Yeah and pretty soon you'll start to exert effort on maintaining respect.  Too much damn trouble for such little gain.

Some people need to read IGN's ratings guide:

10.0 (Masterful)
No game is absolutely perfect, but 10s represent the pinnacle of gaming brilliance. It doesn't get any better than this, and products in this range are virtually flawless. This is like winning the lottery on your birthday. It takes a rare and special game to earn a 10 from IGN.

You can't really blame them for GTA4. Everybody fell into that trap. Gamespot, IGN, pretty much every reviewer on the face of the planet. They got moneyhatted. Don't hate them for one bad act.

And a piece of advice, if you're buying a game, don't just look at the pretty numbers. Read the actual review. If you can't be bothered, that's nobody's fault but your own. The review actually says what is good or bad about it and who it is recommended for.

Why should IGN give special treatment to the Wii? Because it's a casual console, the games should get higher ratings?

If you detest a genre and every game you have played in it and a game gets a 9.5, don't buy it. If you love a genre and have loved every game in it and love the series and it gets a 7/10, go buy it! The reviews don't tell you what to do, they just advise you. However, if there is another game which you love the genre and series of and it gets a 9.5, you would probably enjoy it more than the other game.

Oblivion, for example. I really like RPGs. Many people don't. It got a 9.2 on IGN, and loving RPGs I bought it and it is one of my favourite games of all time.

Stopped reading here.

But, no. Review sites shouldn't be giving the Wii "special treatment." What they should be doing is hiring reviewers from demographics other than "the hardcore" to review any games - from whatever console - not aimed at the "hardcore" market. There's a reason why games like Boom Blox and de Blob didn't get GTA4/MGS4/Fable 2-caliber reviews, and it isn't because they don't deserve it.

Well I think all were pretty pissed off that IGN gave GTA IV a 10. Hell I was pissed off when they gave MGS4 a 10. Showed another way of how extremely hyped games with large brands always get good scores and not because they are great games but because of that. Both deserved great scores but we know why they got it. Of course MSG4 had to get a 10 after GTA IV.

Of course that is just one review site so if I don't want to pay attention to their unprofessional and misguided reviews then I don't have to.

What I really want from reviewers though is justice. I don't care if the review score is whatever but as long as they make it apparent without a doubt it deserves it. They didn't do that with GTA IV or MGS4. They didn't do that with Wii Music for the other radical side. Instead they based it purely off hype BEFORE the review even released and when the raw game isn't the only factor into the score then there is always a problem.

Personally it would probably be best for reviewers to never even pay attention to the hype and media of a game and simply play the game when it's finally released so their judgement is solely on the game but of course this isn't ideal.

Solution? Don't care what reviewers. I mean they are people... no more special than you and I so who cares what they think. They are simply giving another not so perfect opinion. Read reviews for the previews within and not the raw score at the end and you'll be fine.

Ummm no that would be a horrible idea giving shallow games that are still fun great scores/ sarcasm. But no its still a bad idea. All reviewers should be of the same credibility they need a good knowledge of gaming and have to understand what a good game entails. You cant hire a soccer mom to give a thumbs up review to any game just becuase its easy and fun, Wii Play and Carnival games would have gotten good score if that were the case.

People place too much importance on review scores instead of the actulal game. And sorry to say its mostly Nintendo fans crying foul when it comes to reviews. They were the ones gushing when Mario galaxy got scores up to 11/10 and cried fanboyism and hardcore preference when the same happened with GTA 4.

Its time for people to grow up and respect others opinions instead of blastin away ones you don't agree with. A good reviewer can rate a game when they see it. Hell Bloom Blox got a few perfect scores, as did Endless Ocean. Again I'm sorry to say its probably fanboys complaining cuz the library of their console isnt as star studded as the others.

Flame me if you like but thats how i see it.

i lost faith in reviewers after Gamespot sold their soul to Microsoft. All reviews are biased. Some people probaly get paid to write good reviews. I don't care bout reviews anymore personally.

At the end of the day, a review is an opinion. Is it superior to your opinion or my opinion? No it is not. Is it a well defended opinion? Usually.

So why do casual games get lower ratings? Let's look at IGN's ratings, shall we? Ratings are based upon:

Presentation

Graphics

Sound

Gameplay

Lasting Appeal.

They are not going to give Wii games special treatment because they are casual games. And the Wii is more than capable of having extremely good graphics- look at Super Mario Galaxy. So there goes a good graphics score for Wii games that think they can get by with a pixelated mess.

I don't think IGN is going to hire a whole bunch of new reviewers because their close-to-non-existent casual membership doesn't like the fact that they rated MGS4 (a technical masterpiece, you have to admit) higher than Wii Music (not a technical masterpiece by any stretch of the imagination).

Look at the Wii Music reviews. Have you actually read them? Seen what they said instead of looking at the numbers and condemning them as badly written? How does IGN justify their 5/10 for Wii Music?

To begin with, the reviewer says he really enjoys Wii Sports. There goes your 'the reviewers hate casual' comment.

"I wouldn't qualify Wii Music as an abysmal failure. The truth is, I like some of the concepts powering the game. The ability to dynamically alter music using a variety of instruments. The fact that you can layer together different songs and really create your own style. And the integration of Mii avatars, not to mention WiiConnect24 support, definitely add further polish to the fun and simple presentation. I think for all of the above reasons, kids may really latch onto Nintendo's latest effort (although I feel a little sorry for parents who must endure the cacophony of noises coming from their child's bedroom).

That said, I think most adults will quickly recognize that Wii Music is little more than a noise maker tied to a series of gestures and grow bored of the experience in a matter of hours, if not minutes. The controls aren't particularly intuitive, but gimmicky, and the selection of music is fundamentally flawed with dated public domain songs rendered in equally dated MIDI. That Guitar Hero World Tour's complementary modes -- namely Mii Freestyle and advanced studio -- completely obliterate the entire Wii Music package is proof just how much Nintendo's game either doesn't do or doesn't do well."

So, according to IGN, the sound is bad quality, the controls are bad, the music selection is bad and it gets boring fast. Isn't that enough to justify his opinion, even if it isn't yours? Just because somebody does not agree with you does not mean that they are wrong. If you don't like IGN, don't use it. Simple as that.

And why are you including Fable II with MGS4 and GTA4 for review scores? 10, 10, 8.8...

All I have to say to the OP is what took you so long. Reviews have been suspect for years. Too many games that deserve a 7 or 8s are walking away with 9 or 10s.

Why is it fair that Geometry Wars got a far higher review score than Geometry Wars: Galaxies even though (in every measureable way) Geometry Wars: Galaxies was a far better game?

Reviewers already (seem to) take into account dozens of factors when reviewing games in order to provide as fair and unbiased reviews when it comes to every platform except for the Wii. Having a lower sale price, being released on a system with less processing power, or being focused on something different from core/conventional gameplay will make reviewers take it far easier on your game for every platform except for the Wii.

IGN is biased against the PS3.

They gave Disgaea 3 a 6.7.

I don't care if they gave MGS4 a 10, or a 10 to GTA IV, or a 9.5 to LBP. They gave a low score to this game so they are now biased.

IGN gave Galaxy a 9.7, Super Paper Mario an 8.9, 9.5 to Metroid Prime 3, 9.5 to Smash Bros Brawl, but 5.0 to WiiMusic?

They are Wii biased too.

IGN gave Halo 3 a 9.5, 9.5 to Bioshock, 9.6 to Fallout 3, but a 7.8 to Too Human?

Must mean they are 360 biased as well.

Can we all just agree IGN is biased against games?