Do reviews influence your gaming purchases?


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I usually rely on Gametrailers for my reviews. Their reviews sync pretty well with my experiences once I've bought the game.

I tend to balance out their reviews, past developer experiences and the opinions of friends.

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Agreed 100%. The biggest problem that I have with sites like Metacritic or Gamerankings is that the average score that a game receives doesn't always properly convey the sentiment that was behind those reviews. Sites like IGN seem to give out an automatic five points just for shipping the game. From there, flawed games get a 6, average games get a 7, good games get an 8, great games get 9.0-9.4, and GOTY contenders get 9.5-10. Meanwhile, sites that grade on a five point scale (Giant Bomb, for instance) give flawed games 2 stars and average games 3 stars. The sentiments are similar, but the scores are totally different. Tycho over at Penny Arcade made this argument a while ago, and for the most part I'm just echoing what he said and what I feel are valid points. At the end of the day, the average score that a game receives is useful in a relative sense, but from an absolute perspective, it's a completely worthless number.

I too would like a Rotten Tomatoes-style site for games.

As for the topic, I must admit that I do allow myself to be swayed by review scores when looking at games that I don't know a great deal about. For instance, I only had a passing interest in Alpha Protocol, and when I saw it getting destroyed by reviews, I decided that it was worth skipping. Meanwhile, I was very excited for Final Fantasy XIII, and so the lukewarm reception didn't stop me from buying it. In a perfect world, I would try every game for myself, but when you have to pick and choose, it's nice to have a collection of experts that you can trust (for me it's the fine folks at Giant Bomb above all others).

I actually really enjoy Kotaku's Loved and Hated style of review. It actually forces the user to read rather than to skim numbers.

Joystiq used to not have scores as well but they run by a 5 star system now

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I actually really enjoy Kotaku's Loved and Hated style of review. It actually forces the user to read rather than to skim numbers.

Joystiq used to not have scores as well but they run by a 5 star system now

Yeah, same goes for Ars Technica's system, where they either say buy it, rent it, or skip it. I always enjoy reading their reviews, even if I don't necessarily agree with them all of the time. Like you said, they're nice in that they force you to delve into the review, look at the nitpicks, and see if any of them are things that would bother you.

JRPGs are a good example of that, I suppose. A lot of reviewers rip into those games for having long cutscenes, long dungeons, or weird characters, but none of those nitpicks really bother me since I've been playing JRPGs for so long and I'm a traditionalist when it comes to the genre.

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Reviews can help, but it depends on the reviewer, the review and the genre. In the end though it's down to whether I think it looks interesting/fun.

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I never buy games based on a review. Not only because they're all (reviewers) are sell outs, but because I don't share their taste in gaming.

I only judge the games upon the gameplay videos and playable demos.

To be honest; I'm not even bothering reading any reviews. The most I'll do, is a preview.

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Of course they do... I don't buy any game without visiting Gamespot.. except FIFA and NFS.. they are making them **** on PC now but I still have to get them.. unsure.gif

EDIT: Now that I think abt it.. when it comes to series.. I dont care what reviews are like.. be it CnC.. Tomb Raider.. PoP, CoD or any other series.. but if I dont own the series or the game is not part of any series then I read the reviews..

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I only acquire a game if it gets 8.5+ on Gamespot.

I'm probably acting like a troll now blush.gif but.. Goooooo Gamespot!! They are the best gaming site.. been using this site for 10+ years..

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Most definitely. I mean i don't go exactly by a certain score but if a game gets over 8 on most sites/magazines then i'm definitely interested and anything over a 9.3 or so is almost a definite buy.

Eurogamer.net is my pick for best reviews.

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