I've been relying more on reviews for a lot of things now. Movies, hotels, restuarants, videogames. They help a lot.

I tend to read more than one review to get a good understanding of the game. The reviewer may not have the same taste in games as I do so I don't base it totally on the final score. I try to base it on their detailed description. If it sounds like I would like it, then I would want to try it out. Again, it's good to read more than one review to make sure at least a few people liked playing it. If everyone says it's crap, it usually is crap.

Tetsuya said: i've had a problem lately..i currently cant really distingish what games i should get....for example today right after work..i wanted to buy mobile suit gundam :crossfire for the ps3 but i read reviews and they said its wack....i really dont know i like reviews because they give me a heads up about the game..such as problems, controls and stuff but at times i look at the sales and im like WHAT!!! regardless if a game got bad reviews it still winds up selling...i dont know what to do....what are some solutions and does anyone listen to game reviewers..please need some help!!

WOW dude you really got some issues. You're constantly seeking out anwers, which is good, but it seems you have some sort of self esteem issues lingering in there. You sound like you're what? 13 -17? Well, I guess it's good to keep asking questions but the thing is sometimes you're just going to make wrong choices (everybody does) and you don't have to feel bad about that, just learn and move on. 

On to your question. Ok the thing is you just got to be real and true to YOURSELF. There are games that sold fantastically but were very mediocre (Scarface IMO) I don't feel bad that I didn't buy the game cause I know it really wasn't to hot for me. I rented it and I enjoyed it. Now the flip side of that could be a game like erm, KillZone that got average reviews but I bought and loved it no matter what anyone else thought of it because I'm true with myself and my experiences and that's the only way you're going to trully enjoy your gaming experiences.

If you're not sure about games then rent them first but always be true to what you feel and not what you think you should feel. The resale market for games is great too cause one doesn't really have to regret buying a game they didn't like. You just resell it and whatever losses you get could amount to paying for a week's rental of the game so it's really not that bad nowadays.

For me, it depends on what type of genre the game is that is being reviewed. If it's a racing/puzzle/RTS game and the general reviews have been good, like 65% or higher- then I'll easily plunk down $70. Most of the time I'm more than satisified.

Other genres I look at all the reviews and if I'm interested and it got good reviews I wait untill it hits $30 before I snag it.

The other extreme is certain types, like Sports/music/movie based games, I won't touch with a 50 foot pole (yes even guitar hero), even if they get game of the year awards and sell 50 million copies.

However, I find that 95% of all videogames are over rated anyway. I mean Viva Pinata is great, but in no way it deserves higer than 85%.

well i usually dont listen to reviews because of a personal interest but some times i might see a game because its ranked high. most games are rated high for a reason. but some games are hype or just horrible games but candy coated with nice graphics and a cool weapon. its hard to tell sumtimes.