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How Metacritic rules the games industry

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How Metacritic rules the games industry

It puts every review in the world at your fingertips – but is Metacritic ruining videogames?

Words: PSM3 UK

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56 Comments

Order Comments: Newest First | Oldest First

luttman23 - 9 months 23 days ago

At least it gives the public a chance to right the wrongs of certain games published reviews. A few bad apples and fanboi's are bound to attempt sabotage but if you have faith that generally people are truthful in documenting their experiences and opinions it makes sense.

Take SPORE, for instance. You'd be hard pressed to find a review that wasn't licking Will Wrights balls, whereas most gamers agree it's absolutely bluddy awful.

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jimsondanet - 9 months 23 days ago

in all honesty i have no beef with the user reviews. for instance that review posted on the first page maybe some users rant on the ineffectiveness of the weaponry, but if thats what gets your goat then dont get it or rent it.
i dont care about the opinionated dribble but as long as theres specific gameplay flaws/pros mentioned, i can still use it for a cross reference against other reviews to form an educated opinion.
"completely useless" ...yea righteo. write a review on it once youv finished puberty

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Fish - 9 months 23 days ago

The fanboyism of reader reviews isn't what troubles me; they're pretty easy to spot. It's the "new media guerilla marketing" that scares me. Reader reviews written by some shit-slinging PR snake posing a 14 year old girl? TERRIFYING.

Game demos have far more input into my buying habits than metacritic or any other review site for that matter. That's why I bought Pure (fucking AWESOME) and skipped Force Unleashed.

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stuzimuzipuzi - 9 months 23 days ago

this article dont matter cause ps3s are crap so EVERYONE GET A 360!!!

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Cernunnos - 9 months 23 days ago

quis custodiet ipsos custodes, indeed.

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lovinmyps3 - 9 months 23 days ago

i tend to base my buys on the previews. if i like the subjuct or idea, ill usually by it, if it looks like a generic shooter that ther are millions of others, i wont get it. Kane and Lynch i got because i like the premise and story, MGS4 because i <3 the whole series, call of duty because online rocks, etc, etc. pick one source that you tend to agree with and look for what they list as the flaws, if you think it would really tick you off, dont waste $60 on it, wait for it to be used, thats what im doing for the force unleased lol

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Stuffgamer1 - 9 months 22 days ago

I use Metacritic only as a link to reviews in different score ranges. It's how I found the 4.5 out of 5 that Hardcore Gamer Magazine gave to Sonic Unleashed, which was by far the most accurate review for the game I've ever seen. But I wouldn't pay the SLIGHTEST bit of attention to the average that Metacritic gives. It means less than nothing. But if you can't find a high score in your usual mags and think a game must be better than they're saying, there's a decent chance you can find a more fair-minded review linked from Metacritic.

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Vagrant - 9 months 22 days ago

On the theory, Metacritic and current gaming reviews are quite flawed. (that old 7-10 range) But I do think you can objectively tell the general quality of game from the Metacritic and whatnot. It's pretty good on the whole, I find.

Although the thing about Gerstmann was pretty depressing. :\

But here's a tip for all you producers and designers: FIX YOUR CRAPPY GAME'S FLAWS.

Just an example, but Ubisoft: Skippable cutscenes. Think about it. Things like that might get you those 9s and 10s instead of all those 8s.

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barryfaceman1227dotcom - 9 months 21 days ago

if you think a games gonna be a hit, but Metacritic rates it bad, fuck 'em. Go rent it, if you like it, buy the fucking thing, play it to shit and take the critism for buying a poorly rated game, as most other people will be having 'fun' with their brainwashing highly rated game, whereas you have a gaming 'experience' with your low rated supposedly 'shit' game!

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crazyqazqaz - 9 months 21 days ago

Look, the best way to review a game is to play yourself and that's the end of it.

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Marioninja1 - 9 months 20 days ago

The Fanboys are getting too out of fucking line. I mean, X-Play, Metascore, and basically all other gaming media has mentioned the fanboys. Why do fanboys always align with one faction, anyways? I got a PS2 and love it, and I love the 360 as much...the Wii, well, not so much...

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infiniti101 - 9 months 20 days ago

Thats two companies that rule us now; MTV rules all teenagers, and Metacritic rules all gamers. I wonder who rules teenage gamers?

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HungryBeaver - 9 months 20 days ago

I think Metacritic is total crap. Never EVER use user reviews and put them as a score. It completely messes up the system as a whole. On the other hand I pay attention to alot of reviews because for a lowly 14 year old who has to cut my lawn for money (which I can only do in the summer - too cold for grass in winter so I have to wisely save money during summer)money is hard to come by and I need reviews of people who know what they're doing. Most Metacritic people probably know, but the users dont which is why i only use GameInformer and this site for reviews

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hardcore_gamer1990 - 9 months 19 days ago

@cart00n: Nah, GR have said it themselves, 7 is a new 5.
I read it in an article. Honest

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hardcore_gamer1990 - 9 months 19 days ago

@infiniti101: I'm a teenage gamer and i pay no attention to either of these.
It's GR for gaming and I take no advice from an up-it's-own-ass Channel

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tsweez - 9 months 15 days ago

Okay, despite the argument in regard to how Metacritic rates letter grades, or arguments about it's weighting system, the truth is, it makes little to no difference overall.

If you want to know about the impact then take a look at the video reports at:

http://www.gamequarry.com

The bottom line is that their scores are about 1.2 points more conservative than gamerankings. The influence of their weighting system has dropped from affecting 70% of scores in 2001 to under 20%. The letter grades are in the minority of the data set and really affect little.

I've looked at the good, the bad, and the ugly which I have noted in the blog above. Now, if you think people take MC ratings too seriously, or if you are anti-mashups, well... that's more opinion than anything quantifiable, and I'm sure there are valid points both ways. I'm just the numbers guy.

Cheers,

Tim

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Showing 41-56 of 56 Comments

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