Why should we care what the ragman thinks?

[fuchikoma]

In online discussions people are becoming more and more overly reliant on how vg mags/sites review games and especially on the scores they award. Do you see the same thing happening or not? If this is occurring then why?

[Artimus Gigan]

In online discussions people are becoming more and more overly reliant on how vg mags/sites review games and especially on the scores they award. Do you see the same thing happening or not? If this is occurring then why?It's pretty much like how business magazines review companies, stocks and bonds

This is what these people are paid to do, so their opinion must be worth somthing in the experiance department...

Personaly, I subscribe to multiple Magazines, and I draw an average with thri reviews

if a game ranges from alright to excelent I'll get it, if it's a series I like that may also come into the factor on whether to get it or not...

[Mr Cat Dog]

Most of the time, I'll decide before a magazine reviews a game if I'll get it or not. But they are helpful when I'm on the balance. When I first heard of Mario Power Tennis, I instantly wanted it, but when magazine upon magazine gave it low reviews, I was skeptic. So, I rented it, and found out they were completely right. In some situations, the magazines would definitely influence me whether to get a game or not, but if its part of a series, or developed by people who made a game that I liked, then that also affects my judgement about the game.

[Master Moron]

I always listen to movie critics as they tend to form unbiased opinions most of the time. But, videogame critics just seem to rate games highly if they're popular, often times completely ignoring a game's flaws.

And while if you search for a movie's reviews on Rotten Tomatoes you'll find a diverse set of opinions, some critics might hate a movie while another critic might like it. If you search for a review of a videogame on rotten tomatoes it always seems like all the critics have the exact same review and no one has an opinion of their own. It's lame.

[SSJPabs]

What I think works best, is if you read a reviewer over time and determine if they are close to your tastes or not. For example, for me, Nich Maragos of GIA and later 1up.com meshed fairly well so if he wrote a review I would put more stock on it than say Knux Five.

So find someone who tends to have your style and pay attention to what they say.