New purchase rule = Review First Money 2nd

[chipset35]

Having seen so many people burnt in the past..I dont care if its ID, John C, whatever...
I will wait for the reviews...a months worth of website and player reviews before spending or wasting money.

[danjako43]

ditto

[scubs]

sure go ahead wait for someone else opinion rather than coming to your own..

i'm a "first" gamer, not a 2nd or 3rd that only plays games when are on sale or when they go GOTY a year later when the community is practically dead.

have fun scrounging the internets while we have fun playing :)

[madafaka]

That what I always do. I wait a week or 2 after release before I buy any game. Nowadays, some developers rely on hype/advertising to sell bad quality games. Even pre-order discounts are something not to fall into.
I find it weird when people get butthurt when their anticipated game at release that not meet expectations

[cart000]

gamers a strange people

whens its a pre-release review people ♥♥♥♥♥ and cry they bought the review so the game must suck.

when its a review on the same day or after, it must be because they are hiding the fact the game sucks ♥♥♥.

[Antichrist XVII]

Yes, because people never come up with biased and bull♥♥♥♥ reviews for stupid reasons. Duke Nukem Forever is a good example. Everyone said it was horrible, and I asked why. They said you could only have two guns. Really? That's it? The only reason the game was bad was because you can only carry two guns? They just wanted to hate it to hate it.

And if you're expecting to get these reviews from Steam forums, you're wasting your time. I think these forums are actually worse than Metacritics when it comes to giving decent feedback for how a game is. I saw some guy going around talking about how good or bad all these games were, and he hadn't even played any of them before.

[schism84]

OP's attitude is perfectly reasonable. BTW, it was reasonable 10 years ago as well. I prepurchased the game because I'm willing to gamble that I will love this game to bits but it's an intelligent stance to be more informed before buying.

[djwyattwood]

I pre-order almost every game and rarely get burned. I do research. I can usually tell a game I'm going to like over a game I won't. Pretty easy when you know what you like.

Last game I was burned by was Dragon Age 2, I had a bad feeling before it released. I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt and got burned. Bioware won't be getting my pre-order again.

[scubs]

I find it weird when people get butthurt when their anticipated game at release that not meet expectations

only people with OCD have that problem.. over analyze the game to death before release and when released they're disappointed or have buyers remorse (these are the same people that more or less bash every game in the forums after release).


that is why i rarely browse the internet for game info... i have an idea about the game and what to expect but i stay away from spending 24/7 reading and watching videos. in fact i haven't even watched 1 video of the game!

[phillibl]

rofl at fail OP. If you do yr research you will never be burned by a game, I never have. Even if the SP of RAGE is a little sub par I wont care because I still have Coop, MP, and ♥♥♥♥ing idStudio :) RAGE will be worth my $45 all day long.

[enemyofportal]

so far only one game was gone badly. it was DA 2 (so much trust on Bioware). really bad game ever I made mistake. excepting this, my preorder has never been wrong. in this year, I didn't buy Brink, duke nukem forever for example.

[brood_98]

Have to agree with OP, I've been burned so many times this year its becoming frustrating.

Red Orchetra 2, Brink, Hard Reset, Deus Ex, Space Marine...

Really was a disappointing year.


And research can't reveal problems with a game like cripling bugs, poor balance or sloppy mechanics. the only way to truly evaluate a title is to get your hands on it.

[madafaka]

so far only one game was gone badly. it was DA 2 (so much trust on Bioware). really bad game ever I made mistake. excepting this, my preorder has never been wrong. in this year, I didn't buy Brink, duke nukem forever for example.

The only games I pre-order are that from Valve cause Valve always deliver good products.
This year I did not buy Brink and Duke nukem

[virtualmatrix25]

Not a huge fan of id but I bought it for one reason, which may be pathetic to others.

They had me at the wingstick. The sound it makes, the death animations. I fell in love. $60 is nothing for that weapon lol.

[bes]

I continually watch dev videos, game play videos, and learn everything there is to know about the game before per-ordering it .. normally it works..

Other times I will get burned still ..its trial and error basically...

Good example would be Brink ....I was under the impression that it would have an ACTUAL campaign ...

and Dragon Age 2 ...it was good ...BUT the blatant re-use of maps and the cheap way of decision making messed up the game for me..

In those two instances doing all the research in the world would not have told me that stuff about those 2 games...

Now I per-ordered RAGE ...but im not gonna get too excited about it until I play it because it might suck ♥♥♥..

There are a few others that I got burned on even after doing research ... but normally im a satisfied customer.

[Wigg1es]

So by that logic, you'll dump all your money into CoD and Madden year after year, but a new IP from a trusted developer with plenty of pre-release video and info isn't worth a stab?

Good plan...

But then again, its your money. Spend it how you like. I just think your logic is flawed.

[Wigg1es]

Have to agree with OP, I've been burned so many times this year its becoming frustrating.

Red Orchetra 2, Brink, Hard Reset, Deus Ex, Space Marine...

Really was a disappointing year.

What?

[bes]

So by that logic, you'll dump all your money into CoD and Madden year after year, but a new IP from a trusted developer with plenty of pre-release video and info isn't worth a stab?

Good plan...

But then again, its your money. Spend it how you like. I just think your logic is flawed.

Be specific on who your directing your comment towards ..please :D

[Wigg1es]

Be specific on who your directing your comment towards ..please :D

I thought it was fairly plain I was talking to OP, but my apologies for the vagueness.

[schism84]

Why are you trolling the OP. They didn't say a single thing about blindly buying franchise stuff like EA Sports or COD... They said they'd rather wait to see some reactions to the final product than buy blindly, even if it's Id.

It's not like Id care if he buys it now or in two weeks, sheesh. He's a smart careful customer, nothing wrong with that.

[devoted]

i agree with OP to a certain point.

Although media reviews are good reference, forums like this one can be useful too to form your own opinion and move ahead with the purchase or not.

Do i buy a game cause ign said it was a 10, no...i read ppls comments and again, base my desition on that.

This month is going to be tough, cause you have all these AAA games coming out, and it would really suck, spend 60 bucks on a game that sucks.

So, to OP good point, just dont base your desition on a one website or review.

[Cordliss]

What?

I said the same thing seeing that list....guess people have some very high expectations and standards that games must meet in order for them to enjoy them.

[djwyattwood]

and Dragon Age 2 ...it was NOT good

Fixed.

[JamieKirby1981]

why wait for reviews?

I mean, don't you have your own opinions?

If i followed everyones' opinions, i wouldn't have bought AvP 2010......and that would have been a huge mistake, that game ruled then and it still does now.

The amount of times i have finished that game is beyond belief.

I never, EVER believe reviews, they tend to be based on that persons' opinion and everyones' opinions are different and you can never, EVER go by it, unless you don't have your own opinion to use of course.

[Quint]

I always follow reviews as well.Don't really believe on all that "your opinion" bullsh*t.

The only exception was DX:HR,but that's because the game was a guaranteed awesome from the start.

[Browncoat1984]

why wait for reviews?

I mean, don't you have your own opinions?

If i followed everyones' opinions, i wouldn't have bought AvP 2010......and that would have been a huge mistake, that game ruled then and it still does now.

The amount of times i have finished that game is beyond belief.

I never, EVER believe reviews, they tend to be based on that persons' opinion and everyones' opinions are different and you can never, EVER go by it, unless you don't have your own opinion to use of course.

Generally, if I hear that a game is amazing then I will usually just order it unless it has some very enticing pre-order bonuses. However, if I see that a game is reviewed poorly but think that I might possibly disagree with a reviewer, to be on the safe side instead of spending the full $60 I'll wait till the inevitable Steam sale. Remember that the Thanksgiving and Christmas sales are RIGHT down the road. And if I remember correctly, during the summer sale almost EVERY major game release on the Steam network over the past year was on sale, even games released as late as May.

[trick1992]

Pre-ordered dead island. WRONG MOVE.

I agree with OP.

[fuv]

Having seen so many people burnt in the past..I dont care if its ID, John C, whatever...
I will wait for the reviews...a months worth of website and player reviews before spending or wasting money.

I can't see it makes a difference.

Firstly, I can tell you quite a few 90+% reviewed games that are buggy, never patched and (in my subjective opinion) not that good.

Secondly, if I look in the forum of any game I think is brilliant on Steam there's at least a %age who seem to hate the fact the game exists, whether they bought it or not.

So, I conclude, whether you like a game or not will mostly not change based on whether you buy it before or after it's released. Nor is there really any sane information to get by reading anyone's opinions first.

The real problem with PC gaming (and console gaming) is unpatched bugs.

On the consoles Microsoft and Sony have really made it difficult for developers to patch their titles, so the experience on consoles with a buggy game is dire.

On PCs, it's more of a mixed bag. Some developers (lunatics I can only imagine) still sign up to pay cash to MS for delaying patches in exchange for a meaningless badge (e.g codemasters) the rest is really what makes the big difference between good and bad developers.

imo Id's track record is pretty good. Not only for the code being solid at launch, but for releasing patches for any bugs that do crop up.

[Inarborat]

Reviewers are mostly awful at games (see reviewers whining about RAGE not autosaving enough despite manual saving being quick and easy) and usually are reviewing the console version...by all means, wait to form a better opinion but your best bet are friends and other close people whose gaming taste is similar to yours.

Reviews, haha. What a waste of a thread.

[Rogersdead]

I would be a little cautious for pre-orders if i was in the US. But by the time i get to play it on the 7th and MAJOR problems there may be with the game will have been fixed by then.

Just like Dead Island :)

[iGaming | Chaos]

If I'm worried about a game, I'll check out user impressions first, won't bother with reviews.

I've I'm still torn, I'll check out a "friends copy".

The only "reviewer" I trust is Yahtzee, and that's only because he's certain to highlight all the bad points of a game, which is what I want in a review, because if I'm interested in a game I already know what the good points are.

Most of the time though I've got a good idea of what I'm getting and am willing to take the chance.

[TecISR]

My only concern is performance.
I don't care about the graphics to be the best or
ok.

Lets wait for the USA dudes that will play first and hopefully
will post here about the game.

So far it looks great.

I'm with OP:
purchase rule = Review + users reviews First Money 2nd

[dudezilla]

Reviewers will say Batman:AC sucks but i will buy because i'm gamer first. Rage is developed by idsoftware and i don't even have to check a review to play it. Reviews are for non-gamers and people with small wallet.

[fuv]

My only concern is performance.


Yeah that's a good point.

Really the idea of pre-ordering at all is caused by this silly bun fight between gamestop, game et al and developers rather than being some kind of value for customers.

They're trying to kid us it's a value, with a few extra models and textures or a slight price drop, but it was really about selling the game before there was any chance you'd go to the store and find a 2nd hand copy to buy. Not relevant at all for Steam.

I suppose for a couple of console titles they even tried this idea that if you didn't pre-order you might not get a copy on launch day too.

[madr0x01]

Games are a different form of entertainment then movies/music etc. People can look past bad acting or poor songwriting and still enjoy them. games on the other hand while still is a personal thing, rely alot on how well the game is made. If its full of bugs and game breaking faults then it makes it hard to get into. This is why I always read reviews befor buying.... Except this time :P

[DJ Cryotek]

Agree with OP. Especially for a $60 game.

[OurSacrifice]

I'm in the same boat, and when games don't allow reviews prior to release (like this one apparently) - it bothers me even more. What are they hiding?

sure go ahead wait for someone else opinion rather than coming to your own..

You're the kind of lemming that developers and publishers love.

You just blind buy everything no matter the quality because you have to make your own opinion instead of potentially trusting the hundreds of reviews that would say "this game is total garbage".

[Sinhealer]

I'm in the same boat, and when games don't allow reviews prior to release (like this one apparently) - it bothers me even more. What are they hiding?


There are plenty of previews all over the internet,IGN had a really good 1 just the other day from there play test.

Can not remember to many games getting officially reviewed before they are released.

There is plenty of info out there with regards to Rage and I highly doubt they have all gotten it wrong or that the devs are "hiding" anything.

[Quint]

You're the kind of lemming that developers and publishers love.

You just blind buy everything no matter the quality because you have to make your own opinion instead of potentially trusting the hundreds of reviews that would say "this game is total garbage".

Exactly.I would not be surprised if he has too much garbage on his list as well.

[wuliheron]

New rule- Screw the reviewers and the publishers! The whole industry is as rotten to core as the rest of the world economy because too many people put too much faith in the authority figures. Get over it already. Start thinking for yourself and stop trusting authority figures. Start doing your own research and stop depending on Joe Six Pack or other authority figures to tell you what to buy.

[kevnb]

reviews mean nothing these days though. Maybe wait for the word of mouth.

[OurSacrifice]

There are plenty of previews all over the internet,IGN had a really good 1 just the other day from there play test.

Can not remember to many games getting officially reviewed before they are released.

There is plenty of info out there with regards to Rage and I highly doubt they have all gotten it wrong or that the devs are "hiding" anything.

Previews always speak highly of a game. Publications aren't going to destroy a game during the preview process. I still remember IGN's infamous preview of Fable - making it seem like the greatest game of all time.

Games get reviewed all the time prior to release, because publisher send out review copies weeks in advance. Review embargo's are generally used on games that publishers know aren't going to live up to expectations.

[Camco]

sure go ahead wait for someone else opinion rather than coming to your own..

i'm a "first" gamer, not a 2nd or 3rd that only plays games when are on sale or when they go GOTY a year later when the community is practically dead.

have fun scrounging the internets while we have fun playing :)

+1

Apparently everyone else's good opinion matters not.

Just because you're saving money or something when you wait a month for the game to come out? Come on!
Have fun beign bored with other games, while:
we have fun playing :)

[Sinhealer]

Previews always speak highly of a game. Publications aren't going to destroy a game during the preview process. I still remember IGN's infamous preview of Fable - making it seem like the greatest game of all time.

Games get reviewed all the time prior to release, because publisher send out review copies weeks in advance. Review embargo's are generally used on games that publishers know aren't going to live up to expectations.

Review copies are sent out so the magazines have time to play them and write a review so the review can go live on release day..

Again I can not remember reading a game review for a game that is some 1 or 2 weeks away from release.

...Also Fable is and was a great game :D

[chipset35]

I also think that if you are a "FAN" of a particular universe/game, like I was with Space Marine or SWTOR then pre-order does make sense, but if you are someone who is not a FAN, or is on the fence like I am with Rage, then it also makes perfect sense to wait.
Its a WIN/WIN situation, when you wait...as by the time you read all the reviews from IGN, GAmeSpy, GameSpot, PCGamer, and also players, you will feel very confident in your decision either way.
Plus the price always comes down.
For those who flame, and say while we are waiting they will be playing...well good for you.
Just remember, it makes no difference when you start playing a game, its not a race.

[elmoi69]

I agreed with OP too. I got burned with Homefront and Brink (this one still unplayable for AMD cards), what a waste of money and frustration, as said above this is a $60 dollars game, show me some reviews, and i'll get it.

[Sinhealer]

I agree with you chipset,

If the player is unsure about the game it is best he waits and reads the reviews.On the other hand though if the player really likes the genre and trusts that it will be a game they will enjoy then he buys it at release.

No need for posters to attack someone's choice in the matter..it is there money after all.

I am normally 50/50 on the matter some games I buy at release while others I tend to wait for reviews/price drop it really depends on the genre.

[Hendar]

I rarely get burnt myself, only happened twice. Tomb Raider Underworld which I got on a sale anyway and Front Mission Evolved that really wasn't worth full price, on steam anyway. I don't really get too bent up about games though, I have a few which people think suck but I quite enjoyed playing them. I don't think they have a lot of replay value but for what they are, they aren't too bad.

And tbh I've seen people say some games are AMAZING when they are complete utter crap with repetitive gameplay. Modern Warfare 2 was one of them and Black Ops, MW2 didn't bring anything new at all with a horrible story and Black Ops was just boring, OK I understand people play them for Multiplayer but singleplayer sucked ♥♥♥ in both of those games which makes you wonder why they get such good reviews. Same with Dragon Age, it's fun and all but nowhere near as good as Mass Effect. It doesn't feel engaging in either of the Dragon Age games, some of the dungeons are just too long which makes the game feel redundant and repetitive to me. I don't know, I might just be bored of fantasy games in general.

Anyway, my point is. Don't trust reviews, check gameplay videos out, if you're still unsure then wait and ask people about it on forums. Sometimes you can see right away though if a game is going to be good or not, plus supporting a game even if it isn't the best in that category can yield better results for the sequel. If you like the concept but the game is lacking, then shout it on top of your lunges to the devs. We're in an odd era where devs kinda listen to their costumers which wouldn't have happened 10-15 years ago.

I don't think Rage will be uber engaging but it looks fun enough and the concept is always interesting. Plus it takes something from Mad Max which most of the other post-apocalyptic games missed. The car chases, Fallout seriously lacks it, I mean in Fallout 2 you can get a car but none of the other games uses it! Borderlands has it but I've only seen drive from point A to B, granted I haven't finished it yet though. I wish it had something more action packed, it's one of the coolest parts with Mad Max that needs to be thrown into a game. More stuff like jumping between cars and throwing a guy off your car or something, which I don't think Rage has but it does have something cool with cars anyway which is always a win. :P

When it comes to games really, you can't always get the best games. Sometimes you gotta take a chance and there is a lot of harsh comments about some games which I find unfounded. I mean they're just games, enjoy it for what it is. I mean I don't buy a ticket to see the latest Transformers movie by Michael Bay and expect to see a movie with a story equal to Slumdog Millionaire. I mean when I go to see a Transformers movie, I expect to see explosions, robots, spray on tans, unnecessarily half nude women and a weak story! Don't let it get to your head really, don't expect more than what it is. Some people expected something deep and engaging from Kane & Lynch but all they got was foul mouthed blokes who shoot cops. :P

Same goes for Rage, it's not that I'm expecting spray on tans! Though that would be funny to see! I expect to see a game where you point weapons at something and it dies, a hopefully engaging story and difficult enemies. Everything else is a bonus!

[kevnb]

I also think that if you are a "FAN" of a particular universe/game, like I was with Space Marine or SWTOR then pre-order does make sense, but if you are someone who is not a FAN, or is on the fence like I am with Rage, then it also makes perfect sense to wait.
Its a WIN/WIN situation, when you wait...as by the time you read all the reviews from IGN, GAmeSpy, GameSpot, PCGamer, and also players, you will feel very confident in your decision either way.
Plus the price always comes down.
For those who flame, and say while we are waiting they will be playing...well good for you.
Just remember, it makes no difference when you start playing a game, its not a race.

except those reviews are worthless, word of mouth ftw.

[OurSacrifice]

Review copies are sent out so the magazines have time to play them and write a review so the review can go live on release day..

Again I can not remember reading a game review for a game that is some 1 or 2 weeks away from release.

...Also Fable is and was a great game :D

I didn't say reviews are released weeks in advance. Don't put words into the post. I said review copies are sent out weeks in advance.

Embargos stop them from releasing the reviews. The closer to release the embargo is, is usually a sign of a publisher doubting the success of the title, and hiding scores until the game releases so preorders cannot be canceled.

Fable is not a 10/10 which is what the IGN preview made it seem. They talked about how wide open the world was and how limitless the possibilities were.

Then the game released (2 weeks later mind you), and it was revealed that it was everything but wide open. It was 100% pathway driven "exploration" and the exact opposite of everything from the preview.

I agreed with OP too. I got burned with Homefront and Brink (this one still unplayable for AMD cards), what a waste of money and frustration, as said above this is a $60 dollars game, show me some reviews, and i'll get it.

For me, Homefront was worth it cause I got a free copy of Metro 2033. Give me a free game that's decent, and I'll pre-order your stuff anyday. Two games for the price of one is win for me.

[diogo_cme]

I agreed with OP too. I got burned with Homefront and Brink (this one still unplayable for AMD cards), what a waste of money and frustration, as said above this is a $60 dollars game, show me some reviews, and i'll get it.

I have a AMD card and almost 30 hours on Brink.

[Inarborat]

I didn't say reviews are released weeks in advance. Don't put words into the post. I said review copies are sent out weeks in advance.

Embargos stop them from releasing the reviews. The closer to release the embargo is, is usually a sign of a publisher doubting the success of the title, and hiding scores until the game releases so preorders cannot be canceled.

Fable is not a 10/10 which is what the IGN preview made it seem. They talked about how wide open the world was and how limitless the possibilities were.

Then the game released (2 weeks later mind you), and it was revealed that it was everything but wide open. It was 100% pathway driven "exploration" and the exact opposite of everything from the preview.

Good grief your post is delusional. Why on Earth would you compare a Fable game to an id game? That notion of a publisher imposing a review embargo is idiotic at best and pure conjecture. Or, could it be a publisher wanting to get a massive amount of reviews and information on release day? Stop spouting nonsense.

Early reviews are often paid for and bought by the publisher or sites send their review to a publisher for approval before getting the go ahead for an early release review.

[Sinhealer]

Inarborat I gave up trying to understand Oursacrifice's logic.

As far as I know Bethesda and ID have never allowed early reviews,only after release,so using Oursacrifices logic all there games would be terrible >_>

Anyway sometimes reviews are way way off the mark.
I remember a review of Football manager were the reviewer gave it 1 out of 10,he had never played a football manager game before and played it thinking it was like PES and Fifa..he even said how bad it was on match day as you never got to control the players.

The review finally got pulled from the magazine but not before it became a legend...well a legend to us Football manager players at any rate :P

[BlackOps101]

They are really hiding this one, and that scares me... Most of the time I see games with prereleases to reviewers but they are really pushing this one until release. I guess that's what happens when you're a big company with stock in a game. :D

[OurSacrifice]

Good grief your post is delusional. Why on Earth would you compare a Fable game to an id game? That notion of a publisher imposing a review embargo is idiotic at best and pure conjecture. Or, could it be a publisher wanting to get a massive amount of reviews and information on release day? Stop spouting nonsense.

Early reviews are often paid for and bought by the publisher or sites send their review to a publisher for approval before getting the go ahead for an early release review.

I didn't directly compare Rage to Fable on a game to game basis, please learn to read. I simply brought up Fable as an example of previews are NOT to be taken as reviews, because previews are ALWAYS positive, review aren't.

Publishers embargo for 2 reasons:

1) They are not confident that the game is going to review as highly as anticipated, so they embargo to release day to avoid potential pre-order cancelations.

2) They embargo all reviews under a certain score, and allow press to publish reviews if they rate the game at certain values. The higher you rate the game, the further out from the embargo date you can release your review.

Face it, RAGE has been done for a while, it's street dated and has been sitting in store warehouses for over a week now (as proof by the MANY users that have been posting pictures of them owning the game on various other sites). The fact the embargo is in place for midnight, and the fact that NOBODY has released a review yet does not speak highly of the potential scores.

Tomorrow, if/when I'm proven right, I won't do an "I told you so", but if on the off chance I'm wrong and it scores in the mid to high 90's I'll gladly admit my statements were incorrect.

Inarborat I gave up trying to understand Oursacrifice's logic.

As far as I know Bethesda and ID have never allowed early reviews,only after release,so using Oursacrifices logic all there games would be terrible >_>

Oblivion and Morrowind reviews generally came out several days after release due to the size of the game, and the requirement that to properly review a game of that magnitude, you would have to put in a ton of time. In the case of Morrowind, if I remember correctly, review builds never made it out in time and I think release builds were reviewed, but my memory is fuzzy that far back. There was no embargo, I do know that much.

Doom 3 was embargo'd until release day, and graphical achivements/eye candy enjoyment aside, the game was hollow - and ended up averaging an 87 metacritic rating. While it's not a "bad" rating, 90 is the industry understood "cut off" of AAA caliber releases, and publishers do watch the scores, and they DO NOT like scores under that line when they're going for a big release. Brink was embargoed - and we all know how that mess turned out.

[Soupias]

sure go ahead wait for someone else opinion rather than coming to your own..

i'm a "first" gamer, not a 2nd or 3rd that only plays games when are on sale or when they go GOTY a year later when the community is practically dead.

have fun scrounging the internets while we have fun playing :)


Sure, go ahead with that mindset. You will earn the satisfaction of playing on release. Then of course you will have to rage in the forums about bugs, random crashes and other problems. On the other hand I will will save my money for something better if the game is crap. Or if it is good I will have a better bug free experience probably accompanied by a nice price drop. But hey, you will have played before me so you win! :P

[Sinhealer]

but if on the off chance I'm wrong and it scores in the mid to high 90's I'll gladly admit my statements were incorrect.

LOL mid to high 90's!

So you are going to slate it if it is rated at say 88...you are hard to please :D

Man if I only bought games that were rated from 95-100 I would not buy many games...and would have missed out on some great games!

[Trodamus]

Reviewers will say Batman:AC sucks but i will buy because i'm gamer first. Rage is developed by idsoftware and i don't even have to check a review to play it. Reviews are for non-gamers and people with small wallet.

Yes, watch out for all of those nasty reviewers (http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/batman-arkham-asylum)that gave Batman:AA such a poor review.

:rolleyes:

Idiotically, I'm willing to gamble 50-60 for a new game rather than gamble not getting the modicum of exclusive pre-order content (or being forced to pay for said content later). It's utterly nonsensical and I admit I'm completely in the grasp of their marketing strat.

There's nothing about OP's post that says he values other peoples' opinions higher than his own or is incapable of determining whether a game is good by himself; we all have our tastes, and certainly you should be able to (in this day and age) sift through a few dozen reviews to find whether you'd actually enjoy a game.

However, publishers and developers don't want you making an informed decision. They want you to buy it with nothing but adverts in your head because even the tiniest launch issue will destroy their opening sales.

This is an industry where, if you haven't recouped your development costs and made a tidy profit in the first month of sales you're considered a loss and a failure. So they dangle things in front of us to convince us that it's somehow unreasonable to try before buying, and hypocritically clamp down on leaks only when it damages their product (see also Deus Ex's leak which they more or less were happy with).

[buzzfunk]

You can review a fiscal quarter or how well your financial adviser did on your portfolio, but reviewing games, just like music or Movies, is IMO pointless. It's all subjective and one reviewer might give a lower score cause he NEEDs every game to be 45 hours long. For example, I don't. I have a busy life, Im happy with 12 hours. So I would have given the game not a lower score because of it...

Reg RAGE: You really need a review for a new id game? I mean, I'm sorry but you call yourself a gamer? If you did NOT like ANY of id's previews games, then you don't need a review because you already know that you wont like it. If you hated (like myself) gears of war 1, do i really need a review to tell me I wont hate GOR3? Not a fan of Epic games so I know whats in store, no matter the (FOS) 10/10 reviews...

My point is, Its id, the creators of 1st person shooter. Quake, Doom...and I mean, what more do you need to know??

[OurSacrifice]

LOL mid to high 90's!

So you are going to slate it if it is rated at say 88...you are hard to please :D

Man if I only bought games that were rated from 95-100 I would not buy many games...and would have missed out on some great games!

When you quote one small comment out of a larger post it can lead to stupid responses like that.

But when you take the whole post into context, you would see that I clearly stated that reviews in the 80's are necessarily bad, but they are by large, commonly accepted below the industry threshold of "AAA caliber".

Publishers want to have their cake and eat it too. They want reviews in the 90's and they want quick turn around on releases from developers. They embargo everything they feel won't meet those expectations to help keep a potential hype-train going.

For me - no, I no longer play every game under the sun, and I also only play 2-4 new titles a year because of how I judge games based on asking price vs value of scores both professional and consumer feedback.

You know what it does? It lowers my aggrivation from spending full price on 4 hour long games, games with tons of bugs, games that don't work at all, games that simply don't execute their promised mechanics properly, and most importantly, games that fail to meet the expectations of gamers in general.

[Sinhealer]

Don't want to quote your entire post but this part...

"Doom 3 was embargo'd until release day, and graphical achivements/eye candy enjoyment aside, the game was hollow - and ended up averaging an 87 metacritic rating. While it's not a "bad" rating, 90 is the industry understood "cut off" of AAA caliber releases"

Were on earth did you hear this?
87 is "not" a bad rating?
No your right it is a damn good 1 on metacritic as it is an average from all the reviews in other words from ALL the reviews it got a lot more 9 and 10's than it did 8 or less.

Also when did 90 become the "cut off"?

It may have been marked down for many reasons such as maybe the multi-player was not fantastic but why would a player that only plays the single player campaign worry about this?

I think you are taking the base score to much to heart in your last few posts.

[HydrantHunter]

...Man if I only bought games that were rated from 95-100 I would not buy many games...and would have missed out on some great games!
Even though it's out of context, agreed - I've played far too many great games that have provided outstanding experiences to view any ratings system as anything more than a single point of data (especially concatenating sites like MetaCritic).

Sometimes you just take a chance - it might be because of the dev, the concept, whatever... Sometimes it's great success and sometimes a pail of fail, but each title represents its own set of risk/reward possibilities. I can understand the trepidation, though. I've taken several risks over the last year or so and payback has been uneven, to put it kindly.

But I'd rather get stuck with a few bad apples than miss half the orchard because they didn't make it into the 'perfect apple' basket.

[TheGuvnor]

I do my research. I watch gameplay videos, and if it looks like my kinda game I keep my eye on it. However, I almost never buy games on release day.

I tend to wait a few weeks/months to see how the game is received, particularly regarding bugs, since I usually can get a good idea for gameplay by videos. I still follow reviews/reception about gameplay to a degree, but I mostly decide that for myself.

I just avoid buying games immediately in case of bugs. If at all possible, I try to wait for discounts as well. I'm just very careful with my money, because I hate wasting it.

There are some (albeit rare) games that I will buy on release day, though. These usually belong to devs/franchises that I'm familiar with, but even then I'm usually checking out gameplay videos before buying, just to make sure.

[OurSacrifice]

Also when did 90 become the "cut off"?

Several years ago when consumers started weighing review scores higher than ever before.

It was also the driving force behind Denis Dyack's frontal assault on the gaming community prior to the launch of Too Human. The "metacritic phenomenon" has caused publishers to care more about review scores then the people that buy games.

[paramite12]

It's usually pretty easy to tell what games are going to be good, at least when you've been playing games for 15+ years. The only exception are games that don't look that good, but end up kicking ♥♥♥, those can be tricky haha

[Rumtruffle]

meh, ive wasted far greater amounts of money on rubbish before than jsut the pittance this game costs.

ive already purchased. if its crap, ill moan on the forums a couple times and then go and play something else i purchased day one.

[Sinhealer]

Several years ago when consumers started weighing review scores higher than ever before.

It was also the driving force behind Denis Dyack's frontal assault on the gaming community prior to the launch of Too Human. The "metacritic phenomenon" has caused publishers to care more about review scores then the people that buy games.

Sorry but I have played games since the late 70's and used to subscribe to a magazine called Crash for my ZX spectrum and believe me when I say even back then we respected the reviews,30 years later I give them the same respect,only difference is I can give my feedback from my keyboard and not by sending in a letter.

Reviews back then as they are now are read but the player still makes up his own mind.

A review of even say 80 but has been downgraded because of certain elements that may not bother a certain player could make the game 100 in there eyes,I am not to bothered with the multi player in Rage so if they dock a few points of the score because it is not so great that will not bother me in the slightest.

[Trodamus]

We all look to a mythical 100 point scale that no one agreed upon or holds a consensus for what the numbers actually mean.

We hold some ridiculous standard that games are being undersold even at the highest percentile (85+). What is the effective difference between an 85 and a 90? A 95 and 100? But my goodness when a Zelda game gets an 8.8 out of ten it's a travesty, and games with admitted flaws get tens somehow.

Do yourselves a favor: scratch the number off the review and just read the descriptive text. Trust it? No? Read another review until you have enough information to make an informed purchase.

[MUNKY.]

while i agree with the op the list is huge for gameday dissapointments:

1. bulletstorm
2. medal of honor
3. homefront
4. avp
5. brink
6. duke puke em
7. cod:bo
8. dead island
9. the witcher
10. apb
11. dungeon siege 3

I am sure there are others but these are some of the biggest flops that I have seen as of late that to me were just absolute stick it up your azz garbage games. That little list has caused thousands of people buyers remorse and I completely understand why the hesitation. For me personally I have avoided most of these and waited for the reviews to light up the forums. Rage however I did preorder and yes I am taking the risk on this one :)

[cryfreedom66]

while i agree with the op the list is huge for gameday dissapointments:

1. bulletstorm
2. medal of honor
3. homefront
4. avp
5. brink
6. duke puke em
7. cod:bo
8. dead island
9. the witcher
10. apb
11. dungeon siege 3

I am sure there are others but these are some of the biggest flops that I have seen as of late that to me were just absolute stick it up your azz garbage games. That little list has caused thousands of people buyers remorse and I completely understand why the hesitation. For me personally I have avoided most of these and waited for the reviews to light up the forums. Rage however I did preorder and yes I am taking the risk on this one :)

The Witcher??

Really??

[OurSacrifice]

Sorry but I have played games since the late 70's and used to subscribe to a magazine called Crash for my ZX spectrum and believe me when I say even back then we respected the reviews,30 years later I give them the same respect,only difference is I can give my feedback from my keyboard and not by sending in a letter.

Reviews back then as they are now are read but the player still makes up his own mind.

A review of even say 80 but has been downgraded because of certain elements that may not bother a certain player could make the game 100 in there eyes,I am not to bothered with the multi player in Rage so if they dock a few points of the score because it is not so great that will not bother me in the slightest.

You're wrong. The gaming community now is far more competitive and consumers weigh (that's different then respect) reviews more than even 10 years ago. A larger portion of the market does NOT make up their own mind, and relies exclusively on professional reviews as well as user reviews before making a choice on whether or not to buy a game.

It's good that you're a special snowflake though, and that your outlook on gaming hasn't changed in 30 years. But the community around you has evolved.

[chipset35]

ok, I will play devils advocate here...
the ad for Rage says "ground breaking"...whats ground breaking about it?
Looks like Crysis 2 with a dune buggy added in a post apocalyptic world...
Is it ground breaking cuz this is John Carmack's first game since whenever?

RAGE is a groundbreaking first-person shooter set in the not-too-distant future after an asteroid impacts Earth, leaving a ravaged world behind.

Please enlighten me, cuz I almost broke my own rule several times and pre-ordered only to have Yoda yank my hand back from my wallet saying "Pre-orders lead to disappointment, disappointment leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to the dark side".

[terryjameboy]

sure go ahead wait for someone else opinion rather than coming to your own..

i'm a "first" gamer, not a 2nd or 3rd that only plays games when are on sale or when they go GOTY a year later when the community is practically dead.

have fun scrounging the internets while we have fun playing :)

It's called being smart.... Who buys a game for 60.00 dollars, without knowing it's true value and if it lives up to the hype or content it's suppose to have? I'm sorry but if that makes you a true gamer, it might as well make you a true idiot too :) You're probably one of those guys that purchased duke nukem lol

[terryjameboy]

Have to agree with OP, I've been burned so many times this year its becoming frustrating.

Red Orchetra 2, Brink, Hard Reset, Deus Ex, Space Marine...

Really was a disappointing year.


And research can't reveal problems with a game like cripling bugs, poor balance or sloppy mechanics. the only way to truly evaluate a title is to get your hands on it.

Sarcasm when you're saying deus ex, right?

[terryjameboy]

while i agree with the op the list is huge for gameday dissapointments:

1. bulletstorm
2. medal of honor
3. homefront
4. avp
5. brink
6. duke puke em
7. cod:bo
8. dead island
9. the witcher
10. apb
11. dungeon siege 3

I am sure there are others but these are some of the biggest flops that I have seen as of late that to me were just absolute stick it up your azz garbage games. That little list has caused thousands of people buyers remorse and I completely understand why the hesitation. For me personally I have avoided most of these and waited for the reviews to light up the forums. Rage however I did preorder and yes I am taking the risk on this one :)


What didn't you like about the Witcher? the game is amazing

[Rock3t]

Having seen so many people burnt in the past..I dont care if its ID, John C, whatever...
I will wait for the reviews...a months worth of website and player reviews before spending or wasting money.

I dont care what your doing.

[Ninjakixx]

I dont care what your doing.

Then why feel the need to reply to his thread?

[Colon Blow]

Wow, reading through the posts, I can't believe people are slamming the OP for simply doing something logical.

[madafaka]

Wow, reading through the posts, I can't believe people are slamming the OP for simply doing something logical.

The OP is certainly a star now.
I personally lost my faith in pre-ordered items since 2006.

[Colon Blow]

The OP is certainly a star now.
I personally lost my faith in pre-ordered items since 2006.

I agree good move. I was burned with Brink and decided to wait until the community/reviewers opinions from then on.

[chipset35]

I dont like to see games flop like this, especially if its a title/genre I like. But, come on now...I have seen this for 21 years now, and we never learn. I realize $60 is not alot of money for some people, but are we that bored that we cannot even wait 24-48 hours to see how the release went?
And look at how mad some people got, just for stating the obvious.
Waiting is win/win....

[TommeH]

The OP is certainly a star now.
I personally lost my faith in pre-ordered items since 2006.

I lost it this year with Brink and Duke, but I learned my lesson and didn´t preorder Rage, which was a good idea as we see.

[OurSacrifice]

I dont like to see games flop like this, especially if its a title/genre I like. But, come on now...I have seen this for 21 years now, and we never learn. I realize $60 is not alot of money for some people, but are we that bored that we cannot even wait 24-48 hours to see how the release went?
And look at how mad some people got, just for stating the obvious.
Waiting is win/win....

Waiting is always win/win, especially when review embargos hit for release day.

It's hardly ever a good sign.

[Absynth]

Learned this lesson with Brink.