Ultimately they don't.In the scheme of things, such as game sales, sure they're a big deal. People read them to help them decide whether a game is worthy of a purchase or not. Thousands of dollars are spent to hype a game and more recently we've gotten to a part where money and reviews are creating an unstable mix. People rely heavily on seeing the score and don't pay much attention to the content written. Is that because they don't care? Yeah, I could see that. But honestly, I think it's because they don't know the person. As much as we listen to podcasts, read news sites, or hear stories about a person...
A.) They are someone else with a unique opinion writing a review.
and
B.) Not you.
You can't ever trust anyone else's opinion because there is always that chance that yours will be different. Everyone may hate that new Golden Axe game and you can have your opinion swayed by hearing other people talk about it, but unless you try it yourself, you never really can say for sure.
So does that mean I think we should do away with game reviews all together? No, the system we have is not perfect, but it's what we got. I do feel inclined to trust the opinion of someone who with I live. Even though they are quite fond of rolling bears, I'd much rather see what his opinions of game are rather than that of a person writing a review for a magazine or website. And the same may go for you and your friends vs us or another video game website.
In a perfect world, there would be an army of reviewers. Each with their own unique personalities and characteristics. They would play/review each and every game and experience them in the same order or way you would. People then could match up their personalities with someone who's game playing habits and tendencies lined up with them perfectly. You could trust that person because they were basically you. Of course that will never happen, but I think that's the way it should be. You have to know who's review you're reading. If you like totally fucked up shit, read Nick's review about a game vs mine. If you love Japanese stuff, I'm your man. Brad like frustrating the shit out of himself and Travis, well he's quite unique. Oh yeah, there's also Juan, he likes Mech games.
So what's the moral of the story. Know who's review you're reading. Otherwise, you're just reading someone's opinion and then having to decide whether to believe it or not.
Thanks,
David
Any suggestions about the reviews process? How it could be better? Fixes or solutions? The fan submitted route has been popular but there's always the possibility of tampering or bias submissions.
13 comments:
beside the fact this is what iv believed for a couple of years now, this is why i read the reveiw before looking at the score. remiends me of the shawn elliot cyrisis review
I've had this philosophy for a while now. 2 years ago I was bitching about how games like Resistance and Twilight Princess got under 9s at Gamespot. Now I feel like an ass.
Your post David really does sum up what I feel about most reviews though. Scores are redundant in judging a games quality now. Every site has a different scoring system, so a 7 could mean good to one place while to another it means average. Then we come to the readers opinions on what a definition of a score is. Infact, a games score is primarily the base of an argument between people. To fanboys, as long as one game got 0.4 points more than another that means the lower scored game is either the worst piece of shit ever or the reviewer was a fat bias tub of lard. It's pathetic.
If I want to know if a games good or bad I read what they have to say about the game. I'll read the points they make and see if they match up to my expectations, regardless of the score. They can rate it whatever they want, if I want to complain about the review it will be over what they've written or said. Thats why I think sites like Kotaku have it right. They tell you what they loved and what they hated, never leaving a single 1-10, 1-5 stars, letter grade or thumbs up/down rating, and always ending it by saying if you're the type to enjoy this and that.
Your remark about trusting or knowing the reviewer is definitely true as well David. I don't think we do need to know every last personal detail about the reviewer, but a list of his/her preferences and gaming style would help. If someone gave Loco Roco a bad review and I found out they hate puzzle/platformers but loved racing games, then I know somethings up. If a shooter fan says this shooter game is good, and I'm a shooter fan who loves shooters, then the odds are I'll love this shooter.
Of course, this isn't always fact. No matter how much we try, all people have different opinions. Out of the sea of gamers who enjoy a particular game, there's going to be at least one who won't. Thats probably why reviews differ drastically at times. Maybe that one person could not get into the game, and thats a fair point (Providing he/she can back it up). We all have had that experience where we tried a game but couldn't have fun despite the hype. Which is why, ironically, you can never fully trust a review, no matter how brilliant of a system you make.
So for everyone reading this, always be aware of a review. Make sure you know it is someone elses thoughts. Make sure you know if this person is making sense. Try and look at different peoples reviews to see a wider consensus. The big picture. Only then do you have the chance of making the best possible decision.
That, or you can rent or try a demo and find out if you liked it. lol.
Wow, I didn't realise how much I had written.
Ditto what cosmicfly said lol
Yeah, I ultimately never allow a review score to effect my opinions about a game, morseo what the review contains. Usually i'll read a couple, unrelated reviews, and if they all have the same problems listed, I assume they are telling the truth. Not much else I can do with reviews.
A lot of people do take reviews now a days a tad too serious, seeing them as the absolute truth and may be missing on a game they might enjoy more than the person giving the review.
The way I see it, they're just guidelines and opinions.
I do appreciate reviews and read them from certain writers in the industry I've read articles or reviews from before in the past. They do tend to like the same games I do, so I just sort of search out the best clone of myself and read what he/she says on occasion.
If nothing else I say in this rambling makes sense, GET RID OF NUMBERS. Oh my, Game X got a 6? Well frankly, I was expecting a seven. But oh wait, this site gave it a 6.5, I like them better. What the hell? If you care enough about a game to dig up a review, read an actual article. With words. Don't go over to IGN and freak out because your favorite game got a 5 and check numbers because somehow game review sites have managed to completely screw up the number system. Way to go, guys.
I think 4PP is in a very good position to be reviewers. I haven't seen anybody else who plays as much as you guys do and lets other people see it. I remember thinking this same thing when Brad was playing Anniversary on the feed a while back. I was thinking, "I've played this, but he seems to be having a really difficult time with it". And then I saw Brad check out the demo for Underworld, and because I got how he felt for Anniversary I had an idea what he was feeling from Underworld.
Anybody can say they like Japanese stuff, but if you don't see them "torture" their chat with IdolMaster whatever chance they get, you never know how much of an interest can be a factor in a reviewer.
- Skyliner
True and well said David I actually totally agree on what you have said, reviews are something people read for, but i guess reviews ONLY matter when you know that person doing the review and their tastes of gaming, and honestly for the past 6 months I've only recently decided to buy many new games coming out all thanks to you guys and your podcasts all because your opinions and ideas about games really show what an average gamer wants, brad with the wanting need to roam and explore collect heaps of awesome items, nick and his crazy storylines, while you with ur super fast asian hands for music, but long story short well said david :) Nice post
Do away with scores. Make people read the review.
Most reviews I see mark games down a lot for little to no reason, or stuff that just doesn't matter. "Oh, there's a glitch where if you do this and this and this PRECISELY and in that order, you'll break the game! 1/100."
Seriously.
Ditto to all of the above.
I know what you mean Fracture got a lot of bad reviews but I rented it because that's my way to review and it's fun and the reviews where wrong.
The only reviews I read are your guys well because I like every type of game so your reviews are good for me.
I agree. I'm still driving myself to try games that others have said was repetitive or felt odd, just to see how I would see it for myself.
I plan on being a part-time Critic someday and I have this philosophy. You really have to read the review and read more than one review to get a valid point of a games basic stong and weak points.
Some people are tough reviewers, like Eurogamer, while others are Hype Based and payed like Gamepro. Some reviewers are console fanboys and some are biased to a certain company or series.
You really have to know who these people are, How their scoring works, and if they have valid information. One reviewer might not like a game for it's lack of auto aim (Gamepro's reason for giving Monster Hunter games 6's and below) while others enjoy living without it.
When I become a video game critic, I need to let my audience know these things, they need to know that I don't like FPS with crappy Solo gameplay and story, but good online play. I don't really tend to like most JRPG's. I value gameplay over graphics, I have no patience for errors in a game that are being patched when they could of been fixed 6 months before release. I'm not a big fan of performance games like DDR and Rockband. I need to let readers know if I wrote this review myself or did I have a debate with other reviewers on this subject? All of these things are things that readers must know before I even write a sentence about my review.
It's really hard to be neutral in game reviewing. Harder than really hard, it is IMPOSSIBLE to be neutral in a personal review.
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