Well, I think the bottom line is that the gaming industry is generally immature and has not learned how to take a loss with dignity. With millions upon millions of dollars being spent on games, the producers/publishers get rather anxious about making their money back. They don't care if they produce a turd, they want that turd to at least break even, and this means they want nothing negative about even the worst product to be out there at all. Metacritic represents a factor that they can't control directly, because even if they buy up a lot of big name reviewers, the lesser ones who are considered for part of it are treated equally for the purposes of compiling those ratings... a simple fact that contributes to why so many people will look at a Metacritic rating and give it such weight, above and beyond that of any specific reviewer usually.
Now, the basic issue of wanting to see a return on an investment, even one that produces crap, is not something that is unique to the gaming industry. It's shared by pretty much all businesses. When it comes to the media however, things like movies, music, and even TV shows have more avenues to try and recover the initial investment... largely because they are bigger, better established industries. Even a failed movie can turn a profit in the long term through discount disc sales, rentals, and similar things. With video games you have a smaller audience, as well as a smaller industry that has spent so much time trying to limit and control their own media where really their options are fairly limited, they pretty much have that one big initial sales period, and then a slow trickle. The gaming industry doesn't generally plan to support old products the same way that movie companies do, with even an old stinker of a movie getting tossed through budget bins for decades if the need arises. As a result other industries might QQ a bit, but are generally more willing to just accept taking a hit now and again.
I think the gaming industry's greed is also part of it, the gaming industry has the potential to be bigger than either movies or music. Heck, it could be the equivilent of Hollywood AND Pro-sports franchises put together. The thing is that it's not there yet, but a lot of the people involved in the industry, or at least the production end, insist on acting like it is, and by trying to act like big-wigs without an industry on that level, they set themselves up for failure. Bobby Kotick for example has his own private jet, there was an article a while back about how he got into a sex scandal with his personal stewardess. This is the kind of thing you expect from major label music and movie producers, his industry is however not on that level and yet he insists on trying to pretend that it is. This kind of behavior (I use Bobby as an example because he's a known quantity) within the gaming industry contributes to exactly why things like a Metacritic rating can be such a big crisis. After all if you have executives flying around on private jets like rock stars, at the end of the day they need to pay for that, and have enough money to finance their next games. I'm not saying these guys should live like paupers, but I sort of feel that with the current position the industry is in, a comparitivly more humble lifestyle and presentation might provide a bit more breathing room and prevent people from bursting blood vessels trying to contrive ways to control things like metacritic.
That's my thoughts at any rate.
Now, the basic issue of wanting to see a return on an investment, even one that produces crap, is not something that is unique to the gaming industry. It's shared by pretty much all businesses. When it comes to the media however, things like movies, music, and even TV shows have more avenues to try and recover the initial investment... largely because they are bigger, better established industries. Even a failed movie can turn a profit in the long term through discount disc sales, rentals, and similar things. With video games you have a smaller audience, as well as a smaller industry that has spent so much time trying to limit and control their own media where really their options are fairly limited, they pretty much have that one big initial sales period, and then a slow trickle. The gaming industry doesn't generally plan to support old products the same way that movie companies do, with even an old stinker of a movie getting tossed through budget bins for decades if the need arises. As a result other industries might QQ a bit, but are generally more willing to just accept taking a hit now and again.
I think the gaming industry's greed is also part of it, the gaming industry has the potential to be bigger than either movies or music. Heck, it could be the equivilent of Hollywood AND Pro-sports franchises put together. The thing is that it's not there yet, but a lot of the people involved in the industry, or at least the production end, insist on acting like it is, and by trying to act like big-wigs without an industry on that level, they set themselves up for failure. Bobby Kotick for example has his own private jet, there was an article a while back about how he got into a sex scandal with his personal stewardess. This is the kind of thing you expect from major label music and movie producers, his industry is however not on that level and yet he insists on trying to pretend that it is. This kind of behavior (I use Bobby as an example because he's a known quantity) within the gaming industry contributes to exactly why things like a Metacritic rating can be such a big crisis. After all if you have executives flying around on private jets like rock stars, at the end of the day they need to pay for that, and have enough money to finance their next games. I'm not saying these guys should live like paupers, but I sort of feel that with the current position the industry is in, a comparitivly more humble lifestyle and presentation might provide a bit more breathing room and prevent people from bursting blood vessels trying to contrive ways to control things like metacritic.
That's my thoughts at any rate.