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your mother on 02 August 2007
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Bodhesatva said:
DKII said:
Why is this even an issue. Every single review anyone ever does takes into account the price. You just don't hear about it because the price is widely known and usually standard and only mentioned if there's something off about it (too high for a short game, or a good buy at a low price). In this case Sony wouldn't tell them the price so they said well we assumed it was $30 and if it's any higher than it's not as good a game for that price. Here's what you really should be thinking -- maybe the score is only as high as it is because of the budget price, and if it were any higher than the score would be lower 'cause it just doesn't stand up to full-priced games.

This is correct, and needs to be emphasized.

As he said, mostly you don't see issues because all games are released for a standard price; for the PS3 and 360, that standard price is 60 bucks. It assumes a certain length and value. If one of these games were suddenly 300 dollars, it absolutely would get knocked down in a similar fashion.

Online games are getting more criticism these days because there is no standard price point or value yet. It's amorphous.

And again, LOTS of Wii games have been criticized for being too short or offering too little value for the money; Big Brain Academy comes to mind immediately, as does Kororinpa. This isn't a Playstation exclusive issue, every system has price discussions. Stop acting like martyrs, please.


I think these are all bits and pieces of a whole.

Reviewers would naturally take into account factors such as gameplay, graphics, sound, even interface and other "quasi-measurable" game metrics.

The length and breadth of a game is also taken into account. Obviously, so is the price. Multiplayer implementation is also a factor in reviewing a game provided it makes sense to have multiplayer in the first place.

Games like Escape from Monkey Island would not get points knocked off for lacking online, that's for sure. 

If Unreal Tournament 2004 had everything it currently has, but only one level and only deathmatch, it would get far worse scores than it does now because it would be far too short.

If Steel Batallions cost you 200 bucks a pop but did not include that uber-cool controller, you can bet the score for that title would be abysmal.

Games should be, and tend to be, reviewed based on a good cross-section of relevant criteria. Pricing, length and breadth of a game are of value in a review.