My 10 year-old son has about the same review ranking system (for movies) as most game review sites: It has to be total crap to get less than 8/10.
This makes review sites that really do use a 1-10 scale look like they are reveiwing games poorly.
Personally I blame gamers who these days tend to refuse to consider playing games that rate below 8.5, and in some cases will only go for the AAA's.
A game that rates a 7.5/10 should still be well worth playing to the vast majority of gamers. But a 7.5 is an epic fail for a major title and spells certain doom in the sales department. Heck there's probably a few games that have rated at 6 or below that I've spent as much time playing (and enjoying) as some of those AAA titles everyone raves about.
I've personally only rated 2 or 3 movies above 9 out of the hundreds of movies I've seen. I'm inclined to take the same approach to games. I don't think I've played a game this gen that I'd give a 9+ to, and that included Valkyria Chronicles, which I reallly really love (8.9 from me) and is GOTG so far for me.
A 9 should be bloody hard to get, and a 10 should be a once in a generation thing (for each console).
That said I still like seeing my fave games getting 9+'s. So I guess I'm still part of the problem.
“The fundamental cause of the trouble is that in the modern world the stupid are cocksure while the intelligent are full of doubt.” - Bertrand Russell
"When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace."
Jimi Hendrix
