Exclusive: Critics Admit To Lowering Scores For Attention.

[czecherychestnut]

Can't disagree with the article, its been noticable for some time, especially over the past 10 years as revenue has switched from magazine sales to online. This was what I felt the whole gamergate thing should have been about, instead it got hijacked by a bunch of misogynist pre-pubescent man childs with the social grace of someone diagnosed with severe autism (but without having autism) and now 'gamergate' is about rampart sexism and bullying in the gaming culture, instead of about questioning the integrity and standards of game related 'journalism'.

The influence of Metacritic on the gaming industry is also an issue. Metacritic is a huge source of clicks for gaming websites, but if you don't use a point based review system you aren't listed. Developers bonus's are often tied to Metacritic scores, which can lead to developers being risk averse and conservative in their design process. You can't run the risk of making a design that polarises people (because that will bring down your Metacritic score and your bonus) so you focus on the tried and true ideas that aren't creative but don't offend people. The Toyota Camry of game design, which is why gaming outside of the indie movement seems so vanilla,

Nothing will change though so long as ads remain the main revenue source for gaming websites. As consumers we only have ourselves to blame, we've enabled it to happen. My favourite reviewing method is what ArsTechnica do, there is no number or star system, at the conclusion of each review its just a few lines for the great, the good, the bad and the ugly, and a buy, rent or skip recommendation. That way, you get an understanding of a games good and bad points, and you can determine if they matter to you. I've enjoyed games that they've not been impressed by because things they marked as 'bad' didn't matter much to me, and in other games things thats were assessed as 'great' I didn't care for. The important bit is that I had the knowledge to make that determination myself and that's what makes it a good review system.