MMOMFG Roundtable: How much do reviews matter?

Hey everyone, welcome back to our MMOMFG.com Roundtable! Each week we will toss a topic around and get everyone’s opinion on it and then post the discussion here for all our loyal readers to read. Armed with this knowledge you will be prepared to lavish us with gifts that are sure to meet our exacting standards. So, without any delay and absolutely no ado at all, I present the week two roundtable discussion!


Brandon: What is important to you guys when considering whether or not to play/purchase a game? Do things like professional reviews or advertising hype matter more to you than word of mouth? How much does the type of game play factor into your decision? What other factors do you consider?

Let me know your thoughts, I crave your brainwaves!


Justin: I think we all get caught up in the hype train, I know I did with Resident Evil 5, Halo 3, Gears of War 2, Fable II, and every other AAA funded project. But then again, these are titles I would have picked up regardless of the advertising. To me, hype (read: effective advertising) matters for new IPs. For sequels I already have a good idea what to expect.

Do reviews matter? It really depends on who’s giving them, do they enjoy that specific genre, etc…I really only use reviews to point out the good and the bad and I try not to put too much emphasis on scores (which is why we don’t do scores here).

Normally I’ll weigh my options between renting a game or buying a game solely on how much time I’m going to spend. I suppose it differs for everyone but if I’m going to get 20+ hours from a game, it’s worthy of a purchase. However, there are some indie titles that cost 15 bucks and last 5 hours that I might buy as well. Unfortunately there’s no scientific equation on the price/game time ratio that works for me so I just need to make sure that my money = enjoyment. Normally though the more solid game play they can crank in a $60 title the better.


Dustin: I full heartedly follow reviews. Much to my naiveté at times, but I put a lot of weight in what others consider good or bad. I tend to follow these simply because I don’t feel I have the time to pick up every new game and play it to see what is good and what sucks. I’ll check the ratings on other sites such as Kotaku and IGN and then pick up a copy if the title received an 80+ rating. I should likely use Meta Critic instead, but as previously mentioned on the site, I’m a sucker for buying games and only playing them for a very short time. I’ll look to my colleague who will handle the bulk of the reviews on MMOMFG to fill me in on a good game, but as long as a game can keep me interested for a few hours and has the fun elements, I’m all good with the purchase. As Jermaine Dupree once said, money ain’t a thang… Or is it with this economy?


Justin: Using Metacritc is good and all but like you said, how are you supposed to follow an aggregate score for sites like ours and Kotaku?


Dustin: I’ll tend to follow reviewers that I like and have seen eye to eye on certain games. I’ve obviously been burned in the past with games that looked great and then were complete shite, but I put a lot of weight into what some people are saying. Hopefully people will see the same way when our reviews come out at MMOMFG, but everyone has their own taste. I like certain genres that say Cam or Brandon might not like and vice versa, but reviews can be helpful in tipping the scales one way or another.


Brandon: For me, opinions of people I know or respect matter the most. I rarely visit sites like IGN or what have you to check out game scores. I’d much rather read an opinion from someone I know that tells me exactly why they did or didn’t like it. The review business as a whole has come a long way from the days of running to the grocery store every month to buy the new issue of Gamepro or EGM. Information is everywhere and a lot easier to disseminate, so I think that reviews on as a whole should be a lot more comprehensive.

The biggest factors for me are 1) do I know the studio, 2) is the franchise a known commodity, and 3) how much time can I invest in the game. Point 1 should be understood by everyone—when you have an example of someone’s previous work you can form more solid opinions of their latest work. I also don’t have to think as much when I’m deciding to pick up, say Halo 3 or Final Fantasy XIII, because I know from past experience what to expect from those franchises. And lastly, I would likely not consider purchasing a game that offered only 10 hours or so of game play. That seems so strange to say—one of my favorite games ever, Metal Gear Solid, clocked in at about 9 hours. But these days with huge RPGs, never-ending MMOs, and massive sandbox games like GTA, it’s hard to feel good about getting value from a title that you can put down in a couple days of play.


Beau: I have to admit that I put a lot of stock in reviews. Before this site, I didn’t discuss games with other people all that much, so I didn’t a good sense from word of mouth as to which games were worth dropping the cash on and which weren’t. I hate wasting a lot of money on something I don’t end up playing much, so I always at least check to make sure a game didn’t get absolutely panned before dropping the cash on it. As long as it gets a decent review I’ll at least consider it.

I think I differ with most people on whether a game has to be long to be worth the money. I get around to finishing so few games these days that all I really care about is getting some solid fun out of it. Sure, I’d hate to spend $60 and beat a game in 2 hours, but as long as it has some decent replay value and makes me really enjoy it for a while, I think it’s worth it. Frankly, I think some of the interminably long games get kind of old and stale after a while, and I usually don’t even get close to putting in the hours to finish them.

I agree with Brandon that the studio matters a lot. If Bioware created Ballerina Ninja Princess Garden Party for the Xbox, I’d buy it because I trust them so much.


Justin: I believe after Mass Effect 2 and The Old Republic, that’ll be their next title.


Dustin: If any major publisher or developer were to revitalize the Toobin series, I’d gladly buy a copy for each staff member of MMOMFG at $400 a copy. You can’t put a price on a game that involves toobing, drinking, throwing cans and racial harmony.


Cam: I’m pretty selective when buying or playing games. One time I somehow decided to buy Unlimited Saga for 20 dollars and regretted it the minute I opened the packaging. I’ve tried to avoid that mistake ever since. Since I basically have video game ADD and eventually lose focus after playing a while, never to pick the game up again, I like to make sure I’ll get my money’s worth. I would say the most effective influence is a franchise I’ve already had interest in. If I have whatever system a new Final Fantasy is coming out on, I will definitely get it. The same goes for developers I like (Square, Capcom, Blizzard) because I feel like I can trust them (except when they make Unlimited Saga–khaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!). I don’t really listen to reviews, because generally reviewers don’t play games the way I do and therefore look at them differently. But I definitely consider the opinions of friends because I typically know what they like to play and they know what I like. I also like to play games for free after Dustin buys them.


Brandon: Unlimited Saga is the only time I have seen rule number 2 fail. I block that event out of my memory so that it doesn’t destroy my entire worldview.


Cam: I think it might be the worst game I have ever personally played. It definitely made me purchase-shy.


Justin: So just a guesstimate from everyone, how many of your friends/colleagues/co-workers do you think actually value professional reviews? And by professional I mean published, creditable reviews from people who’ve been doing it for more than..let’s say a year?


Dustin: I’d say half and half. Most people I know who game believe word of mouth from friends just as much as a reputable video game reviewer.


Cam: I think a lot of times my friends and I probably pay more attention to bad reviews than to good reviews. Just because someone gives a game an 8.5 doesn’t mean I will like it, but if a game gets a particularly bad score there’s usually a legitimate reason.


Brandon: I agree. Bad reviews are more credible to me than good reviews. By that I mean reviews that are clearly bad, not like a 6 or something. If a game just gets panned, I pretty much don’t think about it anymore.


Beau: The same goes for me—unless a game gets above a 9 or below a 6 on a site I usually trust for reviews, I’ll think, “Eh, could be good, I might check it out.” But if it gets a super high score I’m inclined to buy it if it’s a genre I like, or if it gets below a 6 I avoid it like the plague.


Justin: So what about all the 7s and 8s…do you forego a purchase and rent it instead? For me that’s one of the primary reasons I have a Gamefly account: all of these mediocre titles I can’t afford to spend $60 a pop.


Brandon: A game being a 7 or 8 doesn’t mean I consider renting it first. It just means, “This game might be something to look into, I need to talk to someone who has played it and find out what they thought.” Essentially, a review from 6-9 doesn’t tell me anything about the game. Higher or lower, I know how to interpret those. But that mediocre to above average range is really just subjective based on a person’s personal preference.


Dustin: The 90+ reviews tend to be believable and not just jumping on the band wagon. Games I can think of that got 90+’s that deserved them were Golden Eye, Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Gears of War 1 & 2, GTA IV and Fallout 3. Those games delivered what the reviewers said they would and I bought them after reading the reviews and hearing the hype and I was truly impressed.

Call me crazy, but I think Halo was overrated. However, it had/has such a huge following, I’m sure I’m in the minority.


Justin: Well there’s normally a group of people who disagree for any popular game. Halo was definitely one of them. To me, some reviews just bump up theirs to the 90s just to “keep to the norm”. A review that would normally get in the mid 80s or so might feel pressure to deviate from the popular Gamerankings or Metacritic score and just add a few points. On the other hand some people might take a few points, just to be different and controversial.


Cam: The thing for me is, if a game gets a high score, and then I play it (another person’s copy, or at a store, or whatever), I usually won’t have a problem admitting that it’s a quality product. But it also doesn’t mean I care enough to buy it or play for an extended amount of time.


Dustin: One of the things I don’t understand is why most sports games over here in America are so popular but always only receive reviews in the 80s if they are the top developer or two. Madden hovers around the high 80′s or low 90′s, but the college football games or FIFA’s and Pro Evolution Soccers are lucky to get low 80′s. Most baseball games received scores in the 70′s each year.

I understand the games only update so much from the previous year, but what do the reviewers want to make them worthy of a 90′s review? I know I knocked Madden football for years for not having a lateral option. “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game.” Unless they remove being able to hit the yard-stick holders on the sidelines. Horse shit.


Brandon: I think sports games are a different deal. They can only change so much every year, so they better be damn perfect at making the game. And they just aren’t to be honest. I only play football games for the most part, and in my opinion they have been clunkier and more difficult to play since about 2005. The controls are terrible and the players’ movement feels unrealistic. All they care about is improving the graphics seemingly.


Justin: I’d be in favor of all sports titles taking a 2 year development cycle and offering a nice (free) roster update after the first year. I really think that would be beneficial to everyone.


Brandon: Justin I am with you. I wonder if they would make as much or more money if they just offered downloadable roster updates every year for 10-15 bucks. With the current age of digital delivery and how fast that is progressing, it would seem completely viable to me. They save on the cost of making a new game and may actually get more purchases of roster updates than they would of new copies of the game. I know I haven’t bought a version of the game since 2006, but I could probably be convinced to sign into XBOX live and download a new roster for 15 bucks.


Justin: You know, I didn’t even think about the money aspect, I always like to see things go for free, but then again, they would need money to generate a profit during the one year hiatus. I think $15 roster update would work with little resistance.


Cam: Resistance is futile!


Justin: I don’t want to make this just about sports titles, but I think sometimes developers feel the need (or are forced) to come up with new ideas and features that just don’t work, aren’t needed, break the game, unbalance it, or are just plain dumb.


Brandon: Well how do you convince someone to buy a game they have already bought once (or many times) before? This is harder to deal with in sports franchises than story-driven titles, so it’s magnified a lot more in those.


Well guys, I think we had some really good discussion about a lot of the positives and negatives that come with video game reviews. I think we can all agree that they serve a purpose, and that is why you will be able to find reviews of the games we are hotly anticipating right here on MMOMFG.com. But it’s also evident that we have a review philosophy that is dedicated to providing more comprehensive reviews and fewer generic scores which I think will really benefit our readers. And for the final word, let’s go to Andrew who was late and missed the entire discussion:


Andrew: I take reviews into account when deciding on whether to purchase a game or not, but usually if it’s a game style or franchise or genre that I really like it will take a real scathing review to turn me off. The marketing and ad hype is all well and good but I’ve seen plenty of bad games with cool pre-launch marketing campaigns. Case in point: Damnation. I was thinking about picking up Damnation until I read a whole slew of absolutely AWFUL reviews on it.

Conversely, when a game that’s right in my wheelhouse comes along, it usually takes more than one bad review to turn me away too. Take Resident Evil 5 for example. It didn’t get the greatest reviews, but there was no way I wasn’t picking that title up.


Great stuff, Andrew, glad you could finally join us. Well, that wraps up our weekly roundtable; we hope you enjoyed this behind-the-scenes look at the MMOMFG.com staff. Be sure to check back next week for another insightful discussion about the gaming industry.

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