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• 23Nov 12

  Recalibrating review scales and our understanding of these.

  Does the gaming review apparatus needs to take a step back and reevaluate what is the true meaning of the numbers it associates to its reviews? Using a 1 to 10 scale, as most review sites use, is rendered pointless when most of the gaming crowd consider that any game below a 7 or 8 is not worth their time, where a 6 is a death sentence for a game and half of the scale (1 to 5) is just five ways to tell you how bad the game is. So effectively for most people's perception, the scale is really a 6 to 10. Think about it, half of the entire scale is dedicated to explain the "degrees of bad", it simply is not an balanced method to grade games.
  
  Shouldn't in a 1 to 10 scale the 5 be the "Average" score?
  
  Is it so absurd to ask for a scale that reads as:
  
  10 = Masterpiece
  09 = Excellent
  08 = Great
  07 = Good
  06 = Decent
  05 = Average
  04= Lacking
  03 = Deficient
  02 = Bad
  01 = Mediocre
  
  In such a scale, a 5 would represent games that do everything right but don't do anything new or only includes features that are standard in other games in the genre, that are functional without being original, in other words, just average in the most literal sense possible. Not bad but not relevant either.
  
  A 4 would be for games that "lack" in options and features as other in the same genre but still enjoyable. Even a game scoring a 3 would be playable even if flawed (Yes, in this scale games that begin to show technical problems begin at 3! the kind of game that usually gets assigned 6s in current score systems.)
  
  I also fail to see the need in granularity in scores, does it really make a difference for a game to score a .5 decimals between 2 whole numbers, to change someone's decision to either buy or bypass any particular game?
  
  And it really doesn't help matters that there isn't a standardized review system across publications. Everyone understands what a "Four Star" film is, or what is the difference between a 3 star and a 5 star hotel. Shouldn't all reviewers adopt a universal system as well, one that is less granular and more definitive like a 5 star system? Or at the very least a 1 to 10 scale where public perception of it is changed to understand that a 5 just means "Average"?
  
  I know it sounds like a pipe dream to ask consumer criteria in such a hype driven industry as this is, but it seems the reaction from fans to review scores has gotten way out of hand as of late with flying accusations of all ilk. With claims of lack of professionalism, the demand of retractions or downright terminations of employment of reviewers just for the crime of having a "less than stellar" view of any particular game by scoring it less than an 8?
  • Posted Nov 23, 2012 4:36 pm GMT
  • Category: Editorial
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• 31Oct 12

  Happy Halloween

  May all bats you encounter tonight to be as nice as this:
  
  
  Click for larger view
  • Posted Oct 31, 2012 6:21 am GMT
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• 26Oct 12

  Shigeru Miyamoto honored with Principe de Asturias award

  
  
  Today, Shigeru Miyamoto has received the "Principe de Asturias" Award in the area of Comunications and Humanities for his life long achievement in the realm of video games as someone that has created a relevant contribution to universal culture.
  
  The other personalities and organizations to be awarded this year include:
  
  Martha C. Nussbaum - Philosopher
  Rafael Moneo - Architech
  Iker Casillas and Xavi Hernández - Football players
  Richard Lerner - Pathologist
  Greg Winter - Biologist
  Philip Roth - Writer
  Red Cross and Spanish Federation of Food Banks
  • Posted Oct 26, 2012 8:55 am GMT
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