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Why do gamers care about review scores so much?

Deleted member 49319

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I've almost never heard anyone talking about movies' MC scores, or really taking IMDB score seriously, or anyone really giving a least sxxx for what score rolling stone gives an album. Not to say books.
When reviews are brought up, it's mostly about a reviewer's opinions not the score.

What makes game review scores so irresistible?
 
SoH

SoH

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Oct 25, 2017
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val·i·da·tion
/ˌvaləˈdāSH(ə)n/

recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings or opinions are valid or worthwhile.
 
Rosebud

Rosebud

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You never saw people taking Rotten Tomatoes seriously?

Especially if it's a superhero movie
 
RaySpencer

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People love talking about Rotten Tomato scores for movies. Its not just video games that people care about reviews.
 
Dr Pears

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Its not just videogames. I remember Joker having controversy during review period as well.
 
Nano-Nandy

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Rotten Tomatoes is used a lot in movies, so not just gamers.

Same way Billboard charts are used a lot in music or Box Office charts, so not just gamers care about sales.
 
Deeke

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Because it gives consumers a quick, concise way to judge the merits of their potential purchase. I think they're important. Relaying information quickly with symbols or numbers (scores, in this case) is essential in this case.

I like being able to see a score, read a synopsis, and then go back and read the article to figure out why the author felt the way they did. If anything the score is the doorway for the review in my eyes.
 
AaronMT

AaronMT

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Because the price of video games have gone up and because there are far less demos these days to test a game
 
TheEchosOfTheCyborg

TheEchosOfTheCyborg

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A mixture of validation, hype culture created by games companies them self, press, fandom etc have created, this weird mentality that their are "objective" reviews, an aspect of the toxicity that has been allowed to grow in the gaming fandom, a misunderstanding what reviews aren't meant to be for and that scores aren't universal (something sites like Metacrtic don't help with) and ego.
 
Ocean

Ocean

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Oct 25, 2017
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People are tribal and stupid.

You like Samsung Galaxy phones? You gotta shit on iPhones. You love PlayStation? Shit on Xbox. You drive a Mercedes? Shit on BMW.

It makes no sense. When I was a kid, I didn't have a GameCube. I didn't spout how much better my PlayStation was - I just badly wished I had a GameCube too, specially when I went to a friend's house and played it. Now I'm old enough and I just buy them all because that's what makes sense as a genuine fan.

Much of the same feeling is behind review sensibility. If somebody doesn't like the thing you like, it's like an insult to you because you tribally identify with it.

I'll never understand it.
 
TheUnseenTheUnheard

TheUnseenTheUnheard

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Well it's not like going to see a movie for 15 bucks or so. For games you are sometimes spending 60 dollars or more. People want to know that they're not buying something shitty.
 
TheEchosOfTheCyborg

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Aestivalis said:
I thought Rotten Tomatoes just an indication if a movie is good or not in popular opinion, people don't take it seriously to the level "my favorite movie is better than yours" stupidity.
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It happens but not as often as gaming, one I remember was when one of the first reviewers for the Dark Knight Rises gave it a less then steller review and the fandom went pissed over it.

Rotton Tomatoes knows this to and has tried to use it to its advantage before like when the withheld showing the consensus for Justice League in order to create hype for their podcast to reveal it there, it was so cringey.
 
OP
OP

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I made this thread because I recently saw some laughable conspiracy theory about IGN's Death Stranding review.
A huge plot from the "too much water, 7.8", to "Lucy O'Brien hates men", to "IGN rates all MS games higher than MC average", to "they intentionally let a nobody review DS".
Too hilarious that I can't imagine such a narrative in other medium.
 
Strings

Strings

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Aestivalis said:
I made this thread because I recently saw some laughable conspiracy theory about IGN's Death Stranding review.
A huge plot from the "too much water, 7.8", to "Lucy O'Brien hates men", to "IGN rates all MS games higher than MC average", to "they intentionally let a nobody review DS".
Too hilarious that I can't imagine such a narrative in other medium.
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You might enjoy this then:

 
piratethingy

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Aestivalis said:
I made this thread because I recently saw some laughable conspiracy theory about IGN's Death Stranding review.
A huge plot from the "too much water, 7.8", to "Lucy O'Brien hates men", to "IGN rates all MS games higher than MC average", to "they intentionally let a nobody review DS".
Too hilarious that I can't imagine such a narrative in other medium.
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Click to shrink...

I guarantee there are equally ridiculous conspiracies explaining why Endgame isn't the best reviewed movie of all time waiting deep in movie forums we've never heard of.
 
Chrno

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because it's not llike they were going to play the game anyway and they need something to do.
 
OP
OP

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Vex

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Because there are people who are already being paid to play a game and give early impressions of the quality before I have to spend a dime.

I'd like to know if a game I've been eyeing is broken or has serious issues before I spend ~60. I don't buy fuckin' shit unless I can see reviews -- I don't buy cars, I don't buy services, and I don't buy from an online retailer unless I can read impressions on a product like Amazon.com or Newegg. It's the same with games. If it is a bomba, I wanna know why.
 
ItchyTasty

ItchyTasty

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Feb 3, 2019
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Bragging rights for their console of choice?

Also games are expensive and there are so many of them, reviews is a useful tool to see if a game is worth your time and money.
 

Fredrik

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Oct 27, 2017
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It's a quick way to check if a interesting game is worth my money day 1 or if I should wait until a sale.
 
Blue Skies

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Becuase we literally have nothing better to do. There are no good games to play, see scores, so all we can do is bitch.
 
Death Penalty

Death Penalty

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Because although many feel the need to reject review scores for whatever reason, they actually serve as a useful barometer for quality, especially when tempered with reasonable knowledge about the product being reviewed.
 
Vestal

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For me its more of if I like a game I want it to be successful for the developer, as well as allow for the potential of sequels.

Review scores can make or break a game in the eyes of the public as well as the Corporate Overlords.

For example.. Imagine if Lost Odyssey had scored 85-90 back in the day.. It would have been viewed better by the public and the higher ups at MS/Mistwalker, a sequel would have probably been green lit and we would have had dueling Studios building that style of JRPG.
 
Soj

Soj

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Oct 27, 2017
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Reading/watching an entire review is of little interest to many gamers. They find it preferable to just fixate on an easy to digest number.

High score = Good
Low score = Bad
Score below an 8 = Personal attack
 
terminaljeremy

terminaljeremy

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Oct 28, 2017
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I LIKE THIS THING

however it is not enough to like this thing

I MUST BE RIGHT IN LIKING THIS THING

otherwise my liking is wrong

and so then I will be wrong

this makes me sad

I DO NOT WANT TO BE SAD

RAAARRRGH

ETHICSINGAMESJOURNALISM

(also reading words is hard and not measurable and language has nuance and me not like nuance me find it hard what with me limited social interaction skills)
 
ty_hot

ty_hot

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Dec 14, 2017
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Games take 10-100 hours to finish and cost 60. Movies are 2 hours and cost way less. Music? Even shorter and cheaper.

Same reason people search reviews for their TVs but dont really search for 5 dollar devices.

Btw I always check IMDB, anything under 6.5 and I am probably skipping. I watch very few movies so when I do I make sure it is a decent one (probably).
 
ghibli99

ghibli99

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Oct 27, 2017
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I don't necessarily think it's the caring part, but I do think they're a good baseline for context when talking about our opinion on games in general.
 
Hilarious_Bearious

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Nov 4, 2017
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Film enthusiasts care a lot about Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB scores in the same way the various weebs, basement dwellers and general malcontents around here care about Metacritic and Open Critic scores.

Joe Sixpack and Chad McShooterbro don't care what critics think of War of Modern Faceshooter 16 or Fast and the Furious 37: Tesla Boogaloo.
 
AllChan7

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Because I have a limited amount of money and wanna know if something is worth my time or not and for games I'm not sure about reviews are a great way to gauge that along with trusted user impressions
 
Tyaren

Tyaren

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Oct 25, 2017
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SmiteOfHand said:
val·i·da·tion
/ˌvaləˈdāSH(ə)n/

recognition or affirmation that a person or their feelings or opinions are valid or worthwhile.
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First post nailed it.
It's very simple psychology.

mute said:
Games are like a person's favorite sports team.
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Uh oh... In another thread several people pounced on me for saying that the gratification many gamers get from their favorite games, developers or platforms succeeding is not unsimilar to fans and their favorite sports team.
 
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