Jaded Reviewers by Game Tunnel

Rumors - News - Remarks by Russell Carroll

Jaded Reviewers (June 2, 2005)

The recent positive review of Darwinia on DIYgames provided a revival of an age-old argument. A comment made in regards to the review suggested that game reviewers become jaded over time and are positively biased towards games that are different from what most mainstream players enjoy. The argument is certainly not without merit.

In considering the argument, you must first consider people in general. People are different. This is really a good thing. If people were all the same we would all see the same movies, read the same books, drive the same brand of car and own the same games. Our differences are what leads to the variety in life that makes life interesting. While these differences lead to a wide variety of products being available to meet different desires, they also complicate the review-writing process. A reviewer can't write a review that will please everyone due to the differences in people. Again that isn't a bad thing, but it will always lead to a percentage of the population disagreeing with the review. So a fundamental expected result of writing reviews is that people will disagree with them.

The question that needs to be looked at then when considering the value of a review, is what percentage of the population you should expect to agree or disagree with the review. Looking at that question really leads to the issue of balance. There are two basic types of people who comprise the audience that may read a review. There are those who are familiar with the game type (or genre) who will want to know what makes this game stand out from the others (why is this FPS better than the others I own?), and there is the group that is less familiar with the game type (or genre) who will want to know whether the game is good in general.

For example, I love baseball! Every year as new baseball games are released I look to buy a new one. I've been playing the same baseball game for the last 4 years now (having upgraded to a newer version of the game each of the 3 years prior to that until they stopped making the game). I would like a new baseball game that includes the Washington Nationals and all the players that have joined MLB over the last few years. I play more baseball than any other game, which is really saying something, and I want my baseball game to play well and meet certain specifications.

Each year as the new baseball games come out I read up on them all looking for the expert review. I'm looking for someone who knows baseball, who, like me, has played many baseball games and will be able to go beyond just describing how the game plays into showing me what sets it apart from the rest and where it may fall short. For me, specific words and phrases make all the difference, the review score is really of little value unless the person writing the review comes from the same background that I have.

In addition to enjoying baseball I enjoy sports games in general and recently purchased a hockey game. In looking for that game, I was far less picky in the reviews I looked at. I was looking more at overall scores and I only read a couple of reviews, skimming them to see if anything stood out to me. In looking at those reviews I was looking for more of a general look at the game, I wasn't concerned at all with the details, and finding a score that was high in general probably meant that the game was a safe bet for me.

The balance between the detailed review that an expert looks for and a more general review that aims for the balance of the population can be difficult for reviewers. When reading a review, you may be looking for the 'expert' opinion and you would think the review was a joke if it was written by someone who wasn't familiar with the genre. On the other hand you might be looking for a more 'general' opinion and would appreciate a review that was written by someone who could give a more general and less detail-oriented review.

Both of those factors considered together, in addition to the realization that the type of review desired by one person may differ depending on the game type, can lead to quite a challenge for a game review site. The reviewer knows that regardless of what they say they won't make everyone happy, so in my mind the goal then is to write a review that the reviewer feels good about. This leads to the so called �€˜jaded�€™ reviewer. In playing so many games and becoming an expert in certain areas, the reviewer becomes very familiar with what else is available, and will come to the point of wanting something new and different. When they get that new and/or different experience, they will likely praise it for its unique qualities and give it a positive review. Such a review is one that is likely to be valued by those looking for an expert review in that game category or those who have played a zillion games and who are now looking for something different, but it is a review that will likely be unappreciated by those hoping for a more general look at the game or those who haven�€™t played as many games as the reviewer. As the majority of the population tends to fit into the 'general' category, they come back seeing the reviewer as jaded, or really just too specialized to meet what the 'majority' likes.

The phenomenon is an interesting one and is self-perpetuating. I think it is likely even necessary and good. Perhaps the mark of a seasoned reviewer is to be labeled as jaded.

For Game Tunnel one of the things that we have done to help provide different reviews for different groups is to provide two scores for most of the popular indie games. The Monthly Round-Up provides a general score which is averaged between 3 or 4 writers. We also provide full reviews which take into consideration other similar games and attempt to provide a more 'expert' review. The two scores may end up being quite different, which can lead to some confusion. For example, we recently gave Dark Horizons: Lore Invasion a score of 9 out of 10 in the review, but the monthly round-up score was a 7 out of 10. So which is it? The reality is that the score you should look at really depends on what you are looking for. If you are a bit more of an expert in the FPS/Mech game (you are jaded) you will probably find the full review more enlightening. If you really haven't played Mech games and are just wondering about the game, the Round-Up may do a better job of hitting the points that you are looking for. It certainly isn't a perfect system, but it provides some different perspectives on the games.

Though there have been many arguments against a reviewer being jaded, it really seems to me that the real complaint is that the reviewer has played too many similar games to give a generalist review. The opposite argument has also been made many times with complaints against reviews that start out �€œwhile I haven't played many games of this type...�€? Again I see situations where I might want one or the other type of review and I think that is probably pretty normal. I�€™ve found that the reaction I have to any specific review has more to do with my own background and desires than anything else, and while that doesn�€™t stop me from being frustrated when a reviewer doesn�€™t take specific things into consideration, it does give me a little more perspective on what is happening.

News & Rumors

�—? For those who enjoyed Cosmo Bots (aka Cosmic Bugs) you'll be happy to learn that a sequel is in the works. The new game will have game play very similar to the first rendition in addition to more power-ups and a couple of other cool twists.

Perhaps the coolest thing about the new game is the transition to an underwater theme. I'm including a screenshot that may or may not represent how the game will end up looking, though certainly it is looking pretty good. This should certainly be another win in what has been a nearly endless line of great games from Retro64.

�—? There are a couple of games that are looking to become just a bit better looking. First off is the sequel of Anime Tennis Babes. The sequel is planning to build on the 3D graphics from the first version and Anime Bowling Babes with the noted improvements in graphics and some performance and likely some game play changes.

�—? Following up on my last column about E3 it appears that there is already some movement into the next generation world of consoles by Indies. There is one confirmation of an indie game being available for the XBox 360 live launch (Wik), and several other rumblings about other indie titles also being available for launch on Microsoft's new beast. Alien Hominid has been in the news of late as well with confirmed versions for Mobile phones in Europe as well as an upcoming GBA version (more on that later).

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By: Russell Carroll
Posted: Thursday June 02, 2005