Editorial Policy
This page outlines the editorial and ethics policies that guide the professional conduct of all SEGA Nerds’ staff members and our coverage of SEGA and the video game industry as a whole.
Policy on Editorial Content
We like video games, and we like SEGA. As such, we want to see SEGA continue to grow and be successful in line with the video game industry as a whole. However, we are completely independent of SEGA and have no official relationship with the company. We are not beholden to SEGA and have no responsibilities to SEGA other than to be professional and courteous in all our interactions with SEGA employees. Our responsibilities are to our readers, where we’re steadfastly committed to produce unbiased and impartial content.
It is our aim to be the best source for SEGA content available anywhere, and we work tirelessly to be that for you. To achieve this, we must cover SEGA with an unbiased approach, being willing to cover the negative side of the company just as aggressively and professionally as the positive side.
Policy on Fact Checking and Corrections
SEGA Nerds does everything in its power to ensure our articles are completely accurate with factual information when we publish them. If we receive a tip from a source whose information we deem credible enough to publish, we will always request a response from the official party to verify its authenticity.
If that party refuses to comment or doesn’t respond to our request and we decide to publish the information, the article will state the information is unverified until we’ve been able to officially do so.
Moreover, if we find an article has inaccurate information, we will correct it as soon as possible and add an editor’s note in the article to ensure the reader is aware the article has been updated for accuracy.
Policy on Reviews and Scores
We treat reviews in a similar way to a discussion we’d have with a close friend. If we didn’t like a game, we’d never think of telling our friend to waste their time or money on it unless we felt there’d be something they’d appreciate. Alternatively, if we think they’d really like it, we’d tell them as much.
Many video game outlets score video games on a numerical scale, whether it’s a 5-, 10- or 100-point scale. However, we feel putting a quantitative score on something that’s entirely subjective isn’t the best approach.
Instead, at SEGA Nerds, we use a qualitative review scale that ranges from:
- Excellent
- Good
- Average
- Poor
- Horrible
We think this is the easiest and best way to quickly communicate our thoughts on a particular game’s overall quality. After all, when you’re chatting with your friends, you don’t say “Game X is a 75,” right? No, of course not; you probably say something along the lines of “It’s a really bad game,” or “It’s excellent; you should definitely pick it up!”
Policy on Review Assets
The SEGA Nerds editorial team routinely requests and receives software from SEGA for the purpose of previewing, reviewing and publishing editorial content for the SEGA Nerds website. If SEGA has provided review assets, whether it’s a physical disc or digital content, we’ll provide a disclaimer stating as such in our coverage.
We feel this is important as to be completely transparent with our readers.
As often as possible, we’ll offer these review assets in giveaways on the SEGA Nerds website for our readers. There are times, though, when this is impossible, like when we receive digital codes that are tied to our personal accounts for the respective platform we reviewed the software on. In these instances, the SEGA Nerds staff member will retain possession of the software.
Policy on Competitions and Contests
We love contests as much as the next site and have run many at SEGA Nerds over the years. Some of the items for these contests were purchased by SEGA Nerds, its staff or come from our personal collections.
There are other times, though, when we’ve worked with SEGA or another company to run a contest, competition or giveaway. We feel it’s a great means to give back to our community while also generating excitement for an upcoming game, console or other campaign.
Under no way is holding a contest, competition or other promotion expressing SEGA Nerds endorsement of the product.