Layoffs at IGN; UGO, GameSpy, 1Up being shuttered.

[Simond]

My hope is that if more established business news organizations start to look at gaming and game reviews as a business item (like Forbes), we'll get rid of some of the ham fisted pretenders looking for handouts while pretending to be journalists.

Well, that'll fuck over about three-quarters of publishers. Actual journalists rather than fanzines with delusions of grandeur might mean their reheated annual map-pack "blockbusters" start getting 80s & 70s rather than BEST GAME OF ALL TIME 101%

Bring back Amiga Power! A magazine that once gave a game 2% rather than 1% because then it'd be read as "No, this game really is terrible" rather than a comedy score.

[Fabricated]

My hope is that if more established business news organizations start to look at gaming and game reviews as a business item (like Forbes), we'll get rid of some of the ham fisted pretenders looking for handouts while pretending to be journalists.

Well, that'll fuck over about three-quarters of publishers. Actual journalists rather than fanzines with delusions of grandeur might mean their reheated annual map-pack "blockbusters" start getting 80s & 70s rather than BEST GAME OF ALL TIME 101%

Bring back Amiga Power! A magazine that once gave a game 2% rather than 1% because then it'd be read as "No, this game really is terrible" rather than a comedy score.

Yeah, it'd be nice if we could finally slay the "anything that gets less than 85% or 8/10 is shit" thing and eliminate the publisher asskissing for preview/review copies.

The movie industry is terrible but even they're not as bad as videogames in terms of critic access.

[Sky]

Yeah, it'd be nice if we could finally slay the "anything that gets less than 85% or 8/10 is shit kills developer's paychecks" thing

[Ingmar]

You'll have to slay the American school grading system first. 7/10 = 70% = a C = a pretty crappy grade is pretty much instinct for most people.

[Paelos]

One thing that can make publishers more innovative instead of less iterative is the presence of a true critical organization that's not tapped into their hype payments.

The other is declining sales in video games as a whole that don't provide the consumer with value. The critical reception would help govern that, rather than just relying on early adopter mistakes.

[Margalis]

The world only really needs one video game website total. They all get the same preview builds and go to the same dog and pony shows.

[rk47]

But.. but... DORITOS! And MOUNTAIN DEW!

[Merusk]

You'll have to slay the American school grading system first. 7/10 = 70% = a C = a pretty crappy grade is pretty much instinct for most people.

Yep.  To the point my professors in college had no idea why people would get so pissed if they got a "c."   While after a few years out in 'real' life you realize being 70% correct is reasonable, the prior 12 years of instruction drilled-in to you that you're a failure and won't get anywhere without 80-90%.

[Venkman]

The world only really needs one video game website total. They all get the same preview builds and go to the same dog and pony shows.

The only people who should be professionally critiquing are fellows in the same field. You get a LOT of critics that way, but at least their opinions are relevant. Those that can do can critique. The rest should get into the field or move on.

Where does that leave forum denizens? Well, there's a difference between critiquing and ranting 

[rk47]

Since most of them are rival studios, do you really think they'll give unbiased reviews?

[Paelos]

Since most of them are rival studios, do you really think they'll give unbiased reviews?

No, and that's why the argument is not important. You don't have to be part of the business to be objective. Do you think Mel Kiper can't critique football talent because he never played football professionally? Yet, he's the most sought after analyst in the USA.

Being in the business can often mean you're too close to the problems, and too willing to forgive things the end-user will not. Also, you're likely to hammer people for things the end-user won't give a shit about. Listen to the a director's commentary in a DVD. They talk about wildly different, and often boring, aspects of filmmaking we couldn't care less about as movie consumers. Should only directors be allowed to critique work? No, because they aren't the only people that consume it.

[Zaljerem]

You'll have to slay the American school grading system first. 7/10 = 70% = a C = a pretty crappy grade is pretty much instinct for most people.

Yep.  To the point my professors in college had no idea why people would get so pissed if they got a "c."   While after a few years out in 'real' life you realize being 70% correct is reasonable, the prior 12 years of instruction drilled-in to you that you're a failure and won't get anywhere without 80-90%.

Depending on the situation, profession, and level of ambition, I suppose 70% is "reasonable". I wouldn't want a pilot, musician, or doctor who was a 70-percenter.   

[HaemishM]

Depending on the situation, profession, and level of ambition, I suppose 70% is "reasonable". I wouldn't want a pilot, musician, or doctor who was a 70-percenter.   

Chances are, you have had at least one of those in your life. Or 7 out of 10.

[Merusk]

Musicians fuck-up all the time when playing live. They're just really good at picking back up so you don't realize it.

Pilots?  Yeah, talk to some. Lots of errors/ problems you just don't hear about them.

Doctors? Wrong choices out the wazoo. Bias and being overtired contribute, but some just make mistakes.  Here's a chilling wiki quote for you

Statistics show that approximately 195,000 people are killed every year by medical errors in the US.[1]

[Tmon]

The world only really needs one video game website total. They all get the same preview builds and go to the same dog and pony shows.

I prefer amateur reviews, especially by people I've been able to read for years.  It's one of the big reasons I read this site.  If nothing else having read threads here for years I know enough about most of the regular poster's tastes in games to have a fair shot at being able to convert their reviews and comments into useful information for me.   Professional reviewers enter and leave the field, move from site to site, and are kind of locked into the scoring system for their current employer.  All of which makes it hard for me to build up a reliable catalog of their tastes.

[Morat20]

You'll have to slay the American school grading system first. 7/10 = 70% = a C = a pretty crappy grade is pretty much instinct for most people.

Yep.  To the point my professors in college had no idea why people would get so pissed if they got a "c."   While after a few years out in 'real' life you realize being 70% correct is reasonable, the prior 12 years of instruction drilled-in to you that you're a failure and won't get anywhere without 80-90%.

Depending on the situation, profession, and level of ambition, I suppose 70% is "reasonable". I wouldn't want a pilot, musician, or doctor who was a 70-percenter.   

Your doctor probably is. So's your pilot. Bell curve hits everyone. If med school is only for the smart and dedicate, you're STILL going to get a normal distribution. Which means, grade inflation aside, there's a lot more C-student doctors than A-student ones -- at least for their med school grades.

I mean, what's a 70th percentile doctor? It's one who is better than 70% of the rest of doctor's in America. That...ain't bad.

[Goreschach]

You'll have to slay the American school grading system first. 7/10 = 70% = a C = a pretty crappy grade is pretty much instinct for most people.

Yep.  To the point my professors in college had no idea why people would get so pissed if they got a "c."   While after a few years out in 'real' life you realize being 70% correct is reasonable, the prior 12 years of instruction drilled-in to you that you're a failure and won't get anywhere without 80-90%.

Depending on the situation, profession, and level of ambition, I suppose 70% is "reasonable". I wouldn't want a pilot, musician, or doctor who was a 70-percenter.   

Your doctor probably is. So's your pilot. Bell curve hits everyone. If med school is only for the smart and dedicate, you're STILL going to get a normal distribution. Which means, grade inflation aside, there's a lot more C-student doctors than A-student ones -- at least for their med school grades.

I mean, what's a 70th percentile doctor? It's one who is better than 70% of the rest of doctor's in America. That...ain't bad.

The exact point that was being made before you jackoffs derailed the thread was that percent scores aren't being used as a distribution.

[Phred]

The exact point that was being made before you jackoffs derailed the thread was that percent scores aren't being used as a distribution.

The one point that can't be disputed though is that 50% of the doctors practicing today graduated in the bottom half of their class.  Why do you think they call it practicing anyway?

[rk47]

Practitioners. 

[Phred]

Practitioners. 

Which of course has nothing to do with practice. Oh wait.

[Morat20]

There's also the old joke about -- "What do you call someone who failed out of vet school? Doctor".

[patience]

The world only really needs one video game website total. They all get the same preview builds and go to the same dog and pony shows.

That's not true for adventure games. But your point stands...

[Sir T]

There's also the old joke about -- "What do you call someone who failed out of vet school? Doctor".

A better joke is "What do you call someone who came last in their class at Med School? Doctor"

[Strazos]

So to go back on topic...

Yeah, all these sites have sucked for years. However, I actually liked PlanetBaldursGate, used Direct2Drive once or twice years ago, and actually relied on Fileplanet for a number of years (mostly before Steam).

GameSpy-driven multiplayer can die in a car fire, though.

[Musashi]

Anyone trotted out any "Nothing of Value Was Lost" memes yet?

[rk47]

Anyone trotted out any "Nothing of Value Was Lost" memes yet?

Indeed, nothing was lost. At all.

[Strazos]

100? Really?

I mean, it might be good (I have no idea), but a perfect score?

[Soulflame]

That 100 score was worth every penny that was paid for it.

[sickrubik]

None of those 100s are from outlets that were shuttered, just to point that out. And the game is averaging 86.

[Rendakor]

I thought the point was the despite a bunch of shitty sites getting closed, there are still plenty of shitty sites out there.

[Arinon]

100? Really?

Metacritic takes a 5 star rating and calls it 100, because they are dumb.

[sickrubik]

I thought the point was the despite a bunch of shitty sites getting closed, there are still plenty of shitty sites out there.

That's far. It also includes one that a lot of people seem to like, Escapist. I wasn't so much discrediting the point, but pointing out that what I said.

But, I'm still not a fan of going LAWL GAME "JOURNALISM". Some people very well may have liked the game that much! That doesn't really discredit the opinion, nor mean they were paid.

[Ingmar]

Musicians fuck-up all the time when playing live. They're just really good at picking back up so you don't realize it.

While this is true you're still talking about someone hitting 98%+ of the notes if you can't tell they're screwing up.

[goishen]

I'll always go to, say, the user's reviews on amazon.   That has saved me from more than one bad purchase.    If something has less than two and a half stars?  It'd take something big for me to buy it.

When I last checked the stats for D3, they were 3:1 against it.   Most of those people weren't screaming and banging the table about an always on connection or Error 37 either.   They were a cluster of problems with the actual gameplay.   Yet, you won't find that in any semblance of a professional review.   Personally, I think that this has to do with feelings getting so attached to something that when these gaming companies put it out, they expect to be amazed by the reviews.  When you're Blizzard, that expectation can be tremendous.

So, yah, money does talk.  For good or for shit.

[Phred]

I just got turned on to a hilarious new review podcast. http://teamcoco.com/video/clueless-gamer-conan-obrien-reviews-tomb-raider

Look out Yahtzee.