Who else doesn't give a hoot about VG Chartz game ratings?

[Reasonable]

Khuutra said:
...I agree that video game criticism has a long, long, long way to go.

You do what you can, though. You write reviews that fit within the needs for the channel you write for while expanding on what that might mean. Just write good reviews.

Actually, given this conversation, you might want to consider applying for a position yourself, if you have the time to review two games a month.

I did consider it, but sadly work (i.e. real life) would prevent me from being a suitably reliable provider of content, and I felt it was unfair to apply vs those who would make/give the time needed.

I actually think many of the reviews on the site, as written, as very good and actually better than many 'official' reviews.  It's the score system, as ever, that goes awry, as it tries to condense so much to a simple number.

I would make a suggestion though - for each major genre get the review team to a agree a top title, then use the score for that title as a standard comparison point - i.e. write your review, then consider that title X is our control and has 9.4 out of 10 and score the title comparitively to that (obviously comparing like for like titles).  I actually kind of hate the idea of genres, but in truth they do help and most people do seem to think that way, and in videogames in particular it seems fair to consider how FPS A compares to FPS B.

The most common complaint with reviews after all is how come game X managed to score less than game Y (particularly if they are in the same genre and sometimes not).