Hero-of-Time Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Starting today with our review of The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D, Eurogamer is making the biggest change we've ever made to the way we review games. From now on, we will no longer be scoring games out of ten. In place of scores, we'll have one-line summaries for every review, and a new recommendation system whereby some, but not all games will be considered Recommended, Essential or Avoid. As a result of these changes, we will no longer be listed on the review-aggregation site Metacritic. We are also changing (or firming up) other areas of our reviews policy, with the intention of ensuring that we always review the same experience that you get when you buy a game. This means that we will only review from final retail versions and online games will be reviewed after they've launched. Excellent change and I hope it starts to catch on with other outlets. People will now actually have to read the content of a review, rather than just looking straight at the score.
Sheikah Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 It's great; every site should just drop review scores. Review scores are the reserve of fanboys and hate mongers. Good riddance!
RedShell Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Excellent change and I hope it starts to catch on with other outlets. People will now actually have to read the content of a review, rather than just looking straight at the score.Pretty sure a lot of those people will just scroll down to the final paragraph instead, but still this is a good change I reckon.Scores really are outdated now, and a pain in the arse to use too. I always struggled to decide on the scores when reviewing for N-E.
Ashley Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Excellent change and I hope it starts to catch on with other outlets. People will now actually have to read the content of a review, rather than just looking straight at the score. Well the overall impression thing is going to be at the top so they might not still read it But that's not the kind of reader you want anyway.
Sheikah Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 As long as it stops people going "So this game got 8 but this one got 7?!" bullshit then all is good.
S.C.G Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 In place of scores, we'll have one-line summaries for every review, and a new recommendation system whereby some, but not all games will be considered Recommended, Essential or Avoid. As a result of these changes, we will no longer be listed on the review-aggregation site Metacritic. So at N-Europe we've actually been setting the trend with VC Weekly for years then? Nah, I know that even VC Weekly originally had scores albeit only for the first entry though before they were quite rightly dropped because it makes more sense to have a verdict, especially for older titles which would have been reviewed under a score many times before. As for Metacritic I don't think we've ever been on there or if we were it would have been for a brief period of time though I could be getting mixed up with another aggregate site, I think we were on Game Rankings at some point, not that it really matters though. I understand that there are arguments both for and against scoring in reviews, personally I always thought that we managed to strike a good balance at N-E and I know that potentially doing away with scores could be a good thing so whatever is decided for N-Europe with regards to scores I'll happily go along with. : peace: What do you think @Ashley? Could the time be right for us to do away with the score? I know it would certainly make life easier, I can recall many instances when the score has caused nothing but trouble, particularly for flagship titles such as Sonic, Mario, Zelda and more. The site is already set up for it as well in the sense that it would be easy to just not enter a score and leave it with the verdict which for me has always taken precedence over anything else. I won't go into any more detail than that being that this is all hypothetical at this point as a deeper discussion about it will probably need to be had at some point but it's interesting to see what happens to other sites reviews now not necessarily as a direct result of what Eurogamer are doing but simply because the timing has been arguably right for a while now. Whatever happens though this site will always have my support for as long as it is - hopefully - required as I do enjoy writing for N-Europe a lot; score or no score. Anyway, interesting times indeed.
Daft Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Review scores aren't the problem. Shitty inconsistent review practices and awful game criticism is the problem.
Grazza Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I'll be in the minority here and speak up in favour of review scores. Honestly, scoring something is part of people's instinct. I'd feel a bit cheated if the reviewer can't rise to the challenge and give it a score. I know there are still going to be three categories (or "scores" if you like), but it's been widely established over the years that the 1-10 scale is right for games. There's a real difference between 8/10, 9/10 and 10/10.
Hero-of-Time Posted February 10, 2015 Author Posted February 10, 2015 I'll be in the minority here and speak up in favour of review scores. Honestly, scoring something is part of people's instinct. I'd feel a bit cheated if the reviewer can't rise to the challenge and give it a score. I know there are still going to be three categories (or "scores" if you like), but it's been widely established over the years that the 1-10 scale is right for games. There's a real difference between 8/10, 9/10 and 10/10. Problem is that so many people put stock in these scores now. Most people don't read the content, glace at the score and then kick off because it's not the number they wanted.
Grazza Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Problem is that so many people put stock in these scores now. Most people don't read the content, glace at the score and then kick off because it's not the number they wanted. True, but I feel this is giving in to the crowd who see it as a competition. Metacritic is not a bad idea for a site at all, even if some people use it for the purposes you describe. I still say there's a significant difference between 4/10 all the way to 10/10.
Sheikah Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 There's a real difference between 8/10, 9/10 and 10/10. Why do you need a score? If a game is heavily praised in the text then you will get that information from reading it. All scores do is provide morons with fuel for their arguments. ERMERGERD this game reads like an 8! The problem with the scores also is that numbers can be compared, when really very different games shouldn't be so directly comparable.
Zechs Merquise Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Dropping review scores is pretty stupid and is a reflection of the childish nature of the industry. In both the medium of music and film critics regularly use scores. Look at sites like IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes. Yet you don't get an outcry each and every time a reviewer gives a bad score to someone's favourite film. Review scores are a great way to see the overall quality of a game and if I'm interested in a game I'll see what average review scores it gets as an indicator to its quality. Why do you need a score? If a game is heavily praised in the text then you will get that information from reading it. All scores do is provide morons with fuel for their arguments. ERMERGERD this game reads like an 8! The problem with the scores also is that numbers can be compared, when really very different games shouldn't be so directly comparable. Maybe he doesn't want to read every review, but just get an over view of what reviewers thought?
Sheikah Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Maybe he doesn't want to read every review, but just get an over view of what reviewers thought? Then skip to the end - you'll see it say "Recommended", "Essential" or "Avoid" (or nothing). You can gauge roughly what they think without all the drama bullshit that scoring inevitably brings for the small minded. Not seeing the blurb about 'recommended' at the top of this topic kinda hits home that some people don't spend any real time reading and just want a number, which I'm really glad they're moving away from.
Grazza Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Why do you need a score? If a game is heavily praised in the text then you will get that information from reading it. It's instinct. Human psychology seeks to understand how things are placed. Reviews may primarily be about whether you should buy the game, but scores are not. Similarly, every now and then someone will say "Boss battles are outdated" just because they played some that were badly designed. However, boss battles continues to thrive, because they just make sense.
Zechs Merquise Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 Then skip to the end - you'll see it say "Recommended", "Essential" or "Avoid" (or nothing). You can gauge roughly what they think without all the drama bullshit that scoring inevitably brings for the small minded. Not seeing the blurb about 'recommended' at the top of this topic kinda hits home that some people don't spend any real time reading and just want a number, which I'm really glad they're moving away from. Yes, everything should be wrapped in cotton wool and all should be coddled for fear that something should cause an argument or worse still hurt someone's feelings! Oh my gosh, the drama! I can't deal with it. Imagine, someone compares one game to another and makes a choice based on a score. It's almost too much to cope with!
Sheikah Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) Yes, everything should be wrapped in cotton wool and all should be coddled for fear that something should cause an argument or worse still hurt someone's feelings! Oh my gosh, the drama! I can't deal with it. Imagine, someone compares one game to another and makes a choice based on a score. It's almost too much to cope with! What, you thought I was suggesting it out of kindness? I'm saying it because it's bullshit, because many people don't take the right message away from it. As in, there are people who clearly just go for the score to fuel their fanboy agendas, clogging up comment boxes with inane remarks like "so this got a 7/10 and insert totally different genre game here got an 8? Tell me, how is this a good thing? Less distinction is needed, not more. Distinction is good in that it filters the turds out and highlights the gems. But when you over differentiate titles then the same bullshit comparisons and inferences are made, foregoing the point of the review. People will argue about the scoring system being shit if 2 games receive 8/10 yet they believe one game is better than the other. But that's much less likely to happen with 2 games that are listed as being recommended. TL;DR - I say scrap it because it's arbitrary and shit. Not to save people's feelings. Edited February 10, 2015 by Sheikah
Goafer Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 We don't score things in our every day lives, so I don't see the need for it in reviews. A number just doesn't say enough on its own.
Happenstance Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 We don't score things in our every day lives, so I don't see the need for it in reviews. A number just doesn't say enough on its own. 10/10 agree with this
Zechs Merquise Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 We don't score things in our every day lives, so I don't see the need for it in reviews. A number just doesn't say enough on its own. This statement is completely false. All media is scored, films, music, theatre - all are given critical reviews and scored. The same is true of products - cars, mobiles phones, laptops, TVs and many other products are all given scores by critics and the public. So are services such as restaurants and hotels. You only have to go on sites like Tech Radar, Tripadvisor, Amazon, IMDB and many more to see that people score almost everything and like to be able to look up critic and user reviews of all manner of things. You go further by saying 'A number just doesn't say enough on its own'. This is a straw man argument, as no one is suggesting reviewers simply give a score and don't give any context. All professional critical reviews give both, there is never a case where a reviewer plays a game and gives is a score without context or explanation.
Sheikah Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 We don't score things in our every day lives, so I don't see the need for it in reviews. A number just doesn't say enough on its own. This statement is completely false. All media is scored, films, music, theatre - all are given critical reviews and scored. The same is true of products - cars, mobiles phones, laptops, TVs and many other products are all given scores by critics and the public. So are services such as restaurants and hotels. How does what you just said disprove what Goafer does in his life? Is Goafer working within those industries? Does Goafer line up a string of all his previous mobile phones and rate them each from 1-10? If you do that, maybe you need help?
Zechs Merquise Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 How does what you just said disprove what Goafer does in his life? Is Goafer working within those industries? Does Goafer line up a string of all his previous mobile phones and rate them each from 1-10? If you do that, maybe you need help? I clearly pointed out that plenty of people do those things. People leave product reviews. They leave give feed back, they rate items they have purchased and others look up those reviews and feedback and base their purchases and choices on those. Unless you've been living in a cave, you'll have seen sites like IMDB where films are rated by users of the site, some films have in excess of 1.4 million ratings. To suggest that 'people don't score things in their everyday lives' is false. Millions of people review products they have purchased, leave feedback and uses websites where reviews are left for products and media. It's easy to make a grand standing statement that sounds good in your head. But the truth in this case is rather different.
Rummy Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 I don't read reviews all that often so I guess it doesn't matter too much to me, but I'm definitely one in the camp in favour of scores. Personally my actual preferred method IS the N-Europe way, where you break it down and 'score' different aspects of the game, I tend to consider those rather than the 'overall' score given, though I can see how that's arrived at from it. We don't score things in our every day lives, so I don't see the need for it in reviews. A number just doesn't say enough on its own. The number isn't 'on its own' though, given it's usually accompanied by a whole writeup of the review.
Sheikah Posted February 10, 2015 Posted February 10, 2015 (edited) I clearly pointed out that plenty of people do those things. People leave product reviews. They leave give feed back, they rate items they have purchased and others look up those reviews and feedback and base their purchases and choices on those. Unless you've been living in a cave, you'll have seen sites like IMDB where films are rated by users of the site, some films have in excess of 1.4 million ratings. To suggest that 'people don't score things in their everyday lives' is false. Millions of people review products they have purchased, leave feedback and uses websites where reviews are left for products and media. It's easy to make a grand standing statement that sounds good in your head. But the truth in this case is rather different. I think his message was pretty easy to grasp. Sure, if you're leaving a review then often a star rating is required to go with it. What he's saying that throughout life, ie. beyond the computer, it's not something we really do. If I was recommending a game to a friend, I would probably summarise in a few sentences what makes it great, than tell them out of 10 what I'd rate it. My favourite 'scoring' system so far: ^ Kotaku review. Takes hardly much longer to process but so much more meaning, and no fanboy fallout. A look at Kotaku comment boxes versus old Eurogamer comment boxes - it's the future! Edited February 10, 2015 by Sheikah
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