‘Duke Nukem Forever’-related PR hissyfit really doesn’t make anyone look good

Anthony Weiner isn’t the only guy with Twitter-related problems. After watching the negative reviews of Duke Nukem Forever pile up all around him, publicist Jim Redner, of the aptly-named PR firm The Redner Group, finally let loose with something that he wanted to say to everyone panning the title. He basically threatened pretty much everyone in the games press, saying…well, I’ll let the netspeak say it: Ouch. Venom. He went on to say that, “Bad scores are fine. Venom filled reviews…that’s completely different.” So, aside from an odd fascination with snakes (apparently we are snakes), bad reviews apparently equal no press copies. This is a discussion that would normally go on behind closed doors. Yes, publications and sites do get blacklisted for one reason or another. Bringing that sort of discussion into the public space is a bigger problem, though. Despite Redner’s apology, issued within the next half-hour, I think

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Review: Gran Turismo 5 (PS3)

Rating: E Players: 1, online multiplayer (16 players per race) Genre: Racing Publisher: Sony Computer Entertainment Developer: Polyphony Digital Release Date: November 24, 2010 BUY It’s not that often that a racing game actually teaches me a thing or two about driving, but Gran Turismo 5 accomplishes it with style. Secret fact: I’m a bit of a car nerd. I love seeing what’s new in auto shows just to see what sorts of fascinating things we do with automobiles these days. Even though I’d probably never take on the task of rebuilding a classic car or even sitting through an entire NASCAR race (okay, or any part of a NASCAR race), I think that cars are fascinating.  How lucky then, that Gran Turismo 5 actually decided to come out. It only took next to forever (just like my review, and for that I wholeheartedly apologize, dear reader). I hadn’t touched

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Review: Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days (PS3)

How did this game even get a green light? It was a big surprise for me, but ultimately, it’s more of the same. Rating: M Players: 1,  2-player co-op (online and off), online multiplayer Genre: Action Publisher: Eidos Developer: IO Interactive Release Date: August 17, 2010 RENT Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days is, for all intents and purposes, probably a game that shouldn’t have been made. Well, at least not this quickly. The original title was, after all, surrounded by more than a little controversy almost three years ago, and it didn’t have anything to do with violence or gratuitous sexual content for a change (video games as a whole are appreciative, I’m sure). So it was more than a little bit surprising to me when I heard about this game’s existence. Granted, it’s not the first time I’ve been surprised about a sequel, but as far as I

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