Earlier this week, Variety's Ben Fritz expressed concern over IGN's exclusive first review of Grand Theft Auto IV, asking rhetorically, "How can we trust a videogame review when the outlet running it has been given a major commercial favor ... from the publisher of the game?" Well, GameDaily Media Coverage Columnist Gus Mastrapa went the extra mile and asked that very question to some people at IGN. And he even got an answer!

"We in no way trade scores for an exclusive," said IGN VP Tal Blevins, adding that publishers have no access to or say in the text of a review before it goes live. That doesn't mean IGN didn't make any concessions to secure the exclusive, though. IGN Xbox editor Hilary Goldstein admitted the site used promotional placement on the site's top feature bar to secure the exclusive. "Our bargaining chip is to basically say, 'I will put it here if you let me have this,'" Goldstein said. Mastrapa likened the practice to an "exclusive cover story" in a game magazine.

As for Variety and Fritz, Goldstein seemed unimpressed with with his journalism bona fides. "Nobody from Variety called us and said, 'Hey, would you like to comment about this?'" he said. "He says in blog post, 'If I had the game right now I would have broken the embargo.' To me that goes against your ethics." Nothing like an I'm-more-ethical-than-thou battle to get your heart racing in the morning.

For the second time in as many weeks the developers at Criterion have given players of the PS3 version of Burnout Paradise a little extra hug. However, this time, instead of simply leveling the playing field, the devs have announced that they're working on what's called the Save Game Analyser -- a fancy way of letting perfectionists look at what they have and have not accomplished in the game.

The feature will let players import Burnout Paradise saves from the PS3 using a USB drive or Memory Stick and onto the official Criterion website in order to view all of their unfinished business on the streets of Paradise City. A post on the Criterion website points out that the developers are putting the final coat of paint on the feature, and while no release date as been announced the post notes that it's expected to go live "imminently," which if we're lucky will give us just enough time to get our Hunter Citizen out of the shop.

Crysis developer and PC gaming evangelist Crytek may soon fly the flag of multiplatform solidarity, as company president Cevat Yerli revealed in a recent interview that the studio will no longer create games exclusively for the PC due to poor sales and game piracy that he says is "encompassing Crysis."

The comments were made as part of an interview with Croatian magazine PC Play, during which Yerli stated that "I believe that's the core problem of PC gaming, piracy ... It was a big lesson for us and I believe we won't have PC exclusives as we did with Crysis in future." He added that while the company will continue to create games for the PC, these titles will not be released solely for that platform.

Of course, this brings into question not only the oft-rumored PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 ports of Crysis, but also the game's planned trilogy of sequels. While Yerli wasn't asked as to the fate of subsequent games in the Crysis canon, he did comment that bringing Crysis "as we have seen" to consoles would be "impossible," and that the game would have to be "largely changed" to be brought to either the PlayStation 3 of Xbox 360. We continue to dream of playing the game from the comfort of our couch, though Yerli's remarks that the company's focus "is not linked to bring Crysis to consoles" has a single high-def tear running down our cheek.

[Via Team Xbox]

As with any multiplatform release, fanboys will no doubt be arguing about why their respective system is most suitable for LucasArts' latest entry in their midichlorian-infused franchise: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. However, owners of last-gen systems, handhelds, and Wiis wont be left without their fair share of ammunition in the fracas, as this video shows the exclusive content these sometimes ill-respected systems will have access to. We're still a little apprehensive towards the DS control scheme, but everything else fills our wallets with fear -- we may have to buy a few copies of this gem.

Fanboyism aside, on which console will you be effortlessly chucking stormtroopers through the air come September 16?

With some 15 different titles in the works, we'd assumed that the forces of Capcom had enough on their hands to not go looking for other things to keep them busy. That's what we get for assuming, as the company has announced that it's secured the exclusive rights to publish games and peripherals based on the MotoGP license.

The winds of change began to blow last year, as Capcom sewed up Sony platform rights to the motorcycle sport in 2007. However, this new deal does everything but say 'yoink!' to longtime series publisher THQ, pulling rights to all things MotoGP beneath the Capcom umbrella for the next five years, with this year's annual update already planned for release on the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Wii, PC, and mobile phones.

Now all that remains to be seen is who will handle development -- franchise vet Climax Group or series newcomers Milestone, who helmed last year's PS2 version for Capcom. There's really only one way to settle this...Thunderdome!

And the dance goes on. The ongoing question of is it or isn't it regarding the PS3 exclusivity of developer Free Radical's upcoming FPS Haze continued this morning with reps from publisher Ubisoft back peddling on an earlier report that the game would never show its face on the Xbox 360. In a new report by CVG, Ubi has 'clarified' things, stating that the game will simply remain an exclusive to Sony's platform "for now." Well now, we're glad that's clear as mud.

While the game was originally announced for both consoles as well as the PC, reports have gone back and forth for some time now as to whether or not the game would be released for multiple platforms, with this latest development seeming to lend weight to the game being a timed exclusive. Even so, with Haze's PS3 release fast approaching and the game still failing to impress when shown during this month's Play.com in London, the big question should not be whether or not the game makes it other platforms, but rather if anyone will care.

Ubisoft reps confirmed at the Play.com Live event to Ripten in a "resolute fashion," and with an "as far as [we] know" to our own man on the scene, that Haze will remain a PS3 exclusive and won't come out for Xbox 360. Publisher Ubisoft and developer Free Radical must have gotten something nice out of the exclusivity deal other than money, because we all know that Sony doesn't buy exclusives.

Haze, which was originally announced for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC, was later hinted as a timed exclusive for the PS3. The game is now expected to release in May on PS3 and ... well, never for anything else.

Traditional, point-based motion capture (the kind brought to you by guys in black suits with reflective balls) has been great for developers that want to capture basic skeletal motion for their in-game characters. But for realistic facial work, even setups with hundreds of reflective dots leave developers with rough, blocky data that requires a lot of post-production work to even start approaching the uncanny valley.

Enter motion capture company Mova, whose Contour Reality Capture system uses an array of cameras to create 100,000 polygon facial models that are accurate to within a tenth of a millimeter -- no special reflective balls required. At this year's GDC, the company is trying to attract the game industry's attention by unveiling examples of their facial modeling running in real-time on the popular Unreal Engine 3. Continue reading for exclusive, real-time video of the technology and excerpts from an interview with the Mova founder Steve Perlman.

"Losing a job you've held for over 11 years in an abrupt manner is shocking, yes."

While the above quote should perhaps win Jeff Gerstmann the 'understatement of the year' award, the former Gamespot editorial director is still staying silent about the specifics surrounding his recent firing (citing the previously mentioned "legal reasons," among others). He has, however, told Joystiq that he still stands behind his controversial review of Kane & Lynch.

"I stand behind my work, regardless of where I do it," Gerstmann told Joystiq in an e-mail. "If there was content that I felt I couldn't support, it wouldn't see the light of day." Gerstmann did not comment specifically on the edits made to his text review of Kane & Lynch, or the site's removal of the video review, but he did support the editing process in general. "If factual errors are made, I have no problem owning up to that error, correcting it, noting that a correction has been made, and feeling like an idiot for making the mistake in the first place," he said.

Gerstmann also directly addressed the somewhat pernicious rumor that he did not complete Kane & Lynch before he finished his review. "A reviewer's Xbox Live Gamercard is rarely a good place to look for answers about how much that reviewer has (or hasn't) played a game," he said. "For the record, I saw both endings in Kane & Lynch before writing about it."

As for his future plans, Gerstmann seems to be keeping his options open. "I'm not really sure what I want to do next," he said. "This whole situation has left me with a lot to think about. While this sort of clean break would be an acceptable time to think about trying game development, I feel like I still have more to say and do on the editorial side of the fence, too."

Surprisingly, the experience doesn't seem to have soured Gerstmann on video game journalism as a whole. "Despite the number of people who are taking these rumors ... to mean that game writing is ethically bankrupt, I don't feel that's the case," he said. "Either way, I'm currently keeping my options open and have been in contact with interesting people on both sides."

Metal Gear Solid 4 is turning into a third-party anomaly on the PS3. For Sony's sake it continues to be an officially non-timed PS3 exclusive even when others have left for greener pastures, but on the other hand its production costs are extreme for publisher Konami, and the big question is: How are they going to make that money back? Ryan Payton, assistant producer for MGS4, told Reuters that the game needs to sell one million units on its first day due to its production costs. We don't know if Payton is expecting a global launch, but just for a point of reference, in the US that would require 50% of PS3 owners to buy the game on the first day.

One million units on day one is a Reed Richards stretch; we're certainly curious to know how Konami is going to justify the exclusivity of MGS4 financially. If an efficiently produced game like Uncharted: Drake's Fortune cost $20 million, we can only wonder what a game with the production levels of MGS4 cost. There's a much deeper story here about the cost of MGS4 and Konami, but those answers probably won't shake out until long after MGS4 releases.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Take-Two has confirmed that the promised episodic content for Grand Theft Auto IV on PS3 will not show up and is now an Xbox 360 exclusive. Questions arose regarding the episodic content earlier this week when the financial reports for Take-Two's fiscal year did not have the PS3 content present, but did have the Xbox 360. The game will still launch on both consoles Oct. 16 (Europe will receive it Oct. 19). Despite the Pachter effect, the release date for GTA is still locked and loaded for those dates.

So, why did this happen? Could have been a nice sum of money dropped into Take-Two's mailbox, or there were development issues with the PS3 content. Although not earth shattering, it does differentiate the two console versions of the game now and adds another piece of straw to Sony's already cracking back.

[Via Xbox360Fanboy]

It seems that Grand Theft Auto IV's downloadable content is shrouded in as much mystery as its hush-hush storyline. While Rockstar North once said that the PS3 would be getting "exclusive episodes" of the game, they weren't listed among a recent Take 2 investors report, while a listing for Xbox 360 episodes of GTA IV is sitting smack dab in the middle of the 2008 fiscal year.

Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean a death knell for GTA IV PS3 content, perhaps it was unintentionally omitted or maybe the content wont come to Sony's box until late 2008. Either way, this is still pretty muddy. We hope things will clear up by the time gamers are asked to plunk down their cash.

In the haze of battle, one soldier has lost his two comrades. Ubisoft's Haze will debut this fall on the PlayStation 3 only but may show up later on Xbox 360 and PC. Speaking to GameSpot, representatives for the publisher said that "Haze is leading on PS3, but no exclusivity for any platform has been officially announced."

The sci-fi first-person shooter was initially announced for PS3, Xbox 360 and the PC. According to a Q&A with developer Free Radical's director Steve Ellis, Haze is being made with all platforms in mind, Pro-G reports. "The challenge for us has been in designing a solution that will work well across the platforms," he said.

Ubisoft is calling PS3 the "lead platform" for the shooter. All signs point to a timed exclusive; don't be surprised if PC and Xbox 360 owners are "hazing out" in 2008.

[Via PS3 Fanboy]

Kevin Gifford's Game Mag Weaseling is a column run on GameSetWatch where he discusses coverage by the game magazines. In a recent article about Game Informer's "coverage" of Grand Theft Auto IV, Gifford said the piece was full of "glorified feature lists enhanced with developer quotes and insulated by hundred of words of filler."

Well, Game Informer's Editor in Chief Andy McNamara wasn't going to take that lightly, writing to the site, "I fail to see how getting world exclusive content that you can't get anywhere else isn't offering our readers something unique and worth the price of a magazine?"

Essentially where Gifford and GameSetWatch stood their ground was that the coverage felt managed by Rockstar -- well, of course it was. Rockstar gave GI the pictures, quotes and whatever else they wanted to. It's not like GI infiltrated the Rockstar building and retrieved the information for their readers. There was some deal made and GI got the exclusive -- good for them, it shows the muscle that comes with 2 million hard-sold Gamestop customers subscribers.

If you're happy with that ending and don't want to hear a potential spoiler, enjoy that ending for this post and don't look after the break!