Forza Developer Using Bribes to Skew CNET Poll Results?!

[BlingOnMyWrist]

We live in a very competitive world, and this is apparent in the video game industry where publishers and developers are constantly trying to get a leg up on their competition, whether it's through clever marketing or brilliant feats of engineering.

But what is NOT acceptable is when a publisher or developer uses bribes to gain an advantage. Che Chou, the Forza Motorsport community manager at Turn 10, has apparently done exactly this.

Here is Chou's post on the Forza forums, to quote:

"Hey all. Apparently, CNET.com is having a face-off between Forza and GT. We all know which game is we'd like to see win, so go http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13746_7-10256571-48.html.

And vote for Forza Motorsport 3! Afterwards, come to this thread and post a message letting us know you've done it. We'll gift you a random unicorn! It's that easy. Do it now!"

So what's a "unicorn"? It's a very rare type of car in Forza 2 that can only be found in the game's Auction House. Some of them are sold for millions of credits, and are comprised of a handful of vehicles, including the 2005 Lotus Exige Espionage, and 2000 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI TME.

So the fact that Turn 10 is giving these out for free to users who vote for Forza over Gran Turismo in CNET's poll is a very big deal.

You can check out the Forza bribery forum thread http://forums.forzamotorsport.net/forums/1/2631203/ShowThread.aspx, where you can literally see feedback on how the poll's results steadily turned in favor of Forza 3.

Here are just a few of the comments you can find from the thread's posters.

MorroidaZico: "Done voting for Forza. But man, honestly, us Forza lovers know how better Forza is as a game, but for those who have no idea what a racing simultator is or what the two franchises are all about, the GT video looks a lot more appealing."

LightnigWarr: "Ha ha, you're bribing us with a nice car... I like it."

Trystan Spyder: "What are we basing these votes on? I'm not sure CNET would be happy to know that the developer of Forza were bribing people for votes."

Lnin0: "I voted Forza 3 but I have to say based on the trailers GT looks more impressive."

What's your opinion on this matter? Is it fair to give out freebies in order to skew poll results? Let us know in the comments below.

Gran Turismo 5 video:

Forza Motorsport 3 video:

More PlayStation 3 News...

[Sooks]

Wow, this is a new low... that is all!

...Oh, and the Forza trailer really does suck compared to GT.

[GZA1984]

How come I'm not that surprised? I mean MS have been doing this for quite some time. Not with consumers, but with developers. And since forza comes from the same MS corner.....

[sharks]

nothing new at all. Intel has been doing just that against AMD. they were offering special discounts (bribes) to the wholesalers who would prefer Intel brand to AMD, and not promote AMD. This is how dominance is achieved, even if AMD has ranked up to compete head-on in terms on quality and performance, against Intel, since more than a few years now. So, it's really not a battle of who's the best (personally, i always use AMD, i have 3 AMD PCs. excellent peformance and the price is unbeatable!) but who has the best marketing strategy.

[mrmiller24]

everyone here should go to the CNET website and vote for GT

its equally wrong but at least it will even out the poll

just to update
after 23000 votes its still pretty even
48% GT
52% forza

[vfxraven19]

No matter how hard other Devs try, they cannot surpass the quality of GT (other's can't even acquire the vast car mfg licenses like GT can).

[Neikos]

hahahaha, what is funny is that when i heard this guy from M$ that claim about Forza3 having better graphics than GT5 or other racing game.. i just gone into IGN and took a GT5p Screenshot and of course GT5p looked a lot better than the Forza 3 Screens at kotaku...

GT5 will be the best racing game of all times a PS3 owners know it as well has the x360 gamers... GT5 Trailers was just impressive.

[SUBTAGIOUS]

I have never been a Forza fan. The trailer sucks. I am going to vote for GT5. I like prologue but the full game looks amazing.

I am a converted 360 fan.

[vfxraven19]

I have never been a Forza fan. The trailer sucks. I am going to vote for GT5. I like prologue but the full game looks amazing.

I am a converted 360 fan.

Same here, tried Forza 1 and Forza 2, pretty meh game... Not impressive at all, nice attempt, but failed. It's something with the control too in Forza I don't like, that GT does right. 360/Forza fanboys will continue to bash and in the end GT5 will prevail. Besides, 360 is maxed out, can't further tap into it in terms of power. If they try any harder they'll red-ring faster!

Cannot wait for GT5!

[ZBlacktt]

Just voted for GT. A game in which I own them all and love dearly.

Gran Turismo 5 52% (15386 votes) Forza Motorsport 3 48% (14305 votes)