Why Jim Sterling's Mario Kart 7 review is bullshit.

Lalo Lomeli

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I just love playing the same game over and over and over again, having a few tweeks that could have been DLC? AWESOME! Please give me more, I'll buy every game that my favorite company makes because they are part of my identity as a person!

I can deal with capcom realesing a game, and six month later releasing the same game but in a finished state.

My favorite company is EA sports.

Leave innovation to all those indy games, and of course, don't buy all those indie games. Who wants innovation when you can have brand recognition?

And if anybody wants to point out how they are pretty much cashing out of nostalgia? DAMN THEM AND BURN THEM! They are attacking me as a person.

....

Being serious, you know what? I like crap sometime, and yeah, i like my comfort zone of coming back home and seeing a friendly face (in the form of a plumber, a princess and such). I can see everything wrong with something and just enjoy it. Is the muppets the most deep movie this year, probably not, but it's the best movie of the year for me, because it's the movie that have me it laugh more.

Heck that fact the Deadly Premonition is mentioned here is prove to that, it's a flawed game, but their virtues rise it.

why don't you people whine that Batman:The Dark Knight didn't won the oscar for the best movie?

But, geez, becoming so biased that you can see any flaws in anything you like? It's the current state of gaming perfection? Because, in the great scheme of thing, our gaming now isn't that great. And if it's great, I hope that it improves.
 

Lalo Lomeli

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DiMono said:
I'm sorry, but if all a game has to offer is new levels, then no, it is not worth purchasing. That makes it not a new game, but an expansion pack. A new game is, by definition, "new." If the engine is the same, and the mechanics are the same, and the interface is the same, then it's the same game just wearing different clothes. If there's nowhere for a franchise to go in terms of further innovation, stop trying to keep it alive!

Best example I can think of to help my case here is Diablo 2. They sold an expansion pack called Lord of Destruction. It added an extra 25% to the length of the game, with dozens of new enemies, two new character types, 50% more weapon types, and an almost complete reworking of the combat mechanics, and it was an expansion pack! The engine was the same, and there was no innovation, and Blizzard knew better than to try to market it as a brand new game because it wasn't one.

If it doesn't innovate over the previous incarnation in any way, then it's not a new game. Period.
You know what exception I can find? Majora's Mask.

The same engine, the same characters, but a whole different game, in the sense of a whole new (deeply disturbed) story, quest, interactions.

It feels more different from Ocarina of Time than what Twilight Princess felt.
 

Electric Alpaca

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May 2, 2011
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The point that you seem to be missing is that you are slighting his opinion with an opinion of your own.

It can't be as you describe because (I'm hoping he has integrity) this is how he perceives the subject matter - part of life is realising everyone is entitled to their own opinions and also growing to learn that some individuals are paid a lot of money to publish theirs.

What is the value if each journalist published the exact same text and the exact same numbers?
 

Nergy

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I don't think OP's problem isn't that Jim's opinion differs from his own. It's more that Jim didn't give the game it's full credit and have left people misinformed about the game. For every person who isn't influenced by reviews, there is one who is. Read the comments, there are people saying "Well i guess i'll give this one a miss".
 

Charles McGuffin

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It's a racing game. It doesn't need anything new other than tracks. If the SNES were capable of DLC (via Internet, not time restricted satellite) Nintendo would never had to release another Mario Kart.
 

Electric Alpaca

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Nergy said:
I don't think OP's problem isn't that Jim's opinion differs from his own. It's more that Jim didn't give the game it's full credit and have left people misinformed about the game. For every person who isn't influenced by reviews, there is one who is. Read the comments, there are people saying "Well i guess i'll give this one a miss".
How Jim wishes to do his job is entirely up to him: he shouldn't be thoughtful of the actions people will take as a result of it.

He doesn't have a public duty, nor do his outputs have any real meaningful bearing on people's lives. If there are members of his audience that will base their actions upon what he says, odds are in favour of them knowing Jim's style and therefore factor this in their thought process.

If they don't know him, questions have to be raised about why they are allowing a nobody to sway them so.
 

CheckD3

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It's called opinion. Everyone's tastes are different, and getting upset at someone's reviews based on their opinion is just kinda stupid. I hated BF3, and wrote the review for my school paper. I realized it got good reviews, and people may not agree with my take, but it's MY take and like all reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.

Plus, sometimes it takes a negative review to force any big changes. Did the criticisms of Fable let it go stale? No, and yes, you could argue that there were stupid changes made, but you have to give Peter and Lionhead credit, they tried to fix it. All I'm saying is reviews are there to inform you on someone's professional opinion, and when people play for reviews, the game is looked at differently.

Btw, if indeed you did say that the review was of Mario Kart 7, then please let me know how 7 of any single type of non-story based game could be comparable to being relevant and nothing more than a grab at our wallets.
 

Kirbys

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Obvious fan bias here.

Hey if the game didn't offer much from the series then it's nothing new for it to be bought. Well Mario Kart after 64 hasn't changed much like a few characters here and there, a couple of tweaks, and new courses. I love the series but I think Mario Kart series should've died after the Wii.

It's kind of reminding me of what he said about Skyward Sword or whatever in one of his "Jimquisitions".
 

Lunar Templar

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o.o? so ....

its and average game then? your butthurt why? sides, its a NUMBER SCORE, those are useless at best anyway. also -.- it MARIO CART, of course its not going to be much different then the others, its made by Nintendo, kinda their thing
 

FoolKiller

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Vegosiux said:
I love it how people get so ballistic over the reviewer's game score.

If I enjoy it, I don't care if it got a minus seventeen out of ten, really.
This is why I hate review scores to begin with. I wish they would just talk and tell us what things they found in the game, what they liked and didn't like (but try to give even amounts of each) and let me figure out what type of score I give it in my head.
 

Racecarlock

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Ask yourself this. Does having a problem with a reviewer opinion make him a bad guy and you a shining knight crusader in armor, or does it just make you insecure? Hint, it's the second one.
 

Kirbys

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FoolKiller said:
Vegosiux said:
I love it how people get so ballistic over the reviewer's game score.

If I enjoy it, I don't care if it got a minus seventeen out of ten, really.
This is why I hate review scores to begin with. I wish they would just talk and tell us what things they found in the game, what they liked and didn't like (but try to give even amounts of each) and let me figure out what type of score I give it in my head.
Most reviews have the information of what they do and didn't like about the game. Also even amounts? It's hard to do that when most games suck so bad most of the time anyways.
 

Dumbfish1

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itsmeyouidiot said:
Jennacide said:
itsmeyouidiot said:
Simply having new levels or any sort of new content more than a reskin is enough to keep any game series fresh.

>=| Nintendo is the lords of rehash, and people like you are how they get away with it.
How is that funny? If a game is fun, a different game that is essentially the same is also fun.

The leap to 3D in the N64/Playstation era seems to have bred a generation of spoiled gamers that are incapable of having fun with the same thing more than once. I genuinely pity you for being unable to enjoy a new game if it doesn't provide something new.
If you don't mind playing the same game again and again because it's so fun, THEN PLAY THE FIRST ONE! Why would I want to fork out more money for another incredibly similar game, when I could get something different, and then have two different games, as opposed to one game but two slightly different copies of it?
 

Sylveria

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itsmeyouidiot said:
http://www.destructoid.com/review-mario-kart-7-216484.phtml

Jim Sterling, once again showing what a hypocrite he is, gives Mario Kart 7 a 5 out of 10 for being a "stagnant, crawling, and indolent effort" despite being more lenient towards the Dynasty Warriors series, which is just as stagnant as this game, if not more.
Well aren't you a perfect example of the kind of person that Jim insults on a regular basis. I shall point and laugh at you now.
 

Euhan01

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So what he gave it a average score? If you enjoyed it yay, ignore the review. I'm gonna prob buy the game, looks good to me but yeah it doesn't look that new but thats fine for me - want a kart game for the 3DS so it fits the bill.
 

The Funslinger

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You know, it'd been a while since I last saw a "WAAAAAH! SOME GAME REVIEWER DISLIKES MY FAVORITE SERIES!" thread and I'd kind of begun to hope people had moved past that level of immaturity. Shame... and as has been stated, Jim is one of those reviewers who tries to use something like 5/10 as what it really is. Half. Average.

MiracleOfSound said:
How dare he have an opinion!

And how dare he give a game he enjoyed a better score than one that bored him!
That made me laugh more than it should have. My chocolate buzz must be getting out of hand again...

In any case, the 3DS seems pointless, and I've got cash saving to do for a gap year. So I won't be playing the new Mario Kart even if it turns out to give you super power mutations and a complimentary reach-around.
 

itsmeyouidiot

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Dumbfish1 said:
itsmeyouidiot said:
Jennacide said:
itsmeyouidiot said:
Simply having new levels or any sort of new content more than a reskin is enough to keep any game series fresh.
>=| Nintendo is the lords of rehash, and people like you are how they get away with it.
How is that funny? If a game is fun, a different game that is essentially the same is also fun.

The leap to 3D in the N64/Playstation era seems to have bred a generation of spoiled gamers that are incapable of having fun with the same thing more than once. I genuinely pity you for being unable to enjoy a new game if it doesn't provide something new.
If you don't mind playing the same game again and again because it's so fun, THEN PLAY THE FIRST ONE! Why would I want to fork out more money for another incredibly similar game, when I could get something different, and then have two different games, as opposed to one game but two slightly different copies of it?
The key word here is "slightly different." You don't need to radically overhaul the game with each new installment to keep the series fun, you just need minor tweaks and improvements. The NES Mega Man games are probably the best examples; while Mega Man 2 is by far the most cherished, Mega Man 5 and 6 are the best in my opinion, as they maintain the same basic formula but have also modified the gameplay enough to keep things interesting.

In fact, most of the games that people call "rehashes" are actually quite different from their predecessors, enough to keep the series interesting in my opinion. To me, people grossly exaggerate the amount of change needed with each new installment. You don't need to do a major change, just stick with several small ones.
 

BoredRolePlayer

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jboking said:
BoredRolePlayer said:
jboking said:
BoredRolePlayer said:
while pokemon still...uses...the...same...stupid...plot...point...every...game *RAGE*.
Cause the story of Black and White is so similar to the story of Red and Blue, right?
Start off in a small town
With your two friends, neither of whom is identified as your rival, but rather your friend.
Tasked to get pokemon to fill the pokedex
Not for research, but just so you could see the world
Get 8 badges
None of the plot development between getting each badge mentioned. Awesome work on the synopsis.
Stop a Evil organization who wants to you guessed rule the world by having control of pokemon by getting people to get rid of them (slightly different from team rocket, they used business, not folklore)
Except taking over the world wasn't ever brought up in red. Team Rocket basically just wanted to get/stay rich by exploiting pokemon. They were also thieves. Also, not all the members of the new organization think they're doing something wrong and it is presented as though they are fighting for pokemon's rights (which, honestly, they bring up some good arguments for).
Go and Battle the Elite 4 become the champion
Except you don't finish fighting the elite four, because your trial is interrupted by the aforementioned evil organization. You then go and fight The person who beat the champion (N), who is using a legendary pokemon, and who built a god damn castle around the elite four. Also, the other title legendary pokemon comes to give you an opportunity to catch him before you fight the new champion. Then, after you beat the new champion, the person who was ACTUALLY leading the evil organization shows up and you have to fight his team. Also, if you fail you go back to start.

Oh, and a small note, you fight the elite four in any order you want.
The only thing I liked about the plot was N (and that gym leaders had real jobs), and his involvement. I just play pokemon just to play it, the plot got me hooked a few times then the "twist" ending that N's

Wanted N to summer the dragon was so people would give up their pokemon believing he is the hero of legends and Team Plasma would have no one to stop them when they take over the world

just bummed me out.
Why? So one person was evil, big fuckin' deal. N was still the real rival in the story and actually had a different opinion on how pokemon should be treated, which was something entirely new for the series and a driving force behind the 'evil' organization.
If they make "gray" and explore not only N but Kyurem(He is so cool and looks like he has a lot of background story waiting to happen) in more depth I might change my mind.
Kyurem was the shell of the dragon combination of Resharim and Zerkom. He was the leftovers. Also, there is some suggestion that Ghetsis tried to capture him and got royally...well messed up.
Edit:Also I said plot point and I was referring to the get 8 badges, fight evil team, become the champ
If plot points were boiled down to being that concise and simple, no game would have a unique story. Hell, the new Devil May Cry game would be exactly the same as the old one:

Demon's show up where they aren't supposed to be
Dante fights the demons after being informed about their plans to take over the world
Dante tries to find the big demon boss
Dante kills the big demon boss and saves the world
With your two friends, neither of whom is identified as your rival, but rather your friend.
Like in Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire where May/Brandon is a friend and not a rival? Also the boy Charin (I think is his name) is your rival since he battles you to test his abilities as a trainer pretty much when you both get the same gym badge to take on the champion (Kinda like how Pearl is, and Blue/Green). And even more so since your doing the same thing, kinda competing for the same goals. Also friends can be rivals, I mean look at Dragon Ball where Goku and Krillain are rivals but good friends (Or hell in Pokemon D/P/Pt Pearl is your rival and friend), not ever trainer needs to be like Blue/Green and Silver to be "rivals".

None of the plot development between getting each badge mentioned. Awesome work on the synopsis.
You mean the plot of Team Plasma and how do stupid and evil stuff? I'm sorry but it is tiring using the same "Get the 8 badges and become champion" incentive to go to each Gym, or to even progress the story. Why don't you have the badges do something like in the R/B arc of Pokemon Adventures. Hell even in Dragon Quest XI you collect figs (like gym badges) but you see what affect the figs have on the towns people and you know why you have to get them to prevent trouble from happening. Also I said it is a plot point, not the over all plot synopsis. It's a tired element used to string events along.

Except taking over the world wasn't ever brought up in red. Team Rocket basically just wanted to get/stay rich by exploiting pokemon. They were also thieves. Also, not all the members of the new organization think they're doing something wrong and it is presented as though they are fighting for pokemon's rights (which, honestly, they bring up some good arguments for).
Fine Rocket wanted to stay rich (Makes you wonder why they would need Mewtwo if that was the ONLY goal they had), but Plasma doesn't get to keep the "pokemon rights" when they were kicking a pokemon for dream mist to further their own goals. Also it doesn't matter what the grunts who can't stop a 10 year old think, it's what the group's purpose is, hell even N didn't know what was really going on and he was the "King" of Team Plasma. The only evil groups who had some sane idea to benefit people and pokemon was Magma and Aqua. They were just as nuts, but they wanted to expand the land/ocean for people and pokemon alike.

Except you don't finish fighting the elite four, because your trial is interrupted by the aforementioned evil organization. You then go and fight The person who beat the champion (N), who is using a legendary pokemon, and who built a god damn castle around the elite four. Also, the other title legendary pokemon comes to give you an opportunity to catch him before you fight the new champion. Then, after you beat the new champion, the person who was ACTUALLY leading the evil organization shows up and you have to fight his team. Also, if you fail you go back to start.

Oh, and a small note, you fight the elite four in any order you want.
So...how the order in which things happen changes? That isn't shaking up the plot at all dude. It was a shock to see the castle come up like that I will admit, but you still have to deal with Team Plasma on one last showdown, and to be fair Pt was more intense since you where in the Distorted Diminsion. And fighting the elite four isn't much of an story improvement, seeing how I had to spend more time grinding to get up to level 70 to fight them.

Why? So one person was evil, big fuckin' deal. N was still the real rival in the story and actually had a different opinion on how pokemon should be treated, which was something entirely new for the series and a driving force behind the 'evil' organization.
N was a rival yes, his opinion was different yes, and the organization was evil when the man pulling the strings wants to have power and no one oppose him. I liked N and his part in the story, but it doesn't change the fact team plasma main purpose is to rule the world. AND THAT N IS PAWN IN A GREATER SCHEME.


Kyurem was the shell of the dragon combination of Resharim and Zerkom. He was the leftovers. Also, there is some suggestion that Ghetsis tried to capture him and got royally...well messed up.
See I don't want "suggestions" of any possibilities I want it to be confirmed in the story. So unless it's in the game or the people who made the game confirmed it, I DO NOT CARE.

If plot points were boiled down to being that concise and simple, no game would have a unique story. Hell, the new Devil May Cry game would be exactly the same as the old one:

Demon's show up where they aren't supposed to be
Dante fights the demons after being informed about their plans to take over the world
Dante tries to find the big demon boss
Dante kills the big demon boss and saves the world
Yep and you wonder why people get pissed about how games plots never change?

Look I don't know what your deal is, you are defending a game I bought on launch and still play to this day (which is sad, defending a game I like). My only problem is the plot is not engaging at all for me, what is your problem with that? If I want plot in a pokemon universe I will read the Pokemon Adventures Manga, at least there people have more heavier roles.

And if you have a problem with what I feel about a plot of a game I don't even hate, then get over yourself.
 

DonMartin

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I'm tired of Jim, really. His ideas arent particularily interesting, it's just what most mature people think conveyed in a really immature way. Now, immature can be funny, but personally I dont think he is. It's immature without being funny.

Also, I think he gets a lot of validation from how people ***** about his reviews and jimquisitions. "See how they're reacting? This means I'm right." (The previous example being a not at all prime example of me doing the exact same thing he is.)

I just dont care about what he says or does. The little I did, I've lost.