I don't think anyone really thinks they're just mindless puppets, that's just over exaggerating on the interwebz. I don't think they're just fans expressing their honest opinions either though. I don't think they blatantly lie, or shamelessly promote ea/cg products by decieving the viewers on purpose. They're just a little more biased towards ea/cg because that's "the hand that feeds them". That's worth taking into conseration when you're basing decisions on the content they provide. Nothing more, nothing less.