Just read some reviews on Kameo, Project Gotham Racing 3, NBA 2K6 and Madden 06. I'm noticing a pattern when it comes to game reviews which is quite distressing. In summary here's what I've noticed:
1. Game reviewers on console launch are intent to be MUCH MORE CYNICAL than usual. This is because they want to impress their wives/girlfriends/office mates that "they're not fanboys".
2. There is this horrible slant towards games that look ultra realistic ("like-real-life"). Granted there's nothing wrong with having such high expectations for next-gen games, but what would gaming be like if --every-- game had characters and settings that looked like the real world that we live in now? Where would the creativity be?
Oddly enough, my comment comes from reading 1UP's review of PGR3, which essentially gave the game a 10 simply because it looks BEAUTIFUL. Granted I made another blog post where I share that same sentiment, and I still think the game looks beautiful...but if realism becomes the ONLY STANDARD for games, these types of reviews will set a horrible precedent for expectations of games in the future.
So hard to believe that the same audience that loved Pixar films like FINDING NEMO and THE INCREDIBLES can find a game like KAMEO to be too 'kiddie' for them. The odd thing is, if a game had Super Mario in it, it automatically raises the value of a game even if it's essentially just having that same character in a different gameplay scenario (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Dance Dance Revolution....etcetera etcetera).
This same reason is what threatens to cause Perfect Dark Zero to get a lower score than usual. I don't know if PD0 is a good game or not, but judging from every article and gamer 'opinion' that i've read, the game's main 'crutch' right now is that Joanna Dark looks like a cartoon.
Let's hope that the arrival of the next-generation of gaming doesn't herald the end of creativity in art and game conceptualization. There's only so much SWAT team/Counterstrike simulation/World War II type gameplay that gamers can take....if the market saturates with these types of games, we're looking at another Video Game Crash, people. I guarantee it.
3. On console launch, the SCOOP is much more valued by the reviewers than the actual dissemination of proper information. It's obvious that the reviews of 1UP and IGN were written after the writers horribly RUSHED THROUGH THE LAUNCH TITLES. So their opinions, in *my* humble opinion, are not really well-informed and really just written quick enough in the interest of being able to release a review ASAP. Sad, because games that look to me to be well-crafted for FIRST GEN titles are getting the shaft.
1. Game reviewers on console launch are intent to be MUCH MORE CYNICAL than usual. This is because they want to impress their wives/girlfriends/office mates that "they're not fanboys".
2. There is this horrible slant towards games that look ultra realistic ("like-real-life"). Granted there's nothing wrong with having such high expectations for next-gen games, but what would gaming be like if --every-- game had characters and settings that looked like the real world that we live in now? Where would the creativity be?
Oddly enough, my comment comes from reading 1UP's review of PGR3, which essentially gave the game a 10 simply because it looks BEAUTIFUL. Granted I made another blog post where I share that same sentiment, and I still think the game looks beautiful...but if realism becomes the ONLY STANDARD for games, these types of reviews will set a horrible precedent for expectations of games in the future.
So hard to believe that the same audience that loved Pixar films like FINDING NEMO and THE INCREDIBLES can find a game like KAMEO to be too 'kiddie' for them. The odd thing is, if a game had Super Mario in it, it automatically raises the value of a game even if it's essentially just having that same character in a different gameplay scenario (Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Mario Dance Dance Revolution....etcetera etcetera).
This same reason is what threatens to cause Perfect Dark Zero to get a lower score than usual. I don't know if PD0 is a good game or not, but judging from every article and gamer 'opinion' that i've read, the game's main 'crutch' right now is that Joanna Dark looks like a cartoon.
Let's hope that the arrival of the next-generation of gaming doesn't herald the end of creativity in art and game conceptualization. There's only so much SWAT team/Counterstrike simulation/World War II type gameplay that gamers can take....if the market saturates with these types of games, we're looking at another Video Game Crash, people. I guarantee it.
3. On console launch, the SCOOP is much more valued by the reviewers than the actual dissemination of proper information. It's obvious that the reviews of 1UP and IGN were written after the writers horribly RUSHED THROUGH THE LAUNCH TITLES. So their opinions, in *my* humble opinion, are not really well-informed and really just written quick enough in the interest of being able to release a review ASAP. Sad, because games that look to me to be well-crafted for FIRST GEN titles are getting the shaft.