Comments on: What I Hate About Video Game Reviews

By: Mii

Mii — Sun, 02 Oct 2011 22:17:49 +0000

Um, you kinda touched on the fanboy bias aspect of video game reviews, but that can be expanded on more. You made some good points about how fanboy reviewers tend to pre-destine a score for a specific game before it even comes out, but the other side of this dilemma is that reviewers that are fanboys of a certain console review a game from a different console, and ultimately give that game a lower score than what it should have actually gotten. And yes, contrary to belief, this situation happens VERY often in the field of video game reviewing.

For example, say I was supposed to review Halo: Reach but I am fanboy of the Wii, thus I could care less about what Microsoft shits out on to the Xbox 360. No doubt about it, I will obviously rate the game lower for whatever reason than say a Microsoft fanboy reviewer who has been peeing his pants waiting for this game to arrive.

The solution to this, would be to either find a reviewer who is truly a fan of the game you are planning to buy, or just choose never read another video game review again. I'd stick with the latter though, as the first solution is near impossible.

By: Johnmira

Johnmira — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 10:31:42 +0000

quote(Disclaimer: This is the fictitious opinion of Jimmy the Greek. If you would like him, or other Games Are Evil editors, to review a game it will be handled in an objective and professional manner.)unquote.

Capcom has buttpluged a whole lot of consumerists and think they can get away with it, they charged money for something that was already on the disc, basically, its the hey buy this used chomp for 250$, ow wait for a extra 50$ you can get the motherboard! approach. go get em tiger..

By: Jimmy the Greek

Jimmy the Greek — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 17:25:08 +0000

damn, im a little late but for the right price ill write any paper

By: CDzNutts

CDzNutts — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:06:34 +0000

Oh, and as a follow up. Street Fighter IV is a good example of my previous point. For ME……the graphics ARE what makes the game great. Let's face it. Street Fighter IV plays virtually the same as it did back in 1991. I didn't pick the game back up until it was re-release (for the 100'dth time) as Street Fighter IV. Plays virtually the SAME after 17 years, but the game is SO vizually roided out that I can't put it down. Sure, the physics have been updated as have the production value…..but thats exactly my point. The "flare" of the game, makes me play it 24/7. I'm certainly not playing it for emotional voice acting. Metal Gear? Which is story intensive? Yeah….guess what. How much they invest in that story-piece is going to matter.

By: CDzNutts

CDzNutts — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 14:02:07 +0000

I disagree with your statement about "story and graphics" not having a place in the review and/or not making it the focal point of the review. Sh*t graphics and sh*t story can ruin a game where the graphics and story are the main components (meaning they make the game more fun to play). Whereas a simple game like WipeOutHD or SuperStarDust HD clearly are less story intensive (which is appropriate for the genre).

In conclusion, the reasons why I like the Matrix might be much different than the reasons I like POOTIE TANG. The reasons I think Requiem for a Dream is an amazing movie, doesn't negate the fact that I think Zoolander was funny as hell. Different movies, different goals, all entertaining. The same goes for games. I think your gripe is "they all have to be the same,and meet the same criteria, otherwise, i won't like it."

But hey, more power to ya buddy!

By: Rob

Rob — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 12:15:25 +0000

I don't think there's anything wrong with using numbers, provided that they're based almost entirely on how much fun the reviewer had playing the game. Trying to rate a game on graphics, audio, story, value, etc, are all ways to try to objectively judge what is an inherently subjective experience. I think the end result of this is that you get a bunch of games that are really highly rated, but not that fun (because the reviewer thought "It seems like a well made game….I guess other people will like it") and a bunch of games rated lower than they should be (because the reviewer thought "this game clearly has a bunch of flaws. They didn't bother me, but I'm sure they'll bother a lot of people"). Being able to read a few reviews that accept that the experience is everything is much more valuable than reading any review from someone who thinks they can give an objective score to a game. I think Famitsu, with their four-reviews-per-game system, probably figured this out ages ago.

By: Ellessdee

Ellessdee — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 00:47:33 +0000

i think we should just do away with the stupid number system. why not just say what a game is worth straight up instead of using code. if a game sucks, say so. if a game is just okay, say so. if a game is bloody brilliant, say so. why do we have to use stupid point cards to express general opinions which can be interpreted any number of ways. not only that, but the system is completely flawed. you can give a game a 10 if its really that good, but how long does it take for an even better game to come along, which you now have to give the same score as the previos because there is no higher score available. its just a stupid system and it needs to be ended.

By: Chris George

Chris George — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:19:10 +0000

The main issue with the scoring system is that people seem to already have a number/letter in mind before they write the actual review. But instead of changing the number to reflect the tone of the review, they just keep the same score, which seems to be one of the reasons for the review/score mismatch.

Then there is the fact that these numbers mean different things to different people. Some say anything below an 8 is crappy and others might think it's somewhat decent. Thus it really doesn't do much of anything to represent the message you're trying to get across since someone will interpret the score wrong and just skip over the review you worked so hard to do.

I honestly wouldn't mind writing some reviews and really attempt to make good ones instead of just sending out my first draft. Of course, time just gets in the way since there's much more to life than video games. But then, I'd rather skip the score so the review is based on my opinion and personal recommendations instead of trying hard to justify what number or letter I gave it

By: Lewis

Lewis — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:53:44 +0000

Get your nose out of Yahtzee's arse, you unoriginal idiot.

By: Curtis_Strong

Curtis_Strong — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 20:57:14 +0000

will you write my satire argument that i have to turn in for english 112 tomorrow jimmy??