Xbox 360 game rates a 10, gamers freak the f__ck out
Official Xbox magazine's editor caught some heat recently when the mag (note how it's called the Official Xbox Magazine so keep in mind, a bias of sorts will probably be there conscious or not) gave Fight Night Round 3 a perfect 10. Apparently this irked people because their favorite games didn't garner a perfect score from the mag when they were debuted. I think some of this flack that OXM is getting could be attributed to what seems like a general backlash against reviews in general. EGM's Dan Hsu ranted a while back on how he hates the mags he knows give favorable marks based on financial incentives given to them by certain publishers. Then someone over at Kotaku posted on how they're going to be starting a "preview Ho" column, outsing previews or reviews that are so obviously fake. Hmmm, they haven't really mentioned any reviews since...hmmm.
That being said, I'd like to take a minute to speak to my fellow gamers...Reviews are not the end all be all and they don't dictate what games you are definitely going to buy. Seriously, chill the hell out. I look at it this way (and yes, you should aim to be me), if a magazine or someone gives a game high marks that might make me more inclined to take a look at a certain game but if I'm not into the general gist of the gameplay, I don't buy it. The pendulum swings the other way too, if I'm in a game shop and I see something that piques my interest, I may pursue it no matter what any mag says. I picked up a Spongebob game because it looked like a good time for the kids and I. I don't know how it may have been review because I didn't really care. Game reviews are like movie reviews, a dime a dozen. They come and go. Don't like a review, get over it.
/rant
That being said, I'd like to take a minute to speak to my fellow gamers...Reviews are not the end all be all and they don't dictate what games you are definitely going to buy. Seriously, chill the hell out. I look at it this way (and yes, you should aim to be me), if a magazine or someone gives a game high marks that might make me more inclined to take a look at a certain game but if I'm not into the general gist of the gameplay, I don't buy it. The pendulum swings the other way too, if I'm in a game shop and I see something that piques my interest, I may pursue it no matter what any mag says. I picked up a Spongebob game because it looked like a good time for the kids and I. I don't know how it may have been review because I didn't really care. Game reviews are like movie reviews, a dime a dozen. They come and go. Don't like a review, get over it.
/rant
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