I'm not entirely decided on whether being a critic and a journalist are the same thing. I understand that you do go out and interview people as well so in that respect there is an element of journalism involved.
But when it comes to games critics I find it hard to take reviews without a pinch of salt. Obviously the source of the review is important, as with any review don't trust it if it came from a murdoch media source, and then almost any other newspaper, and then I can't trust gamespy or IGN and to be honest a lot of the time even though its reviewing indy games, the escapist. Even if money hasn't changed hands I think that either the person writing it or the company which it is being published for has an interest in the wellbeing of the game it is reviewing.
Obviously games reviews are opinionated but so are all reviews, thats something you can't help and you can't call something a bad review because you disagree with it, but often after playing a game and looking back at what the reviews said that made you buy the game they don't match up.
What I like the most about the escapist is not the games reviews but actually the "behind the scenes" of games interviews which give you a greater understanding of the development process.
But when it comes to games critics I find it hard to take reviews without a pinch of salt. Obviously the source of the review is important, as with any review don't trust it if it came from a murdoch media source, and then almost any other newspaper, and then I can't trust gamespy or IGN and to be honest a lot of the time even though its reviewing indy games, the escapist. Even if money hasn't changed hands I think that either the person writing it or the company which it is being published for has an interest in the wellbeing of the game it is reviewing.
Obviously games reviews are opinionated but so are all reviews, thats something you can't help and you can't call something a bad review because you disagree with it, but often after playing a game and looking back at what the reviews said that made you buy the game they don't match up.
What I like the most about the escapist is not the games reviews but actually the "behind the scenes" of games interviews which give you a greater understanding of the development process.