Game Review Sites vs User Reviews

sirgrim

Casually Hardcore
Sep 18, 2007
268
9
There is such a huge difference between the ratings game sites give games, and the ratings the players give the same games.

I don't know what these game reviewers are doing, but I don't like their methods and never listen to their reviews.

Games like Carnival Games. Sure it's not (even close to) the best game on the Wii, but it is fun. Gamespot gave it a 4.5, while the users gave it a 7.0.

Most of their reviews complain based on what games don't have. "This game doesn't have online, -1 point!", "This game isn't halo 3, -1 point!".

Well I don't have a flying car. Doesn't mean life sucks.

First they need to start reviewing based on the actual content of the game. How it handles, sounds and looks. Not how they want it to handle, sound and look.

Having expectations is fine, but allowing them to affect reviews is flawed.

Sure, the user side is also flawed as we are generally proud of our game collections and prone to give higher reviews, but I would say over-all they are more accurate and fair.

Us users are very vocal when we don't like a game.

I was getting a Wii points card yesterday, and came across a $20 game called Anubis 2. I read the reviews on IGN and they gave it a 2.0. The users are around 4.5. I had to check it out just to see if it's that bad.

After playing through the first two levels of this game, I can't for the life of me see why it got a 2.0. It's a $20 game. Don't expect Mp;3 level production.

I haven't come across any of the glitches they talk about. Most of the review calls it shovelware and complains about what it lacks. This game isn't easy, but it's playable. For $20 you get what you pay for. I would give it around a 5, and plan on playing it more.

Despite what the reviewing sites say, this game is perfect for those on a budget looking for a cheap adventure, not retarded kids with the intelligence of an M&M. They have even lowered to insulting people that actually like the games they don't.

Game reviewers, if you're that bitter you have to play a game that isn't your genre, maybe you shouldn't be reviewing it in the first place.

So if you like a game, let your opinion be heard despite what people paid to review a game say. Us players, the ones that buy the games to actually have fun with them know what we're doing.
 
Thank you! <3 I love and agree with everything you said!

It's so annoying when I talk about gaming with my older sis, and she's always talking about how "the reviews say this and that". I never listen to reviews, really. 9_9 I just look to see what qualities the game has that I like.

No matter who you pay, the review is always going to come out biased in some way, anyway. Just use the rent-n-buy strategy. It only costs like $7 bucks to rent a game.
 
Well a research recently showed that in the movie world theres not really that much difference between the movie critics ( that studied for it ) and the normal people that see them and tell how they feel about it.

This can work with games as well. However I dont fully agree. The guys from websites like gamespot deduct points for a reason.

A lot of people talk about mysims and go like: This game is fun and I'd give it an 8 out of ten. It gets repetetive and theres no online but the game is just so darned fun!

To me ( and the official reviewers ) those 2 things are MAJOR setbacks. Its not really a personal oppinion. Its just what a game needs for a high grade.

The official reviewers gave mysims 5's and 6's because of it. I agree with it. I think its a fun game but it doesnt deserve a grade even near metroid prime 3.

Im still trying to get it second hand because I hear from people how they experience it. The official reviewers tend to list how it plays and all of its features. I like to hear from players how the game plays and feels.

Just read both to form a good oppinion. And to be completely honest: Grades dont mean squat! Read some reviews and decide if you think what gamespot lists as a HUGE letdown! is infact a minor letdown.

And on the subject of anubis: I believe it is 20 dollar because its a crappy game. It wasnt developped as a 20 dollar game in the first place ( almost no game is ) They begin selling it a full but than when nobody buys it they lower it.
 
It's good to get a variety of opinions on a game, because their can be a big difference between gamers and game journalists scores. That's why i0n is creating the user review section!
 
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cyberzomby said:
Well a research recently showed that in the movie world theres not really that much difference between the movie critics ( that studied for it ) and the normal people that see them and tell how they feel about it.

This can work with games as well. However I dont fully agree. The guys from websites like gamespot deduct points for a reason.

A lot of people talk about mysims and go like: This game is fun and I'd give it an 8 out of ten. It gets repetetive and theres no online but the game is just so darned fun!

To me ( and the official reviewers ) those 2 things are MAJOR setbacks. Its not really a personal oppinion. Its just what a game needs for a high grade.

The official reviewers gave mysims 5's and 6's because of it. I agree with it. I think its a fun game but it doesnt deserve a grade even near metroid prime 3.

Im still trying to get it second hand because I hear from people how they experience it. The official reviewers tend to list how it plays and all of its features. I like to hear from players how the game plays and feels.

Just read both to form a good oppinion. And to be completely honest: Grades dont mean squat! Read some reviews and decide if you think what gamespot lists as a HUGE letdown! is infact a minor letdown.

And on the subject of anubis: I believe it is 20 dollar because its a crappy game. It wasnt developped as a 20 dollar game in the first place ( almost no game is ) They begin selling it a full but than when nobody buys it they lower it.

I understand not enjoying a game because of what it lacks, but taking off points for it doesn't help. I don't have MP;3 yet, personally because I have no reason to pay full price for a single player game when I can get it in a year or two for $20, and the only thing to catch up on is the story and game. No leader boards, or online to get better at.

I respect those that don't buy a game because it doesn't include what they want in it. Kudos to them for knowing what they want. Now, if you know a game doesn't have a feature you want, and buy it anway. That's the purchaser's fault and they have no room to complain.

There's a lot to affect the sale, or lack thereof of any game, so why it's $20 doesn't matter much at this point. As long as it can be enjoyed.
 
cyberzomby said:
And on the subject of anubis: I believe it is 20 dollar because its a crappy game. It wasnt developped as a 20 dollar game in the first place ( almost no game is ) They begin selling it a full but than when nobody buys it they lower it.
release price was $20, not $50.

but the rest of your post had a good piont or two..

i like gamespots reviews, i dont always agree with the score, thats not why i watch them. they show gameplay and evaluate it and they have seperate catagories (story, graphics, gameplay, etc.) but i almost always read user reviews beforei buy a game. gamestop.com has tons for each game, i tend to read the lowest reviews over the highest..those are the ones taht point out the games flaws, then i decide wether or not they are important enough to make me not watn the game or not. it's a good method.
 
Most home players tend to review games only within a genre(s) in which they like. It's not our job to review games, so we tend to gravitate towards games we are pre-disposed to like through established tastes.

Reviewers on the other hand do it as a job. They get paid to review whatever lands on their desk. Now obviously, there may be more than one review person working for a certain site/mag, and they may give the RPG games that need reviewing to the "RPG person" or they might give that action game to the "Action game person", but they're still going to have to review games within genres that don't appeal to them.

You could argue either way if that position makes them more or less biased.

My 2 cents.
 
well wiichat (i0n) is making a user reviews section currently and is now taking review submissions, an there will be like loads of reviews for eachj game and people vote on a review they think is the most to their standards or what they agree with and the highest reated game is at the top for us to look at it as being most respected or best review for that game hopefully that will help us decide what games to get
 
Cool feature on wiichat :D I might add some reviews there :)

SenseFail and Budo got good points as well. I can only agree on what they said.

@SenseFail: Didnt know tht it wasnt developped as a 20 game lol.
 
I read the previews that gamespot puts out, then I like to read the player reviews. I usually read a few, and try to find one that sounds like it was written by someone who like the same games as me.
 
i have to say that i don't look at the grade of the game, heck most of my game have low grades. but its nice to have someone review a game and that tell how the game play is and what to expect. so what they give it a -1 for not being halo 3 i carry about what the game is and how it handles, in my opinoun.
yes i know how they grede a game does effect how people are going to buy it. still they're just letting you know what they think, like how a movie critics are or how you tell a friend what you thought of the movie or game. you shouldn't be getting offended by how they grade a game.
 
cyberzomby said:
Cool feature on wiichat :D I might add some reviews there :)

SenseFail and Budo got good points as well. I can only agree on what they said.

@SenseFail: Didnt know tht it wasnt developped as a 20 game lol.
im sorry i dotn understand what youre saying here.. i said it WAS a 20 dollar game on release, not that it wasnt..

(im probably just showing my ignorance.. im not the brightest lol)
 
haha wow! That was what I meant. I made the typo here. I meant that I didnt know it was developped as a 20 dollar game
 
Depends on the person. ex. A big fan of pokemon will give the game a higher score than a person who hates it. Its always in their head no matter how much they try to say that they give a fair score.
 
A good thread - thank you all for your contribution.
I am actually surprised that so many games get quite a medicore review. We have to remember that these review/game sites are sort of in a twilight-zone as they get advertizing money and exclustivity (making a living!) from the people that makes the games they are giving a 3 or a 9. As a curiosoty i can mention that i also read somewhere that there are some rewards or payment system (sorry cant remember exactely) from the publisher to the developer according to the average review score a game get.
So my point - objectivity is hard to maintain!
 
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