And it shows a flaw in Sony’s digital storefront.
The Last of Us 2 has been taking a PR beating over the past couple of weeks so it should be of no surprise that netizens are looking for anything and everything they can to beat the companies over the heads with in terms of new scandals, because scandals are baked fresh daily. Latest on the chopping block is related to the game’s Playstation Store listing and the idea that the game has a five star review score from well over a thousand accounts.
It has five stars on the Playstation Store and this has the internet boiling over in rage. Obviously as the game is not even released it must be a case of blatant review manipulation! Right? Anyone?
Well no. As cooler heads have begun looking at the situation it appears that five star reviews on pre-purchase Playstation Store games are not uncommon. Quite common, actually. Of all of the games currently on pre-order for the North America Playstation Store, only one of them does not have a five star rating; the basic edition of The Avengers. It has a four and a half star.
For some reason Sony allows people to rate games that they have pre-ordered but have not released yet, and it turns out that the kind of people who would go through the process of pre-ordering a digital copy and rating it before launch are huge fanboys. The people who would rate the game 1/5? Probably not pre-ordering the digital copy. Just a guess.
And this isn’t just a Sony thing. Microsoft apparently allows it, as do many other online retailers. Does it make sense? No. Does it give customers a reliable picture of the product’s quality? Absolutely not. Is it a sign of malfeasance by Naughty Dog? Of course not. Did I reach out to Sony for comment? Yes. Did they respond after a day? No.
Am I going to end this with a SidAlpha video? Of course I am.
MMO Fallout 