Topic: Reviewing games

I've had a thought regarding game reviews rattling around this skull lately (hold press!) and thought i'd throw them into the arena and see what happens... your thoughts please...

Metacritic/Gamerankings.com and other review comparison sites... Do they have a significant influence on your decision to purchase a game or not? If so, do you generally find yourself making a beeline for reviews from sites you've grown to respect scores from? Ignoring afew of the top and bottom scores in a hope of gaining some sort of equilibrium? Surely these sites have an enormous influence to peoples decisions and im wondering if the admins should be vetting scores for any obvious fan-boys/brand trollers.

Is anyone else dismayed at multi-format review sites constantly basing a review on whats available on other platforms/how it measures in comparison and scoring accordingly? Case subject: Metal Gear Solid 3 on 3DS, a stonkingly good game in my humble opinion yet marked down by multiple sites due to "better options available elsewhere".. this may well have been true but from the perspective of a player that only owns a 3DS, has not played the title on any other format and couldnt give a stuff how the framerate compares... its frustrating. Why arnt games being reviewed from the perspective of the format its being played on? the strengths it offers on he machine its being reviewed on?... why would I care about the texture quality compared to another console when im obviously reading the review to gauge whether to purchase the software on THIS specific format?

I also came across a review for Sakura Samurai from what i still consider a fine publication but... from what i can recall, they called it super-punch out with bells on... and too archaic to stand up to todays expectations, not at all revolutionary and gave it a very low score... i've never played Super-Punch-Out, but i've played Sakura Samurai and had a wonderful few hours... is it fair to critically dissuade the purchase by comparing it to software the reviewer has sampled yet some people are unlikely to have played? If anything the simplicity of the combat worked because it ran with its formula to the point of having to hone your skills, not blind luck... if it compared so easily with the ancient Punch-Out then i would consider that a compliment to the originals games mechanics ability to stand the test of time, its not broke,its fun, dont fix it... add character, pleasant visuals (N64 era textures actually suited it, another criticism of the review), a good challenge and roll it out for less then $£10. The site in the dock is geared towards veteran gamers... i consider myself and likely you for reading this far also fall into this category, yet I can appreciate a fresh spin on an old tale and certainly feel i got my moneys worth, even compared with IOS prices. If a game reviewer is having a bad day... keep them offline, or better still... go Famitsu style and get at least 2 more opinions before being slimed in one flavour of bile.

It must be incredible difficult to impartially review a product with absolutely no bias and I have immense respect for those who consistently manage this feat, a reason why I continue to use NintendoLife on a regular basis, however sometimes things go astray and so i'd like to congratulate the editing team for re-reviewing Zero Escape, a move which showed just how serious the site holds its dedication towards maintaining high standards. Well done.

Opinions and your own experiences please...

I am influenced by it, but when the general reception is mixed, or overwhelmingly positive/negative minus a few outliers, I look into it more. Case in point: If I had listened to Jim Sterling's stupid mouth, I'd never have gotten Kid Icarus: Uprising or Sonic Colors, both of which I enjoyed especially the former. Space Invaders Get Even got a mixed reception (68/100), but when I found out most was unjustly about the pricing (despite originally being a retail title) I liked the concept and gameplay videos enough to buy it, and now it ranks as my second favorite WiiWare game and is definitely in the top 10 Wii games.

Also, does anyone have a copy of the original ZLR review? I didn't get a chance to read it so I want to know why it was so bad. It can't just be the score, as games like Bit. Trip Runner, NightSky and Shantae (none of which I consider masterpieces) remained with the same score.

well, "no bias" is a bit of another issue that you might want to check Waltz- uh.. WhiteKnight's thread for. It makes for some good reading (Y)

anyways, I tend to go on metacritic and read at the very least the top and bottom reviews, for large scale purchases. I like NintendoLife since it reviews all the smaller downloadable titles on the eShop which most other sites won't bother doing. Review scores aren't really that useful for me tbh, not even a metacritic ranking. If a game features something I like, I'll find out through the reviews, not the score

Reviews would be pointless without bias. The whole point of a review is to showcase an experienced gamer's perspective on a game. Someone who's played tons of games. If reviews were without bias, they'd be manuals. It'd be better to just look at a video than to read a review at that point.

Now, when it comes to review styles, it varies. Frankly, I'd just say to find a reviewer/site that you tend to agree with and who judges games from a perspective that you like. No way in which someone judges a game is necessarily wrong unless it reads like a game manual, at which point it isn't a review anymore.

I won't say that it's wrong to review a port of an old game with brand new eyes, because there are people with other systems that have more options. Websites like IGN and such support every platform. It's pretty hard for them to look at it and say "wow, MGS3 is an amazing game. MGS3D has tons of problems and is probably the worst version of the game, but we'll still give it an incredibly high score because it is an awesome game" when most of their readers have a PS3 or Xbox 360 or PS2 or Vita. I'm not saying that that is even wrong; I'm just saying that it makes sense to take that perspective. Same for the Sakura Samuri comment.

Now, I completely agree with you on multiple people giving an opinion on it. I found Nintendolife's removing of their review for Zero Escape to be odd because, quite frankly, is it so wrong ot have different opinions on a game? They were two very different viewpoints. One had played its predecessor (from US) the other hadn't (EU). One gave it a 10, the other an 8. Is it so wrong to have both? It wouldn't be the first site to do it. IGN has different region reviews, sometimes with very different opinions on a game. IGN US and AU gave very different opinions on Deadly Premonition. One judged it as a game, the other as a piece of entertainment. Neither is wrong, but they help someone have a better idea if they'd like it or not, because there is a better chance a review will pertain to that reader. I understand that it's unrealistic to make many people review the same game, but if it's already happening, you might as well let them give their opinion, even if it's just a paragraph or two.

As for how I'm affected by reviews; hugely. There are so many games I would not have gotten were it not for glowing reviews.

If I was to review Splinter cell I would give it a 5/10. Great stealth game though If I was a stealth game fan I would get Metal Gear Solid 3D.

Breathtaking writing. +1, Like, Retweeted etc etc.

If you're saying you'd like to see multiple staff members do proper reviews of a given game, you're more than welcome to suggest the idea to the directors, but I think you got the wrong idea about what happened with that particular review somehow. It had nothing to do with differing viewpoints; Damo explained (and I know you're aware of it, moomoo, because you were one of the people who had e-mailed asking for further explanation) that there was an unfortunate disagreement between the original reviewer and the editorial staff. When he left, all of his reviews were taken down in his wake.

he may have asked that they be taken down or demanded it, i have no idea what happened between him and the editorial team, but with those reviews gone, we had to replace them — I'm pretty sure replacing the Zero Escape review took priority since the Vita version review had gone up at Push Square shortly after the original 3DS version review had been taken down at NL. I'm not sure what else is still waiting to be replaced offhand; i know the same person also reviewed that Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva movie, though.

Reviews rarely have an influence on my descision to buy a game. That is, I mean, the ratings themselves. If I'm on the fence over buying something, I will check out reviews, though, most recent I can remember being Super Pokemon Rumble which I decided not to go for. It's all about writing in reviews though, and as many people pointed out in the bias thread you should generally follow reviewers or sites you agree with. The Pullblox review on this site is what made me buy the game.

On the subjects on other-console ports, should I buy Rayman Origins for the 3DS? I hear the console versions are less glitchy and look better, but I still really need to play the game and the addition of it being portable is what's really making me consider it. Is it really a bad difference? Because I'm still not sure of wether I want it for my 3DS or Wii.

Many thanks for the replies and some interesting perspectives, much appreciated... I agree with moomoo's comment of " 'find a reviewer/site that you tend to agree with and who judges games from a perspective that you like." which pretty much sums up my entire dilemma, finding consistently reliable reviews over multiple sites to compare with.

My comment over bias was meant to convey reviewers obsessed with particular franchises/console company's which inturn produce embellished opinions , I would agree that eliminating bias altogether would be detrimental to the quality of a review (everyone needs to have their favourite titles over a range of genres to compare with)... my suggestion, possibly requiring far too much site maintainance, would be for META/GAMERANKINGS to periodically check the quality of the reviews their posting and not simply auto-post based on the sites previous reputation... from a viewpoint of a gamer unaware of the quality to be expected from Yasumi Matsuno, Crimson Shroud may have been overlooked with a mid-70's score, whilst if we chopped away the (by a distance) lowest and (not far from the pack) highest reviews from the equation were left with a mid 80's score, something i'd imagine would raise an eyebrow and instigate alittle further research from our subject

I realise i'm using these review sites too much as a basis of a purchase and apologise for my waffleing but time and money are quite a precious commodity and spinning it around our love for gaming is quite a balance, thats possibly why I feel reviews are to be taken as serious business.

Thanks also to theblackdragon for clearing up the Zero Escape issue, Nibelilt I would try the demo for rayman on the e-shop, I thought it was good fun and suited for handhelds, its the same price as the console versions online and whilst it obviously wont be as graphically lovely, the gameplay is still just as delightful.

Any thoughts on a reader/user review section on nintendolife?

If you wish to suggest a reader/user review section, this would be the thread to do so in.