some people just can't appreciate it...

[sabrage]

7.5 is generous for any game that requires motion controls.

[Retrozoa]

I buy magazines instead still for my reviews as the quality of writing is better, but use IGN for news or tips. I don't know what the US is like magazine wise but the UK is fortunate to have professional material like Edge and Games TM, as well as Retro Gamer and my favourite NGamer (now Nintendo Gamer) that know the history of games and include regular retro features.

US game journalism is roughly equivalent to UK tabloid journalism in quality. Nearly every article is dumb, openly combative, or sterile of interesting content for fear of making the publisher mad. I think EGM was the last good magazine we had, and now even thats gone. (I know, technically it's back, but 90% of the staff is different, so the end result is an entire issue with only 2-3 well written pages).

I still pick up GamesTM and Retro from bookstores when I can, but they're like $9 an issue over here.

[dsheinem]

Black and white is about as much of a hindrance as 2D is to games.

Thats so true. Shooting in black and white is about painting the picture with light, that you cannot do with color. It is far more technical. I highly suggest watching Raiders of the Lost Ark in black and white and all of the sudden, those odd looking inside scenes look beautiful.

Wow, this is an amazing and perfect example, thanks for sharing. I long ago picked up on many of the visual and aural nods to the Golden Age in Raiders, but the idea of viewing it in black and white never occurred to me. Very cool.

I feel that anyone who can't enjoy black and white film really does't have much appreciation for film as an artistic medium. There's a reason that so many of the best directors of OUR era have used it on occasion, and there's no lack of great black and white films from the past 20 years.

[sabrage]

Watching the original Scarface in black and white, then watching it again and having someone point out all the cross motifs was quite an eye-opening experience.

[Erik_Twice]

That's not my point anyway, it's that Gamespot have a review that contradicts what 70 other reviews say.

Criticism is based on logical thinking and analysis not populism. They might be right or wrong but not because they aren't doing what other people are doing.

For example, no matter what every single well-known critic says, [introduce shmup here] is not terrible, overly short and the patterns make sense.

[Retrozoa]

For example, no matter what every single well-known critic says, [introduce shmup here] is not terrible, overly short and the patterns make sense.

Thanks, I just remembered the game informer review of Sin & Punishment 2. It made my blood boil. The reviewer complained that at 5 hours, it was too short. The reality being that for a rail shooter, that is very long.

[Regginmad]

If i bought that game for full price only to complete the main objective in five hours I'd be upset. It may or may not effect the overall quality of the game to you, but it seems more than fair to put in a review meant for people contemplating buying it.

[sabrage]

If i bought that game for full price only to complete the main objective in five hours I'd be upset. It may or may not effect the overall quality of the game to you, but it seems more than fair to put in a review meant for people contemplating buying it.

It's a score attack game. It's intended to be replayed. If it was any longer, people would be complaining for the opposite reason.

[ZeroAX]

I'm not a Zelda fanboy though.

Relax dude I didn't call YOU a Zelda fanboy. It's just that reviewers TEND to be fanboys. So games with big fan followings tend to get good scores even though they are not worth it.

And I'm trying to correct that as I'm aware how innovative and important they are as a part of gaming's development.

I don't know, a lot of the things it did you could find in many PC games before it. Mind you none of them combined ALL those things together, and of course not on consoles, but I think it's a little overrated when it comes to pushing gaming forwards. I'm not debating the quality of some of the games (LttP and Windwaker are amazing in my book, and OoT and MM are good games too), just saying I have a different opinion on the importance of the series.

I don't see how Zelda hasn't evolved since it has transcended 2D, 3D, portable, True 3D and Motion Control. If that isn't evolution I don't what is.

Other than going from 2D to 3D (though I'd argue a lot of things people say OoT did, LttP did them first, and better) I don't think the rest count as evolutions. And true 3D? It was just a port of the N64 game. It wasn't built/designed from the ground up to take advantage of the 3D view, like those rooms in Super Mario 3D Land everyone is mentioning.

That's not my point anyway, it's that Gamespot have a review that contradicts what 70 other reviews say. Many have noted that the reviewer had misunderstood the controls as well as citing the score as an attempt to drive up traffic numbers to the site.

About the first thing, so having a personal opinion is wrong? And please don't tell me that one person can't be right, and the many people can be wrong cause I don't know if you know the first thing about history, but popular opinion used to be that white men were saving black people because they were too primitive to take care of themselves outside slave labor. Also being crazy meant you were a witch, and being an atheist meant you had to die by being burned alive.....oh wait, according to some that's still true.

About the hits thing....ok that might be possible, cause I have seen tons of flame bating articles from game sites, but unfortunately that's what we get for having a hobby that's considered childish, and every game that tries to be artistic people say is no fun, cause no head shots and no belt buckles and yada yada yada yada yada....

They have given games such as Call of Duty and Gears of War 3, 9 and 9.5, which are sequels and although I enjoyed Gears of War 3, it's marginally better than the previous iterations whilst feeling more like an interactive movie.

There you have it. The fanboy issue I mentioned. Obviously these guys grew up playing these games (who knows, they might have been 17 when the 360 came out) and can't see fault. Or maybe Activision and MS just bribed them. Poor journalism at its finest.

[Stark]

Black and white is about as much of a hindrance as 2D is to games.

Thats so true. Shooting in black and white is about painting the picture with light, that you cannot do with color. It is far more technical. I highly suggest watching Raiders of the Lost Ark in black and white and all of the sudden, those odd looking inside scenes look beautiful.

Wow, this is an amazing and perfect example, thanks for sharing. I long ago picked up on many of the visual and aural nods to the Golden Age in Raiders, but the idea of viewing it in black and white never occurred to me. Very cool.

I feel that anyone who can't enjoy black and white film really does't have much appreciation for film as an artistic medium. There's a reason that so many of the best directors of OUR era have used it on occasion, and there's no lack of great black and white films from the past 20 years.

Wow that Raiders thing is cool.