Comments on: Metacritic has changed the games industry

By: Simon Brindle

Simon Brindle — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 10:37:54 +0000

I’d like to point out that, having brought and attempted to play Severance: Blade of Darkness, I completely agree with the Edge score. Even with a following wind it would have been, at best, an average game. But it is hampered by an unbelievably clumsy control mechanic and the most derivative gameplay I’ve experienced in years. Put simply, it is a poor game. The fact it may have looked and sounded great didn’t change that or, as a result, justify a higher score. Surely, the purpose of the review is to assess how enjoyable the game is? Severance wasn’t enjoyable, so deserved a low score.

Which leads me to my second point. Why, if the ‘score’ is all important do reviewers bother writing, and we bother reading, anything other than that? The answer, surely must be, that there is more to a game than a notional percentage. Gameplay across countless genres cannot be reduced in such an arbitrary way. As a result, I am wary of relying solely on Metacritic. Sure, it can help a potential purchaser assess whether a game has been well received by reviewers or not, but it won’t necessarily help them determine whether they will enjoy how that game plays.

By: Scott Morris

Scott Morris — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 11:53:01 +0000

In a market where nigh on any game on pretty much any platform (apart for the handhelds, largely) has playable demos freely available for download, and in a world where a smaller percentage of buyers than ever would even think about reading a games review mag let alone buy one, percentages some random scribe I don’t know from Adam have never been less relevant to my or anyone I’m familiar with’s decision on buying a game.

By: Arjen

Arjen — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:18:59 +0000

But people buy games because of numbers.

So if my little pony part 5 gets a 80+ score you will buy it?

By: JC Barnett

JC Barnett — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 00:56:42 +0000

I *never* use Metacritic. I understand what games I enjoy a lot better than any reviewer, so their opinions mean little to me. But of course, in the marketing sphere scores are far more important, I guess.

You haven’t fully explained why Edge giving Severance a 2/10 was sensationalism. I guess you disagree with the score, but, you know, some games really do warrant piss-poor scores. Never played Severance, so I’m not sure, but just balking at the low score comes across a little as sour grapes.

By: Peter St. John

Peter St. John — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 23:17:22 +0000

2% seemed quite reasonable for IRC, seeing as how it was practically unplayable…

By: John

John — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 19:58:07 +0000

Metacritic allows scores from the most appalling websites out there, counting the opinions of illiterate fansites that give As and 10s to everything that falls in their genre. That anyone is taking it seriously is deeply disturbing.

As a ballpark guide it works well. As an accurate depiction of a game’s quality, it’s extremely dubious. Check out the scores of any recent European adventure for the horrible reality of how inaccurate the Metascore can be.

Also, your condemning people for giving low marks is both libellous and extremely ignorant. I regularly give out marks below 20% because I regularly review games that are utter ****. That’s what score utter **** games get. (And exactly what attention were Edge likely to garner from a review of Severance? It wasn’t exactly that year’s most talked about game, was it? Rather a bit of an also-ran that no one really noticed).

By: thisarticleisgreat

thisarticleisgreat — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:15:26 +0000

“Activision believes game scores, among other factors, can actually influence sales”
N
O

W
A
Y

By: rckt42

rckt42 — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:04:51 +0000

Yet more proof of how ****** up this industry is.

By: Chase

Chase — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 17:00:39 +0000

Bruce do you have any stats or graphs etc. that show this strong correlation? I only ask because I tend to disagree with Metacritic being weighted so heavily into these games, since it turns into how to please the reviewers rather than following a vision. Plus it seems kind of outdated to follow this practice if your shipping sales are already going into effect well before reviews come out.

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 15:58:25 +0000

I love that Metacritic scores are integrated into Steam. Looking at my games list, I don’t see a single score below 80, and that fairly reflects the games I own and play: enjoyable, every one. When buying games on Steam, it gives you the score right up front, even when it’s terrible. Bad for business as far as the poor performers are concerned, but great for business for genuinely great games.