Slashdot Mirror
Predicting Launch Title Review Scores
Next Generation is hosting an article attempting to prognosticate the spread of review scores for the PS3 and Wii. Author Matt Matthews does this by examining historical precedents for previous system launches. From the article: "Next month Sony's PlayStation 3 will launch with only two games which will get an average review score of 90% or better. On the other hand, Nintendo's Wii will have three games which will average scores of 90% or better. And it is almost certain that each of those consoles will launch with two absolute stinkers, games which consistently score below 60%... How can we know this? Because history tells us that this is what happens with console launch titles." For even more analysis of the data, Matthews has additional charts on curmudgeon gamer.
I agree that the numerical scoring is an utter joke. But by reading the text reviews associated with the score, you can look for qualities that the game does well or poorly in. These things are more important to me than the score. The review can tell you the things that the game does well or the areas it flourishes in, and the score just gives you a basic idea of its overall goodness (in relation to the other reviewed games)