Time for PPC Game Reviewers to Get More Sophisticated

bubbabing · 09-18-03, 10:26 PM

I am not speaking specifically about Aximsite, but right across the board individuals who review ppc games need to wake up and start being a little more discriminating. So far my observations as I read ppc game reviews online have been thus... If the game basically doesn't totally suck it gets an 8/10. If it is average, it gets 8.5-9/10, and if it is anywhere above average it gets a 9.5 or a perfect 10. The latest review I read on 'Tower Mogul' at PDArcade.com illustrates this illogical optimism perfectly. The reviewer gave the game the following scores in its various sub-categories:

-Gameplay: 9/10
-Graphics: 8/10
-Controls: 9/10
-Sound: 6/10
-Options: 8/10
-Replay Value: 10/10

Then, miraculously, he gives the game a final score of 10/10. Only one of six sub-categories got full marks but he grades the game perfect. That's ridiculous! Perfect scores must be reserved for that rare, ultimate game that comes along and blows everything else away and then becomes the standard that all other games will be measured by for months. Quite to the contrary, though, dozens of ppc games get perfect scores. If the graphics are slightly better than 'Pacman' on the old Mattel Intellivision 20 years ago then the reviewer drools out a perfect score.

It is time for ppc reviewers to become more sophisticated in their grading of games. Games that are shareware/freeware quality don't deserve grades in the 80% and 90% ranges anymore. Go read some established games review sites and observe how many games fall into the 5-7/10 range. That's where average games belong.

I don't mean to be too critical as I appreciate the service you reviewers offer, but it would be more valuable if a more discerning and realistic scale was employed.

My observations anyway...

09-19-03, 12:02 PM

PocketGamer.org collects links to multiple reviews for just about every game you can think of. You can kinda get a feel for how generally accepted a game is by reading multiple reviews. I also check out what users say about individual games. Lastly, I try them out myself and I am the best judge of all!

alphacow · 09-19-03, 04:34 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bubbabing
Games that are shareware/freeware quality don't deserve grades in the 80% and 90% ranges anymore.

I don't agree with that. I never look at reviews anyways though, almost all PocketPC games have demo's, so I try the game out myself and see how I like it. Smaller games made by individuals probably are reviewed by the creator anyways :)

09-22-03, 06:57 PM

Very few people can respect the fact that th author is giving away is hard work for free. I dis agree with you bubbabing, games that are shareware and freeware do deserve more respect then those that are being paid for. Create one yourself and see how you feel after a reviewer gives it a 2/10 ...

bubbabing · 09-22-03, 10:21 PM

Cheese, nobody is belittling shareware authors for their labours, but come on... "it might hurt their feelings"??? So you want to rate everything highly so as not to offend anyone?

"The Ford Pinto is a fine, reliable and trustworthy automobile... rush right out and pick one up!!" Is that what you really want?

If that is the case then those reviews wouldn't be worth the paper they were written on. People want objectivity in the product reviews that they read... at least I do. I don't want the author sugarcoating reality just to be a nice guy! Then he/she has failed at the job they set out to do.

bubbabing · 09-22-03, 10:25 PM

Quote:

I don't agree with that. I never look at reviews anyways though, almost all PocketPC games have demo's, so I try the game out myself and see how I like it.

Alphacow... If you never read reviews then it is futile for you to disagree with me on this as you don't really have an informed opinion on the subject.

**hnelson59** · 09-22-03, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bubbabing
I-Replay Value: 10/10

imho, i think replay means "will you go back and play it" for example - i love cropped out. there might be some things i don't like about the game, but i bought it in december and can still waste an hour without thinking about it. just my take on replay value.

alphacow · 09-23-03, 12:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bubbabing
Alphacow... If you never read reviews then it is futile for you to disagree with me on this as you don't really have an informed opinion on the subject.

I meant that I don't use reviews to base my own opinions of the game. If it looks like a game I like I try it out. And have you thought those people who wrote the reviews might actually like the games that much? You might as well write your own reviews of the game so there is some objectiveness.

09-23-03, 01:06 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by bubbabing
Games that are shareware/freeware quality don't deserve grades in the 80% and 90% ranges anymore.

Did it ever occur to you that you read game/software reviews for free? By your logic if you equate free with poor quality then you should expect the same out of 'free' game/software reviews! :p

I personally feel that there are plenty of stellar free games and applications. Kudos to the software developers with the talent to create apps for free that they could, in actuality, sell.

bubbabing · 09-23-03, 03:24 AM

You are right Cherdman... free does not always mean poor quality. I mention shareware/freeware only because so many commercial ppc games being sold right now have had a shareware/freeware equivalent version (or something very close) available on the PC for years. A typical strategy is to give these games a slight graphical facelift and sell them for far more than they are worth. But as long as there are people who will keep paying $20US for Yahtzee then the practice will continue (which brings me full circle to my plea for more sophistication on the part of ppc gamers).

Anyhow, it sounds like the majority of you are totally content with the 83rd consecutive Bejewelled knockoff game getting a 10/10, because the graphics in this one are REALLY shiny... so I will quit arguing my case and rattling the bars of the status quo cage.

Btw, I really like Cropped Out too hnelson59, but there is no way that it deserves a perfect score in anybody's review. I guess that is what the basis of my contention was... Just because a game is fun doesn't mean it deserves a score that should be reserved for those ultimate, ground breaking, genre defining games that come along rarely. An 8/10 is a really good game. A 10/10 is a truly GREAT game, and at this stage of ppc game development there have been very few truly great games produced yet.

Mudslinger · 09-23-03, 11:22 AM

I agree with you completely, Bubbabing. I've found that the general quality of reviews for PPC-games is much lower than for PC-games.

When it comes to PC-games there are at least a few sites where one can get fairly reliable and detailed reviews (Gamespot and Gamespy for instance).

But where do I go for reviews of PPC-games? All the places I've seen so far feature an absurd amount of 9/10 or 10/10 scores. Almost as if the reviewers are grateful that any PPC-games are being made at all. Or as if they are impressed by technology (ooh, it has 3D-graphics!) rather than by how fun the game actually is.

PPC-games is a big enough market/industry by now that it really IS time for reviewers to start separating the bad games from the average, and the good ones from the truly brilliant ones.

I noticed earlier in the thread someone saying that maybe the reviewers really do like the games that much. Yeah, well. If a person have some kind of disorder that makes him love ALL games, even the crappy ones, then maybe that person shouldn't be doing reviews.
;)

bubbabing · 09-23-03, 02:50 PM

Good comments Mudslinger. I think it is probably a coming of age thing. Many pda users are just getting introduced to gaming and thus see everything through rose colored glasses (i.e. if it's fun, it's perfect). Some of us who have been gamers for years notice a distinct difference in the standard of critique employed and in the quality and innovation demanded by game reviews on the PC and other platforms compared with ppc game reviews. Near perfect scores aren't given out freely on other platforms... they are earned.

Once again I emphasis that this thread was not intended to be a put down to anyone volunteering their time and opinions in writing reviews. It is simply a call for higher standards. If ppc gamers start demanding more then there are companies out there that will start delivering more.

But, hey, you and I are just Newbies Mudslinger (see Group: classification)... what do we know? :p

Jwilker · 09-28-03, 07:53 PM

Just my .02 but you can't hold a PPC game to anywhere even close to any other platform of game. 1. The hardware isn't designed to be a game boy. Gaming on a PDA is one of those extras.
2. The platform. You can't expect much on such a tiny screen low power platform.

If you dislike the reviews so much, you know you can review software. Most sites offer user reviews. :)

siht of get of the pot :)

bubbabing · 09-29-03, 02:25 AM

You miss my point jwilker. Obviously ppc games are not going to compare favorably to PC games across the board. If I was suggesting that then no ppc game would get more than about a 3 or 4 out of 10. That was never the issue, though.

My point was, regardless of the platform being reviewed, that the top scores should be reserved for those special games that only come along rarely. Many average ppc games, albeit fun, are getting perfect or near perfect scores by ppc game review sites. If you give these scores to good games then there is nothing left to give to great games. My comparison to other platforms was only to state that they have matured to the point in their reviewing that their optimism and enthusiasm is balanced with reality and a faulty grading scale is not employed (for the most part).

I never said that I disliked the reviews. Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact. It is only the final scores that I am taking issue with.

Finally, you realize don't you that your logic that one cannot offer a critique on anything unless they first go out and do it themselves precludes you from ever offering your opion on just about everything. Never again comment on the reliability of your car or the performance of your computer, because afterall you have never built one yourself (presumably).

Jwilker · 09-29-03, 10:42 AM

Sorry I didn't mean to imply you couldn't offer an opinion if you don't do reviews. I meant to say that it's within your power to try to balance these over enthusiastic overly optimistic reviews with more level headed realistic reviews. If one person gives a 10/10, you give a 3/10 and the public gets a slightly more true opinion.

I have built many computers and have takken much of my cars' systems apart. ;)