IGN Hits A New Low

IGN recently launched a new site called Music Hub. Great idea, music games are popular so why not make a site dedicated to them? Let’s see what games they cover: Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero World Tour, Guitar Hero 3, Guitar Hero 2, Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero Aerosmith, Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero Van Halen, GH Encore: Rocks the 80s, Guitar Hero Smash Hits, Guitar Hero On Tour, GH On Tour: Decades, GH On Tour: Modern Hits, Guitar Hero Mobile Games, DJ Hero, Band Hero, and… and… that seems to be it. That sure is a lot of games, the guys at IGN were very diligent in ensuring that every relevant game is included. Nothing seems to be missing that I can see, nope.

Yes, I’m joking. The “Music Hub” is a joke. It’s an advertisement for Activation’s games masquerading as just another section of IGN. It does everything it can to shove Guitar Hero down your throat while avoiding at all costs directly saying that it’s a marketing tool. This is dishonest to the point of absurdity.

This is a level beyond the regular absurdities that plague internet journalism (I use that term loosely). It’s a well known secret that previews and reviews, despite frequently containing much “objective sounding” language, are frequently written after some sort of financial arrangement has been arranged, and undoubtedly money influences previews and reviews. That seems trivial though compared to a company creating a third party website specifically for the purpose of advertising a product. The way their official language on Music Hub is so brand-agnostic is insulting to our intelligence, like they don’t want anyone to notice the true nature of what they’re doing.

It baffles me at how many people take IGN seriously when it repeatedly does stuff like this. It’s the absolute worst example of a capitalistic establishment, everything it produces is aimed at one goal: to make money at any cost.