List of "All" GTA4 review scores so far (8 so far)

[donathos]

Hmmm... as a Wii-fanboy, I have to say, I hope these review scores are accurate.

Before I ever played on the Wii, I loved video games, dating back to before I even had my NES. I like the medium -- I like playing them -- and I want there to be great games out there. In my opinion, every time something new and terrific comes out, it benefits the industry as a whole. It shows what is possible, creates new standards, raises the bar.

I've never been a fan of the GTA series, really, for reasons that are probably more about me than the games. (In part, I find them frustrating because the central story never grabs me, and so I spend my time just causing havoc, and then feeling like I've wasted my time w/o advancing the story; Bully was much better in that respect, because I was compelled by the main story-arc.) I hope that GTA4 hooks me, should I ever play; I hope that it forces me to buy one of the other consoles, should I ever be in the market.

I have no understanding, or sympathy, for a view that would hope for the game to be a failure because it is on another console than the one I've chosen, and in all other ways support. Instead, I hope for another great video game experience, because that, beyond all partisan allegiance, is truly what I love, and why I'm here to begin with.

Now, all that said, I do get a little nervous with these early reviews because I can imagine reviewers buying into the hype of a game. I felt the same way when my friends came to me saying how Michael Bay's Transformers was teh best movie evar... and unfortunately, I was right to doubt in that case. I'm going to wait for the dust to settle before I buy into any general consensus of the game, and then that will always be tentative, subject to my own assessment. In every event, it is far too early to start talking about "Game Of The Year," etc. I think we can already say with some degree of certainty that this will be in the running... and let's suppose that this is the greatest game released so far this year (and it might be). Does that mean that something superior might not be ahead?

Here's hoping that GTA4 lives up to the hype -- and these reviews -- but also that it is not a shoe-in for GOTY; as a lover of videogames, I just want to see them get better and better.