Gaming Reviews - Do you care what they say?

[TheSteelyardDweller]

sometimes but i am not looking for "good" or "bad" i am looking for info on the features and whether the game sounds like something i would like. if the reviewer hated it but the reviewer hates the features i like in games then i might like the game.

[StaceyPowers]

On 7/9/2019 at 1:39 PM, Martin Berisford said:

For me, when it comes to looking over what game I want to add to my collection next, the last thing on my list of things to do is check what the gaming reviewer from whatever website thought about it. I much prefer gameplay videos (I suppose that can be a form of review but still). I consider reviews to be a personal thing, and as such, are opinionated and personal. Who's to say Mr Reviewer will love the game whilst I may hate it? 

Naturally, I don't tend to read them or take notice. What about you? Do you take notice or do you do your own thing? 

Bless you for writing this. It isn’t so much that I hate reviews as that I tend to get irritated with the way they are expressed. It is extremely annoying when someone declares that something is a good game or a poor game. A game is either a good fit or a poor fit for each specific player. I do think that there is some degree of objective measurability in some respects (i.e. how buggy is the game?), but most of it is entirely based in opinion, just as you said.

I also feel this way about book reviews, movie reviews, TV reviews …

Edited September 8, 2019 by StaceyPowers

[killamch89]

On 9/8/2019 at 6:04 PM, StaceyPowers said:

Bless you for writing this. It isn’t so much that I hate reviews as that I tend to get irritated with the way they are expressed. It is extremely annoying when someone declares that something is a good game or a poor game. A game is either a good fit or a poor fit for each specific player. I do think that there is some degree of objective measurability in some respects (i.e. how buggy is the game?), but most of it is entirely based in opinion, just as you said.

I also feel this way about book reviews, movie reviews, TV reviews …

You're right that most things cannot be judged in black or white because every person's preference is different but the very best reviewers tend to minimize their bias or at the very least, try to be open-minded about stuff they don't necessarily like to give a good enough assessment for us the public to make a calculated assessment.

[skyfire]

I think another thing about the gaming reviews is that with paid influence going on. It's hard to judge many games. 

[Jayson]

I wouldn't totally trust gaming reviews - because, well, looking at movie and music reviews, they often hit a wrong note, though, they're probably more correct than not!  I mean, Iv'e seen really great movies and music bashed by critics - only to be hailed as revolutionary in the future.

1 hour ago, skyfire said:

I think another thing about the gaming reviews is that with paid influence going on. It's hard to judge many games. 

Yeah, it's important that the site, itself, emphasizes a non-bias.  For instance, looking at other industries, the magazine Consumer Reports doesn't accept advertising (makes money only from subscriptions) - so, supposedly, that means unbiased reviews.

[killamch89]

11 hours ago, Jayson said:

I wouldn't totally trust gaming reviews - because, well, looking at movie and music reviews, they often hit a wrong note, though, they're probably more correct than not!  I mean, Iv'e seen really great movies and music bashed by critics - only to be hailed as revolutionary in the future.

Yeah, it's important that the site, itself, emphasizes a non-bias.  For instance, looking at other industries, the magazine Consumer Reports doesn't accept advertising (makes money only from subscriptions) - so, supposedly, that means unbiased reviews.

The problem is that some of these journalists is that they complain about things that don't really matter in-game like who politically correct the game is instead of the game's quality among other things.

[Jayson]

On 9/11/2019 at 9:58 PM, killamch89 said:

The problem is that some of these journalists is that they complain about things that don't really matter in-game like who politically correct the game is instead of the game's quality among other things.

Well, I seriously doubt real gamers would pay mind to such silly stuff - and probably reviewers heavy into PC wouldn't be very popular - probably wouldn't make much money as game reviewers.