> i thought the infomercial-like incompetence would be a bit amusing
If you are serious, you do have to keep in mind that professional game journalists, that is, the game journalists that are paid to write about video games, are first and foremost communication and journalism majors and "gamers" second. I don't think general incompetence at common tasks is that characteristic for most of them.
Also at least some them must feel stuck in some sort of game journo rut and being virtually kidnapped must get them off a little bit since surely it must make for some good reporting, right? That's assuming they're not aware they are replicas.