Most of us who cover gaming news have one thing we all share. Dealing with gaming PR professionals and companies. Most PR/gaming companies are pretty straightforward to work with. They give and respect the work and post in return. There are also companies that fall on the two extremes of the pain in the butt spectrum. I am going to share our experience and what I think are the three best and worst gaming companies to deal with, when it comes to press access.

What makes a good PR/gaming company to deal with is not based on how easy it may be to get a review copy. All gaming companies have to watch out for those who are just trying to receive a free game. There is three criteria I thought of when making this list: Communication, thoughtfulness, and yes accessibility (ie assets and review copies)

I am going to keep the name of the PR agencies out of the post. Just mention the companies they are work with.

Best

SEGA PR

For being one of the major game developers for Nintendo, SEGA is very easy to deal with. SEGA probably has one of the most well designed press sites. They allow the ability to put multiple assets in a queue to download all at once. Where most press sites only allow you to download one asset at a time. The website will also mark new additions to the site since the last time you visited. Which makes it a lot easier to see what needs to be covered.

SEGA is quick and efficient when sending out review games. One thing that SEGA does different then any other gaming company when sending out review copies, they will let you know when the game is in the mail. Most of the time review games are a surprise when the show up at the doorstep/mail box. The surprise is not necessarily a bad thing. It is just nice to have few days warning to give you some time to open up your schedule.

South-Peak

Over all, the company of South-Peak is very well organized and easy to work with group. They are quick to respond to emails with helpful information. They are also open to helping out in any way they humanly can. What makes South-Peak stand out is  probably having the coolest, slightly creepy, but lovable PR agent ever created by man, (if she was) Mrs. Aubrey Norris. It has been a while since South-Peak has release a Nintendo title. Which has made it a while since I have worked with Aubrey. Frankly that makes me sad. It’s not just Aubrey but all South Peak emails will leave you well informed, laughing, and sometimes a little freaked out. It is refreshing to deal with a PR firm that seems to love what they are doing and it shows.

Activision

This may come across as a surprise to some of you that Activision made the top three list. Activision is one of our oldest PR contacts. In fact they contacted us before we even knew what it meant to have a PR contact. Activision may not be as open as SEGA or South Peak when it comes to communication, but when a review copy of a game is received, it comes tied with a quick email from a representative asking if we need anything else. Out off all the gaming companies Activision is the most consistent and on time with sending out review copies.

Worst

Capcom

When I first joined Pure Nintendo many moons ago when it was called Niwifi, the first PR company I signed up for was Capcom. Ever since that sign-up and initial approval I have gained access to their PR site, received daily emails concerning announcements…and that is it. Through out the years I have tried to reach out to different members of the PR team with no success. I have never received one email back in reply. In their defense I have not tried recently. Maybe they would know.  I know Pure Nintendo is not at the place were every company would drop everything to help us. Just give us the common courtesy to email us back.

Nintendo

What Nintendo made the worst list!? Nintendo probably gets plagued with request from everyone in the world. It is understandable that they are a little elitist when it comes to PR connection. During our first time at E3, four years ago, we finally made a Nintendo PR contact. We asked to be put on the press list to gain access to their press site and yes hopefully games. After a couple of weeks of email request we finally received temporary access and the assurance that we would be put on the list. To condense a two-year long story that consists of many inquiries from us. Nintendo seemed to be giving us the run around. We probably talked with a half a dozen different people who said the same thing. “Oh, yea sorry about that you should be on the list. There I just put you on the list.” We would soon come to find out we were not put on the list or the wrong list. It seemed like the left hand did not know what the right was doing.

Like I said earlier Nintendo is very elitist when it comes to press access. They are even more elitist when it come to game review copies. Nintendo seems to have different levels for press review copies and Pure Nintendo is close to the lowest. I am honestly ok with that. It gives me something to work too. The issue is sites that have something against Nintendo get to review games when sites that could give a different perspective are left out in the cold. I understand Nintendo will not send out review games to everyone who wants them. I am just saying they should be a little more open too which will allow a larger analysis of the game.

All PR/Gaming companies that do not do their homework

I originally had Ubisoft or X-seed at this spot. After talking about Capcom and Nintendo I decided these two companies are not so bad. Yes they have their issues but not as bad as the others. I decided to lump together all the companies that do not do their homework. My biggest complaint is receiving emails that are not related to Nintendo. I am not talking about companies like EA who just put you into a mass email list and send you every press release they have. I am talking about the companies that pull your address out of a pool to add you to an email list. When attending an industry event like E3, GDC, etc, your email address is if free for the game industry. It honestly is a good way to get contacts. The problem is for those companies who just pull emails out of that pool thinking they can get more exposure. I cannot count how many emails I receive daily concerning iPhone/Andriod games or 360/PS3 games. Everyone who works for Pure Nintendo receive a @purenintendo email address. There is one word in that address that should clear this whole thing up…Nintendo.