I tend to agree with Matt Cassamassina so yes i am influenced by reviewes

I usually take an average from gamespot and IGN if im debating getting a game...but if i really want a game i will buy it regardless, a method that came back to bite me on the ass when i purchased LAIR before reading any reviews.

2 weeks later it was returned, and replaced by Fight Night Round 3.

I stand by my decision

I only use reviews if I know they have interests that are similar to mine. For example I would never use any source that marks JRPGs down for not doing any thing new but will make exceptions if its some other genres they like. I tend to use Play alot since they are more into the fun factor of gaming.

Aside from the useful things from others (IGN generally being trustworthy, Metacritic, etc.), I'd also like to add that when I'm on the fence, I like to let the dust clear a little bit.

Often, there are issues about a game that can't be (or aren't for whatever reason) covered in a game's initial reviews. But then, over time and as people play it, other issues come up.

For instance, Onimusha has brought up a lot of good points about Wii's release of Okami & the bloom seems to be a bit off the rose for GTA4.

User reviews for a game after a few weeks of play can sometimes give different insight than a professional one right at release.

I do that a lot on Youtube, bro.

It's actually pretty entertaining reading the comments. One person might say A title is gay and lacks this and then the other person says "WTF douche what are you saying this game is good!!".

I tend to look at the gameplay footage and then base my decision. 

I clearly don't know what to do. But I think I might buy games on my own merit and not listen to anyone :D

well i really don't think one should buy games just on the opinion of others. Now if it was the case where i'm short on mula, then only to a certain degree would game reviews play a role in the final decision. that said-- thats what demos are for.

OT: @ ecurbj whats the name of the anime u got that pic from?

I have never had a review make an influence on my game buying decision

Depends, if the score is below 7 I would never buy the game, above that I'd have to know more about the game. I'll buy Mario Kart Wii! and it didn't really get great reviews but I'm sure is a lot of fun

You really shouldn't go with what reviews say. Watch a video, talk to a friend who's opinion you trust when it comes to that particular genre of games, use the "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" method, but don't judge games solely by their rating. If you're going to look at a review, at least look at what the critic is saying and keep in mind where it's coming from, rather than looking at the games score.

If we're talking about which reviews are the most unbiased, I guess I'm going with Famitsū, GameFAQs, MobyGames, and 1up... maybe yahtzee, penny arcade or amazon, depending on the type of game.

However, some critics have review gauge that works like the speedometer in Big Rigs Over the Road Racing. GameSpot comes to mind. So be mindful of that.

Just in case you wanted to see what critic review gauge looks like, check the bottom right corner of the screen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpe2JrsbW9I

I have a couple of sites or reviewers that I tend to trust to have similar tastes to myself. Typically I find both IGN and Gametrailers to be quite good, plus with Gametrailers you can tell a lot from a video.

I don't care about the average of reviews, Metacritic and especially Gamerankings are largely useless sites that offer little to no real value for making decisions.

Furthermore I'm more interested in the content of a review than the score, content allows me to determine just how different my tastes are from the reviewers, which enables me to make better buying decisions.