Game Review Discussion

Criticizing Uniqueness

feeds@yuku.com (Crawl and 1OOO) — Fri, 09 May 2008 08:50:36 GMT

This is something I've been thinking about lately. Usually, when I see amatures doing something (webcomics being a particular example, but it could be anything -- music, writing, whatever), and they get suggestions to improve, it almost always boils down to advice to make THEIR thing just like EVERYONE ELSE's thing.

There are at least two lines of thought for that type of criticism. Number one, it's telling the artist, "You're not a beautiful snowflake."...

Crisis Core

feeds@yuku.com (CLOUDBOND007) — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 20:09:48 GMT

Crisis Core review by CB007

This was hard. I haven't done any new content in a long time and it's been a while since I finished this game.

Worthless criticism

feeds@yuku.com (Crawl and 1OOO) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:05:07 GMT

I don't really have a big statement to make with this post. I just think a lot of criticism is worthless -- particularly vague criticism.

Have you ever heard of Skinner's pigeon experiments?

The idea was, if pigeons were rewarded with a food pellet for a certain behavior, they could be trained to do that behavior.

But what...

Record reviews as credible as game reviews!

feeds@yuku.com (Crawl and 1OOO) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:47:25 GMT

Maxim reviews Black Crowe CD before it's released and before they could have heard it.

Other...

Thought I would be witty.

feeds@yuku.com (Facilitypro) — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 20:22:43 GMT

So I was trying to come up with a sig, when I read the thread about people being taught to not settle for average. This made me think about all the research studies that have been done showing how a large majority of people consider themselves to be above average. For instance, 89% of people think that they are above the 50th percentile in social competence.

This led me to think about the "average game is above average" type crap that often pervades most "7 is...

The 12 Deadly Sins of Video Game Storytelling

feeds@yuku.com (Flying Omelette) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 13:11:40 GMT

1. The Big Reveal
When information is purposefully witheld from the audience so that a single important plot point that "explains everything" can be revealed near the climax or end. Prime example: Dr. Harris's vague threats all throughout "D" contitute the only semblance of "plot" the game has...until the "moment of truth" occurs. Also of note are games that have more than one "big reveal", especially games that have every chapter...

EGM's reviews

feeds@yuku.com (CLOUDBOND007) — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 13:03:19 GMT

I hate to start a whole topic, but I don't know where to put this.

EGM (and 1up.com) has changed to an A to F format for reviews because there's no question that a C is average compared to a 5/10.

Final Fantasy IV DS Review

feeds@yuku.com (renegadeoffunk777) — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 05:59:50 GMT

I just started a weblog for reviews and other videogame stuff. I work in Tokyo as a translator and part-time private school teacher. Trying to break into game design or something cool. Here's my site - - -www.japanvideogames.blogspot.com - - - Constructive criticism / responses are appreciated.

With all of the remakes and remixes of games these days, many reviewers have...

For Sale: Modded Consoles, Ori & Backup Games Plus Retro Stuff

feeds@yuku.com (glowy2) — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 21:58:15 GMT

A lot of my old game reviews...

feeds@yuku.com (Flying Omelette) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 20:47:53 GMT

Are really fucking awful. Most of them read exactly like Crawl's prank Raiders of the Lost Ark review. -_-

CB007's Mario Galaxy review

feeds@yuku.com (CLOUDBOND007) — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 14:56:55 GMT

Look upon it and despair. Or you can like it if you want to. I pretty much pounded it out all at once but I'm satisfied.

For the imagery, I intentionally went with less space stuff because I wanted to balance out a lot of the pre-release material that over emphasized it.

Super Mario Galaxy: a review from Bomberguy

feeds@yuku.com (Bomberguy221) — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 04:42:40 GMT

Well, I didn't want to post a lot about this game in the progress topic, instead saving my opinions for when I could deliver a full verdict.

Story:

Mario must rescue Princess Peach from Bowser's clutches after he kidnaps her yet again. The catch? Bowser has discovered the power of intergalactic travel, stripping a space observatory of its energy. Because of this, Princess Rosalina...

Unfinished Review - Final Fight 2

feeds@yuku.com (Crawl and 1OOO) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:29:46 GMT

It just occurred to me, looking at FO's Year in Review, that if I could finish this before Tuesday, I'll have written more reviews in 2007 then she has. Will I accomplish that feat? Probably not, but it's good to have goals!

Historically, the most notable thing about Final Fight 2 is that it was released simultaneously with Street Fighter 2 Turbo. At the same time Capcom was revolutionizing videogame martial...

Yeah, Well You Liked Such and Such!

feeds@yuku.com (Captain Ladd Spencer) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 02:00:58 GMT

I've had this used against me from time to time. The instance that comes to mind is on another forum when I said the soundtrack to Paper Mario sucked, and somebody came and said "Yeah, well you like the Sports Tribe music from Lemmings 2!" Somewhere on this forum, somebody responded to Kurt Kalata's hate for Dragon Quest 8 with "Yeah, well he liked Killer7."

Certainly there are times when you have to consider "This person liked...

Capsule Review ideas

feeds@yuku.com (Crawl and 1OOO) — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 02:20:46 GMT

I need to a place to record these before I can upload them, and before I forget more of them.

Unfortunately, I think I have forgotten most of them....

One could have been for Resident Evil, making a joke about how Capcom has returned to its horror roots, but this game is not as scary as Mega Man 2.

Of course, there was the RE4 joke about how outdated it was after a week.

Fully Ramblomatic

feeds@yuku.com (Cesium) — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 17:29:18 GMT

We're currently living in the seventh generation of consoles if Wikipedia is to be believed. Seven generations of feuding and inbreeding like the residents of some backwoods Louisiana swamp.

http://www.fullyramblomatic.com
Not too long ago, I found out about this guy. His review style is great, and he's an all around good man. I have yet another reason to embrace hump day....

Valkyrie Profile

feeds@yuku.com (TaroSH) — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 20:41:42 GMT

I know a lot of people here hate this game. Not that I'm questioning anybody or anything, I was just wondering what's wrong with the game.

Searches on Yuku sound like the battles take five minutes each and are really common. Ew.

emo crap on gamefaq reviews of Civilization IV

feeds@yuku.com (da dick) — Tue, 09 Oct 2007 03:18:12 GMT

reading the reviews for civilization iv, i'm quite surprised most of them gave it at least 6 out of 10.
http://www.gamefaqs.com/computer/doswin/review/919352.html

it is a game with a very high learning curve. but after reading through them, i suspect half of them would have given the game a failing grade if it wasn't in 3D, and the music wasn't pleasant enough.

most of...

2006 was the BEST YEAR EVER for games.

feeds@yuku.com (Facilitypro) — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 14:09:27 GMT

Although I didn't care enough to read it thoroughly, EGM tabulated the averages of its top scoring games by year and found that...surprise...2006 had the top average score. If you look at the scores per year, there's a nearly linear increase over time. This is exactly what I found when I ran regressions on what qualities make a great (EDIT--I should say "high scoring) game. The only significant predictor of a game's score was its year of release.

Of course, your...

My FF Anniversary Quickie Review/Rant

feeds@yuku.com (CLOUDBOND007) — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:52:37 GMT

FF Anniversary