i totally agree with u about that statement...i mean whats with the ratings grade....its what the reviewer is saying that counts...currently im using Gameinformer as my reviewer source!!

video reviews help also. If you watch the game in play whilst they talk you can get a general idea of the game being good or not.

The reason I like video reviews is cause sometimes the reviewer might be critisigin the game owever jus tlooking at the gameplay cna help me decide like yer this game looks like fun he or she might not like it but i'll give it a shot.


ALSO EB in AUS has a 7day return policy even if you don't like the game hehe. So it's all good its like renting it for 1week for free haha.

I always read the review before I buy a game. I don't buy too many, so when I do, I like to make sure that I'm going to like it and not waste my money. I usually go by IGN, my opinions are usually pretty close to theirs, so they're the only one I bother with. If I'm not sure about a game, I'll rent it first. Sometimes I like to wait a year to pick up a game too, like Prey I liked, but I had some other games I was into, now I can get it for $20 at Walmart.

The other thing I do, if I pick up a new system, like I bought a PSP a couple of months ago, is sort the scores for the system and look through the 8's and 9's and read through all the reviews to find some older games I might like. That's how I picked up LocoRoco and Lumines.

No, killzone is an example of what I am about to say, if they realese a great game and review it with an absurd score, and I own that game why would I trust the reviews? Killzone got a 6.9 in gamespot ever since then I dont trust them for any review. So dont listen to reviews listen to the people that actually have or played the game.

I bought a lot of really bad PS2 games due to them having good reviews. Now I definitely don't trust reviews so much... I don't know why games like Castlevania on the PS2 got rated so high especially at IGN... Ugh that game was almost as bad as the one on the N64. I've noticed that DS and Wii games score lower then PS3 and 360 games, yet they sell much better. I have plenty of DS games which deserved much higher ratings then they got (compared to similar games on my PS2, Gamecube, 360 etc...) I don't know what it is about the DS, the games are just so much fun.

Ever tried to play Brothers in Arms Road to hill 30 for PS2? That game was AWFUL and yet it got an 8.6 on IGN..

http://ps2.ign.com/articles/596/596985p1.html

Tetsuya, two things here to consider...

 Sales doesn't mean something is a quality product. Of course what we all view as being quality if pretty relative, but people buy crap by the truckload in every form of entertainment. Of course there are games that garner great sales because they are good(Zelda, Halo, etc), but then you've got to consider that even people with no taste can still enjoy a great game.

GameInformer is rubbish, at least as far as reviews go. Not trying to insult your mag, but they had a fiasco a few years ago where they basically stated they don't review games just by how good or bad they are, but also by how they think the game meshes with their readers. In other words, Paper Mario 2 got a low score because it's too childish for their subscribers. I had laughed off their reviews long before that, but I was glad to see them publicly admit their reviews weren't worth the paper they are printed on.

The only time I purchased a game based on a review alone was Knights of the Old Republic and I was well pleased with my purchase.

I generally buy for my own personal tastes, and word-of-mouth.

i take reviews with a grain of salt but ultimately I buy whatever looks good to me.....

Reviews are always a factor in my game purchases, and I'm generally pleased with where they lead me. An important thing to keep in mind: Any one review might be way off, but the consensus from many reviews is usually quite reliable. There are now at least two good websites that aggregate game reviews--gamerankings.com and metacritic.com--and these are generally my first stops when I hear about a game that interests me.

I usually use a few things to decide if I think a game is worth my money:

1) Hype/Word of Mouth: I keep hearing how amazing Bioshock is going to be. It's been in the spotlight for a while now, and I kind of know what to expect from the game. If one of my friends tells me I HAVE to try a certain game, I will either borrow it or look around, and see what other people and reviews have to say.

2) Style: Is this game the type of game I'm into? I like action games, and if the game is turn-based, I most likely won't like it. This is something to consider.

3) Reviews: Important thing here is that the final score isn't as important as the information written in the review. Are the controls all messed up? Is the game pretty? What is multiplayer like? What is the story? etc . . .

I never rely on any single one of these sources. I like to get a feel of what MANY people thought about the game. I will generally read a couple of the highest rated reviews, and a couple low rated reviews. It gives you a lot more perspective.