LiquidOxygen80: I've run into this many times in the past. Maybe not necessarily the exact same issue, but people who write biased reviews and knock points off for elements they don't like, or even genres they don't like, or because it's against their morals.

I remember one case specifically, an extremely religious person knocked a point off a game because of the appearance of a few swear words, then knocked another point off for violence...this was a fighting game. I'm not sure what this person thought they were reviewing, but what fighting game do you know of that has no violence? This ain't super happy time fun huggy bears, for fuck's sake.

I think it's a facet of someone's inability to look at a product objectively, identify what works, what doesn't, what parts of the storyline are tired cliche, whether or not the sound/music are on point, if the core functions and mechanics are polished and lack bugs, etc, etc, etc.

Granted, you can be on point with all of that and still make a bad or niche game, but a fair reviewer will tell you upfront if a product is for fans of a certain genre only, and avoid making statements that have fuck all to do with the actual game itself.

Darvin: Having dissenting voices is a good thing. You won't always agree with them, but they can be very informative if you happen to agree with the criticisms (or praise) they give the game that other reviewers do not. It's easy to knock people for reviewing a game poorly for violence or religion, but some consumers actually care about those factors and will appreciate the thoughtful review of the subject matter. Where the mainstream may gloss over issues, these dissenting opinions can provide an opportunity for others to hear about them.

The alternative is censorship, and having someone determine what is an "acceptable criticism" and discarding those dissenting opinions. That would be unacceptable on the face of it. You should be reading reviews. If you don't agree with the reviewer's stance on certain issues, then find a different review that takes a perspective you identify with. A diversity of opinions is a helpful thing, not a hinderance.

If there's a problem, it's that the industry and consumers put way too much emphasis on aggregate review scores, which are gross over-simplifications. People who don't like a game are part of that average and will pull it down accordingly. Those reviews aren't the problem, the problem is that you're putting way more emphasis on the average than you should.

scampywiak: Will buy for jiggly boobs.

oldschool: Lol, the sorceress in this game has to have the biggest "Jugs" ever depicted in a video game.

Darvin: Having dissenting voices is a good thing. You won't always agree with them, but they can be very informative if you happen to agree with the criticisms (or praise) they give the game that other reviewers do not. It's easy to knock people for reviewing a game poorly for violence or religion, but some consumers actually care about those factors and will appreciate the thoughtful review of the subject matter. Where the mainstream may gloss over issues, these dissenting opinions can provide an opportunity for others to hear about them.

The alternative is censorship, and having someone determine what is an "acceptable criticism" and discarding those dissenting opinions. That would be unacceptable on the face of it. You should be reading reviews. If you don't agree with the reviewer's stance on certain issues, then find a different review that takes a perspective you identify with. A diversity of opinions is a helpful thing, not a hinderance.

If there's a problem, it's that the industry and consumers put way too much emphasis on aggregate review scores, which are gross over-simplifications. People who don't like a game are part of that average and will pull it down accordingly. Those reviews aren't the problem, the problem is that you're putting way more emphasis on the average than you should.

roninnogitsune: You don't insult your readers, that's professionalism and something that game's Journalism needs to learn.

Sabin_Stargem: However, the reviewers must be the kind of person who would be interested in the subject matter in the first place

HGiles: How about not disgusting the gamers who don't want cheese in their games? If a book, movie or other entertainment option includes lots and lots of cheese, it's treated and sold differently than books/movies/whatever that don't. Games still seem stuck in the young-male mindset of 'More boobies!'. If you want games to be taken more seriously, start promoting more serious and less salacious games.

Game developers need to gain professionalism and respect for gamers just as much or more than game journalists. I don't like it when a journalist sinks to the developer's level, but I don't blame them specifically for it. It's an industry-wide problem, and until there's industry-wide buy-in on making games a professional industry the problem will stay.