Do Game Review Scores Matter?

jasoncart writes "This piece on Ferrago discusses the use of review scores and the significance they play in gamers purchasing decisions. Ultimately, according to columnist Ben Parfitt, review scores are pointless." From the article: "Few things wind me up more than when what appeared to be a well-balanced and thoughtful gaming discussion descends into a successive barrage of review scores and Gamerankings ratings."

Comments

Take them with a grain of salt

[Tanmi-Daiow]

I think that what you should do is read the scores that you want to read but dont believe them to the letter. I read a couple of gaming magazines, i look at the score they give some games and take those into consideration when buying games. I dont put all my faith in those scores but i at least see if other people liked the game and how much. Sometimes they blow certain parts of a game way outta proportion and ive found those kinda features. So i read multiple reviews from different sources of the same game. If all the sources give a decent review, then that also adds to my consideration of the game. So i think you should read them, if you want to, and if you do, take them with a grain of salt and read up on the games and the reviewers both.

Reviews matter? Sometimes.

[T-Bear]

It's all about who's reviewing it and how much you trust them.

I have a few sources that I trust pretty well. But even *those* it's not what score they give it. It's what they say.

Computer Games Magazine

[kafka47]

As an avid reader of all things gaming, I'll definitely prop up my favourite rag : Computer Games Magazine. Their reviews are "spot-on" (at least for the games that I've personally played).

Woeful name for a publication, however, I perceive their reviews as being extremely honest and balanced. They won't hesitate to pan a game, and I definitely don't get the feeling that they are giving a bia$ed apprai$al. Their coverage is detailed and offers a refreshing maturity compared with most of the magazines that I've read out there.

Check it out :

Computer Games Online

Cheers,
Kafka

Re:The author is guilty of what he's writing about

[Psychochild]

One thing to keep in mind is that most of us here aren't "average" gamers. Hell, I develop games for a living so I'm automatically disqualified. Now, Katamari Damacy is well-known to the hardcore gamer crowd, but it doesn't really have mindshare with the more mainstream audience. However, a game like Half-Life 2 or Doom 3 are going to be covered in mainstream magazines. (One could argue this has more to do with the "realistic graphics" being more interesting to the average person than trippy Japanese games about rolling stuff into a ball.)

On the larger topic, I think that review scores are garbage for the most part. It's hard to find people that are unbiased and independent. It's well known that publishers brow-beat magazine editors, holding the threat of losing advertising revenue over their heads. (Okay, okay, 3DO is a bad example due to the fairly reliable lack of quality there, but rest assured other large publishers have paid money [directly or indirectly through "press junkets"] to have good reviews done of games that are real turkeys.) It's hard to find an unbiased source.

One site I really like that breaks the trend is GamersInfo.net. (Full disclosure, I've written a few reviews for the site, but that's mostly because I really enjoy and appreciate what they're doing.) The games don't have number scores, and every reviewer has a profile you can look at. You can find reviewers that like the same types of games you do and follow their reviews. Or, you can figure that the FPS review by the hard-core RPG fan might not be exactly the same as an FPS fan's view of the game.

I highly recommend checking the site out if you want good reviews.

Have fun,