Wow.... how can two sites be so opposed?

[LordTheNightKnight]

Khuutra said:

LordTheNightKnight said:

Khuutra said:

LordTheNightKnight said:

Khuutra said:
I think the more disturbing trend here is that people expect reviewers to all generally agree with each other. Nobody asks questions when movie reviewers deviate from the standard reaction - why do gamers treat their medium differently?

 

Movie reviewers have this reputation of being elitist snobs. Game reviewers don't have that reputation yet, so people expect their reviews to fit the mainstream. With the Wii, that is throwing everything off.

 

Michael Bay's Transformers got slammed to Hell and gone by the critics in general. Roger Ebert, the greatest critical voice in cinema today, called it a four-star movie simply because it fulfilled what it was trying to do. He deviated from the mean and median opinions so far he's practically in another country. Nobody says anything.

This demand that game reviewers all think alike is bizarre and worrisome and has been so for years.

 

You missed my point. Movie reviewers are considered snobs, so they aren't paid attention to that much, so not that many notice the deviations enough to care.

 

Hardcore movie fans notice. It's odd, but it's true: they do exist, equivalent to us, viewing cinema as we view our consoles.

But this is true in every other form of review, too. Music reviews, book reviews, movie reviews, car magazine summaries, whatever you want. Standardized opinion isn't demanded anywhere except in video games. What I am talking about is the fact that video game fans demand that reviewers all think alike, as if there is some objective standard to adhere to. That's worrisome.

 

As far as I can figure, game reviewers tend to be more in line with mainstream sales more often than other media. This has been the case for years. It's not always so (licensed games are a big outlier for this), but often enough that people think game reviewers are part of the mainstream. Even more importantly, there is a perception of concensus for the last few generations. Even if Okami didn't sell well, there appeared to be a consensus.

It's just that with the Wii throwing this off, there's a lot of confusion about what reviewers should and shouldn't like.