It's not that metacritic is a shoddy site, it's just that companies know that people value it and so purposely put out low scores in order to skew the average. On metacritic's defense, how are they supposed to know whether someone is purposely doing that rather than giving an honest opinion? I would find it difficult to do that myself, but alas, you are right about one thing. There are entities out there with hidden agendas. I don't know if D-toid is one of them, but Jim Sterling just shouldn't be allowed to review ps3 games whatsoever.
I also dislike the fact that metacritic allows casual reviewers to submit scores to the site. You know, those guys that write a review for the local town newspaper once a week and give games like petz party a 10 and bayonetta a 3 because as a writer for a local paper, they are probably just some dude or chick who is having a hard time just making ends meet and has barely enough time to understand the features and the first 10 minutes of the game.
Essay Pro