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Is EDGE Magasine

Biased towards the XBOX 130 46.26%
 
Biased towards the PS3 35 12.46%
 
Biased towards the Wii 12 4.27%
 
A fair and honest reviewer 104 37.01%
 
Total:281
rocketpig on 12 February 2010
Catlana said:
heedstone said:
rocketpig said:

It's still quite a difference but it's coming into perspective. The difference lies in a few PS3 games that Edge seemed to really, really hate. When you're dealing with less than 20 games, that can make a huge difference.

To me, the most surprising thing on that list is the Resistance games and Killzone. While I agree that they're rather unimpressive compared to some other shooters, when compared to the stupid-high score given to Halo 3 and the good score for ODST (meh, quite a mediocre game by Bungie standards), you'd think they would have fared a little better. That part makes no sense and I'd like to see who wrote each review.

On the other hand, Edge only gave Gears an 80. I don't think this is really a bias but maybe one or two reviewers are far more harsh on game ratings than their colleagues. When Gears gets an 80 from the same magazine that gives ODST a 90, it has to boil down to individual reviewers. I don't know of a single person who would agree with those scores when compared to one another.

 

It's only within the past year or so that Edge has gone noticably pro XBox.  What bugs me It's the system sellers that EDGE seems to mark down (Heavy Rain, Killzone 2, MGS4, Infamous, NSMBW, Mario Kart, etc.), while it consistently gives Xbox system sellers high marks.

Take out the first person shooters Heedstone. You will be surprised.

Game / Edge rating / Meta (12/02/10) / Difference between Edge and Meta

Main 360 non FPS console exclusives :


Blue Dragon 60/ 79 / -19
Fable 2 / 90 / 89 / +1
Forza 2 / 90 / 90 / 0
Forza 3 / 90 / 92 / -2
Gears of War / 80 / 94 / -14
Gears of War 2 / 90 / 93 / -3
GTA episodes 90 / 90 / 0
Halo Wars 70 / 82 / -12
Mass Effect / 70 / 91 / -21
Mass Effect 2 / 90 / 96 / -6
Lost odyssey 70 / 78 / -8
Star Ocean 50 / 72 / -22
Banjo Kazooie 70 / 79 / -9


Total (13 games) : -115 points
Average -16.43 / game

Main PS3 non FPS exclusives :

Buzz 70 / 80 / -10
GT5 prologue 70 / 80 -10
MGS4 / 80 / 94 / -14
Ratchet ToD / 80 / 89 / -9
Ratchet ACiT / 70 / 87 / -17
Valkyria Chr. / 70 / 86 / -16
Disgaea 3 / 80 / 78 / +2
Heavy Rain / 70 / 89 / -19
Uncharted / 80 / 88 / -8
Uncharted 2 / 90 / 96 / -6
Demon's Souls / 90 / 89 / +1
LittleBigPlanet / 100 / 95 / +5
Wipeout HD / 80 / 87 / -7
Flower / 70 / 87 / -17
Infamous / 70 / 85 / -15

Total (15 games) : -140 points
Average -9.3 / game

FPS (Microsoft)

Crackdown 80 / 83 / -3
Halo 3 / 100 / 94 / +6

Halo 3 ODST / 90 / 83 / +7
Left 4 Dead / 90 / 89 / +1
Left 4 Dead 2 / 90 / 89 / +1
Perfect Dark 70 / 82 / -12

Total (6 games): 0 points

Average: 0 difference

FPS (Sony)

MAG / 60 / 76 -16

Resistance / 70 / 86 / -16
Resistance 2 / 60 / 87 / -27
Killzone 2 / 70 / 91 / -21

Total (4 games): -80

Average: -20 difference

Conclusion is pretty simple. Edge is under rating Sony FPS. All other Sony games are rated slightly higher or at least equal to their xbox counter parts.

And there you have it. Pretty much what I said in my last post. For some reason, Edge doesn't like Sony's FPS games.

Why that is, I have no idea. Or maybe it's not that they dislike Sony's RPGs so much but instead it's that they like Halo so much. Either way, it's one review site made of individuals. I actually think I have less of a problem with them scoring Sony's FPS games so low than I do their inflation of Halo's scores. Given the generally harsh rating system employed by Edge, I see no reason to award Halo 3/ODST a score of 10/9.

Those are really the two scores that stand out the most to me. It sounds like they're a bunch of Halo fanboys, IMO. I actually have few problems with their other scores.

Oh, and for those of you that claim "numbers don't lie", I dare you to walk into a university and tell that to a statistics teacher, especially when you mention that you're also using a sample size of less than 20 items. They'll laugh you right out of the classroom.




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room414 on 12 February 2010
rocketpig said:

And there you have it. Pretty much what I said in my last post. For some reason, Edge doesn't like Sony's FPS games.

Why that is, I have no idea. Or maybe it's not that they dislike Sony's RPGs so much but instead it's that they like Halo so much. Either way, it's one review site made of individuals. I actually think I have less of a problem with them scoring Sony's FPS games so low than I do their inflation of Halo's scores. Given the generally harsh rating system employed by Edge, I see no reason to award Halo 3/ODST a score of 10/9.

Those are really the two scores that stand out the most to me. It sounds like they're a bunch of Halo fanboys, IMO. I actually have few problems with their other scores.

Oh, and for those of you that claim "numbers don't lie", I dare you to walk into a university and tell that to a statistics teacher, especially when you mention that you're also using a sample size of less than 20 items. They'll laugh you right out of the classroom.

No they wouldn't. Most of the top console exclusives are covered and those are the reviews that matter, those are the games that sell consoles. It's not at all relevant how they scored the crap games.



                                
slowmo on 12 February 2010
mario64 said:
lol @slowmo : Edge is not biased, it's the 100s of other reviewers who fail at reviewing correctly.

I think I read everything on the net now.

Stop the damage control please. Maths and numbers don't lie.


Yeah but my post still contained less bullshit than you spinning statistics and cherry picking your data to prove a fake point.  Deal with it, your argument is flawed from the off as it hinges on Metacritic which I've already listed 3 or 4 reasons for the stupidity of using that as some credible source.

If all you've got is to try and insult me rather than debate the point of Metacritic being flawed it proves what a crock your argument was from the start.  Finally, you don't know the first thing about Mathematics I'm willing to bet, and certainly a shit load less than I do.



rocketpig on 12 February 2010

They'd tell you that 19 items is too small of a sample size on which to base a conclusion, I know that much for certain.

When two items can drastically alter the outcome of a statistical analysis, you need more data to develop an informed conclusion. It's that simple.




Or check out my new webcomic: http://selfcentent.com/

heedstone on 13 February 2010
Catlana said:
heedstone said:
rocketpig said:

It's still quite a difference but it's coming into perspective. The difference lies in a few PS3 games that Edge seemed to really, really hate. When you're dealing with less than 20 games, that can make a huge difference.

To me, the most surprising thing on that list is the Resistance games and Killzone. While I agree that they're rather unimpressive compared to some other shooters, when compared to the stupid-high score given to Halo 3 and the good score for ODST (meh, quite a mediocre game by Bungie standards), you'd think they would have fared a little better. That part makes no sense and I'd like to see who wrote each review.

On the other hand, Edge only gave Gears an 80. I don't think this is really a bias but maybe one or two reviewers are far more harsh on game ratings than their colleagues. When Gears gets an 80 from the same magazine that gives ODST a 90, it has to boil down to individual reviewers. I don't know of a single person who would agree with those scores when compared to one another.

 

It's only within the past year or so that Edge has gone noticably pro XBox.  What bugs me It's the system sellers that EDGE seems to mark down (Heavy Rain, Killzone 2, MGS4, Infamous, NSMBW, Mario Kart, etc.), while it consistently gives Xbox system sellers high marks.

Take out the first person shooters Heedstone. You will be surprised.

Game / Edge rating / Meta (12/02/10) / Difference between Edge and Meta

Main 360 non FPS console exclusives :


Blue Dragon 60/ 79 / -19
Fable 2 / 90 / 89 / +1
Forza 2 / 90 / 90 / 0
Forza 3 / 90 / 92 / -2
Gears of War / 80 / 94 / -14
Gears of War 2 / 90 / 93 / -3
GTA episodes 90 / 90 / 0
Halo Wars 70 / 82 / -12
Mass Effect / 70 / 91 / -21
Mass Effect 2 / 90 / 96 / -6
Lost odyssey 70 / 78 / -8
Star Ocean 50 / 72 / -22
Banjo Kazooie 70 / 79 / -9


Total (13 games) : -115 points
Average -16.43 / game            - 8.85/game

Main PS3 non FPS exclusives :

Buzz 70 / 80 / -10
GT5 prologue 70 / 80 -10
MGS4 / 80 / 94 / -14
Ratchet ToD / 80 / 89 / -9
Ratchet ACiT / 70 / 87 / -17
Valkyria Chr. / 70 / 86 / -16
Disgaea 3 / 80 / 78 / +2
Heavy Rain / 70 / 89 / -19
Uncharted / 80 / 88 / -8
Uncharted 2 / 90 / 96 / -6
Demon's Souls / 90 / 89 / +1
LittleBigPlanet / 100 / 95 / +5
Wipeout HD / 80 / 87 / -7
Flower / 70 / 87 / -17
Infamous / 70 / 85 / -15

Total (15 games) : -140 points
Average -9.3 / game

FPS (Microsoft)

Crackdown 80 / 83 / -3
Halo 3 / 100 / 94 / +6

Halo 3 ODST / 90 / 83 / +7
Left 4 Dead / 90 / 89 / +1
Left 4 Dead 2 / 90 / 89 / +1
Perfect Dark 70 / 82 / -12

Total (6 games): 0 points

Average: 0 difference

FPS (Sony)

MAG / 60 / 76 -16

Resistance / 70 / 86 / -16
Resistance 2 / 60 / 87 / -27
Killzone 2 / 70 / 91 / -21

Total (4 games): -80

Average: -20 difference

Conclusion is pretty simple. Edge is under rating Sony FPS. All other Sony games are rated slightly higher or at least equal to their xbox counter parts.

Hmmm, I see what you're getting at, there definatley seems to be a bias towards Xbox FPS (which is still bias towards Xbox anyway!).  I still think you could get similar results if you removed all the system sellers though.

Also, your calculation is a wee bit wrong:

Non FPS XBox average=-8.85

So the very slight bias is still towards the Xbox, however, it did require the removal the FPS genre to get these results!



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Pilat on 13 February 2010

I hate Xbox



heedstone on 13 February 2010
Strategyking92 said:
*suprised*


You already made up your mind, didn't you?
I could tell when "biased toward xbox 360" was the first listed. I guess it's just my fanboy radar..

I made the poll as fair as possible, I'm sure nobody's clicking on "biased toward xbox 360" just because it's first on the list!!!



The dude abides   

Reasonable on 13 February 2010
rocketpig said:

It's still quite a difference but it's coming into perspective. The difference lies in a few PS3 games that Edge seemed to really, really hate. When you're dealing with less than 20 games, that can make a huge difference.

To me, the most surprising thing on that list is the Resistance games and Killzone. While I agree that they're rather unimpressive compared to some other shooters, when compared to the stupid-high score given to Halo 3 and the good score for ODST (meh, quite a mediocre game by Bungie standards), you'd think they would have fared a little better. That part makes no sense and I'd like to see who wrote each review.

On the other hand, Edge only gave Gears an 80. I don't think this is really a bias but maybe one or two reviewers are far more harsh on game ratings than their colleagues. When Gears gets an 80 from the same magazine that gives ODST a 90, it has to boil down to individual reviewers. I don't know of a single person who would agree with those scores when compared to one another.

I think you're close to the heart of it here.

Looking over the EDGE examples given, plus others, all I can see is that they have fairly consistently scored PS3 exclusive FPS lower than 360 titles.

In all other cases they seem to be fairly consistent by genre and in line with what seem to be likes/dislikes of the general staff there.  They've hammered plenty of PS3/360 titles so there is clearly no simple bias at console level.

My conclusion, they really like the FPS style of Halo/CoD and have simply disliked (by comparison) the rather different FPS styles of the main PS3 titles such as Resistance and KZ2.  I can imagine if you genuinely like Halo and see it as the benchmark for controls, online, etc. you're going to find KZ2 weaker by comparison (graphics aside obviously).

I don't think this shows a true, consistent bias so much as an unconcious bias to what they like in this area.  As you say this is almost sure to be down to individual reviewers.

In other cases, such as Heavy Rain, I expect a spread of scores.  The title is too different and niche (by comparison to today's core genre staples) to ever get a consistent set of reviews and opinions.  I loved the demo but wasn't sold on the controls, for example, beacuse I hate QTE approaches.  I know this would probably bias me to downscore Heavy Rain no matter how much I love what they're trying to do and the tone, graphics, etc.  I doubt I'm alone on this and so the title will see some lower scores, maybe even some crushingly low scores from reviewers who think it's whole approach is a threat to what they see as proper videogames.

I therefore don't see EDGE as truly biased nor feel the evidence shows that either.  They do like 360 based FPS title standards vs PS3 exclusives, but that isn't a real bias but a preference (one that they should though have tried to keep out of the reviews a little better or their editor should have questioned a little, but hey, it's nothing huge).



Try to be reasonable... its easier than you think...

mibuokami on 13 February 2010

I don't think they are biased towards any console, I just think their quality control for their score sucks (far too much discrepency and contradictory convention that differs from review to review). Their articles are actually pretty decent read.




Lurker on 13 February 2010

EDGE is harsh but fair. They reward good games and destroy bad games.