GameSetFocusOn: How We Made GamePro Look A Bit Silly
April 7, 2008 4:00 PM | Simon Carless
Hm, faithful GameSetWatch readers, it's time to admit something rather naughty. We played a little practical joke on IDG's GamePro.com, because we noticed them 'borrowing' some data from us without crediting.
The following is a cautionary tale about plagiarism and factchecking. If you are a professional journalist, please avert your eyes. If you're at all tickled by 'things game journos do to amuse themselves', please continue reading, forthwith.
Part 1: 'Release This' & The Gunny Sack Trilogy
So this whole little trip started with Gamasutra contributor Danny Cowan, who spends quite a long time every week scouring and cross-referencing to create our official 'Release This!' column, running down the worldwide game releases for the week. This isn't always the most straightforward thing, especially for more obscure releases, so it takes him a good while.
Recently, Danny started getting suspicious that certain other websites were 'borrowing' his release list without crediting. So he decided to include a game that, uhh, might not actually exist, into the 'Release This!' column last week, to see what would happen. Can you tell which one it is?

It's actually surprisingly difficult to work out the ringer from that list - I mean, even 'Great War Nations: The Spartans' sounds a bit suspect. But it's actually 'The Gunny Sack Trilogy', which is an acclaimed book by writer M.G. Vassanji, apparently focusing on Indians living in East Africa. But it's not actually - and has never been - a game.
Still, GamePro seemed to think it was, and they listed it as such in their update on March 31st - and also syndicated to GameTrailers.com and to other IDG sites such as PCWorld.ca. Oh dear. Visual proof below:

Part 2: The Casual Brilliance Of 'Gem Pour: Casks'
So, at some point during last week, this jape became better known to the Gamasutra editorial staff, and we were, of course, thinking of doing a MAJOR EXPOSE.
But we figured (and Danny agreed) that it might be fun to finish off our pranking in style. Thus we have this week's release list, posted just this morning:

Among such unlikely titles as 'Plushees' for Nintendo DS (really exists!) and Dirty Dancing: The Video Game (really exists!), there's also the spectacular and obviously smash hit casual PC puzzle title, Gem Pour: Casks.
We're guessing it's one of those Bejeweled type games. Oh, looks like GamePro has heard of it too:

But it's a bit weird that they've slightly brainlessly printed it, given its anagram-based derivation. Ouch.
Sorry, GamePro guys, but it does take us a good while to synthesize those release lists, so you should probably know better than Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V. Meanwhile, we'll be giggling relentlessly for the rest of the afternoon, if that's OK with you.
[UPDATE: Commenter Mike reminds me that Gamasutra had its own version of GameProGate last year, when NeoGAF caught our naughty UK editor David Jenkins sourcing translations of Japanese Media-Create charts from those forums without proper credit, using a similar (and possibly inspirational!) method. This was rectified by some updated credits and a little trans-Atlantic swearing. So we, also, are not angels - heh.]
Categories:
20 Comments
pwned
Chris Remo | April 7, 2008 3:13 PM
Well played.
jp | April 7, 2008 3:41 PM
Straight from the depths of LiveJournal!
Shih Tzu | April 7, 2008 4:02 PM
Game. Set. Match
AJ | April 7, 2008 4:14 PM
And this is why I always try to give credit where credit is due.
Very awesome ownage guys.
Undrallio | April 7, 2008 5:22 PM
Made me think of this and smile. Good times... :)
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=6327926&postcount=10
Mike | April 7, 2008 6:35 PM
Haha, yes, Mike, you have a great point. I'd forgotten about that. I'll update the post to mention it :)
simonc | April 7, 2008 6:59 PM
And hey, while we're reminiscing, let's not forget the time that IGN lifted a press release from GAF to hilarious results...
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5308109&postcount=94
alistairw | April 7, 2008 10:11 PM
Simon,
I humbly extend my personal apology as GamePro news editor. Believe it or not, I have used Gama's "release this" as a premise for our own compilation for several months, in which we often (though clearly not always) add to, remove, and override your dates (i.e. with disputed games, Virtual Console releases, etc).
Nevertheless, we should have never commoditized Mr. Cowan's efforts without proper citation, and offer an apology to him as well. That was sloppy work on our part. From now on, we will be sure to source you, as we regularly do inline with any exclusive stories you break, if/when we use "release this" data. Any future concerns, just ping me by email.
On that note, do you reference any outside media reports when synthesizing your "release this" data, or do you get dates directly from individual publishers, one by one?
(And Mike: Thank you for reminding the community that no one is immune from the temptation of lifting public data without accreditation. It lessens the sting of feeling like a complete douche and is a reminder that we can all benefit from greater transparency when inking to others).
Blake Snow | April 7, 2008 11:06 PM
Hey, I've been in this position, too, having pieced together a few bits of info, then seeing it posted on a handful of unnamed European sites, so I know that it stings to have things lifted from your work. Oftentimes, we laugh it off and sort it out offline with the offending party, but sometimes a bit of calling out is warranted.
At the very least, it shows that Gamasutra is on top of releases. (I personally check against the GameStop, GameSpot and Amazon release lists when I'm dealt the unfortunate hand of generating release lists. I'll definitely provide more transparency in the future, 'cause *someone* at GameSpot's plugging in that release date data.)
Mike | April 8, 2008 12:43 AM
Even worse is when someone lifts an entire feature idea from you, rewrites it to make it *worse*, and spoofs Digg for thousands of hits. Culprits will remain unnamed just now, but I will never forget! I just hope I can cook up as clever a way to poke them in the eye when the time for sweet vengeance arrives =)
truncheon | April 8, 2008 9:43 AM
Hey guys,
First, an apology. I assumed something, and that just makes me an ass. The information was not public knowledge, and I now know that research and original reporting went into assembling the list. I'm also glad you posted the update above in your article, and can acknowledge mistakes happen. There was no malice behind my actions, only carelessness, and you can expect proper attribution in the future. One could argue if either is worse than the other, so I guess it's irrelevant. For now I'll extend an apology once again with the hope that you'll accept it.
-- Jack Loftus
Jack | April 8, 2008 10:58 AM
Classy apology. Good job guys.
Zack Hiwiller | April 8, 2008 12:32 PM
There was a LamePro.com article (the GamePro April Fools thingy, I don't know if they still do it) in which they created a parody article for a game called "American McGee's Elvis." Another publication (IDG New Zealand, I think, but I don't remember, so don't quote me) took that fake article and ran a preview about the exciting upcoming Elvis game.
This sort of thing happens all the time. It's lame, but GamePro's not the only culprit.
Jay Turner | April 8, 2008 5:13 PM
Good job guys, way to stick it to them while keeping your dignity.
Toms | April 8, 2008 6:18 PM
Another plagirising site:
http://www.videogaming247.com/2008/04/08/worldwide-releases-friday-april-11/
TnS | April 9, 2008 2:46 PM
who cares. you can't copyright facts. "sweat of the brow" is not a factor when determining if something is original for purposes of copyright. steal away and shut up.
arparp | April 21, 2008 4:08 PM
arparp: You are mistaken. "[C]ompilations of data or other literary subject matter" is considered a type of "literary work" and are subject to copyright.
http://www.copyright.gov/register/tx-compilations.html
brian j. parker | April 24, 2008 8:29 AM
The gaming and tech blogging world is pretty much a snake eating its own tale. Many of the sites just reprint things from other sites without even giving any credit. I discovered this back in January when I found lots of sites suddenly publishing stories about Jack Thompson getting sued by Take-Two which had originally happened back in March of 2007 http://popularculturegaming.com/?p=282
jccalhoun | April 26, 2008 7:51 PM
Nice job.It makes me mad, though, that people just don't take their job seriously.
Jccalhoun: Yes, but you could say that about blogs in general. Also, not all bloggers are professional, so naturally some information is recirculated.
KHammond | May 27, 2008 4:09 PM