"Retro" reviews by youngsters...

[BAD PIXEL]

Does it bother you when retro reviews/articles are done by folks who weren't alive during the time period they're reviewing or writing about?

This isn't anything new and I've noticed this a lot on YouTube and in a bunch of miscellaneous user contributed websites over the last few years. It's just tough to take it seriously when a 15 year old is talking about the glory days of the Super Nintendo. Not at all to say that a 15 year old couldn't objectively cover a topic related to a time that happened before they were born, but I also notice the facts are typically inaccurate, there is a lot of detail overlooked, the writer/reviewer doesn't have a clue about what was really going on in the era they are writing about or (and this is especially annoying) there's a weird sense of fake nostalgia.

I guess it's just generally annoying when someone is writing out their ass and doesn't know what they're talking about.

[alienjesus]

Does it bother you when retro reviews/articles are done by folks who weren't alive during the time period they're reviewing or writing about?

This isn't anything new and I've noticed this a lot on YouTube and in a bunch of miscellaneous user contributed websites over the last few years. It's just tough to take it seriously when a 15 year old is talking about the glory days of the Super Nintendo. Not at all to say that a 15 year old couldn't objectively cover a topic related to a time that happened before they were born, but I also notice the facts are typically inaccurate, there is a lot of detail overlooked, the writer/reviewer doesn't have a clue about what was really going on in the era they are writing about or (and this is especially annoying) there's a weird sense of fake nostalgia.

I guess it's just generally annoying when someone is writing out their ass and doesn't know what they're talking about.

One the other hand, it can be refreshing to see the opinions of a gamer who isn't coloured by the nostalgia related to the time period. If the reviews are done right, it can be a good source of info about how the games stand up today.

[IIICCCPIII]

Well, I see what you're saying. Perception of a game is enhanced by knowing about what the market was like when the game came out. So if it's a subjective review, it's probably going to not sound very good, but if it's an objective review, it shouldn't matter. The reviews are intended as much for people who haven't played the game yet as they are for veterans who played the game when it came out. Then again I'm biased, because I'm planning on reviewing a few NES games, some of which I didn't originally play when I was a kid. But like I said, it depends on the context of the review. It's like music or movie reviews, if you're solely reviewing the content, then it's fine, but if you try to chronicle the history and impact caused by the thing you're reviewing, it comes off as contrived.

[Limewater]

I've noticed this a lot on YouTube

I think I found your problem.

There's a lot of crap on YouTube. I may be unfair in saying this, but I am currently under the impression that younger people are also a lot more likely to be willing to post really crappy videos on the internet, and very, very likely to just be trying to copy the Angry Video Game Nerd.

In another ten years, I'm hoping we'll see some much more interesting, in-depth, and respectable video game reviews coming from people who weren't actually around in the heyday of the game in question. Right now, though, video games are really only just getting old enough for this to happen.

Also, if you're fifteen and reading this, please don't be offended. Young people have put some pretty awesome stuff on YouTube (See, for example, the early Bo Burnham videos, which aren't video game related, but are really good). So, if you're young and you do game reviews or something, I'm not necessarily calling what you do right now bad. I probably haven't seen or read it. However, whatever you're doing, if you stick with it you will likely be better at it in ten years.*

* I know that there are some things, like Women's gymnastics, where being older than about fifteen is actually a liability, but this isn't the norm.

[Pichu]

I see your point. It annoys me too and sometimes I say something that isnt true, thinking it is, and then I am annoyed with myself.

[Hagane Hiryu]

A good review is a good review and a bad review is a bad review. I don't see how personal information about the reviewer is relevant. Then again I'm not that old so my viewpoint is different.

[Hatta]

Kids have awful taste anyway. My GF's daughter is staying with us for a couple weeks. She made some brownies from scratch. They were great. The kid wouldn't eat them and talked her into buying little debbie brownies instead. WTF. Teenagers aren't much better. Pearls before swine and all.

[t0yrobo]

I'm really not bothered by younger people doing reviews, I think it's pretty great.
In practice almost all of them have tons of problems though. Their facts are almost always questionable. They'll go on about the '16 bit glory days' with sickening borrowed nostalgia, and irrelevant comparisons to newer games.
The last bitching point I can think of applies to more than just young people doing reviews, I've noticed it in a lot of amateur reviews and it just pisses me off. Whether knowingly or not they heavily imitate the review style and (over/misused) jargon of big gaming sites. That just makes me so angry sometimes. Sites like IGN etc in general have shit writing and the reviews are worthless, no one should imitate that crap. But they do, I can give kids a pass on that. They're just imitating what they see as the biggest gaming outlets, and they're big so they must be good. Anyway kids do have crap taste, so whatever.

[noiseredux]

I think we're doing a lot of generalizing. Age really doesn't matter if the reviewer has done his homework and presents the info well.

And though it's easy to say all young kids have bad taste, I recently heard a kid about 8 yrs old browsing the GBA section of a Gamestop tell his dad that he couldn't decide between Ice Climber or Metroid. So there's definitely hope.

[Xonticus]

For me it really depends. Sometimes I see reviews from kids that point out something I didn't know or realize, and sometimes you hear kids spouting crap, like saying old games take no skill, or 2D platformers cannot compare to their 3d siblings because it is "newer" and implementing these statements in their reviews of anything before the ps2.

There is always going to be disillusionment from both crowds of gamers; those whom were there during the "bit" console wars and those whom grew up after.