Full Disclosure

I understand that in the interest of full disclosure if one is to review a product, say a video game, one is to disclose the manner of acquiring said object to allow readers the chance to put the opinions in perspective. With that in mind I'd like to cover my behind by describing the circumstances of my recent video game reviews. But, in case no one is following my rambling, I will explain why I think this desire exists. I suppose at some point in the past someone promoted a game, movie or cell phone without ever explaining it was given to them for free and that no matter how bad it was, that's pretty cool with them. Conversely, if someone paid full retail price for an item and it sucked, they may be inclined to really hammer home that it sucked. This latter scenario seems more reasonable to me as that is how most people acquire things, at full price. Now there is some nifty middle-ground where a person might get a mediocre product at half price and that actually creates a more positive environment than it normally would have. I only write this in case you have never heard of this before and wonder how I interpret the need to contextualize the review experience.

L.A. Noire: I bought it at full price from a local Best Buy and received a $10 gift card for, I assume, being a prompt customer purchasing a new videogame within a week of release. I had no idea about receiving a gift card until purchase time and I never let it figure into my feelings about the game. It is worth the normal $60 and the value increases for any discount you might get on it. If this had a special edition for $100 with Fedora then I would have been all over it.

Red Faction: Guerrilla: Having jumped through some hoops online back in early 2009 I had the chance to play the multi-player beta. I won't lie, I was enamored with a chance to play a game before release, and to take a Q & A session to help before it was ready for prime time. I thought the beta could have used a little help, but, overall I liked the game enough to declare, even if it sucked, I would buy the game. When it came out I bought it from GameStop at full price (upsetting the staff as I wasn't trading anything in or buying a used copy that was $5 cheaper) and shelved it assuming I would get to it soon. Sadly I didn't, but with recent release of Red Faction: Armageddon I cracked the seal on the older game and played it. I think it stands to reason the if the game is still good after two years that it is a really solid third entree into the franchise.

Red Faction: Armageddon: I bought some special edition something or other for Xbox 360 and was given a $20 gift card to Target for my troubles. I've had this gift card for a while and finally decided to use it. I won't reveal my feelings on this game yet, as I finished it about 24 hours ago and it's still gelling in my head. But I will say getting a discount on this game can only work in its favor.

Duke Nukem Forever: I am old enough to have actually bought a Duke Nukem game for a previous console, and I felt moderately enthused that it was okay. That would be the Nintendo64 version of Duke Nukem. I have heard nothing but vitriol about this new game that indicates it probably never should have existed, but instead it hung in there for more than a decade to shake the vapor-ware attribute. I bought this today at Best Buy using a couple of gift cards to make the final price around $40. I have only played this game for a few hours but I can confidently say I think I payed too much for it. I will hold all the rest of my opinions until I find the end of it, but my will might atrophy.