I cannot speak to "what's out there". However, he plays caricature of the jaded, irascible, adult gamer -- one who cuts through the treacle with his reviews, and into what a game genuinely offers. Sure -- he is casual player orientated. That's his shtick and that's fine. It just irks me when questions of import are elided for mutual fellatio between those who (as you suggested) "like each other".
Interview opportunities with the more ranking members of NRS will decrease proportional to the remaining period before the product launches -- until the game hits shelves and likes of Boon will lose the power of speech. That is, these sit-downs are golden opportunities to confront those who possess the knowledge, with curly questions that are almost always ignored when forward via intermediaries...