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Rotten Tomatoes sucks for meta reviews on games

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Rotten Tomatoes sucks for meta reviews on games

Old 03-22-07, 09:42 AM
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Rotten Tomatoes sucks for meta reviews on games

I've noticed in the past that Rotten Tomatoes metareviews always seemed unusually harsh for games. I was just skimming through some right now and noticed that Hotel Dusk has a 57% (rotten) score on RT. It has an 80% average on Gamerankings.

I read recently that Rotten Tomatoes requires and 8/10 score in order to qualify it as a "Fresh" rating. This seems awfully high, even considering the high average on game reviews (I think 6.5/10?) But if the average is 6.5 or even 7, then shouldn't a fresh rating be anything at or above a 6.5?

So here's a good example. They show IGN's rating as rotten and take a critical (instead of praising) quote from the review. However, IGN gave Hotel Dusk a 7.9

A 7.9 is rotten (and therefore a bad review) in RT's mind. How silly is that?

I love RT for meta reviews on movies, but I don't if anyone would trust their game reviews until they change their system.
Old 03-22-07, 09:47 AM
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honestly, i think people rate games too high for the most part

like in real life, perfect 10s don't exist
Old 03-22-07, 10:32 AM
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Originally Posted by KurrptSenate
honestly, i think people rate games too high for the most part

like in real life, perfect 10s don't exist
I addressed that though. I think the average score for video games is 6.5 (instead of 5). Wouldn't that mean that anything above 6.5 is above average?

Even if that's not true though, a 7.9 is no doubt a good score in IGN's mind, but it's a bad score in Rotten Tomatoes mind. How does that make sense?

In my own view, I tend to not be interested in a game unless it scores about a 70% on Gamerankings (unless I'm otherwise interested in the title -- but I'd still rent before buying). I wouldn't blind buy a game unless it had a 80% or higher.
Old 03-22-07, 10:54 AM
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Originally Posted by KurrptSenate
honestly, i think people rate games too high for the most part

like in real life, perfect 10s don't exist
A 10 is nothing but the top of the rating scale. By that logic, are there no 5-star movies or restaurants?
Old 03-22-07, 11:02 AM
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I only go by the text of a review. Rarely if ever do I make a decision based solely on a number.
Old 03-22-07, 11:06 AM
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RT, by definition, skews more toward the negative. That's their shtick. I didn't even know they collected game reviews, but makes sense.
Old 03-22-07, 11:21 AM
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i read reviews as well... not just the number, but most games i own are either i know the title via popularity or good art work (different from graphic) at discounted prices. However, the game rating numbers do play a big part for me, i.e. i tend to read on for higher number and skim quickly for lower scores...

Also, a number of times i don't agree with the rating number. Like the Raving Rabbit (Wii) on this site, that game is below average. Fun? Yeah, first couple of hours, but that's it...
Old 03-22-07, 12:19 PM
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ratings are really BS in the first place. Sure, they can help to push you over the edge one way or another, but its completely subjective. I mean, it would be like them having me rate RPGs, and me saying

"I hate this game"

40 times in a row
Old 03-22-07, 12:36 PM
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Originally Posted by KurrptSenate
ratings are really BS in the first place. Sure, they can help to push you over the edge one way or another, but its completely subjective. I mean, it would be like them having me rate RPGs, and me saying

"I hate this game"

40 times in a row
IMO, they're absolutely not BS. If only because there are too many games (or movies or music or whatever) to not use them to help make decisions. Look, I may not agree with Gamepro's bad review on Title X. But I'm also not going to waste my time and money on a game that's been universally panned -- because there may be a small chance I disagree with their reviews. This is especially true when you get later into the consoles life and you have have hundreds of games available.

I pay attention to scores because I find them easier to track. I'm much more interested in looking at the average meta review score. Then, if it gets good reviews (or it's a game I was otherwise interested in), I'll read a review or 2 to see why they liked it.

I do the same with movies. I'm not going to spend $20 (my wife and I) on a movie that's got a 10% on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm sorry. I'm also not likely to waste $50 or (or even $5-10) or time on a game that averages 50% on Gamerankings.

To me.. Reviews and scores absolutelty matter.
Old 03-22-07, 12:37 PM
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Originally Posted by KurrptSenate
I mean, it would be like them having me rate RPGs, and me saying

"I hate this game"

40 times in a row
But you're 1 person who doesn't like RPGs. Which means you probably wouldn't review them much, but even if you did, you'd be 1 in 20 (30, 40, 50) reviews.
Old 03-22-07, 12:45 PM
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Metacritic my friend.
Old 03-22-07, 12:54 PM
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Originally Posted by lordwow
Metacritic my friend.
I usually use Gamerankings. Metacritic has a pretty nice interface though.
Old 03-23-07, 07:46 AM
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Originally Posted by DodgingCars
I usually use Gamerankings. Metacritic has a pretty nice interface though.
I used GRs forever, but the one thing I really like about Metacritic is the way they organize the reviews and give a brief snippet from each.

And the pretty colors.
Old 03-23-07, 01:27 PM
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Originally Posted by lordwow
I used GRs forever, but the one thing I really like about Metacritic is the way they organize the reviews and give a brief snippet from each.

And the pretty colors.
Yeah the quotes from the reviews are a nice touch. I wish some of these sites would let you keep a wish list. Til then, I'll use Amazon to keep wish lists.
Old 03-23-07, 01:36 PM
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Originally Posted by DodgingCars
Look, I may not agree with Gamepro's bad review on Title X. But I'm also not going to waste my time and money on a game that's been universally panned -- because there may be a small chance I disagree with their reviews. This is especially true when you get later into the consoles life and you have have hundreds of games available.

I pay attention to scores because I find them easier to track. I'm much more interested in looking at the average meta review score. Then, if it gets good reviews (or it's a game I was otherwise interested in), I'll read a review or 2 to see why they liked it.

I do the same with movies. I'm not going to spend $20 (my wife and I) on a movie that's got a 10% on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm sorry. I'm also not likely to waste $50 or (or even $5-10) or time on a game that averages 50% on Gamerankings.

To me.. Reviews and scores absolutelty matter.
Same to me. I mean for the big Nintendo games and other series I'm a big fan on I don't bother with reviews.

But otherwise, I absolutely do. If I have an interest in a game and see it is getting universally panned, I won't bother with it nor even read the text of reviews.

If I have an interest in a game, and see it is getting good reviews across the board, I'll read some reviews on it to see if it sounds like my cup of tea. Also, sometimes I get interested in a game because of the stellar reviews, and look up more info and get turned on to games that way.

So I agree, reviews are very important for games outside of the known series that I know I'm going to enjoy.

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