The other is dependent on the publisher. At a certain point, review outlets begin to receive review copies. The timing of this as well as the coordination they provide will impact the coverage. While I am aware of download codes for Xbox Live titles, I'm unsure whether there is an equivalent method for WiiWare review copies.
That leaves manpower, and there being only so much that can be covered. Downloadable titles are going to naturally take a back seat to retail copies.
It's not whether it's right, it's just what it is.
---
Tell me to get back to rewriting this site so it's not horrible on mobile
Yeah I know all of this. Reviews have to drive eyeballs in order to make money (unless of course we're reviewing Kane and Lynch). The post was really more of a rant. Still, it does make me wish there was a good source for information on niche gaming. Nintendolife.com makes a good effort and I give them credit for that, but the quality of the journalism is average at best.
With all the crap on WiiWare it'd be damned near a charitable act too. Maybe this is my calling in life. Maybe I need to do this.... nahhh that'd be work.
I've felt this a lot with Wii games.
Every big HD game release and the review is there day fricking 1.
Wii games you can sit there for a couple of weeks which in internet terms is forever and still be waiting on a review. Sometimes it never even comes, I still can't see a gametrailers review for many titles.
It's not like they are crappy games like Babiez Partee or whatever. Yet they treat these games with contempt so you never really see them. Very annoying.
If you didn't see my earlier post in GG Weekly, I purchased Harvest Moon: My Little Shop (of Horrors) and it's absolutely terrible. Just awful. It's a fantastic looking game with no other redeeming qualities and that just makes it all the worse. Actually what makes it worse is I bought some additional content before playing it and ended out another $3.
What makes it all a little frustrating is that I was very on the fence with the game in the first place and I was really hoping to read some reviews to help me decide. Two weeks after it was released there was only one review available for it from Nintendolife.com - not the greatest source for reviews. They gave it a 4/10, but they also gave Tree of Tranquility a 5/10 which I enjoyed a great deal. That reviewer even admitted he underscored in it the forums, and it just took longer to get going than he anticipated (an example of why I don't trust this site's reviews).
So I rolled the dice hoping that this was a similar situation, but not this time. The review was pretty accurate. Not a good game. Disappointing to say the least.
But it also frustrates me in how little press this game got. Two weeks after its release there should be a little more than one review for it. It's not a long game and doesn't take hours or play to be able to produce an accurate review. It's just the bias that too many downloadable games are victim to. If it doesn't have a box it's just not worth a review. I realize a game like this will never be treated like Call of Duty and have dozens of reviews before the game launches, but I think they deserved to be treated with a little more recognition than what they get.
Plus it even raises a question of how important is it for a site to do a review for a game as big as CoD? When there are literally a hundred others out, saying virtually the same things, it doesn't stand out and ultimately doesn't offer much value to the readers. Then again I know the answer to this too. I'm just bitter...