Instead of stars or points when you write a review I’d like reviewers to suggest a price point of where I’d pick up this game.
Games that are rated 9.0 or above or 5 stars would be “buy this at the 59.99 premium box price.” Games that are almost as good are “buy if 49.99 or less.” Ok games could be “wait for the 39.99 price drop or sale” and it could go all the way down to $19.99 bargain bin or “wait till you can pick this one up in the six game set or in the 9.99 jewel case”.
A rating system like that would more accurately reflect how I actualy behave.
Some gamers have more money than time. I’d be happy to play $50 for an awesome 10 hour experience, but wouldn’t pay $20 for a mediocre 10 hour experience. We tried a similar thing at Daily Radar where we assumed the question was “Should I buy this game?” The only answers we had were Hell Yes (Direct Hit), Yes (Hit), No (Miss) and Hell No (Dud). I still find that a more useful standard than “Q: Should I buy this game? A: 8.6”. But I think the ultimately, most people prefer a numerical rating as something they are just more comfortable with despite the variation among the different reviewing outlets.
I think that, for most people, the main constraint on their gaming is time, not money. A bad game at $10 that you play for ten hours is almost as bad a deal as the same game for $50. If the game isn’t worth purchasing, the price doesn’t really matter.
EDIT: Yes, it’s true that there are lots of cash-strapped gamers. In which case they should simply wait until GOOD games are in the $20 range and then buy those instead. Why spend $20 on an old, crappy game instead of $20 on a good game that you’ll get a lot of fun time out of?
I’d just like a review system that doesn’t see what the new PC Gamer issue had: a game like Thief 3 being outscored by titles like Beyond Divinity and EA’s new Harry Potter cash-cow.
I think the price point should go along with a standard review score, to replace the arbitrary “value” rating that you tend to see. That way, you can rate the quality of the game itself, as well as a fair price point at which you would buy it.
Rather than alpha/numeric or “Buy or not?” ratings, I propose that the reviewer just post his or her picture with the review, so I can determine by looking at him or her whether he or she is qualified to talk about games, and by extension whether or not I should buy the game.
Tongue-sticking-out smiley, Ebonstone. That one never gets old!
I’d just like a review system that doesn’t see what the new PC Gamer issue had: a game like Thief 3 being outscored by titles like Beyond Divinity and EA’s new Harry Potter cash-cow.
Agreed. All sneaking games, regardless of quality, should be give 10s and should always rate higher than non-sneaking games. Sneaking is smart - shooting is stupid.
It’d be nice if review sites took more time to enforce ratings done in the manner that Ebert does for movies, which is that he reviews a movie against other movies of the type, not against all movies.
That’s how Garfield got it’s three out of five rating from him, not because it’s a great film by any means, but because compared to all the other dumb kid flicks it’s “average”.
I want to know how a RTS game compares against other RTS games, but sometimes it seems like some reviewers feel the need to compare a game against those outside it’s genre.
I do like PSM Magazine for printing a list of five recent games of the similar genre for any game they review with the score the game got shown relative to the scores of the others.
Agreed. All sneaking games, regardless of quality, should be give 10s and should always rate higher than non-sneaking games. Sneaking is smart - shooting is stupid.
Chet
Great point, especially considering Beyond Divinity isn’t a shooter.
I’d actually support that! That way when Dominions 2 (or an equally godly game) gets a bad review, I can look at the picture and instantly know the writer was a chubby thirteen-year-old with horrific acne!
But Theif 3 is terrible.[/quote] :shock: Surely you jest…[/quote]
Well… I did like the ability to stealth kill someone by hitting a loaf of bread with the blackjack and knocking it across a room, having it ricochet all the way down the hall way, hit them in the foot and magically liquifiy their bones…
