Xanadu84 said:
Lots of good points, but I do need to point something out. In the frame of reference of most people reading reviews, 8 out of 10 is a B-. That's slightly better then an average, phone it in slackers grade. And I'm not totally aware of where grade inflation is these days.Demanding perfect scores is ridiculous, but using a standardized metric, review scores arn't THAT bad.
Damn good point, I've always thought that 5 outta 10 shouldn't actually be average, but never really could explain why.
If you take 5 outta 10 as 'does half of what it should do right', then sure, most stuff should do better than that.
Someone who gets half an exam right, isn't average, they're pretty bad.
In short tho, 7 out of 10 is considered average, right or wrong, and we're gonna have to accept that.
Of course EVERYONE wants the thing they've worked hard for years to create to get perfect, 10/10 reviews across the board, but that's not going to happen for most people.
as is, I consider 8/10 to be something that's pretty good for its genre, and I'd not rule out buying a 6/10 game if it interested me.
Last of all, everyone should remember, it's a single reviewer's opinion. Someone could give the next big RTS 11/10 across the board in every category, and I'd not go buy it, as RTS just doesn't do it for me. (I admit I might try the demo if there was one however, in case I really was missing out - more reasons to release a demo, folks!)
I'd suggest I've probably got some 3 and 4/10 games in my collection that I love, but I'd not rate em as 9/10s because they're only great to me.