This might be a little old, but I haven't seen much conversation on it.
Brian Crecente, the main blogsman of Kotaku.com, has recently been under fire from the gaming community for posting a very untrue rumor about the "Xbox Pure."
The source of the "Xbox Pure" rumor actually originated on the Cheap Ass Gamer forum, posted by a nobody user. However, CheapyD on the CAG Podcast had put together a contest to see if they could get their users to post a completely unfounded-on-any-facts rumor on the front page of any major blogging site, as part of a social experiment.
Crecente posted this rumor on the front page of Kotaku, and within minutes, the whole community posted comments on how Crecente missed the CAG contest and/or how he didn't check his sources; some harsher than others.
Crecente stated that he was very "disappointed" in Cheap Ass Gamer, and had added this statement to his original story:
"UPDATE: It appears that this rumor story could be CAG throwing their credibility out the window as part of a contest. Kotaku's decision to run rumors is always based on the credibility of the site and the information contained within it. In the past CAG has proven to be a reliable site, having broken a number of stories through apt reporting. It appears that may no longer be the case."
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My opinion? This is what I posted on CAG:
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Dude honestly, who gives a ****? Why is this such serious news?
Kotaku could of just said "oh we found out it was false through a CAG prank, sorry for the inconvenience" instead of Crecente crying and trying to blame everyone but himself, but instead he insisted on bickering with his own users about how disappointed he was with losing his time and stamps his feet at CAG.
I am pretty sure there are tons of other rumors that never get this sort of attention. Lesson be learned: LIST YOUR DAMN SOURCES AND GIVE YOUR READERS A RELIABILITY RATING ON THE SOURCE.
****, this is retarded.
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What's your take on all this?
Here are my sources:
Kotaku Rumor post and Crecente's comments - http://kotaku.com/5052203/what-is-the-xbox-pure
CheapyD's post - http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/blog.php?b=3292
BY THE WAY, MEGA MAN 9 TOMORROW, WHO'S PUMPED FOR THIS ROM HACK?!
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Nick touched on this very same subject here but I'll freely give you my two cents worth. I think Crecente was retarded replying to it the way he did. Seemed like he was taking himself too seriously.
Considering it was a one time contest and not a "this is how we roll" sort of statement, I'd still consider CAG's reliability as a source intact, were I in the same situation. A brief "I see what you did there" would suffice.
I don't think Cheapy had anything to do with it. It was posted on his forums and everyone just took at as official CAG news for some reason.
Either way everyones response to the "incident" like retards except for Nick.
He listed the source and stated that it was merely a rumor... like they always do. Destructoid did the same thing, but removed the post.
Promoting contests on podcasts to get people to fabricate bullshit is pretty fucking retarded.
Your complaints seem like more bitching and crying than anything else.
You got it mate.
Even the best news sources in the world have pulled a prank from time to time.
That said, maybe nothing else will come of this, and it won't matter for long.
It would have taken Crescente all of TWO SECONDS to check on the validity of the rumor. But Mr. Pirate Hair chose to get all prissy and blame everyone BUT himself.
Isn't Crescente a "real journalist"? He should know better. He couldn't pull that shit writing for that podunk paper he writes for; and he can't pull that shit in the blogosphere either.
In short, Crescente's credibilty is shot, as well as Kotaku's. I'm sure no-one is gonna stop going to CAG for their weekly discount fix.
Joystiq > Kotaku
lolwut?
Ever notice how Kotaku has NEVER given Dtoid any credit for any Dtoid scoops that they run?
It's because Kotaku doesn't consider Dtoid to be "mature".
I'm NOT making this up AT ALL. Let's just say a little birdie at a Dtoid meetup told me.
But if you want to defend Kotaku, feel free. I mean, he still hasn't taken responsibilty for being hoodwinked. He's also called CAG's credibility into question, and mass-banned anyone from Kotaku who called him out on it.
Sounds like a real journalist to me...Fox News style of course.
http://kotaku.com/5051523/acdc-rock-band-is-an-expansion-pack
I don't give a shit about anything other than the news they post.
This cblog is the first time I've even heard of this fiasco, and to be honest, promoting bullshit lies on a forum so that a tip-submission-based website posts it (even though it was labeled as a rumor and the source was given) doesn't seem like much of a prank, or like anyone was "had".
The entire thing seems moronic.
True, but then why should Mr. Pirate Hair get all butthurt about it?
Let's compare Dtoid's response to Kotaku's response:
Dtoid pulled the post, and Nick Chester explained (and apologized) in a CBlog post. That in itself is significant; cblogs have NO ADVERTISING. Therefore, there was nothing to be really gained by Dtoid's response.
Over at Kotaku, Crescente blames everyone but himself. Even adds a little blurb to the original post about it. I'm sure his little inflammatory comment about CAG's lack of "credibility" didn't boost pageviews by a few thousand. Oh no, of course not [/sarcasm].
Point is, everyone got burned, and not everyone was mature about it. The fact that a "real journalist" like Crescente was the most whiny about it is the most ironic. Now all of a sudden, he doesn't know how to verify a rumor? Something that wasn't exactly a secret to begin with?
That's some quality reporting right there. And I stand by my original comment of Kotaku not properly citing sources; because the person who originally told me (off the record) is pretty dependable.