I live in the UK and have a website that covers movies, games, TV programs tech stuff.

First of all; I should define what a ponce is in the UK.  It is a person who is always trying to get free stuff.  They will literally kiss your butt, if they can get something for doing so.

Is the MVP scheme a good thing?  It’s like asking whether currupt politicians are good for government.

The main problem with this scheme is the same problem that has been in all industries since the dawn of time.  sycophant will always have nothing bad to say about a product because they want to get paid, get free gear and get access to unreleased material.

The trouble is; if you want to keep a moral high ground, you just have to accept that you will be left out of the picture.  Look how long it took the movie industry to accept the fact that maybe someone who reviews their movies might actually have a point; in the fact that their movie sucked.  Maybe they need to improve the quality of the product being released.

In my opinion; Anyone in this MVP scheme should not be taken too seriously.  They should publish the fact that they are a member of this club.  This way; when they review a product from that company; be it Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo,etc; you would be able to evaluate the review in a better light. 

With regards to this industry.  You will find that eventually it will have to realise that anyone that constantly tells them that they are great, will lull them into a false sense of security.  At the moment Sony is suffering from this.  In the past it was Nintendo and in the future it could be someone else.  What this industry needs at this moment in time is some hard truths.

Here is an example.  The games industry is not bigger than the movie industry.  It makes more money but, that is between a smaller user base.  When A games sells 1.6 Billion units, in the same way that Gone With The Wind sold tickets; then it has made it.  That is of course a poor example, being the biggest movie ever based on ticket sales.  The point is; until someone comes along and tells it as it really is; this bussiness is going no where.

So Gamer Andy.  Speak your mind; tell everyone how crap something is; tell them how great it is; tell me what an arsehole I am.  Just tell the truth.  One day when this industry rises above the level of playground children, they will realise that criticism can be good criticism, if it furthers the success of this industry.  Don’t forget that I only voice my opinion and everyone has the right to dissagree with me. 

Hope this wasn’t too long.  And keep on rocking in the free world.

You mirrored a lot of the same feelings I put in my mail to Andy.  I have to agree.

I am also relieved that I am not the only one who used “sycophant” to refer to these people.

I agree they should be treated like major nelson ie a mouth piece for MS.
May be they should be forced to put a disclaimer on there websites and podcast.
WARNING THE CONTENTS OF THIS SHOW/SITE MAY BE VERY BIASED AS WE LIKE OUR FREE STUFF FROM MICROSOFT.

Well it is like Nintendo Power, I you read some of the reviews in there, and it is like Nintendo can do no wrong.  You have to realise, that you are reading something about Nintendo by Nintendo, so you have to realize there will be some bias.

By the way, I love Nintendo and everything about, and it would be great if you guys could hook me up with a new DS

I have to agree.  In the paper based media, it’s a lot worse.  It is not too uncommon for publishers to offer hard cash in exchange for a good review and when you take into account the relatively low pay these people get; It’s hard to turn down cash.

Another thing that might happen is the person loves everthing a game producer has made and refuses to believe that this company could produce a turkey The rose tinted glasses syndrome.  It is getting better but, there is still a long way to go.

Maybe when companies market their products properly, the market will move forwards.