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Game Reviews are Broken?

Kotaku is running an opinion piece looking at the process of reviewing videogames, and comes to the conclusion that the whole system is entirely broken. Author Mark Wilson takes potshots at the concept of assigning a numerical valuation to a game, and the emphasis on product reviews rather than content reviews. "If there is no such thing as a perfect game, when why the hell are you scoring out of 100? It's not just PC Gamer that thinks this way--most publications, even those who do give out 'perfect' scores, do so begrudgingly. It's as if the developer has somehow cheated and broken their system. The movie reviewers solved this problem a long time ago. That's why most adopted a simpler rating system in which a 4-star movie didn't imply 'perfection' but supreme excellence. In most cases, games are penalized through being divided by a sum that they can never possibly reach."

2 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. How about a survey: by Bob-taro · · Score: 4, Funny

    On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad do you think the 10 point rating system is.

    --
    Prov 9:8 Do not rebuke mockers or they will hate you; rebuke the wise and they will love you.
  2. Re:Does it matter? by geminidomino · · Score: 3, Funny

    There's a stigmata though when actually attaching a number to a review. Umm... ouch.

    When game rags claim to put their blood and sweat into the magazine, I never knew they meant it so LITERALLY.