Jimquisition: The 100% Objective Review

[Dragonbums]

Here's a good idea- don't like that one reviewer docked points off a game because they personally felt that it's sexiness, portryals of minority characters, and how they handled certain political situations took away form the game?

Go find another fucking reviewer, and don't poop your nappies crying about "biased" reviews because someone made an opinion you don't like. Quit the fucking bluff. You just want to shut down conversations you don't like or care for.

There are enough people in the videogame sphere who DO care about this stuff and who DO want to discuss those aspects while not necessarily condemning the game's experience.

I love everything about Bayonetta 2. Everything about it. But I can completely understand why someone would be totally put off by the whole thing. What was my enjoyment was another person's distraction and the person who doesn't like it isn't less valid for stating so.


The entire fucking reason why we go to reviewers- especially the same ones- is because you LIKE their viewpoints, and their opinions on games.

Like Yahtzee sure as FUCK ain't an unbiased reviewer. But where are the blacklists asking for him to step down from journalism? Oh that's right- there isn't. Because his views on certain things align more with the traditional side. So his totally unbiased reviews are A-okay. But the dude who reviewed Bayo2 on Polygon? Fuck him. We want him out of this industry.

But that's totally not censorship guys. Not at all.

 

[MercurySteam]

The game review kinda sounds like it's being read out by Brick from Anchorman. I suppose that's what a black and white review should sound like then.

 

[Haru17]

What do you expect when so many viewers of games media are children and stupid people (not that all children are stupid people, just that a lot of them are).

True objectivism is a farce as long as humans have subjective perceptions of reality informed solely by their limited senses and interpreted as a result of their unique collection of personal experiences.

tl;dr: Do not expect other to be exactly you or agree exactly with you as, logically, they will not be you nor exactly agree with you.

 

[SushiJaguar]

My god, the amount of people who failed to get the point of this video is just depressing.

 

[chikusho]

I find it highly amusing that GG people wants to work against censorship (of slander and libel being removed from forums), and also want to force gaming journalists into self censorship (of things GG people don't agree with).

 

[seditary]

Gamers are increasingly turning to people on Youtube and Twitch to get their impressions of gaming and leaving behind traditional games media and reviewers and instead of you know, trying to adapt and improve their activities, yell and scream that gamers just don't understand its impossible.

Perhaps try looking at your own house because there's a reason we're moving out.

 

[Hazy992]

Gamers are increasingly turning to people on Youtube and Twitch to get their impressions of gaming and leaving behind traditional games media and reviewers and instead of you know, trying to adapt and improve their activities, yell and scream that gamers just don't understand its impossible.

Perhaps try looking at your own house because there's a reason we're moving out.

Which is ironic because YouTubers etc are far more likely to be bought out and collude with big publishers than traditional reviewers. Just look at XB1M13, Shadow of Mordor and countless other brand deals for evidence of that.

 

[seditary]

Gamers are increasingly turning to people on Youtube and Twitch to get their impressions of gaming and leaving behind traditional games media and reviewers and instead of you know, trying to adapt and improve their activities, yell and scream that gamers just don't understand its impossible.

Perhaps try looking at your own house because there's a reason we're moving out.

Which is ironic because YouTubers etc are far more likely to be bought out and collude with big publishers than traditional reviewers. Just look at XB1M13, Shadow of Mordor and countless other brand deals for evidence of that.

And those issues were bought to attention by some of those youtubers, discussed by the community and resolved. Like adults should.

 

[Hazy992]

Gamers are increasingly turning to people on Youtube and Twitch to get their impressions of gaming and leaving behind traditional games media and reviewers and instead of you know, trying to adapt and improve their activities, yell and scream that gamers just don't understand its impossible.

Perhaps try looking at your own house because there's a reason we're moving out.

Which is ironic because YouTubers etc are far more likely to be bought out and collude with big publishers than traditional reviewers. Just look at XB1M13, Shadow of Mordor and countless other brand deals for evidence of that.

And those issues were bought to attention by some of those youtubers, discussed by the community and resolved. Like adults should.

It still happens though. Individual incidents being resolved doesn't mean it's not still happening, which is not the case with reviews.

And how exactly was the Shadow of Mordor incident resolved? As far as I know those videos are still up, and YouTubers like Boogie actually defended it.

http://boogie2988.tumblr.com/post/98717807838/about-brand-deals-youtube-and-you

 

[andri88]

Sorry Jim, but no. I know what you're going for, but it doesn't work because this wasn't an objective review, it was a review mocking the reader. "Some people like it, some people don't" is not objective criticism. Saying WHY people like it or don't is objective criticism. Saying "You can save the game sometimes" is not an objective explanation, because I have no idea how the save system is structured, and you can tell me how it works, objectively.

I'll repeat what I said before:

A bad review is a personal opinion. A professional review attempts to be objective criticism.

What almost every single professional game reviewer out there fails to realize is their purpose.

A professional review is not supposed to tell me whether the reviewer liked the game. A professional review is supposed to tell me whether *I* will like the game. You do this by objectively analyzing the technical merits of the game, comparing and contrasting the game with others like it, and then perhaps going into what does or does not work about the story/characters/etc from a structural level. NOT injecting your own personal ideology, because your ideology is probably not my ideology and thus serves no purpose in informing me properly about the reviewed game. If you want to mention what elements of the game may be of interest or disinterest to me then so be it (ex: feminists may not like the themes in this game = ok. This game has sexist themes = not ok) but keep your politics in your pocket.

Game reviewers almost never understand this, and most go with a "This is what I liked and didn't like" review which is of limited use to anyone. That's why people in large consider game reviews to be a joke.

No one says you can't have an opinion, no one says reviews should be 100% objective, but that opinion should be built on video game knowledge. When you talk about whether something works or not in a video game whether the combat system is fun or not, or balanced or not, it should be based on your experience in video games, not some personal vendetta or political nonsense that has nothing to do with games and nothing to do with whether or not the game is good. Because that's what we're getting out of reviews these days. People who don't even like genres or know something in the game is going to "trigger" them are being given games to review specifically so their review will generate controversy clicks or they can push an agenda.

This is of NO VALUE to us, the consumers. You're a consumer advocate, right? Then you should want what's best for the consumer too.

"I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. Hated the sensibility that thought anyone would like it. Hated the implied insult to the audience by its belief that anyone would be entertained by it."
-So you wanna go back in time and tell Roger Ebert how to do his job?

 

[MrFalconfly]

However, if someone says that I'll have fewer troubles by adding a line of text then fine, I'll write that little disclaimer (and the just Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V from then on).

I don't even believe it'll lead to fewer troubles. People are upset because they're not being told what they want to hear.

But at least they can't shout at you for being a bad reviewer, when you have fully disclosed your methodology.

 

[softclocks]

I thought this video was terrible.

Felt like nothing but snide remarks at the audience.

 

[elvor0]

I find it highly amusing that GG people wants to work against censorship (of slander and libel being removed from forums), and also want to force gaming journalists into self censorship (of things GG people don't agree with).

In situations such as?

 

[xdiesp]

What a dull and uninspired strawman of an article. It makes me sad to see the Escapist stepping so low.

 

[Littaly]

This is kind of a childish way to make a point. I'd normally expect Jim Sterling to be above this :-/

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Would have been less embarrassing (and much, much funnier) if you'd simply shouted "STRAW MAN!" over and over for five straight minutes.

This is startlingly close to what I came in here to say.

Thank you for beating me to it on the first page.

 

[Dragonmouth]

People tend to confuse "apolitical" or "objective" with "upholding the politics of the status quo."

 

[Madkipz]

Gamers are increasingly turning to people on Youtube and Twitch to get their impressions of gaming and leaving behind traditional games media and reviewers and instead of you know, trying to adapt and improve their activities, yell and scream that gamers just don't understand its impossible.

Perhaps try looking at your own house because there's a reason we're moving out.

Which is ironic because YouTubers etc are far more likely to be bought out and collude with big publishers than traditional reviewers. Just look at XB1M13, Shadow of Mordor and countless other brand deals for evidence of that.

And those issues were bought to attention by some of those youtubers, discussed by the community and resolved. Like adults should.

It still happens though. Individual incidents being resolved doesn't mean it's not still happening, which is not the case with reviews.

And how exactly was the Shadow of Mordor incident resolved? As far as I know those videos are still up, and YouTubers like Boogie actually defended it.

http://boogie2988.tumblr.com/post/98717807838/about-brand-deals-youtube-and-you

Of course the video's are still up. Why wouldn't they be? He's doing a paid promotion. That's not corruption. That's simply what he's doing and the consumer is informed about it.

On top of that when TB exposed that the PR company had spesific clauses that prevented critique they managed to get the PR company to change it. When they released the second contract it was perfectly acceptable.

 

[Sol_HSA]

Wouldn't a 100% objective review of a game be a genre tag and a benchmark?

No, because lower FPS these days means more cinematic..