Terrible game that are still fun.

[Ack]

Dont listen to Ack. I know for a fact that he plays Daikatana, and quit out on the last stage with his buddies because he couldnt handle it. John Romero made him his bitch and crashed his game.

I only know this since I was also playing.

Yeah, and you also know that the only reason we quit was because the game wouldn't load. At all. John Romero made a lot of people his bitch by not actually letting us play it.

[Gamerforlife]

This is an interesting topic! I think many people, specially many critics, fail to understand that you can like stuff of poor quality, specially since many concepts simply don't have better options out there!

I always felt that one of the problems with critics is the inherent pretension of the job. I mean what is a critic really? A guy claiming to be an expert and thus having an opinion that carries more weight than anyone else's. I shouldn't say this because I've sort of reviewed stuff on here from time to time but usually in an informal way. To actually have a JOB as a critic or reviewer though kind of means you have an inflated opinion of your....well...opinions. People decide whether to buy or even play something based on your reviews. You are like some gaming demi-god passing judgement on every game and deciding for the gaming community which ones are cool and which ones aren't. How many games have been horribly unsuccessful simply due to their condemnation by critics and how many mediocre games have graced tons of magazine covers and made tons of sales simply because the gaming gods a.k.a critics decreed it?

With all that influence, a critic is afraid to look bad so if something has a few flaws you must mercifully bash it to prove your good taste and intelligence to others. Read some reviews on gamecritics.com and see some of the utter ludicrous things they bash games for just to look smart. Ripping some simple action game apart for its lack of relevant social commentary is the sort of nonsense I've seen on there more than once. By the same token, if something is unconventional, indie or artsy in some way you have to heap tons of praise on it to show that you're smarter than anyone else and that you've discovered something "special". It's why mediocre games like Odin Sphere, Alien Homind and Shenmue were so highly rated in my humble opinion despite mediocre gameplay, bad design and lack of focus respectively.

[weaponepsilon]

Sewer Shark! Oh, and Raze's Hell on Xbox.

[Erik_Twice]

To actually have a JOB as a critic or reviewer though kind of means you have an inflated opinion of your....well...opinions.

I disagree. If I say "this movie is good", that's an opinion. It's not a review nor particulary interesting. I don't think a critic's job is to say what his opinions are but to criticize, something very different.

If I watch a film, understand it and explain why and what makes it good is not just an "opinion" anymore, it becomes something more valuable because it's reasoned.

Whether you get paid or not is irrelevant to the quality of your criticism.

People decide whether to buy or even play something based on your reviews.

Only they choose to follow what the critic in question has to say. The critic does nothing but talk about the work in question, he doesn't force people to do what he says.

How many games have been horribly unsuccessful simply due to their condemnation by critics

As many as have been succesful because of the critics. Probably less.

Also, actual critics are actually pretty rare when it comes to games. IGN and the like are pure advertisments and bribes are how the "mainstream" videogame news webpages work.

With all that influence, a critic is afraid to look bad so if something has a few flaws you must mercifully bash it to prove your good taste and intelligence to others.

That some so-called critics do that doesn't mean it's the work of a critic or that all critics do the same thing.

It would be farfetched to claim that "proving your good taste and intelligente" is criticism.


Sorry if it seems a bit dry ^^U

[Weekend_Warrior]

Pitfighter (Genesis)

[arion]

I just wanted to add i have beat Shaq-Fu way more than once. I played both the N64 Castlevanias and unlocked everything in the later one. The point being i played those games before i had regular internet accses and as such my opionion of the games was purely mine.

To me these were just good games to play. Althoug i'll admit Castlevania could be very frustrating at times but it drew me in with it's awesome soundtrack and atmosphere.

And i never really understood the hate for Shaq Fu. It took some time getting used to but if i was able to beat it as a kid it can't be that impossible. Also could it be that the Snes version sucked not the genesis one ?

As for popular opinions on games or the bandwagon i find myself doing the exact opposite. If E.T is the worst game ever i'll try that one out. Okami is the most underrated game ever and everyone should play it. I say fuck it in fact i'll go out of my way to avoid playing it.

Speaking of which i was thinkng of grabbing a copy of Shadow the Hedgehog

[NeverGoBak]

I just wanted to add i have beat Shaq-Fu way more than once. I played both the N64 Castlevanias and unlocked everything in the later one. The point being i played those games before i had regular internet accses and as such my opionion of the games was purely mine.

To me these were just good games to play. Althoug i'll admit Castlevania could be very frustrating at times but it drew me in with it's awesome soundtrack and atmosphere.

And i never really understood the hate for Shaq Fu. It took some time getting used to but if i was able to beat it as a kid it can't be that impossible. Also could it be that the Snes version sucked not the genesis one ?

As for popular opinions on games or the bandwagon i find myself doing the exact opposite. If E.T is the worst game ever i'll try that one out. Okami is the most underrated game ever and everyone should play it. I say fuck it in fact i'll go out of my way to avoid playing it.

Speaking of which i was thinkng of grabbing a copy of Shadow the Hedgehog

DOOOOO EEEEEEET


(Also though, that post made you sound like a hipster, kind of.)

[Rurouni_Fencer]

The point being i played those games before i had regular internet accses and as such my opionion of the games was purely mine.

To me these were just good games to play. Althoug i'll admit Castlevania could be very frustrating at times but it drew me in with it's awesome soundtrack and atmosphere

This!

[NeverGoBak]

The point being i played those games before i had regular internet accses and as such my opionion of the games was purely mine.

To me these were just good games to play. Althoug i'll admit Castlevania could be very frustrating at times but it drew me in with it's awesome soundtrack and atmosphere

This!

We all have a good amount of games like that though right? I've played plenty before having internet, and the only games we talked much about among my friends, we never talked about quality. Rarely did we talk about it at all though. Even after getting internet, I didn't actual talk to anybody about games on it until earlier this year. Most of the games I've played are purely my opinion.

EDIT: Course, in an effort to save money, that probably going to be slowly changing, I suppose...

[Ack]

And i never really understood the hate for Shaq Fu. It took some time getting used to but if i was able to beat it as a kid it can't be that impossible. Also could it be that the Snes version sucked not the genesis one ?

Nah, they both have their ups and downs, but I felt they were about on par with each other. I actually liked the Game Boy port quite a bit, though the AI was pretty poor.