ROBERT JAMES
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COMMENTS BY THIS AUTHOR (10)
"ego fallout game sounds pretty fun. But there's no way I'd pay $60 for it"
Sunday, October 25, 2009
"ave a sinking feeling that Activision and Infinity Ward are counting on people not buying the PC version. If people don't buy it, they'll rack it up to the PC no longer being a platform worth developing for and they'll pull out of the PC all together. IW is going to do this no matter how much people complain, whine, moan, and groan. It's an insult to gamers (and that's all gamers) and to a company that made a name for itself with awesome PC games"
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
" me start by saying I'm really sorry to hear about your friend.
Perspective on this whole thing is really important. I just finished recording a podcast with the usual group I record with and argued the same thing you did: why everyone thinks Uncharted 2 is the second coming. I have some really serious issues with the game. But the passion which we both brought to the argument is kind of silly in the grand scheme of things. There are things more important in life than video games (and certainly more important that metacritic).
However, I think not being able to say "I don't like this" among a crowd that's fawning over ever morsel this game dishes out, that it is utterly verboten, is insane. I could write an entire article around it. In fact, someone else did! I remember reading such an article regarding Fallout 3 and this person's post-script after the hysteria had died down (the author's name escapes me). It had, essentially, the same point: when everyone is saying one thing, the dissenter, the person with a conflicting opinion (even a valid one), gets drowned out"
Perspective on this whole thing is really important. I just finished recording a podcast with the usual group I record with and argued the same thing you did: why everyone thinks Uncharted 2 is the second coming. I have some really serious issues with the game. But the passion which we both brought to the argument is kind of silly in the grand scheme of things. There are things more important in life than video games (and certainly more important that metacritic).
However, I think not being able to say "I don't like this" among a crowd that's fawning over ever morsel this game dishes out, that it is utterly verboten, is insane. I could write an entire article around it. In fact, someone else did! I remember reading such an article regarding Fallout 3 and this person's post-script after the hysteria had died down (the author's name escapes me). It had, essentially, the same point: when everyone is saying one thing, the dissenter, the person with a conflicting opinion (even a valid one), gets drowned out"
Monday, October 19, 2009
"y, new rule: stop putting your head through the wall. Second rule: stop playing dance dance finger revolution and blindingly high speeds"
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
"son: thanks"
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
" this is a topic I can get behind. It seems very common these days that the tact a reviewer has in written word gets lost, at times, in a podcast. Sensationalism runs rampant on many a podcast because it's more entertaining. As an example, it's worth noting the increase in the number of video game podcasts brandishing explicit labels (my show included). But having a shock-jock mentality when it comes to podcasting shouldn't override a reviewers integrity and professionalism when it comes to talking about a particular title. As for needless bashing in a written review, writers should just know better at this point. Sure, a bad game deserves a bad review, but it doesn't need to be so brash that it borders on insulting. "
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
"ase ignore my typo at the top. There's no way to correct it. I meant to write "two" not "to" and spell checked too quickly"
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
"le I respect this person's article, I have to problems with it.
1) The author asks for the press to have the integrity to be honest and fair with what score they give a certain game. But before reaching this request, the author also states that publisher pressure on a publication is necessary in certain situations. Which situations are those? And how can the public, the gamers, the people who are depending on those reviews, supposed to feel when their news and reviews are being warped by an overzealous publishing company threatening future exclusives and advertisements. It's the same thing that got Eidos in hot water (twice).
2) The author also states that games should receive fair appraisals. Meaning that a game should not be played for two hours, tossed aside, and reviewed haphazardly. While I won't argue with this point, I have to ask the author this: who's job is it to check that a review is done to the standard that a publication demands of it's employees? I don't think that job falls on you or the company creating a certain game. That job falls squarely on the shoulders of the group publishing the review. And if a game reviews badly, is that the fault of the review team playing the game or the team that (maybe, just maybe) released a game that wasn't very good. Now I'm not saying the development team wanted to release a dud...but they did. And no amount of good PR will save a bad game.
3) Quote: The industry has been crying out for “real†journalism for a long time now. What this means to me is not harsher reviews, but thoughtful analysis about games, real knowledge of game development, and a deep history of playing games
This is the part that is just asinine. Video game journalism is as all encompassing as any other branch of journalism. People gather information, fact check, interview, pick up on rumors, talk about previews (and not review preview builds) and attempt to be accurate and fair. Sure, there are people who don't hold themselves to any kind of standard, but who would want to read something they couldn't trust to be accurate and fair? Also, video games are only twenty-five years old, thirty if you're really pushing it. And do you think the video game industry has hit it's stride? It's still in it's infancy. So what is a knowledge of pong and pac man going to do to help someone review Gears of War II? My point is simply this: you don't get into video game reviews if you don't play video games. As for knowing game development, we all understand that game development is a difficult process. So is making a movie, so is producing and album, so is writing a book, so are a lot of things. If a product stinks on ice...it will still stink on ice when someone goes to review it. And it's a shame that PR people like the author get canned when a publisher feels they didn't do enough work to sway a review staff toward giving their game a glowing review. But bad games should not get good reviews. And if a game is good, but not great (and reviews as such) it doesn't mean a game is crap. It just means it doesn't deserve a 9.0 or a "game of the year award". It's just that simple"
1) The author asks for the press to have the integrity to be honest and fair with what score they give a certain game. But before reaching this request, the author also states that publisher pressure on a publication is necessary in certain situations. Which situations are those? And how can the public, the gamers, the people who are depending on those reviews, supposed to feel when their news and reviews are being warped by an overzealous publishing company threatening future exclusives and advertisements. It's the same thing that got Eidos in hot water (twice).
2) The author also states that games should receive fair appraisals. Meaning that a game should not be played for two hours, tossed aside, and reviewed haphazardly. While I won't argue with this point, I have to ask the author this: who's job is it to check that a review is done to the standard that a publication demands of it's employees? I don't think that job falls on you or the company creating a certain game. That job falls squarely on the shoulders of the group publishing the review. And if a game reviews badly, is that the fault of the review team playing the game or the team that (maybe, just maybe) released a game that wasn't very good. Now I'm not saying the development team wanted to release a dud...but they did. And no amount of good PR will save a bad game.
3) Quote: The industry has been crying out for “real†journalism for a long time now. What this means to me is not harsher reviews, but thoughtful analysis about games, real knowledge of game development, and a deep history of playing games
This is the part that is just asinine. Video game journalism is as all encompassing as any other branch of journalism. People gather information, fact check, interview, pick up on rumors, talk about previews (and not review preview builds) and attempt to be accurate and fair. Sure, there are people who don't hold themselves to any kind of standard, but who would want to read something they couldn't trust to be accurate and fair? Also, video games are only twenty-five years old, thirty if you're really pushing it. And do you think the video game industry has hit it's stride? It's still in it's infancy. So what is a knowledge of pong and pac man going to do to help someone review Gears of War II? My point is simply this: you don't get into video game reviews if you don't play video games. As for knowing game development, we all understand that game development is a difficult process. So is making a movie, so is producing and album, so is writing a book, so are a lot of things. If a product stinks on ice...it will still stink on ice when someone goes to review it. And it's a shame that PR people like the author get canned when a publisher feels they didn't do enough work to sway a review staff toward giving their game a glowing review. But bad games should not get good reviews. And if a game is good, but not great (and reviews as such) it doesn't mean a game is crap. It just means it doesn't deserve a 9.0 or a "game of the year award". It's just that simple"
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
"mmar is a funny thing. Thanks for the tips"
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
"dow Complex seems pretty cool. If only Microsoft hadn't hid it in a corner at their E3 booth. Large please"
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
