Gamers Nexus response to TPU smear

Nightfire

2[H]4U
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Sep 7, 2017
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Surprised this was not posted yet.


Bottom line, Reddit sources a whistle blower saying that youtubers were shilling with the nvidia boxes in the background.

TPU ran with the article and it blew up in their face. A GN thumbnail was used, and Steve was rather pissed about it.

Apologies were made, but it was indeed very crappy journalism. Glen Beck style response of "I am not saying that, I am just reporting what others said" only made things worse in their comment section.

It seems the lesson was learned on pushing this style of yellow journalism. TPU is still a good site and they just made a mistake. Still rather amusing reading through the comment section, though.

https://www.techpowerup.com/260456/...lacements-alleges-whistleblower?cp=7#comments
 
Saw this pop up in my YouTube feed as well. Steve's response was okay-ish, it was a little stream-of-consciousness-like, but it's authentic at the very least.

Personally not going to give TPU's tabloid journalism my click traffic. I'll reward a half-decent article with a click, but TPU's got some egg on their face with this one.
 
I like TPU but that article was pretty bad. Essentially they took an unverified reddit rumor and ran with it. Hopefully they don't make similar mistakes again, because I do like their reviews.
 
Saw this pop up in my YouTube feed as well. Steve's response was okay-ish, it was a little stream-of-consciousness-like, but it's authentic at the very least.

Personally not going to give TPU's tabloid journalism my click traffic. I'll reward a half-decent article with a click, but TPU's got some egg on their face with this one.
Everything Steve says is stream-of-consciousness — only reason I don't really like watching his videos.
 
I like TPU but that article was pretty bad. Essentially they took an unverified reddit rumor and ran with it. Hopefully they don't make similar mistakes again, because I do like their reviews.

I do like TPU, just never was a fan of btarunr. He has always come off as arrogant in the comments section.
 
I gotta tell you, I’ve been watching YouTube videos non-stop to prepare for an upcoming build after a few years off and I just hate Gamers Nexus. I think they really suck. All their videos are 30 minutes to discuss a 10 minute issue and the guy has all the charisma of a potatoe.

Lately I’ve been watching Hardware Unboxed and I really like those guys.
 
The ranting Irishman "not an apple fan" had a long video on this that wasn't too convincing and I think he had GN as one who wasn't doing this from his research. After last year's nvidia GPP nonsense nothing would surprise me anymore though.
 
I like both TPU and Gamers Nexus (when Steve Burke started it, I really didn't think that it would last long -- and I'm glad it did, and that he seems to be doing well; he has a good amount of monthly donations on his Patreon page, amongst other things). Admittedly I don't watch Gamers Nexus videos on YouTube very much.

That was a really silly mistake from TPU, though (which can be easily misinterpreted as a swipe against Gamers Nexus).

TPU's one "weakness", IMHO, is in their gaming headset reviews -- this is where guys like Metal571 and solderdude (of DIYAH, aka DIY Audio Heaven, google it) shine, even if they don't cater to the "gaming market". To be fair, "gaming headset reviews" are the weakness of a lot of hardware enthusiast websites, and Kyle's review of the Audeze Mobius was about as good a review as you can possibly expect, in terms of "review quality", not the headset itself (much better than the majority out there, even right now), even if I have a somewhat different take on it.

Apart from that, I find TPU generally replacing what Anandtech used to be re: GPU reviews. I still go to Anandtech for smartphone reviews, though.
 
The ranting Irishman "not an apple fan" had a long video on this that wasn't too convincing and I think he had GN as one who wasn't doing this from his research. After last year's nvidia GPP nonsense nothing would surprise me anymore though.

Eh. There is a world of difference between the GPP garbage and the tin foil hat level conspiracy nonsense of this.
 
I gotta tell you, I’ve been watching YouTube videos non-stop to prepare for an upcoming build after a few years off and I just hate Gamers Nexus. I think they really suck. All their videos are 30 minutes to discuss a 10 minute issue and the guy has all the charisma of a potatoe.

Lately I’ve been watching Hardware Unboxed and I really like those guys.

We create 100 page threads discussing a 10 minute issue.

Steve's semi-unscripted style is not for everyone, but it appeals to me as it comes off more genuine. In most of his videos, he does stick to an agenda with multiple time stamps.
 
We create 100 page threads discussing a 10 minute issue.

Steve's semi-unscripted style is not for everyone, but it appeals to me as it comes off more genuine. In most of his videos, he does stick to an agenda with multiple time stamps.

Not to mention it comes off as a lot more knowledgeable most of the time. Steve and his team put a lot of time and effort into their reviews and I really like when he digs into the nitty gritty of things. The level of detail GN gives is very rare when it comes to hardware reviewers, written or video.
 
TPU's one "weakness", IMHO, is in their gaming headset reviews -- this is where guys like Metal571 and solderdude (of DIYAH, aka DIY Audio Heaven, google it) shine, even if they don't cater to the "gaming market". To be fair, "gaming headset reviews" are the weakness of a lot of hardware enthusiast websites, and Kyle's review of the Audeze Mobius was about as good a review as you can possibly expect, in terms of "review quality", not the headset itself (much better than the majority out there, even right now), even if I have a somewhat different take on it.

Add Zeos and Brian P. at Badseedtech to that, and Joshua Valour for a different but well-produced perspective.

I can't touch gaming cans, I alternate between my Focal Elex and Beyerdynamic DT177X Go these days :D
 
wash-tubs.jpg
 
no politic outside of Soapbox
Just goes to show that you can say any damn thing you want, about anyone, and if enough people see it, it becomes "true".

"Well after what nVidia did with GPP...yeah, prolly true"
 
When I want an in depth on something, I think Tech Jebus does well. If I just need a quick news snippet, I definitely steer clear of his long winded videos. It really just depends on what you need at the time.

But yeah, TechPowerUp (I really don't know the site) really pooched that one. Oh we just used a random internet pic for this horrible slam piece. Maybe you shouldn't let interns (I hope it wasn't a real editor / employee) run their website / posts / social thingamabobs.
 
You can ignore years of actions by Nvidia if you want. I choose not to.

I do not ignore it. I just do not use past infractions as proof of allegations. We can think, "hey this could be repeating behavior" as you have, but the next step is to prove it or find evidence, not a conviction.
 
I like digital jesus... But man, I think he is working too hard, getting worried he might burn out (hopefully not)
Good fun video..
That being said..
Sentient hair hehehe that got me.
And losing faith in humanity.. I was like shit, I pretty much said the same thing at looking at similar situation...
I get it 100%....
 
I do not ignore it. I just do not use past infractions as proof of allegations. We can think, "hey this could be repeating behavior" as you have, but the next step is to prove it or find evidence, not a conviction.

I get your point, and there is little evidence here as presented. Typical lazy internet reporting/trolling that didn't do good research. Yet, where there is smoke, there is fire. For me, watching some reviewers promote the 1660ti and 2060 as entry level 1440p cards earlier this year raised my hackles. It reeked of marketing points so I am more skeptical.

Overall, we get some amusing videos and the hilarious conference call of back slapping sillyness with a rare legit lawsuit/takedown threat via twitter.
 
Disappointed in TPU for the article. Don't they have some sort of review process with some editor or editors reviewing articles before posting them? Don't care if they apologized or not, its ridiculous it got to that point. Shows they have very little peer review or validation, which makes me question their hardware review results.
I don't mind videos, even long ones, so guess I will stick with youtube for my reviews. Maybe one day [H] will come back when Kyle gets bored at Intel.
 
Disappointed in TPU for the article. Don't they have some sort of review process with some editor or editors reviewing articles before posting them? Don't care if they apologized or not, its ridiculous it got to that point. Shows they have very little peer review or validation, which makes me question their hardware review results.
I don't mind videos, even long ones, so guess I will stick with youtube for my reviews. Maybe one day [H] will come back when Kyle gets bored at Intel.

I think that if true, this would've been a big story, so it was probably worth mentioning, although it needed more "this is just unverified talk at this point." The mistake seems to have been just grabbing a random video in his feed and using a picture, and not saying "this isn't meant to accuse Steve of being a part of this, just a picture that's meant to illustrate what the claim looks like." In the article comments, the author apologized pretty profusely. I did notice a lot of grumbling in those comments about his articles in general. Without knowning anything about him beyond that, I'd be inclined to accept his apology. Of course, I'm not the guy who was wronged.
 
I posted that screen capture earlier because I saw that when it was new and thought, why the hell are RTX boxes the only tech visible on an AMD and Intel video? When the set was done well enough to be lighted with AMD and Intel company colors?
 
I posted that screen capture earlier because I saw that when it was new and thought, why the hell are RTX boxes the only tech visible on an AMD and Intel video? When the set was done well enough to be lighted with AMD and Intel company colors?


Because Jazzy uses product placement. Here is a perfect example.

2:20s
 
I posted that screen capture earlier because I saw that when it was new and thought, why the hell are RTX boxes the only tech visible on an AMD and Intel video? When the set was done well enough to be lighted with AMD and Intel company colors?

With stuff like the Philips Hue bulbs and other companies doing the same thing it doesn't really take that much to set up lights like that. Throw a couple bulbs in, set them up on your phone, and set the color you want.
 
With stuff like the Philips Hue bulbs and other companies doing the same thing it doesn't really take that much to set up lights like that. Throw a couple bulbs in, set them up on your phone, and set the color you want.
Ok. Point is... Thought went into how the set looked and efforts were made. RTX boxes just got in the shot by accident?
 
Ok. Point is... Thought went into how the set looked and efforts were made. RTX boxes just got in the shot by accident?

Sorry, misread the end of your post. In my defense, I'm half-asleep and fighting off a sinus infection so not entirely with it right now. I never really paid much attention to what was sitting on the table behind him when originally watching his videos so I went back and looked at others around the time and it seems like the boxes in the back kept changing around. Looks like he was putting stuff back there that he was either working on or just finished working on. Given the timing of Steve's visit RTX boxes make sense, though why just them is a good question.

Edit: Looking at his custom RX 5700 XT review it doesn't look like there are a bunch of RTX boxes floating around in that one.
 
I have no issue with paid product placement, it just needs to be declared for what it is. And if it is quid pro quo, that needs to be stated as well.

Jay leaned into that with his latest video: just before the screenshot below, he said "but first, I've gotta do something that Steve is always telling me that I should do in my videos if I wanna increase my income as much as possible."

jayz2.png
 
I would suggest that a lot of this happens with YouTube, and it is pressed where companies know they can get away with it. I know for a fact that it has happened in the past and not been disclosed by those doing it. Don't be naive.
 
I get your point, and there is little evidence here as presented. Typical lazy internet reporting/trolling that didn't do good research. Yet, where there is smoke, there is fire. For me, watching some reviewers promote the 1660ti and 2060 as entry level 1440p cards earlier this year raised my hackles. It reeked of marketing points so I am more skeptical.

Overall, we get some amusing videos and the hilarious conference call of back slapping sillyness with a rare legit lawsuit/takedown threat via twitter.

Except the internet is quite good at making out some clouds to be smoke.
 
While they very well may be compensated (or not) - or even lie to their viewers about it. I personally think product placement is quite real.

If you take Jay's videos (especially older ones, there's pretty much nv box or gpu in every scene - in 2nd plane while everything else is on 3rd or even 4th plane of the scene - thus your eyes when you are not looking at their 1st scene (the person presenting the product) always hit that nvidia box or a card; sure you can spot other hardware other trash but only when you try to spot it.)

Lets think of a solution;
Is there a good one? Or maybe there isn't.
Maybe they should have blank background just like in the past without any products behind their backs?
In the end, its all about what they want to do with their channels. If the viewers don't like it, they should just watch something else.

The worst thing you can do about someone pointing out something is laugh at them.
Its very likely GN does receive monetary compensation for those bright nv boxes. I don't know - their attempt to discredit the whole notion seems suspicious.

The internet is quite found of conspiracy theories, some turned out to be quite true.
 
While they very well may be compensated (or not) - or even lie to their viewers about it. I personally think product placement is quite real.

If you take Jay's videos (especially older ones, there's pretty much nv box or gpu in every scene - in 2nd plane while everything else is on 3rd or even 4th plane of the scene - thus your eyes when you are not looking at their 1st scene (the person presenting the product) always hit that nvidia box or a card; sure you can spot other hardware other trash but only when you try to spot it.)

Lets think of a solution;
Is there a good one? Or maybe there isn't.
Maybe they should have blank background just like in the past without any products behind their backs?
In the end, its all about what they want to do with their channels. If the viewers don't like it, they should just watch something else.

The worst thing you can do about someone pointing out something is laugh at them.
Its very likely GN does receive monetary compensation for those bright nv boxes. I don't know - their attempt to discredit the whole notion seems suspicious.

The internet is quite found of conspiracy theories, some turned out to be quite true.

you seem to be quite fond of the conspiracy theories yourself.. there's no conspiracy theory, this is a case of a bottom tier blogger that desperately wanted his 15 seconds of fame and failed miserably at it without thinking about the consequences of his actions for TPU or for GN or anyone else he was describing.
 
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