To Review Or Not to Review??? That Is The Question.

[Tanthalos]

When in doubt I always rent everything just to try it out. I disagree with most people's reviews so I cannot put any stock into them. For example I am always suprised when standardized FPSs like Halo aren't in clearence bins yet.

On the other hand when it comes to things I like I apparently am a lone freak on a tiny island all by myself.

 

[geggis]

This is a tough one. Frankly, I haven't time or money to buy and *try* games so this is why I rely on reviews. I have difficulty trusting most though as they simply aren't critical enough and are quite willing to let silly things go by unmentioned. Zero Punctuation is perhaps the best reviewer out there because he's hard to please so if he's impressed with something it's probably worth paying attention to. And it's pure comedy to boot.

I tend to play a lot of older games anyway so the smoke has cleared with them; their reputation solidified.

 

[Zombie_King]

I base my game buying/renting a lot on how I think the game will be. For instance, I was going to buy Shadow the Hedgehog, but most reviewers pissed all over it, but said reviewers might also say Psychonauts is bad. So I rented Shadow and it wasn't half bad so I bought it. But that's just me, I'm not very picky. Unless you're not allowed to shoot or jump over stuff, and it looks good, I'd probably buy it. Especially if you got to do both at the same time.

 

[geggis]

I think a standard should be introduced (whatever the medium, games, movies, music..whatever), whereby the reviewer should list his/her (Top 3/5/7/whatever) most liked AND most hated of the genre. 'Reviewing' is such a ridiculously subjective/objective arena that (for me) the only trust I can place in it is if comparisons are made. If a friend told me Halo 3 was the most amazing game they had ever played, I'd think about checking it out, if my friend then added that it's not as good as Shaq Fu, I'd buy it immediately.

To sum up, Don't tell me something is good, unless I know what your definition of 'good'....is.

I'll second that. That's an excellent way of putting it! My friends are big on their Japanese fluff and so I take a lot of their recommendations with a pinch of salt.

 

[geggis]

Did you get/play Psychonauts? I hope so. :-D

 

[Johnn Johnston]

I generally play games if the gameplay footage looks good. I also buy 'em if they are part of a series I have enjoyed, such as GTA.

 

[Sib]

I let the reviewers on TV "curb stomp on my head" because I listened to a mag and online and hated the games DiRT (OXM) and Orange Box (yahtzee)

You hated the orange box? HERACY of the highest order

 

[Tanthalos]

I let the reviewers on TV "curb stomp on my head" because I listened to a mag and online and hated the games DiRT (OXM) and Orange Box (yahtzee)

That's ok come live on the tiny island with me, I too found the Orange box to be average, nothing special.

Though much like Devil May Cry 4, Smash Brothers Brawl, and Grand Theft Auto 4 I may end up hating it cause anytime someone says anything about how the game isn't perfect the fans cry foul while peeing in the pool.

 

[Nugget]

Well, I like to say that reviews don't affect my buying habits, but that would probably be a total lie. Yahtzee is the obvious one that I'll "listen" to, though mainly for the good games. I'm going to acquire Psychonauts at some point, for example. And my friends, both online and real life, tend to provide a good basis for games I will like, as well as serieses that I like. Basically,. it's pretty much guaranteed that I will like any Command and Conquer game, so I don't even need to check out the 'hype' (or lack thereof) for them. It really depends on the game.

 

[exocel]

i read reviews, but NEVER pay attention to a score, even though ive done it on my site i dont think a number has relevance to a thumbs up. i just think closer to 1 ,crappy. closer to 10, recommnded.

 

[Strafe Mcgee]

Trusting a review depends on a lot of different factors including who's writing it, what style of review the site has etc etc. IGN and Gamespot are terrible for reviews because they'll give most games higher than average reviews. Generally I'll have trusted sources that I'll get to know and learn their biases (e.g. As much as I love Yahtzee, I know not to listen to his opinion about JRPGs since he's a western gamer through and through. Plus it's best not to take him too seriously since he'll find fault with everything.)

I have trusted sites that I go to for information and then compare their biases against my own when deciding whether or not to buy. Plus I can usually tell whether a game's gonna be any good based on general reviews and the game concept.

So, uh, yeah I guess .