I haven't been following this closely, but is there any proof that Stern or someone at Stern was involved in any of this? Or is this just pure speculation?

But we also have no real facts on what went down with Kaneda right? We only have the story he told, and I think it is fair to say he might not be entirely reliable.

I just don't see how any of this gets tied to Stern seeking vengeance for people talking bad about them. There is talk that they are going after people who are leaking their marketing material (which seems totally justified to me), but do we even have proof of that?

A moral and legal right? We aren't talking about uncovering criminal activities or human rights violations here. We are talking about leaking images of a companies upcoming product a day or two before it is set to be released. This isn't news that the world needs to know, it isn't serving the public good, and it isn't exposing anything. It is literally just spoiling a reveal for clicks and clout.

Sure, and Stern has the right to try to stop them from doing it.

My point is that there is no reason for people to leak the images, other than the fact that they are probably assholes.

I have no idea what is going on with this, and it sounds like most people really don't. Which goes back to my original point that this is all speculation and no one has provided any proof that Stern had anything to do with anything.

You may be right on this, the fact is we can't get into specifics about what they can and can't do, because no one knows anything. We have no idea what was said or done or by whom. We are talking about them hypothetically trying to limit the leaking of their promo material, is there any thing documented about this happening at all?

So let's back up, what did Cary actually say about Stern? Did he say they requested that he not stream anything? Did he say anything about why they asked that?

Ok, so I went and watched the video where he talks about it, and as I suspected, this is pretty much all speculation. He says the owner told him he couldn't stream because of a "conflict of interest" and something about the content of his previous videos. I don't know who this guy is so I don't know what his previous videos are about other than what he says. Was he leaking images or information in these videos, or was he just talking about games that had already been released and his opinions of them?

But, he is the one who speculates that it is because Stern didn't like him being negative. We don't know of that is the case. A conflict of interest doesn't make sense to me there, maybe someone can explain that.

I'm not saying Stern isn't being petty, it just seems like everyone is jumping on them for doing this stuff when we don't know any of the facts.

But this is literally this issue we are talking about. Stern doesn't want leaks of poor quality images because it could hurt their launch. And here we have the guy in question saying he posted a reaction to these poor quality images and he was disappointed. Now, that shouldn't matter because someone paying thousands of dollars shouldn't give a shit what someone on the internet thinks of a leaked image. But apparently some people actually do. That's the clear implication here, there are people in this community who think these immediate responses and constant discussion are very important. But if it is responses and discussion on things that aren't complete and quality, it is likely to bring negative reactions just based on that quality. And apparently there are sheep among us who care too much about that stuff.

So, this is exactly why Stern would want to shut down leaks. One of the first reaction videos to their new launch is negative, even though they haven't actually launched yet. Why in the world would you guys think this is good for anybody?

It seems like a lot of the comments here are based on the idea that all Stern is doing is attacking the people posting the leaked images. As if they are totally ignoring where the leaks are coming from. Do you really think they haven't thought of that and aren't working to stop it?

I don't know what their process is so I can't speak to how the leaks are happening. I have to assume most of the randos on these forums also don't actually know. But there is pretty much no chance Stern thinks that just trying to stop people from posting is going to stop the issues. That said, taking actions to punish those who do post leaks is a valid part of a greater plan. All this talk is doing one thing, it is making all of us aware that if you post leaked images of Stern's stuff, you might get banned from Facebook.

I don't think it should take 5 years, but apparently it is. Again, I don't know what their process is for providing info to the distributors. I don't know what steps they have taken in the past. I don't know what steps they are taking now. I don't know when they decided they needed to make more aggressive moves. I am not privy to any of that information. All I am saying is there is a lot of attacking Stern for what people perceive they are doing, without much indication that people really know what is happening.

Ultimately it comes down to this: Yes, Stern needs to get control of the leaks both internally and from distributors. But that doesn't change that fact that people are sharing leaked images Stern doesn't want shared. There is no need to share these images. It only hurts Stern's business. And so Stern (allegedly, we don't know for sure) is taking steps to stop people from doing that. And I have no problem with them doing that. Just don't share leaked images.

Again, how is that clear? What proof do we have that Stern is retaliating against people for criticizing them?

1. Someone making an accusation is not proof of anything.
2. He didn't even say that. He said the location told him there was a conflict of interest and an issue with content in his previous videos. But, they did not say what the issue was. Cary and others are making the assumption that it was because of criticism. I don't know what he said or did in these videos so I can't speak to that directly. Just pointing out that there is no proof Stern blocked this because of criticism.

1. Kaneda is not credible. Nothing he says about himself can be relied upon.
2. I searched, but was unable to find this video of Gary Stern. If someone posts it, I'll watch it. But, even sight unseen likely his concern is about content being revealed. Seems like a poor move when it comes to having a game at a major show, but that has nothing at all to do with criticism, that's something totally different.
3. I haven't seen screen grabs of Zach Sharpe messaging people in this thread. The only thing I saw was something supposedly shared by Kaneda, again, not credible. And even that wasn't from Zach, that was someone mentioning him.
4. I listed to the flippen and mashing show where they talked about being banned on facebook. They said clearly and openly that they shared leaked photos. They went so far as to save the images and repost them because what they tried to share had already been removed. That's not a criticism issue, that is a sharing leaked content issue.

I see evidence that Stern is going after people for leaking their stuff. I don't see enough to take the next step and say it is retaliation for criticism.

I don't know anything about him, never heard of him before this thread. So I ask, what makes him entitled to their support? I understand supporting content creators and it seems like Stern does that some that, maybe not enough. But there is certainly no decree that they need to support all the content creators. Based on what people are saying in this thread it sounds like he may be pot-stirrer and may be giving negative options without all the facts. It has been mentioned that he has made more that one video correcting, apologizing for, are completely reversing things he said in a previous video. Why would Stern want to support that?

If I decided to start a channel and review games, should Stern and JJP and others include me in sending out their marketing material? What if everyone in this thread decided to start a channel, should we all be included? What puts him on the list of people that Stern should be catering too?

Again, what many of us are saying is there is no proof this is happening. That is speculation without facts.

So your argument is that Stern should say to themselves: "Hey, this guy is bad for our business. He is leaking our content, creating videos about it, and spreading incomplete and/or false information. We should promote this guys channel and help him out."

No. There is no reason for Stern to support this guy. I haven't watched all his videos so I can't speak in depth here, but I do know he made a 30 minute video showing and discussing leaked images. In the video he talked about how the art was going to be divisive and that he didn't think he liked it. The very next day he posted a new video (the only time he should have released a video because that is when Stern actually released their stuff), completely recanting what he said the day before. He is not entitled by fiat to get help and support from Stern. And his actions at least in this case make the argument that he is not someone they should work with.

Just because he likes pinball and some people like him doesn't make him a journalist, an expert, or an anything at all deserving of being propped up by Stern.

The problem is Stern is a large, investor backed company. And it is very likely they don't want to be associated with a person like Kaneda. And it seems like Cary hasn't been acting in a way that would make Stern want to work with him either.

So I watched a few of Cary's videos including the last two about being shunned. I will say this, he is doing a fine job of feeding into this narrative that Stern doesn't like him because he doesn't shill for them and he talked bad about some of their stuff so they are going to shut him down. This narrative of course completely ignores the fact that maybe Stern doesn't want places associated with them working with him because he is leaking their content and causing them problems. Maybe it really is that simple. When someone is actively hurting your business through their actions (not just their reviews) then it is totally reasonable to not want to be associated with that person. Honest reviews are one thing, harming a business is another.

And that has been my ultimate point here, many people are assuming this is happening because they are "telling it like it is" while not considering these things are happening because they are doing things they shouldn't be doing.