man i was hoping for a higher score though i will still get it

7.8? Geez, that's not even worth my butler's butler's time.

I dont really care, Im already set on buying it at its European release.

Oh yeah, for the record I am totally picking this game up tomorrow, and scores don't mean jack to me, but they do seem to fuel conversation.

Personally, as someone from the oldschool, technical quality doesn't mean jack compared to actual fun. During the NES and SNES days I never once thought to myself "Yeah, this game is fun, but what's with the framerate, and that's the crappiest use of Mode 7 I've ever seen. I dunno, I guess it's a GOOD game, but not a great one".

No, it was all about whether or not the game was fun, and cool. And I'm still about that. So I seriously doubt pop up, and invisible boxes around the cars are going to hinder my enjoyment of what looks to be one of the most insanely stylish, fun, and bad ass games to come around in a good while. I mean if the game draws a crowd at the offices, it must have something going for it.

7.8 from ign = buzzkill in u.s. sales

I'll still probably get this game just not on launch.

The 7.8 isn't up on Metacritic or GameRankings yet, but based on the other scores it has so far (90 from Edge, which is usually pretty harsh), I think its average will hold up around 87 or so.

From what I've read it's a really endearing game, but it has some rough edges. Some reviewers are going to be less forgiving of the rough edges than others.

 That was the one quote in particular that really stuck out for me. In my opinion, the review is overcritical. The game does lack a certain level of visual polish, and the side-job "missions" can be a bit frustrating and repetitive, but calling it an "absolute mess" is an exagerration IMO. I would have given the game a slightly higher score, but no higher than 8.5 probably. 

I love how in our current industry review scores are more based on the technical aspects of the game's design, rather than how much fun it is to play.  In the 90s if you mentioned texture pop-in in a review of an N64 or PSX people would just say "who the hell cares?"  and move on.  Nowadays texture pop-in takes an 8 ranges game down to the 7s.  What a joke. 

I don't think 7.8 is that low, if that's the lowest score than it's doing pretty good.