Game Reviews Not Stuck In Pac Man Era?

Thanks to GameSpot for their 'GameSpotting' column discussing critics who say videogame reviewing is still much too basic an art. Quoting a subscriber-only Wall Street Journal article with similar comments to a recent Slashdot story, the author warns against overly conceptual game reviews: "Look at it this way: Would you prefer for me to wistfully tell you how Final Fantasy XI made me feel, or would you prefer for me to tell you how it works, what about it works well, and what about it doesn't work well?" And, although he thinks the WSJ piece has many good points, he takes issue with comparisons between game reviewing and film reviewing: "When was the last time you decided to see a movie based on a movie review? Film critics write to each other."

Comments

Film reviews?

[Violet Null]

"When was the last time you decided to see a movie based on a movie review? Film critics write to each other."

I use film reviews all the time. Unless I'm already heavily predisposed to see in the movie (eg, Bubba Ho-Tep), if a movie comes out where the reviews are real stinkers, I won't go see it.

(Notice that that's reviews, plural. Rotten Tomatoes is your friend.)

Granted, word of mouth is more important than reviews, but that doesn't make reviews useless.

Back on the subject of game reviews, though: I certainly want reviewers to tell me about the game, not about their interpretation of the game. The worst offendor I think I've ever read is here. Allow me to quote:

Sigmund Freud argues that all living things are governed by two basic instincts: the life instinct called Eros or the death instinct called Thanatos. Eros is the energy that tries to build social ties, fueled by the body, which floods the mind. Thanatos destroys ties and is the wish for destruction and death. All social activity can be reduced to complex forms and interaction of these two instincts. However, when civilization and socialization disrupt the normal ebb and flow of instinctual living, the mind breaks up under the demands. The threefold self is the id, the collective genetic inheritance of the species; the ego, which acts to meet the demands of the id; and the super-ego, which represents the internalization of the demands of society. Humans struggle to find an outlet to meet the demands of their instincts, but in ways that are socially acceptable. War is a perfect justification when Eros fails to tame Thanatos. Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is another.

And that's just the beginning, folks.

Re:Film reviews?

[jermyjerm]

Rotten Tomatoes is handy for deciding what movies to see, and I often consult Game Rankings when trying to decide on games, as well.

Oh, and I find the GTA:VC reviewers logic hilariously absurd. That entire passage is hard to follow, but if I'm right in thinking he's trying to say that playing Vice City, like fighting wars, is giving into man's basest desire for violence... I'd have to vocally disagree! It could be easily argued that a game like VC is another manifestation of man's desire to find an acceptable and safe outlet for violence, whereas fighting wars is very unsafe and often unnacceptable for those involved.

Reviewers shouldn't confuse their roles with critics. Rotten Tomatoes is a review site, and so that person's attempt at analysis seems out of place, although I guess this underscores the fact that there really is no acceptable forum for video game criticism yet.