Do Reviews Still Serve a Purpose?

Via Voodoo Extreme, a post on the Sony-sponsored ThreeSpeech blog asking if game reviews are a thing of the past. Post author 'Azz Hassan' opines that the proliferation of blogs and easy access to game trailers has made the 'biased views' of reviewers a thing of the past. Responding via the Ars Technica Opposable Thumbs blog, Frank Caron offers a rebuttal to the piece. 'The argument presented in the article seems to come with the very slant that it so viciously protests: one of a negative view towards a medium that the writer feels is inadequate. Yes, there is a ton of available media on the net that can help you get a look at a game as it develops, but the problem with videos and pictures is that often the intangible elements are impossible to understand simply from seeing the game in motion--only the written or verbal communication of a person can adequately capture these details.'

Comments

I've been wondering...

[Anonymous Coward]

Hey Slashdot, why are PC users such ugly dweebs in comparison to Mac users? Is it because nobody has the time or patience to put up with Windows/Linux except for friendless, sexless nerds like you?

Hard to tell, easy to avoid

[tomstdenis]

I'm going to say something obvious first.

Reviews are written to make money.

Ok, now that I got that out of my system... Most reviewers (not just for video games) don't really take the job serious. This is why you have sites comparing which CPU will get you that extra one FPS, instead of which one will get you decent FPS without consuming hordes of power or blowing your budget. It's why year after year the same tired first person shooters get 9/10 SUPER FUN WOW! etc.

I just tried the Wii last weekend, and all I can say is every other console sucks by comparison. The Wii is just so god damn fun to play, especially with 4-5 other peeps. Compare that to the stagnate "sit on your ass" consoles of the past ... Putting Wii games on the same scale as 360 games is just lame. I'd much rather play Wii Sports [for example] then "Ghost Recon: Make Things Go Boom 2037 II Gold silver platnium edition." If review sites could put those consoles on the same scale, I don't think there is a point reading what they have to write, because they're liars.

I think the easiest way to avoid getting burned is to just rent the damn game first. Spend $5 to try it out, if you hate it, all you lost is $5. But at least you're supporting your local economy.

Tom