That's one of those grey area points. It isn't a major component of the movement but some do want it. I personally consider that ridiculous and it sounds like a far larger number of us mirror the opinion that reviews are going to be subjective to a large degree.nightmare_gorilla said:The "objective review" thing is another point GG kinda totally lost me on. asking for people to not bring their personal pov into a review is silly. I believe in advocating for an "honest" review. like or don't like a game for whatever reason you feel like they're all legitimate even if people think it's dumb but just be honest about it. we're not stupid people there are lots and I mean LOTS of game reviewers out there if you consistently mark a game down based on a personal bias I disagree with guess what I can go watch someone else's reviews. the meta-critic argument and the studios losing money over this is entirely publisher created BS instead of saying "your bias review tanked their bonus." how about saying "don't make bonuses contingent on a bullshit aggregated review website."
The big central tenet regarding objectivity is about the news articles. Fair and balanced reporting with at least an attempt to get both sides address where pertinent.
But reviews? Those are overt opinion pieces. The only thing that isn't subjective are things like technical issues and such.
Now, there are some ways that the subjectivity could take a negative turn. For example, if they're friends with the developers then we'd expect a disclosure on the relationship. Also, reviewing games in an attempt to further some kind of agenda would likely be poorly received by the GG community but that's a rare occurrence. They basically want games reviewed on their own merits and not elsewhere except in extreme scenarios (for example, a game about columbine that was superbly designed may be fun to play somehow... but come on... the context of what it pertains to just can't be overlooked, you know?). For example, marking down a game because the main character is sexualized may be considered a political move rather than a review of the game. Like marking down a game because it allows you to kill animals in it. So a degree of objectivity would be important or an all-out recusal would be nice for titles you have a strong bias against.
Jim has got to be one of the best reviewers in the business.