Video Game Reviews?

[Ashley]

That, and the fact that people have vastly different standards for reviews; someone may place low priority on violence but high priority on nudity, etc. This assures us that all content is suitable to OUR staff standards.

[Uriel]

But We're Christians, though. Erm...so, any good reviews yet?

[Sammy Boy]

Hi guys,

Game reviews are a great idea. The thing is, how much of the game does one need to play before he/she can have the review considered "valid"? Many games take literally hours (or days) to finish, so if there are any twists in the storyline, a reviewer not having played through the game will miss it.

Having said that, most First Person Shooters or Real Time Strategies may not have this problem, as you would probably figure out the main aspects of the game in the first couple of hours. And if we stick to things such as graphics, gameplay and decency of content, we may be spared the task of finishing whole games before we can write reviews on them.

If there is going to be a games review album, it would also be a good idea to have a Gaming Terms page, to give the meaning of gaming terms / acronyms such as "MMORPG" (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game), "GG" (Good Game", "TY" (Thank You)", etc.

Anyway, enough ranting.

Ciao!

[Sammy Boy]

Sorry .. forgot to add, I think it'd be good to have the Games reviews album with the same kind of content raiting categories as the Anime reviews album (i.e. scan for religious content, nudity, sexual content, violence, etc.). This way no one needs to place on emphasis on anything, and just review the games according to the content offered.

However, I think this brings us back to the "Must I finish the game before I can write a review?" problem.

Any ideas people?

[Link Antilles]

Sorry .. forgot to add, I think it'd be good to have the Games reviews album with the same kind of content raiting categories as the Anime reviews album (i.e. scan for religious content, nudity, sexual content, violence, etc.). This way no one needs to place on emphasis on anything, and just review the games according to the content offered.

However, I think this brings us back to the "Must I finish the game before I can write a review?" problem.

Any ideas people?

I believe all of the categories have already been set, unless our forum leaders are still discussing it. -Not to mention, Oldphil (Mithrandir) is stealing from the Anime Review database, therefore it should look similar. So, no need to worry.


I assume the first rule would be you have beaten the game and explored it *thoroughly*.

Especially for a mature title, like Metal Gear Solid 3. Example: in Metal Gear Solid 3 if you only just rushed straight through the game once... for Language one might only put: H---, B------, D---, and B---- were used. Whereas, if you thoroughly played through the game (calling around on the radio, finding secrets, and the like)... A-- and S--- would be added to the list. Also, if a person played through only once, they could not report the difference between turning the blood on and off.

Btw, welcome to the forum. Always good to have another Transformers fan around.

[Myoti]

While many of these morality issues are a big deal, rating the game itself will need to be important, as well.
Violence, Religion, and Suggestive Themes (just my thoughts, but I think Nudity and Sexual themes would probably be better grouped for simplicitiy's sake) are important, but the reviews also need to cover things such as Gameplay, Graphics, and Sound. All these things are important to a review.

You may review a game and come out saying it's "squeaky clean", but we need to know how the game itself plays. Unfortunately, things can get touchy here as well, seeing as many people have problems with certain styles (such as cel-shaded vs. realistic). Personally, I look at how it's handled, and not really what style it is, but I can see how this can be an issue among many people as well.

[Ashley]

Rest assured, Myoti, Mithrandir is an avid gamer himself and knows what's important--like gameplay and camera control and all that. So our database oughta be just fine. Besides, if you guys have suggestions for improving it (when it releases!) then you can be sure to tell Mith nicely and see if we can't tweak it.

[Myoti]

That's good to hear. I'll just wait and see when it comes up. ^_^

*gently prods Mith with a Light Gun to hurry up*


Oh, sorry for dragging this on, but would be alright for some us to "claim" some reviews? I know you'll have to review themselves first, but can we at least put down some we'd like to do in the future?
(if so, I'd like to claim SSBM and Tales of Symphonia ^_^ )

[Mithrandir]

Well, we went over this one a while back, and I think we decided not to let people claim reviews. Gomen Nasai!

This project is still a bit of time off, as I have a few other things on my plate right now.

[Myoti]

Alright. I figured it'd probably be that way. I'll just try to rest on this now till you get around to it. ^_^