A monopoly would be bad...because then the review site would dictate to some extant what they want in a game...I certainly wouldn't want some of these reviewers designing my games!

The problem here is that I think most gamers are in the same position as the reviewers.  With so many great games coming out it's useful to know which are the ones worth spending money on right now.  If Assassin's Creed is indeed a game one needs to take time away from Mario Galaxy and Mass Effect to enjoy then guess which of the 3 most gamers wouldn't buy. 

I also have to say that requiring a special achievement to get an ending that explains the story (I'm guessing that's the case since PA said you have no right to talk about the ending without it) is simply cheap no matter how easy it is to get the achievement.  It's one thing to give a special ending like Samus without her power suit or the sergeant and an elite hugging as the Halo explodes but unless the game is a JRPG or something it shouldn't require anything special for something as basic as explaining the story.

 I think he meant you GET the achievement, for simply watching the credits and by extension the extended ending. All though he phrased it poorly, so perhaps you're right. It's was an assine thing to say, what about reviewers who beat the PS3 version, they won't have have the achievement.

If this post-script after credits is so important (which we can't judge ourselves without actually beating the game since Gabe apparently dare not risk reveal the earth shattering story to us even in the form of spoiler tags) perhaps the developers should have the foresight to put it in the actual ending itself. Little bits after the credits are a nice touch, especially for those so fond of something that has credits to sit through, but if this drastically alters the game’s ending, then maybe it shouldn’t be obscure.

His Star Wars analogy is somewhat flawed as well. The original Star Wars was a made to be more of a stand alone movie, mostly because, before released, it was excepted to be a horrid dismal awful failure. Clearly not what happened, sequels were demanded. Originally the opening crawl just said Star Wars. No Episode IV or new hope. Onto the crawl. When it was re-released after Empire, they added the Episode IV: A New Hope nonsense. 

Isn't this the same as you claiming SMG is only 7 hrs long? 

Well... that's what big developers do. That's why a lot of games with hype can get overrated.

I used to do some reviews of budget games back in the days (mostly C64 and some Amiga). Most of it was pure crap, and my reviews reflected that. My boss tried to persuade me to give the games better scores, he had gotten some pressure from advertisers...but what can I do when they send me crap like Popeye (not the arcade conversion)?

It's a fundamentally flawed situation when you make it your business to criticize your clients.

It's kind of amazing that the video game industry doesn't outright own the video game media, actually.

 PWNT

Seriously, if Halo 3 and Bioshock got 95%-ish scores, then AC should get 100%. Of course Halo 3 and Bioshock shouldn't have gotten those high scores, but AC should've gotten at least 90% avarage...