/vr/ - Retro Games

>Game One is a French TV channel centered on video gaming, launched in 1998 and formerly owned by Infogrames.

>At the end of 2001, a troubling situation arose when certain game reviews began to face censorship and new management disapproved of their journalists criticizing Infogrames' games, leading to doubts about the editorial independence of their journalists. For instance, in one show, a reviewer expressed harsh criticism of the game "Lucky Luke: The Fever of the West," published by Infogrames. Despite the game receiving unfavorable ratings and similar reviews across the press, the management discovered the program during its initial broadcast and refused to broadcast it again (unlike other shows). Subsequently, all reviews concerning Infogrames games were systematically re-evaluated and censored.

>The situation came to a head on February 27, 2002, during a live broadcast dedicated to Metal Gear Solid 2, where the channel's creative director announced his departure from the channel. On the same day, Marcus, the channel's prominent reviewer, also informed viewers during his live show that he was leaving due to the pressures imposed by Infogrames on journalists [and essentially urged viewers to stop watching the channel]. Fearing potential interference from management, another show was pre-recorded, in which he made the same declaration. This led to most of the other editorial staff also announcing their resignations.

>Journalists provided evidence to the national broadcasting regulatory body, exposing Game One's illegal practice of selling airtime to publishers and the management's censorship of editorial content related to Infogrames games. No action was ever taken by the CSA.

>Following this fiasco and declining sales, MTV acquired Game One, and Infogrames rebranded as Atari. Bruno Bonnell, former Infogrames CEO, played Trump in the French version of "The Apprentice" (canceled after 2 episodes) and is now in politics, as a member of Macron's government.