Gametrailers staff explains GRID incident

Gametrailers staff wrote: "When we capture video from games, we capture them to tapes, the tapes are then labeled and given to the video editors to cut into videos, for instance, a ps3/360 comparison video.

Two things went wrong this time. A) the tape was mislabeled as 360 footage so the editor thought he was comparing different things, and B) our editorial check on the video didn't go through the usual rigors, and failed to notice the mistake. When people check hundreds of videos a day, sometimes things slip through.

Obviously this is a huge issue, and we took it down as soon as we found out about it.

Never attribute to malice what you can instead attribute to a mistake. This was a simple oversight, and then spun by Kotaku into some sort of evil empire stunt.

I hope that clears things up some."

[nevelo07]

the ps3 version looks and has better crash physics then

[Hydrolex]

No Execuses ! This is your third time.

F**king losers

[Shaka2K6]

Even though this game is average at best it still looks miles better then forza 2 .

[Hydrolex]

1- they banned people who stood up !

2- Why did they compare the crashes ? I mean WTF ? Egines are same, graphics might look different.

3- After 2 days thinking to what to say to PUBLIC, they failed !

In conclusion

Gaytrailers for Gaymers

[leon76]

....Incident?????...That was no incident!!!! this is calling BIASED!!!!!! Anti-PS3 attittude!!!!! Paid-off reviews!!!! That's more like it!!!!!!!!

[TheEndzor]

took them 2 days to make that statement?

Gametrailers has lost all credibility

[pharmd]

i approved this, only to show how big of douchebags these guys are, they cant even cover their own arses validly

[PR0F3TA]

WTF kinda explanation is this... "it was a mistake"? thats what i say to my girlfriend when i fcuk up on something but don't really mean it or don't want to explain my actions....

If it was SUCH a mistake then WHY:

*Was the PS3 shown to have washed out colors and worse graphics then the 360
*Crash physics shown to be better on the 360 and worse on the PS3... when they were BOTH PS3 footage

they think we are dumb and they are treating us like dumba$$es... Gametrailers, its too late and the damage is done.

[pharmd]

yeah its funny/ironic, they were trying to show damage between the consoles and the real damage was done on their own incompetent assses

[Hydrolex]

United States drops another Atomic bomb in Hiroshima and says

Ooops our pilot pressed the wrong button, he was supposed to press the button that drops tons of flowers

Too late ! your brother is dead, don't look for medicine. You had to find it before his death

[Winter47th]

Yeah, and banning accounts on their forums like crazy just for asking questions about it and deleting threads is a hell'uva way to clarify things.

Providing us with free materials is highly appreciated and we're grateful for it, but as far as credibility goes, they have none.

[jahcure]

They were better off saying nothing. Here's the big hole or LIE in their statement.
"A) the tape was mislabeled as 360 footage so the editor thought he was comparing different things, and B) our editorial check on the video didn't go through the usual rigors, and failed to notice the mistake. When people check hundreds of videos a day, sometimes things slip through."

UMM A$$holes... how on earth did the ps3 "tape" get labeled x360 and you were still able to show a ps3:360 comparison. If there were any mislabeling then there would be 360 vs 360 because BOTH TAPES WOULD BE LABELED x360.

This is one of those lies 5 year olds tell. Grow a pair GT.
If you mislabeled the ps3 tape as x360 there wouldn't be any ps3 tape to begin with....psh. Pathetic

[justgamez]

They couldn't possibly look worst with this explanation. A complete embarrassment. So what are they saying now? The 360 is superior we just used the wrong doctored video to prove it? It's the same game by the same company using the same engine. What could possibly be a problem with Sony's hardware that it can run an arcade physics engine but it can run a full on simulator like GT5P? *rolls-eyes*

[avacadosnorkel]

every once and a while something is so obvious yet missed. And your point is obvious, but I didn't think about it until you said it.

Way to go Sherlock Holmes

[Kulupoo]

"spun by Kotaku into some sort of evil empire stunt"
hahaha

man... GT just admit it man... come on and stop with the comparison video, im really sick of it now

[MURKERR]

its taken this long to come up with that?

and if it was an accident why disable the feature where we can msg you?regardless of what msgs you recieved?

GT are officially trash

[marinelife9]

My question is why would the footage be stored on a tape in the first place? They don't have CD's, DVD's, Blu-Ray's, HD-DVD's, Flash Cards, Zip drives or hard drives to store on?

It's okay gametrailers.com just fess up that you're either fanboys or business men since they like quotes.

"The truth will set you free"

[Omegasyde]

Then why have they made the mistake more than once. GT made errors with the comparison video of Burnout, and oblivion as well.

For all the haters of Gametriailers.com remember this:

Gametrailers.com is a affiliate of the 1up.com network.
1up.com = EGM magazine and Games For Windows.
1up is owned by Ziff Davis incorporated.

The company (Ziff Davis Media) announced that it had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 5, 2008.
In November 2006, Ziff Davis announced the cancellation of the Official Playstation Magazine. They cited a lack of interest in the magazine (and its demo disk) due to digital distribution. OPM had run since 1997.

Ziff Davis needs money, and where there is smoke there is fire. You do the math. If you are going to run and empire, there is always revenue besides advertizements.

Source: http://www.mcvuk.com/news/2...

/End Conspiracy Theory

On a side note, Game Trailers still provides some of the first High Definition footage of new games. They are not all that bad.

[xhi4]

who cares?

do machines really mean that much to you?

theres a bigger wider world than gaming and n4g.com

[jackdoe]

I'm sorry, but you are misinformed. GAMEVIDEOS not GT is part of 1up. GT is part of the Viacom network (which includes MTV).

[Megaton]

Yes, what jackdoe said.

GameTrailers belongs MTV, which belongs to Viacom, who incidentally has a $500 million advertising contract with Microsoft. I'm not saying that proves bias, but $500,000,000 dumped solely into advertising through Viacom has to buy something, doesn't it?

[Nathaniel_Drake]

And also that Viacom signed a 5 year deal with Microsoft for advertising and use of their programs, one in particular could be Gametrailers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

EDIT: Wow, Xiphos that was just ummm....weird!!! =)

[ErcsYou]

ever notice that when people get caught, they always make excuses... and it only took them 2 days to come up with one..lol
I wonder how many times we have had this little tape mix up problem at GT..., they make it sound like it happens quite often.

"When people check hundreds of videos a day, sometimes things slip through. "

[PSWe60]

today must be a slow news day. This article is 4 hours late

[Odion]

people on this websites act like 4 year olds when they actually believe that sites have such blatant biased and so poorly hide it. Then you all get excited like you just figured out who killed JFK.

Grow up

[Hydrolex]

let me kill your mother then I say it was an accident.

true that it's not someones life but it's business. BS is BS !

[justgamez]

You are making fun of people for kind of complaining about GT as if they are conspiring against Sony and then mention the killing of JFK when most Americans (and the rest of the world) with an IQ higher then a 5th grader think he was assassinated with one of the biggest cover ups / conspiracies in American history?

Just thought I'd run that past you.
BTW I could care less about this whole debacle with Gametrailers (just bored tonight and skimmed through the responses) but this article makes them look even more foolish. They were caught plain and simple. Now they are just trying to save face and they are doing a p!ss poor job. Lots of people questioned the validity of their comparisons and now the questions have been answered. GT is full of crap and can't be trusted.

[Hagaf22]

a loss of 100% credibility, hard to get back.

[Clinton514]

While I thank them for providing us with trailers and sometimes exclusive looks at games. I've grown tired of the trend of the media pretending to downplay/condemn "fanboy-ism" and then using it to generate revenue stemming from these type of BS comparisons.

GTFO with that much too long of a delayed response. Hypocrites.

[DiabloRising]

I agree. It's hilarious watching them tell gamers to stop being fanboys or heavily invested, yet they use such baiting tactics to get hits on their sites, with inflammatory and pathetic "articles" that do nothing but heap on the bias and flames.

[xTHRASHx]

did gametrailers bash the ps3 version of GRID??? someone please PM me

[InYourMom]

They claimed the 360 version had better XXXXXX but in their example they used PS3 footage. Then of course it turns into GT is being paid off, they are biased, they are out to get the PS3 blah blah blah.. AND WE CAUGHT THEM THIS TIME.

Anyway, it sounds like the video was just switched when put online but it still stands that the 360 version is better.

But of course if you are a part of the SDF this site is now on the "do not visit" list.

Man, I wish we could get N4G on that list.

[pwnsause]

XtrashX this is how it went down:

During the weekend, Gametrailers Made a comparison video on the racing game GRID for the PS3 and 360. they where making a comparision video showing that the PS3 version was the inferior version, while the 360 version was superior for its physics and picture, but out of nowhere, people relized that the 360 footage was infact PS3 footage! while putting the game on Replay mode, the 360 version is supposed to present the 360 buttons to show you how to replay the footage, but the footage had PS3 buttons instead.

The next day, everyone including this PS fanboy along with the others took torches clubs and knives and went to gametrailers to explain how this infraction was done, since this is the third time they did this against the PS3. people like inyourmom however, since hes an xbot who loves to Suck M$ D**k are saying the opposite since he likes flamebait like this.

[Cadence]

the hated the ps3 so they want every ps3 owners to buy an x360 what a sad story there so evil we should do something about this and thats not all GT is not the only one doing this theres some others that are doing the same thing with the ps3 there trying to give this console a bad name so sad i don't want to get RROD nooooooooooooooo.

[GutZ31]

LOL, wut waz dat?

[Close_Second]

...does anyone actually have a link to another source that does discuss the differences between the two versions? Were their claims valid in that the 360 version actually looks better than the mis-used PS3 footage?

[DiabloRising]

Yeah I would like to know this...

Both were reportedly PS3 footage. Did one crash look better than the other? Was the "Ps3" footage washed out like always compared to the "360" footage? I'm curious.

[Spinner]

Yea... you can see the comparison here:

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

Still doesn't explain why they did some epic crash for the "360" version, but drove into a f*cking wall for the PS3 version.

[Sev]

HAAAHHH!!!

Why would they make 2 tapes of the PS3 version for them to even get mislabeled in the first place?

Wouldnt they make a 360 and a PS3? Not 2 PS3 tapes?

[Hydrolex]

or on the other hand, the PS3 version sucks compare to the PS3 version.

AHAHAHAHA This is sooooo .....

[mistertwoturbo]

What bothers me about they're "excuse" is that they said it a mistake, and that the tapes were "mislabeled."

So why in the world does a person in chrage of doing "comparisons" who's supposed to find the itty bitty differences between both games not notice it's running both the PS3 versions?

[PoSTedUP]

this game isn't worth the trouble, im unhappy its on the ps3 in the first place.

[juuken]

Gametrailers...that's a bit too late.

[avacadosnorkel]

PS3 just can't win...even when it competes against itself.

[hardcorehippiez]

gawd i near choked when i read that, good 1 hahahah

[Charlie2688]

Remember kids if you manage to blatantly get away with something for a long time and finally get caught...

if you cant use he "Chewbacca" defence...resort to the "It was a Mistake" defence

...and hope and pray people will spontaneously forget you did it and that are your credibility will be back by tomorrow

:D

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[tatotiburon]

well now the fanboys have the perfect excuse por better xbox 360 versions...but just wait everybody when a game looks better on PS3, all the people here that are attaking GT will be "GT i love you"

[jahcure]

So GT, if the PS3 tape was "mislabeled" as xbox 360, didn't your editor find it strange that bot tapes would be noted as xbox 360, yet he went ahead and did the comparison anyway?

[jackdoe]

Lol. I'm sorry, but "a mistake" is mixing up gameplay footage that DOESN'T INCLUDE FACE BUTTONS. The Grid footage HAD face buttons in plain sight; hell, even if you went through a hundred vids, there is no way in hell you don't notice the face buttons.

[bloomerist]

excuses

[Asurastrike]

This is almost as good as Gamespot changing the GTAIV score from 9.0 to 10.

Entertaining.

[Kyur4ThePain]

Your explanation is accepted.

Now please explain how come you found such differences between the two videos.

[aaron5829]

A mistake like this.. if it was genuine mistake.. it will take anyone (especially high profile sites like GT) within minutes or maybe a couple of hours to apologize and come up with the reasons, not DAYS after !

A simple apology immediately after removing the vid wont hurt.

Why are they waiting for days ? Thinking of excuses ??

"oh noes, we've been caught.. what do we do nowwwwW?"

Everyone gathers and brainstorm.. and this was the conclusion.

Way to go.

I find this excuse unacceptable.. after years of experience, and a stupid mistake like this ??

[DJ]

"We have no clue how this happened."
"Someone modified our video to make us look bad."
"As for deleting forum threads and banning users who proved us guilty, we had absolutely no clue that even happened."

(and the kicker)

"The PS3 tape was labeled as the 360 tape." But don't ask them how they didn't notice they were comparing two tapes labeled XBOX 360.

[bootsielon]

InYourMom has been upgraded into my ignore list.

[jacobdevos]

Gametrailers.com
chose footage from a supposed 360 copy of the game and chose more interesting footage for the 360 version to prove its superiority

the fact that the tapes were switched is now irrelevant since this apology

but the question remains why were they able to give 360 the top, when they actually were comparing the same game.
why did the ps3 version get such a drastically less intense crash on purpose?

this is just more proof to me that they compare videos that have no comparative value, as the ps3 won against.. the ps3.

gametrailers go get new jobs, the gaming community just gave up on your bs website.

[Strife Lives]

But I'll play devils advocate.and Im thinking back to the oringinal Saints Row review.it was 6 minutes long.and incredibly in deapth.and very few sites go that in deapth with games.with that said,they shouldnt even be posting comparison videos cuz their pointless.its handing guns to to shoot 1 side or the other. When everyone needs to stop fighting all together.

[iheartSONY]

I could have given you a better excuse to use then that.

Like someone hacked your website and edited the footage and then started deleting threads and banning members. Then you say you will search for the "hackers" and punish them to the full extent of the law!
But you have to say it a couple hours after the incident NOT 2 days later!

Now that is an excuse. I do give the best excuses.

[Ali_The_Brit]

damage has been done GT.

[jollygoodchap8]

The damage is done.

Everyone sees them for what they really are.

[Baba1906]

it just shows me, that they make 2 different opinions about one and the same thing. if it is possible to rate the same thing different, it means you can do everything if you look at the right places. if the reviewer had looked at the same things on both games the same result should have come out. so even two revies of the same person of the same thing can come out pretty different. very interesting.

[Rocko]

They're already on the f@gdroid list of "biased" PS3 haters.

[xboxftw]

LIke GS, IGN, Voodooextreme, Cnn, newyork times, Valve, EA, Ubi, Epic, Id, Dice right. Its all a consipiracy staged by MS.

[STARS]

As much as I'd like to believe Gametrailers isn't biased against PS3, I just can't seem to come to grips with it. If you listen to their Invisible Walls episodes it seems they always like poking fun at PS3 and praise the 360. Both are good systems, with their own strengths and a few weaknesses. But let the consumer decide which one they want to play, don't make that decision for us.

[SL1M DADDY]

is it a mistake that they finally got caught making fake comparison videos and using ill willed footage? It's hard to see through the smoke and mirrors here so I will have to go with the notion that they are no longer credible just as all other comparisons are not credible. It's just safe to go that way than try to make heads or tails of a messy situation.

[billabong1985]

Why it is that nobody can ever accept that something is simply a mistake, not everything is a corporate fanboy conspiracy theory people, just cos they work for a game review site doesn't change the fact that they're only human and just as susceptable to making mistakes as any of us!

Besides, even if there is any truth to these consipracy accusations, seriously who cares?! What difference does it make if they actually did try to make one version look better than the other (which I still maintain is just wild accusations from fanboys), people are still gonna buy if for their own preferred console regardless of what some review site says, all these comparison videos ever achieve is to start 'my console's better than your console' flame wars, not that I'm really complaining, they give me something amusing to read ;-)

[Baka-akaB]

because according to their stories , its more than just a mistake , but a whole serie ...

Even if they somehow realized misplaced/labeled the footages , why in the first place both footage so different ? Especially now that we know its from the same console ...

Why one video is a simple crash , while the other is a spectacular one ?

They f***** up but cant even step up and dare say "ok we are not biased , but humans , someone fixed the videos on purpose , we'll try making sure it doesnt happen again"

The credibility they had is gone , and they dont even looks like they'll try fixing what was wrong in the first place ... but instead tell a bunch of lies , then call people upon their fanboys attitude , one they obviously majorly helped nurture with their fixed 360/ps3 comparisons .

[cliffbo]

noone believes that surely... its odd that the new vid shows like for like but the other video chose specific events such as head on collision for the PS3 and angled collision for the 360 (which was in fact the PS3) you don't fool me gametrailers, you've been biased from the start. oh, and did you use HDMI and full RGB this time? i wonder lol

[DARK WITNESS]

lol.... ok, i am just hearing about this and just watched the old footage.

As we would say over here ( UK ) they have really put their foot in it this time.

so, if i understand this right its meant to be a 360 vs ps3 video, but due to the error it ended up being ps3 vs ps3. ok fair enough, one question though, if they are both ps3 vids then shouldn't they both look the same ?

You can still see a difference with the colours. so if they are both off the ps3, the differences can only be down to the TV set up etc. if that is the case then surely that proves they have not been representing the true image quality of the ps3.

well i never...

[StrboyM]

Why are people so upset or even care about this...IM 100% sure they are biased, But who isnt for the right price ehh? I mean Game trailers doesn't have sony or M$ money, so if M$ said " hey guys hook us up and we will slip you a lil something under the table" wouldnt you? I mean game trailers gots kids to feed!! maybe sony should play ball and send them a nice big fat check!!

credibility in the videogame critics arena hasnt been anywhere near honest for some time now. I for one canceled all my subscriptions and only come to N4G, where we all are biased but at least its for the good of gaming, and not our pockets!!

[Baka-akaB]

I dont even get why people get there for something else than official video trailers of games anyway , and would considere that kind of site as a serious source of information anyway .

IF you wanna be a biased video games site , fine ... just be one ..
But dont go around lecturing "fanboys" , or even worse pop in to lecture other sites like the little hypocrite that is Kotaku lol.