Gaming NEVA RELY ON RATINGS

[Tagg7]

I'm sorry guys, but even with you're supposedly real "examples" I am not bought. Unless you have some proof of your claims (hell, I can say I know someone in the media), it's all bogus. Give me two good examples of a major review source giving a game a much higher rating then it deserved. I'll admit that it's kinda neat to think that there's some conspiracy, and that everyone's a little corrupt, but you guys have been watching too many movies.

Here's two recent examples that go against your theories. Nintendo has been advertising DK Barrel Blast A LOT on Gamespot's site, yet they've given it a pretty embarrassing 4.5/10. Also, IGN have been covering a lot of Dragon Blade the last few months, with exclusive gameplay impressions and weekly videos. However, they reviewed it as 5.6/10, which is hardly great. They could have sold it as an average "7" but they chose not to.

 

[cubin']

Reviews are pretty useful for me. It's important to concentrate on what it written rather than the score itself.

 

[VmprHntrD]

Look I don't want to write up a book but here are two games I know for a fact got a crap review that doesn't parallel the reality of the actual game. The first I owned, the second my brother did who pointed it out to me.

Evolution:
http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/161/161038p1.html

Draconus:
http://dreamcast.ign.com/articles/161/161935p1.html


In Evolution it's like they played a beta or something with how the story is explained and how the game plays out in gameplay, etc. And well Draconus, the game did have issues in the first 2 stages in this 'tree' area, and that seems to be all they played of the game from the review as the rest has this huge leap in quality in the a/v dept and the controls/camera work a crapload nicer there too. I mean...if you're going to review how about finish the game(draconus), and well...finish the final version and likely not a japanese copy or a beta(evo.)

Now of course if you want something modern and disgusting, very much comptemptable I can point you to the EGM online douchebaggery known as 1UP.com and their Ridge Racer DS review, if you can call it that.
http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3138208 Here's the meat of the ahem...review

"This iteration of Ridge Racer offers a broad selection of tracks from a variety of past Ridge Racer titles (including Ridge Racer Revolution), as well as a sizable stable of cars, many of which are unlocked in exciting 1-on-1 race challenges. This is, in fact, an upgraded port of the old Ridge Racer title for the Nintendo 64. While what's offered is enough to satisfy die-hard Ridge Racer fans, a few notable things hold it back from greatness.

First, the graphics, while possessing a solid framerate and glitch-free line of sight, look like a direct port from the PlayStation era. While one would normally be thankful for such prowess on a handheld, one needs only to look to the upcoming Ridge Racers for Sony's PSP handheld for a real glimpse of the future. RRDS just feels pedestrian by comparison."


Do you see a review there? I see a fucking advertisement for the PSP RR game and going on how the DS blows. NOW that..heh..right there is the king..pfft.. of honest objective review ethics bwahahahaha! Sorry couldn't help it, they suck a nut.

I hope someone else here can back up my attack with more points to media review lies.

 

[Tagg7]

My turn to disagree.

I can honestly say that I haven't played either Dreamcast game, but Evolution has got an average rating of 67.9%, so IGN's 6.5 is not so far away from the general opinion. Also, Draconus got an average rating of 74%, so again 6.7 is not so different from everyone else. Even if they did review it based on the Japanese version or even a beta, this is an accepted method of reviewing - the companies send their games to the reviewer's in this form, so they can only expect them to judge the game as is.

As for your Ridge Racer DS review, I have no idea what their mention of the PSP version proves. Are you telling me that when a reviewer says that Madden '08 for PS3 runs slower (30fps vs. 60fps) than the same Xbox 360 version, that they are getting kickbacks from Microsoft? Don't make me laugh. The same goes for Wii reviews - saying that a game plays better on the PS3 or 360 than on Wii does not mean that the reviewers are shamelessly promoting the more powerful consoles; they just believe that the controls are gimmicky, do not fit the game, etc. I agree that the DS's graphical capabilities cannot be compared to the PSP's, but they try to help the readers by telling them that if they are going to buy a portable Ridge Racer, the PSP version is better. There is nothing underhanded about that.

Phew, back to you.

 

[VmprHntrD]

I was NOT disputing the actual score of either DC title I was tearing on the actual meat of the review as it was like they were snorting fantasy dust as it just doesn't jive with what goes on in the games. That's the problem, but if you care to blow off the simple fact they lied, yet came up regardless with a fairly similar score to the average that's ok.

And the DS review wasn't a review, re-read it again...they never actually discuss the game except in a line or two of the entire mess as it was more of an advertisement on why PSP Ridge Racers was an awesome product. There's no journalistic credibility or quality to that review at all. If you want to tell someone to buy another game elsewhere, cool but do it elsewhere. A review is supposed to review a product, not give you a story why a competing title is better and what is so nice about it...you do that for THAT games review. That's like if I decided to do a review on say Crash Team Racing on GBA, and instead of talking about it I talk how cool Mario Kart Super Circuit on GBA was and all it's fun features, and then slap a crap score on Crash without actually discussing the gameplay, play control, options, audio, video and the rest.

 

[Pigwooly]

I remember a fairly positive IGN review of Wii Sports that nonetheless marked it down for not being able to control where the ball goes when you hit it in Tennis. The fact is you can control the direction of the ball based on the timing of your hit.

That part of the review irritated me but, my guess is that this didn't have anything to do with money, but with pressure to get the review out quickly, resulting in too little time spent with the game or simply the fact that the game never walked you through that particular aspect.

A review is only as good as the reviewer. I read review sites, but make a point of getting to know the tastes of each review and then only reading the reviews of people whose tastes are similar to mine. That makes reviews more like recommendations from a friend and less like what they really are, some random jerk's opinion. Thus I have learned to avoid Gamespot altogether.

 

[cubin']

Well said Pigwooly, as usual.

 

[Tagg7]

@Vampire_Hunter:
I'll admit that the Ridge Racer review is pretty short and doesn't really talk a lot about the game. However, the PSP mention is only one sentence. While certainly not a very detailed review (probably a magazine excerpt), it still qualifies as a review to me.

As for the DC reviews, I'll take your word for it because I haven't played either.

@Pigwooly:
That could be true, though to be honest I still have trouble with ball placement in Wii Tennis.

 

[Sefi]

I read reviews to see what the game is like, not for the score they give. Pictures, video clips, explanation of story and controls, etc. If you only play games others tell you to play then I feel sorry for you.

 

[Rayder]

What I usually do is read multiple reviews, check out the pics and vids and make my own decision as to whether I'd like a game or not. All the actual review does is explain what the game is about to me, not influence my opinion of it.

I already know MY taste is games varies wildly from the norm. Being 39 will tend to cause issues like that.

 

[BoneMonkey]

I HATE DRAGON BALL Z ANIME ........... but love dragon ball z budaki tenkaichi my friend got me hooked lol

game got decent reviews i cant wait for the new one

 

[Veho]

All the lobbying and endorsement and bribery aside *cough*Microsofthandedout$600worthofgiftpackagestoHalo3reviewers*cough*, reviewers are only human, and sometimes let their personal preferences get the best of them. That in mind, you should read reviews of games you've played, and if you agree with the reviewer (the reviewer in person, not a general website/magazine; read reviews by author) in most points, then you're likely to agree with him on future reviews, since you probably value his/her opinion (and have a similar taste in games).

 

[VojislavK]

well said

 

[T-hug]

The only reviews I look at nowadays are usually on gamefaqs. I know the site forums are gay etc. but the reviews are from like minded gamers, and not paid journalists.
I would take the average of all gamefaqs reviews for a certain game or gamerankings/metacritic averages over IGNorance, LameSpot, 1up etc. anyday.
Most recent example I can think of is Conan on 360. Official Xbox 360 magazine gave it a 6.5, and other sites online scored it 7/10 and 68% etc. I love the game and even though it's not some AAA blockbuster with money and time poured into it, it's still TONS of fun once you master it, and that's what games are all about.
It's not very often I play through a game more than once but with Conan I'm currently working through my 5th playthrough! This is a sign in itself for me the game is way above average.
For anyone wondering it's a God of War clone with loads of gore.