Xevious: Good on 360, Horrible on Wii. Sez who? Sez Gamespot.

The reviews are in!  Jeff Gerstmann says that the 360 Live version of Xevious is a 6.5, while those of us with longer memories will remember that Frank Provost gave the Wii version a 3.7.

I know, I know, two different reviewers gave two different scores for exactly the same game.  We can chalk that up as a taste issue.  The problem is that anyone who just glances over the scores won't realize that.

For reviews of identical 25 year old games, Gamespot really needs to get some level of editorial consistency.  I can't imagine it being a problem for either Frank or Jeff to handle two reviews of Xevious, since it really is a short and simple game.

Two people having different opinions on the same game?!?! Gamespot must burn to the ground! You cant expect two people to have the exact same opinions on a game...they're not robots.

Is the Live version re-tooled with enhancements at all?gaminggeek

Actually, the TC may have a good idea. Why not have the same reviewer do the same game accross all platforms? That way, a difference in score can be justified by something more than "they just have different tastes".Grieverr

Well, another difference in this case is that for Xevious on the Wii, you're paying 5 bucks for the NES port of the arcade original, wheras on XBL, you're paying 4 bucks for the original Arcade version of the game...that might've been a factor, I'm not sure.
Skylock00

Absolutely. That's one of the things I try to educate my friends about. The Wii arcade games are actually the console ports of that arcade game whereas the 360 version is the actual arcade version. I can't tell you how many times I had to explain that when Contra came out on the Live Arcade.

That being the case, I still think its a good idea if the same reviewer reviews the game across all platforms and goes into pros and cons of each. I had actually been asking around if there is a site out there that goes into details when describing differences between the same game on different consoles. Gamespot usually dedicates a line or two in its review, but I was looking for something more substantial.

Here is what the Live version has that the Wii version does not......

Original Arcade version rather than NES port

Optimized for widescreen HD televisions.

Online leaderboards.

Achievements.

These extra features may have been a factor in the better score.

By the way, Skylock, the game is also 5 bucks on the 360.

By the way, Skylock, the game is also 5 bucks on the 360.

The_Duke_Lives

My mistake. :P 

[QUOTE="The_Duke_Lives"]

By the way, Skylock, the game is also 5 bucks on the 360.

Skylock00

My mistake. :P 

400 MS points = $5

800 MS points =$10

Actually, the TC may have a good idea. Why not have the same reviewer do the same game accross all platforms? That way, a difference in score can be justified by something more than "they just have different tastes".Grieverr

Agreed.

Xevious on XBLA is the original arcade game, entirely intact. Xevious on the Wii VC is the NES port, which was already a slightly hobbled version. In this case, we're saying that one held up considerably better than the other, that's all.

Additionally, in nearly all cases where it's possible, we have the same reviewers review all versions of games across platforms. Sometimes it just isn't possible, due to scheduling or whatnot, but we don't assign these reviews to people who aren't familiar with the original games. 

For reviews of identical 25 year old games, Gamespot really needs to get some level of editorial consistency.  I can't imagine it being a problem for either Frank or Jeff to handle two reviews of Xevious, since it really is a short and simple game.

Uglyface2

Actually, the games are anything but identical. The Wii got the NES version, which totally sucks. The 360 got the arcade version, which is still kind of cool.