Wait wait wait, there are still people that actually take Zero Punctuation seriously? 

l.o.l.

That's just too funny.

Twesterm - I never said I took him seriously. I said I had never refered to him as a bad reviewer. This is because I watch the clips for entertainment value, rather than because they are actually reviews, thus it matters not to me whether he is a good reviewer or not.

 I love what he does, but shame on anyone who take him seriously. 

I am still bothered by the FAMITSU one too.

Yeah, Famitsu about as big of a joke as Yahtzee.  The sad thing about that is people still do take Famitsu seriously.  It's like they don't realize they give out courtesy scores to heavily hyped games.

He isn't a good reviewer or a bad reviewer because he isn't even a reviewer.  The fact you think he might be even a bad reviewer is even worrying.

gamecritics.com is talking about this in their 2 part podcast, yea its pretty long:

Myths of Game Criticism Part 1 (starts at 20:40 for this topic)
http://www.gamecritics.com/tim-spaeth/gamecritics-com-podcast-episode-24-myths-of-game-criticism

Myths of Game Criticism Part 2
http://www.gamecritics.com/tim-spaeth/gamecritics-com-podcast-episode-25-myths-of-game-criticism-part-2

You'll just have to remain bothered. we are done talking apparently.

@ Twesterm - On what basis do you claim what Yahtzee produces is not a review? The fact that it doesn't summarise itself with a number at the end?

I always thought a game review was the opinion of one man or women. So it is the same as the review done by anyother biased, subjective, varying, influenced by hype, media and bursting bubbles due to overhype human being. Still the're not bad guides to avoiding udder crap. Don't read review and you might think kane and lynch is a masterpiece.

Computer says no.

The trouble with that is: who're you advising to buy or rent or avoid the game? A game could be a definite buy if meant for kids aged 5-8 in love with the Merc's cartoons, and a definite avoid for an horror-hungry teenager.

One thing is the description and critical analysis of the game per se, the other is judging it as a product that people can buy, and in this second idea of what a review can be you should take in account the variety of the public.

That's where all the confusion comes when reviewing games that don't add much to previous experiences, or for late ports. Do you rate an incrementally better game as better than the original, or do you rate it in the context of people having already played the previous? Who should buy, rent or skip the new one?

My point is that the what the game is, what it tries to be and how good or bad it fares at reaching its goals should be mandatory in the final synopsis of a review. Anything less is misleading, including any kind of score or consumer advice.

In this sense, I see nothing wrong with some reviews being attuned to the mainstream commercial trend, and others being completely independent. Different kind of public will look for the Cannes' palm d'or badge under a movie poster, for Ebert's quotations or for glowing reviews from the "Family fun" newsletter.

Which, once again, points to the fact that we should have more variety in how game reviewing is approached and less self-referential short-circuiting between publishers, reviewers and core gamers community. It's an unhealthy relationship.

Excellent post, WereKitten...

I also purchase games for my kids, and i have to trust my own feeling, and my own knowledge in videogames, because most critics won't think about the kids: the right difficulty, the right genre, the right graphics needed, the best replay value... the problem is most critics will always refer to their own preferences, their own tastes, and it's something that just can't be universal... a "must-buy" for someone will always be an "avoid" for someone else, just like it happens with records, books, movies, comics, etc...

That's why i've already posted this before in this thread: the most important thing is to find critics who share your tastes, and usually score the games just like you would do it yourself...

In my case, Nintendo Life has became my reference, even if i still check Metacritic to have some "global point of view" as well... but to each his own, we just have to know what we really like and what we're lookin' for, and get some help to know if a game we may like is well done, or poorly done... games we will never like are always out of the equation, that's just the way things are...