I don't care much for Gamespot, but I go there often because they have a really nice "user review" section. In it you give it a numerical score, write your review tagline, then write your review (within a minimum-maximum word length). Sometimes, I feel like game critics are too biased, or get too nitpicky with their reviews, and it's nice to get some direct player feedback. Plus I really enjoy writing reviews. Anyway, I think such a site enhancement could really make Nintendo Life a cooler place.

I've written a couple of reviews, currently stored away on my computer, (which might be slightly nitpicky on some areas but hopefully not too much I hope), so I'd welcome this. Maybe NL should also open up some more placements for potential, official reviewers on the site, like previous times where we'd submit a review and they'd judge the best candidate.

I third the motion.

But it won't happen any time soon, there are way too many features that should be on here that haven't been implemented.

nah i think itll be kinda a thing where people will do it a lot when it debuts for a while and then itll just end up dieing off and reviews will just turn into 1 sentence things, this game is bad, this game is good and then rating lol. I like letting other people do the reviews xD. BUT maybe instead we could have a thing at the bottom of each normal review lets us pick from two options, I recommend this game or i do not recommend this game. Its simple and its helpful

EDIT i have reconsidered upon realizing u said there would be a word limit (i know some people will never stop writing otherwise which was why i originally was against it) but if it has a reasonable limit I will be the FIFTH to support it (after sonic)

Let me be the FOURTH to say I agree. But,I'm still making a review as I speak. What is the game? Guess!

Sonic and the Black Night.
I look forward to reading it.

Sixth. I like writing reviews. It's fun.

I'd prefer to have User Ratings implemented first.

I'm sort of torn on this. I generally don't read user reviews much on other sites, because generally there's one decent, informative review out of about 50 fanboyish (or antifanboyish) rants about the game that you have to wade through. I usually just see it as extra clutter. On the other hand, it could be pretty cool to have a section for games that haven't been reviewed professionally, since many retail titles aren't reviewed on this site. For games that are reviewed here, skimming the comments section provides generally provides lots of discussion about the game and a variety of opinions. Plus, there's nothing stopping people from writing their thoughts on a game in a forum post. It just seems an extra section for reader reviews would be redundant.

If a lot of people want to do it though, go for it.

This is true. I always appreciate well written reviews, but there's a lot of poorly written fanboy stuff as well. I will say, though, that people here seem a bit brighter over-all then other websites.

Sounds like a good idea to me. With the relatively smart, decent bunch we've got around here, I don't think we'd have quite as many problems as Token Girl describes. Then again, what do people think about my review of Final Fantasy VII over on Gamespot? I think a lot of people viewed me as an anti-fanboy with that review, even though I was only stating my honest opinion given the fact that I first played the game ten years after release. Hint: It REALLY hasn't aged well.

I definitely think this is a good idea. I like getting several people's take on a game since different people will mention different things that may help me decide if I would like the game or not. For regular Wii and DS games I can go to amazon and get user reviews but there doesn't seem to be much like that for WiiWare or Virtual Console.

I was thinking that the moderators could just add a new forum category for "user reviews" on the main forum page. That way the user reviews would be in one section and you wouldn't have to scroll through all the other conversations about the different platforms to read reviews. Also, I would think adding another category would be something the moderators could do and not have to wait for a programmer to implement it. However, a con would be that you would have to scroll through all the other reviews to find the game you want to read about. There wouldn't be a way to automatically sort. Also, you could have multiple people creating new topics for the same game.

I was just thinking that if it was a new forum category, it would be an easy way to try it out and see if people like it. If it doesn't work out than the moderators could just remove it or lock it.

^^^^ That sounds like a great plan. Easy to implement, gives everyone a forum for their reviews, and others can read them and if there are really great reviews, people can follow that user. If not, it wouldn't be difficult to avoid them.

It's a work in progress, but I agree as a short-term solution a sub-forum would be a good way to go.

I think you guys are just going to have to wait for the reader review function. This has become a rather touchy subject among the Nlife staff. LOL.

The OFFICIAL reviewers are thorough, unbiased, and skillful at their craft. (Good enough to get plagiarized, even!) I come here to read their reviews, and then tune in to what the forum members have to say about them in the threads - the "regular" threads, not the "user review" threads - and that's enough opinion for me. If you need more than that, then I believe you're just looking for a review that agrees with your opinion.
If full-blown user reviews are allowed, every would-be critic with a flag to wave or an axe to grind would be given his venue. The differences of NLife compared to other gaming sites are what keep me here, not the similarities. I gotta say no to user reviews, and probably not to user scoring. The threads do a better job, and give members a better sense of the personalities behind the opinions rather than just a blind "average user score."

I always find it nice to get a Second Opinion ( ), official or not to see what the general consensus is towards a game, which is why I often use metacritic often to try and find common problems reviewers find in games, so it would be nice to see some user reviews towards the games. Of course, that's just me. Doesn't make me like Nintendo life any less, just another way of talking about the games, only with a bit more depth. Other than people posting biased reviews (Which could easily be deleted), I don't see what the problem is.

Before you lock this thread as well Corbie, what is exactly so touchy about this subject, or were you joking?

I'm not going to lock the thread, and I was joking, although we are scrambling to try and come up with a practical solution to the reader reviews.

Actually,the first review was Mega Man II,you can read it in the Virtual Console section.
The second review is going to be a Sonic game,but this game is a LOT WORSE then Sonic and the Black Knight.
If you want to make reviews on the forums,you just have to ask an admin's permission.
I have Corbie's email address,I can give it to you if you email me.

SuperSonic, check your email. LOL Or read this!