Editor's blog: Grand Slam Tennis to be re-reviewed

By Tom Bramwell Published 19 June, 2009

Public apology to EA Sports.

This morning we received a tip-off from our colleagues at Eurogamer.de that they had encountered substantial differences in Wii MotionPlus performance on their Wii debug review kit and their retail Wii console. Obviously this set off alarm bells - Kristan Reed had reviewed Grand Slam Tennis on a Wii debug kit.

With the gravity of that in mind, I went out and bought a boxed copy of Grand Slam Tennis and a WMP and hotfooted it round to Kristan's, where we both tested it out. Our German friends were absolutely right: there's a substantial, immediately noticeable difference between the responsiveness playing the game on a retail Wii.

As a result, I'm immediately withdrawing Eurogamer's Grand Slam Tennis review until we will publish a new review based purely on retail console play. The existing text will remain online with big whopping signposts on it that highlight the above, and once the replacement review is published, it will redirect to that.

Furthermore, while Virtua Tennis 2009 was reviewed on a retail Wii without issue, the text published today makes numerous references to Grand Slam Tennis, so until such time as the EA game is reappraised, I'm also withdrawing the VT review.

Both the new Grand Slam Tennis review and an updated Virtua Tennis 2009 review will be published on Monday.

I'd like to take this opportunity to apologise to EA Sports for the original GST review, which was clearly not representative of the product. EA has not asked us to withdraw it, nor issue this retraction, but I believe both are the right thing to do. I must also apologise to you, our patient readers, if you were misled by the mistake.

For the record, the mistake - 'catastrophe' is probably a good word, actually - was down to out-of-date firmware on our Wii debug machine, which neither our EA contacts or us apparently knew anything about. This meant that Wii MotionPlus only worked to a diminished degree during our review process. We had received the game and WMP accessory direct from EA, and reviewed GST in good faith.

We will clearly be extremely mindful of this possibility in future and be drawing up additional safeguards internally to prevent a repeat.

Once again, I'm very sorry for our mistake.

Tom Bramwell
Editor, Eurogamer.net

P.S. It should be pointed out that Virtua Tennis 2009 is a bit of an innocent victim in all this, and stands alone as a good game. Kristan's review text is still online, but has been amended with a caveat in similar fashion to Grand Slam Tennis until such time as it's revised.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (79) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Oh-Bollox #1 3 years ago

    Good on you for being honest and not just going "Pfft, fuck it, it can stay up."

  • thiswaynow #2 3 years ago

    >Good on you for being honest and not just going "Pfft, fuck it, it can stay up."
    +1

    Makes more sense now in terms of the wildly different reviews elsewhere on the web.

  • terminalterror #3 3 years ago

    Kudos for admitting your mistake and acting to remedy it.

  • phycus #4 3 years ago

    begs the question why reviews are conducted on debug version of the wii and not retail as normal people own.

  • CasperCCC #5 3 years ago

    Another +1 for having the balls to admit that you've got it wrong, and to do it so publicly.

  • aldo_14 #6 3 years ago

    begs the question why reviews are conducted on debug version of the wii and not retail as normal people own.

    I'm curious too - Perhaps it's to do with how review code is supplied?

  • Lutz #7 3 years ago

    Kudos guys. Sometimes shit happens, and you're fixing it. Well done. :)

  • krudster #8 3 years ago

    The answer to that one is simple - retail code is generally not available until a few days before release, whereas debug code of the gold master is available weeks in advance. Logistically, it's simply not possible to get timely reviews up otherwise.

    I must admit I was baffled why GST didn't work for me, and evidently did for others, but eventually the answer became evident. I'm looking forward to setting the record straight and doing the game justice.

  • Der_tolle_Emil #9 3 years ago

    Another +1 for having the balls to admit that you've got it wrong, and to do it so publicly.

    I think it's great that they are re-reviewing the game but it's not like it was their mistake in the first place unless of course they knew it wasn't working and still published the review.

  • malteaserhead #10 3 years ago

    Good show chaps.
    It's a high 7, lowish 8 for me. You can submit that as the review if you like ;)

  • krudster #11 3 years ago

    It appeared to be 'working' to a limited degree, but that could have been down to the game. It wasn't until we actually saw it properly working today (when we went out and physically bought a copy ourselves) that we both knew that what we played wasn't reflective of the version on shelves. As Tom says, it appears to have been an issue with outdated Wii debug firmware, which is certainly a problem we've never come across before.

  • LazyDan #12 3 years ago

    Wow, that's awesome. Colour me impressed!

    I look forward to it :D

    Although this'd be funny:

    "Yeah we re-reviewed it... It's worse than we thought, 4/10."

    EDIT: I, on behalf of the internet, retract our negative statements regarding the original review. WE ARE SORRY EG!
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 14:49

  • jonnypile #13 3 years ago

    This actually seems to be Nintendo's mistake rather than EG or EA's. Their disregard for journalists and the review process is why their games are treated so shabbily by the media. It's usually the case that reviewers just don't get enough time with the code.

  • phycus #14 3 years ago

    @krudster:

    Not sure that reviewing a wii game (or any other platform) using a debug version of a console can be considered a fair review.

    Does it really matter that much that reviews are released on or before the game is? Surely reviewing a game as an end user would (i.e. retail version of game and console) would not only be more thorough but also more fair.


    Edit:
    It would certainly prevents issues such as this. "because it never happended before" is not a very good excuse, next you'd be saying it was all within the rules.
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 14:59

  • JonFE #15 3 years ago

    This is good news. I'll look forward to the new review. I'm still not convinced on Motion Plus and its impact on games (although, I reckon, I'll probably end up purchasing it)...

  • CHAZBIGPOTATO #16 3 years ago

    Those Gerries never miss a trick do they? Bless them.

  • monkeyspasm #17 3 years ago

    Well done EG - very impressed.

  • phycus #18 3 years ago

    Shame bad metacritic won't remove the original review score, cest la vie.

  • Hunam #19 3 years ago

    Metacritic will change it when it's replaced on monday.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #20 3 years ago

    "Shame bad metacritic won't remove the original review score, cest la vie. "

    I've contacted them about this too.

  • Mugwum Verified Operations Director, Eurogamer Network #21 3 years ago

    "Does it really matter that much that reviews are released on or before the game is? Surely reviewing a game as an end user would (i.e. retail version of game and console) would not only be more thorough but also more fair. "

    We generally review from code certified complete by the publisher. Sometimes that's retail, but sometimes it has to be on debug code.

  • daz_john_smith #22 3 years ago

    Well done Eurogamer
    +1

  • Falcon9x5 #23 3 years ago

    +1
    EA not having anything to do with it.

  • Shadders #24 3 years ago

    Good on you for sorting this out so quickly and efficiently, Tom, you really are a top fella.

  • HolyJebus #25 3 years ago

    Fair play.

    Could the same have happened for your original review of Halo 1. Surely a 10.

    Oh no he didn't....

  • Eighthours #26 3 years ago

    Glad to hear you're not going mental after all, Kristan. :)

  • SnoppleMonster #27 3 years ago

    How much did Virtua 2009 on the Wii get before it was pulled?

  • rhubarbandcustard #28 3 years ago

    I hope EA sue you.

  • stevetuck #29 3 years ago

    Maybe you should buy all your games.... then you will see how a real gamers wallet feels
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 15:40

  • dr_swin #30 3 years ago

    good strong leadership there Tom.

  • HSH25 #31 3 years ago

    Its been pretty obvious to me for the past week that the Eurogamer review of GST was wrong, this at least makes a bit of sense out of the original review.

  • Incarta #32 3 years ago

    Makes me wonder if this has happened before and gone undetected? And not just to EG, but other websites and publications too? Could this occur on other gaming platforms?
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 16:00

  • stevetuck #33 3 years ago

    Both gamespot and 1up complain about the controlls as their main downside on the reviews

    I guess they had the same problem as EG did, but i doubt they will ever re-review the game :)

  • LazyDan #34 3 years ago

    Can Resident Evil 4 for the Wii get a re-review now?!

  • DudBug #35 3 years ago

    My Wimbledon final victory over Bjorn Borg (7-5) counts as one of my all-time favourite gaming experiences in 25 years of gaming. Once you get the hang of the controls the game can be incredibly tense and saitsfying.

  • Spooke #36 3 years ago

    Good on EG but it does make me think that this has already crowned GST the winner. I bet Sega are a little annoyed.

  • YoungPayters #37 3 years ago

    responsible journo's? thats a new one! well done for owning up to it. I you can clearly see that ye are fairly upset by it, which is nice

  • Zomoniac #38 3 years ago

    So WMP doesn't work properly on lower firmware? I had to downgrade to 3.4 to get USB Loader installed, does that mean WMP will be shit for me?

  • Bartacus #39 3 years ago

    I am so pleased, this great game desrved a much better score than 5 out of 10 I might even say Virtua Tennis 2009 should score lower than Grand Slam Tennis.

    It's that much better im my opinion.

  • HSH25 #40 3 years ago

    Even with MP working the controls still have some undeniable problems, its by no means perfect, so you can't just say that anyone with complaints didn't review it properly...but its definitely not a 5 game.

    And when it works (which is most of the time) its probably the most satisfying tennis game ever made.
    Edited by 1 at 19/06/09 @ 19:59

  • Bremenacht #41 3 years ago

    I think you couldn't have found someone with a better name to make the first post in this thread. :)

    Now then, does this also mean that your terrible Dorkfail review was based on debug (*cough*) code, and that you will re-review it post-haste, lest a naked zerg pvp all over your full loot? Ho ho.

    Anyway - good show, EG; I look forward to reading the re-reviews for this and VT side by side.

  • varsas #42 3 years ago

    @phycus: I think most people want reviews at or prior to the release because it helps inform their purchase. If EG only reviewed games after release then reviews probably wouldn't be up for a week or more so that they have a chance to sample most of the content.

  • phycus #43 3 years ago

    @varsas
    Ultimately as the result of this flawed review due to using a debug wii console buyers were possibly put off buying this game - potentially the developer could have been financially impacted, who could seek legal action.

    i'm not trying to be difficult, but EG have a huge responsibility to gamers and developers - not an easy bunch to please.

    Perhaps the review should state whether it was debug code reviewed (my guess they all are).

  • ChrisOTR #44 3 years ago

    Mistakes happen, well done for owning up.

  • Super_Zee #45 3 years ago

    ...and *that's* why I trust EG.

    Good work fella.

  • secombe #46 3 years ago

    Fair play to EG, I was waiting for GST and VT to be reviewed before making a choice anyway, so at least it looks as though I will get a fair comparison on Monday.

  • Sycopat #47 3 years ago

    I'm not a tennis fan, but I certainly admire EG's integrity and commitment to delivering honest and accurate reviews.

  • ManicDrunkMonk #48 3 years ago

    ^Are you saying if you were a tennis fan you would automatically admire EG? :-P

  • Spooke #49 3 years ago

    I just stood in Game with both and couldn't decide. I need more info on GST, will wait for the review.

  • Xerx3s #50 3 years ago

    I get that you want to rereview it but why an apology? Surely EG is not at fault here? If anyone is to blame it's either Nintendo or EA. :/

  • ChevEdwards #51 3 years ago

    Sounds odd to me. Without the most up to date firmware on the devkit WiiMotionPlus doesn't flat not work, but just works a bit worse?

    The review was garbage anyway and completely omitted key features (such as online).

    The biggest problem with the game is that it doesn't do such a great job of explaining itself. It really does lack any meaningful feedback when practicing. The first time you boot it up and enter the practice court the pop-up dialogue explains the controls for playing without motion plus, even when the device is connected. This immediately made me question if the device was working or not; removing the wmp in play showed that it did and obviously too (as an aiming arrow pops up above the net without it).

    Also not ramming it down your throat that the face of the racket is the side of the remote is a massive oversight. If I hadn't have read this on forums or in reviews then I too would have been sure that the game wasn't working properly. (I think I've only seen this explained in the game a handful of times when it pops up as one of the random loading screens.) Another commenter suggests this in the comments for the GST review as being the reason for why Kristan didn't get on with the game and it sounds pretty plausible (and it's the games own fault really).

    For me it's the best tennis game out there. Now it's about keeping the ball in as well as hitting the winner. That's a definite advance for tennis games and something you couldn't implement with a standard controller without sticking in what I'd imagine would be a pretty arbitrary and cumbersome interface.

    Congrats for the apology to EA. Whatever the reason that was the right thing to do. (And I never thought I'd feel good about somebody apologising to EA.)

  • Steroyd #52 3 years ago

    Not sure that reviewing a wii game (or any other platform) using a debug version of a console can be considered a fair review.

    Does it really matter that much that reviews are released on or before the game is? Surely reviewing a game as an end user would (i.e. retail version of game and console) would not only be more thorough but also more fair.

    Well for one if they keep releasing reviews after every other website and after the release date, less people will have reason to go to Eurogamer, why would they read EG after they've already read IGN, Gamespot or wherever this gets amplified with big titles like Halo or GTA.

    Plus a game goes gold about a month before release, that's enough time for the publisher to gain hype through mediums like EG and Magazines so they can slap such scores on the game case if they want.

  • Xerx3s #53 3 years ago

    People read reviews? On websites? Like IGN or gamespot? Seriously?

  • rotmm #54 3 years ago

    @Crofto,

    Nice block of text. And it could be that you are actually right in what you proclaim.

    However, it's more likely that you are a pretentious cunt with your head stuck so far up your arse that you could give yourself a pretty good enema with just a decent sneeze.

  • knightmt #55 3 years ago

    I thought it was some malevolent wii rage.
    I did laugh when Rob Fahey said in Giz that eurogamer uses the whole range to score games though.
    The ten point scoring system does not lie well with Eurogamer reviews as I feel even the reviewers struggle to give a value that contrasts the graphics, gameplay, atmosphere and longevity.
    How can VT, prototype, infamous, red faction: guerilla all be the same?
    I thought VT must be awesome if it scored the same as these other games.

  • RobTheBuilder #56 3 years ago

    Well done on the honesty.

    Apparently a lot of people have been buying VT09 with Motion Plus.

  • miiiguel #57 3 years ago

    Crofto is a funny character, if a bit repetitive (being polite here), I mean, it can get on one's nerves for his unpoliteness, and the atitude of someone who thinks he's above other individuals, all that mixes with a feeling of "wtf the dude's coming back for then?".
    But then you look at his picture and you realise, oh... 17! Been there, felt that (well, not really, but still, indulgence strilkes). I guess it's a biological thing, I read the Nietzsche Zarathustra, and loved the superman bs, back then, so I guess it relates.
    Then again, it is annoying, and hopefully it'll go away. lol.

    on-topic: good decision, it's such an obvious "good deed" that all in all, I do fail to understand who thinks otherwise.

  • zzyzx #58 3 years ago

    I'm impressed by the show of integrity, but WM+ is still very glitchy. If the re-review scores higher than 7, it'll be a pure case of pandering.

  • HSH25 #59 3 years ago

    Thats a load of rubbish.

    If you look at the thoughts of people who've actually played it, despite some obvious problems, a lot of people are saying its by far and away the best tennis game they've ever played and makes other tennis games obsolete.

    I can see why it perhaps might only get a 7, but an 8 or even a 9 is not out of the question from anywhere.

  • bluem4gic #60 3 years ago

    Right! Can you now go and fix your "other" reviews for the following games. Resident Evil Wii Edition and Mario 64 DS. Why you reviewed that game with the stylus and not the thumb strap I don't know

    Plus can you fix the Halo 3 Review because there is no way that game is a 10/10 experience more like a solid 8. I believe the free swag Microsoft was giving journalists in the industry who reviewed the game might of clouded your judgement. GTA IV 10/10? you must be joking

    It maybe also an idea to adopt a new scoring policy as the current one clearly does not work. Maybe adopting Famitsu four man review will be up your street.

    This is one of the reasons why myself personally don't read eurogamer as much anymore. You have very informative articles but you seem to hit and miss with your review scores. It the same reason why I don't go to IGN. At the moment it seems that a blog site namely Kotaku.com and Gametrailers.com that offer a decent balance when reviewing their titles. They were the only guys who didn't go nuts over GTA IV and gave it a reasonable score
    Edited by 2 at 22/06/09 @ 09:08

  • kangarootoo #61 3 years ago

    Good response, well done.

  • rotmm #62 3 years ago

    Ah, the old "Halo 10/10" argument. Never gets old, that one.

    Though I suppose given that, 21 months later, the game is still regularly the most online played game on any current-gen platform gives some credence to reviewers who scored the game highly.

  • macmurphy #63 3 years ago

    I've played a few games on debug consoles, often by the time it's ready to review the games are identical to their retail cousins. There's usually no problem with using debugs to review, and as someone pointed out it's the only way you'll be able to know if the game's any good on launch day. It is of course important that journalists ensure that the experience they get matches what consumers will see (this did not happen with Mariokart for example, something I whined like a girl about at the time). The debug experience is, however, usually identical to the retail one.

    As for people whining about other review scores, it's an age old and pointless argument. You cannot shade a certain amount of subjectivity, nor can you eliminate national tastes which seem to ensure some games recieve very different review scores based on the nationality of the reviewer. If you think a review is off base, go to metacritic and check..

    Eurogamer are reviewing the game again because they played something that was nothing like the retail copy. It makes sense, it doesn't mean that every other review is forfeit. The numpty's whining about certain scores can wind their necks in, especially as, with the exception of Resi Wii, the scores are largely close to the metacritic average.

    Also I would expect that the final review will be very fair. I'm sure the guys on Eurogamer are thinking long and hard about this one since it has no become associated with their journalistic integrity. I would hope a fair and balanced review is now much more important than 'pandering to EA,' especially as EA should shoulder the blame for the mistake in the first place. It is surely their job to ensure that reviewers are given a copy of the code that will play identical to the retail experience.

    An error occurred through no fault of Eurogamer's own; they've done their best to fix it. You can't really ask for much more than that.


  • coolbritannia #64 3 years ago

    Ah Halo, the finest series of games ever created. Good to see it still gets love.

  • AphoticCosmos #65 3 years ago

    Mistakes happen, but you did the right thing in choosing to re-review it based on new evidence :)

    At any rate, speaking of re-reviews, when do we get to laugh at Darkfail again?

  • Kremlik Verified Co-Founder, Crash To Desktop #66 3 years ago

    Nah we'll never see a re-review of Darkfall - they don't have the army of suits ready to sue the hell out of EG and drop ad funding.

    You only get a 'Public apology' from anyone when they are about to lse something because of it

  • rotmm #67 3 years ago

    @Kremlik,

    You do realise that, with regards to Darkfall, the developer stated that they didn't want a re-review. EG were happy to do it, Aventurine not at all.

  • gohda #68 3 years ago

    EGlol

  • Spooke #69 3 years ago

    COME ON! get one with it, I've got a Game Card that's burning a whole in my pocket!

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #70 3 years ago

    Darkfall review is almost ready actually!

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #71 3 years ago

    Kremlik: Actually, we approached EA about the mistake, not the other way around.

  • db3 #72 3 years ago

    Thumbs up for highlighting the mistake. I wonder if any other retail Wiis could have the same problem with outdated firmware due to lack of internet connection. May explain why some peeps with hacked Wiis also claim to have issues.

    Hopefully the EG member comments were key in highlighting how much the review went against the grain.

  • Slipstream #73 3 years ago

    Ultimately as the result of this flawed review due to using a debug wii console buyers were possibly put off buying this game - potentially the developer could have been financially impacted, who could seek legal action.

    Or perhaps EA could've warned review sites for their own sloppyness.
    100% a fault of EAs, EG have nothing to apologise for.

  • rauper Verified Managing Director, Eurogamer Network #74 3 years ago

    db3: I think the difference is that the retail discs have the new firmware on them, so when you put in the game it updates your console to ensure it has the right version. Whereas the debug version didn't... and we weren't notified about it (as we normally would be) when the review code came in.

  • Spooke #75 3 years ago

    stop waffling!

    When is the review going to be online?

  • Atropos #76 3 years ago

    "Does it really matter that much that reviews are released on or before the game is? Surely reviewing a game as an end user would (i.e. retail version of game and console) would not only be more thorough but also more fair. "

    Debug consoles can run the games off of bog-standard writeable DVD-R's (at least they could back when I reviewed games). The retail versions are properly "pressed" copies of the game, with lots of copy-protection thrown in for good measure, while debug consoles can run non-copy protected discs. This allows distribution arms around the world to receive their 1 review-copy of a finished game, make 100 copies, and get them out to reviewers in time for the retail release. Also, these are marked "review", and should then be considered exact replicas of the finished product. Unfinished advance versions of a game are labelled "beta", and most sites/mags won't review off of those. So EG acted in complete good faith in this instance.

  • zzyzx #77 3 years ago

    OK, I'll amend my comment that anything higher than a 7 would be pandering to EA.

    An 8 seems high to me, personally, but I guess it's within reason. And given that VT2009 has already scored a 7 and GST is certainly a shade better, an 8 makes sense.

    The controls feel great when they're working. Much better than the 100-odd combinations of button presses you need to learn for Top Spin on a console. But WM+ is still too glitchy for me to consider GST a complete success. Maybe the slower pace is what makes WM+ better on Tiger Woods...

  • superdelphinus #78 3 years ago

    well done you massive spazzers :)

  • monkey13 #79 3 years ago

    How was this game developed if the control system doesn't work on a dev kit?

    Unless it was a very lucky break for EA, if we believe Eurogamer, the games a 5 for the testers and developers but is magically a 8 for you and me.

    The re-review is nothing to do with all the EA Fight Night advertising all over the sight. No not at all. In this solid economic time with advertisers queuing up EG wouldn't backtrack on a review for a few quid. Would they?