Hello. What was here is no longer here.

This is because a blog I wrote on my personal site, intended as a discussion-started between a small number of my friends and peers, has been picked up, spun and twisted by a variety of sources around the web. I’m not going to put my own professional reputation on the line by having claims of Microsoft being bullies, or any other such nonsense, associated with myself.

The story was one of a small games website being blacklisted by Microsoft after posting an early review of Halo 3: ODST, after a local retailer had stocked the game before street date. I outlined the incident in which Microsoft demanded the review was removed, and continued to send regular and increasingly demanding emails to the website until it was, despite the site’s editor claiming to be away from his computer at the time. The review was eventually removed, and following the incident Microsoft were alleged to have told the site in question that they were no longer welcome at their press events.



It was my feeling that Microsoft were a little heavy-handed in the apparent content of their emails, considering the website was a small, enthusiast run outlet and had agreed to remove the review at the first available opportunity. However, I did state that the website should have had the common sense not to post a review before general embargo, regardless of how they obtained a copy of the game.

Hopefully, this will be the end of it.

