It seems Microsoft, or one of their agencies, tried to dupe joystiq into accepting a news piece under the pretence that it was community members submitting it. Do they really think they’re being subtle here?

An agency did something similar for Atari - they got caught as the only people posting positive forum comments on Driv3r. Why do publishers do this kind of thing? It’s hugely blatant and looks terrible when they’re found out. If someone suggested anything of the sort where I work we’d shoot it down without hesitation.