, there were lots of other examples of Polygon staff having issues with MS games and tech during their live stream.
"Highlights":