Do u guys listen to reviews (poll)

if ur in the case of buying a game or u want a game do u guys listen to reviews from gamespot or ign or other

i dont i go on youtube and start searching the game i want and see the gameplay vids

Of course.

All I read them for is to find out if anything is broken, past that I don't care.

Reviews are opinion pieces (some of my friend don't agree), you wont find ones that match your thoughts even if you like the same game they liked.

Most of the time I will read up, unless I'm really determined to get it. I'm glad I read up on Super Mario Galaxy, I didn't even think about it until Brawl was delayed.

I only look at game rankings and ign, gamespot just fails

I listen to reviews, but I don't rely on them for every single thing, nor to I take them word for word. I'm obviously going to get the 8.5 over the 3.5. But, if I see a game that appeals to me and it only got a 6 I'm definitely going to try it out.Sants412

Totally agree..

In terms of influence on purchases, reviews are fairly meaningless to someone with a low budget (like me). Only a handful of games that I really want come out each year, so that makes my decisions really easy. I usually choose my games based on past experience, so games like Tiger Woods and Mario Galaxy were no-brainers.

I've only bought two games this year that were influenced by reviews - one was purchased with a gift card, and the other was a gift of my choice. I bought Zack and Wiki, not only because it got good reviews and because I thought it looked fun, but because Alex Navarro wrote up an extra blog entry just to say how surprised he was at how good the game was.

Choosing which game to get as my free gift was more difficult. I didn't have any natural interest in any Wii games out at that time, so I had to sift through the list of games to find something. Trauma Center caught my eye. It got a good review, and it sounded like a really fun experience. Trauma Center and Zack and Wiki turned out to be great choices.

So yes, I do listen to reviews, but it's not often that I have to, if that makes sense. I've started reading reviews for popular games simply to understand more about them. Reviews are primarily about explaining the details of a game so the reader can gauge his own interest. Only a small portion of a review is actually opinion, ideally. And it seems that the vast majority of reviews are accurate in terms of describing the games. So there really isn't any reason not to listen to reviews.... unless you judge solely by the score, but that's a different matter....

I take buying games very personally as i would never sell a game and my wages mean i have to be selective (I'm 16). I think reviews are important as they give a small indication as to what people like and dislike. Sites as gamepot, IGN and gamerankings all help me decide to get excited about a game. If a certain game has been getting good reviews i will find what ever videos i can on the game if they appeal to me i get the game. Reviews are doubly helpful in that the highlight real shockers that should be avoided. I can imagine being dissapionted in how bad farcry for the wii if i brought it not seeing any bad reviews for the game. There are cases where i will see a bad review for a game that i believe has potentional but will rent it seeing if reviewers have got it right or if the game appeals to me.

Considering how big the game inustry is today it would be silly not listening to a variety of opinions on different games with their strengths and weaknesses being explained to a great extent most of the time.

I won't get it if it gets a 3..

but if it gets a 6, yet im still interested, i might rent it or just buy it.

I usually rely on players reviews rather than critics.

I'll usually use reviews to find information about the game, learning what the game is about, and trying to figure out the pros and cons. Most of the time I'll read a review, but if there's a video review somewhere, that's even better. I also don't stick to one source, as one reviewer can absolutely love it while another says it's complete crap. The way I figure, if you're going to drop money on a game, you better know if you're really going to like it, so do some research.

I used to rent games every weekend, but Blockbuster got really crappy a long time ago, at least the one where I live. Once I can afford it, I'll probably get a GameFly account and rent from there.

I'll also ask friends what they've heard about the game sometimes. I tend to trust the opinions of my friends and people I know than total strangers on the Internet or a magazine.

Though they definitely aren't the only thing I consider, reviews are one of the major factors I look at before making a purchase.

However, I as someone said, I read the review, and not just look at the score; often some of the stuff a reviewer didn't like don't matter or make sense to me, or one of the things he did like don't seem meaningful or important to me.

Generally speaking, I don't really trust reader reviews - most of the people write a review because they don't agree with the original review, and that makes the reviews biased for two reasons - a) well, as i said, only people who didn't agree with the review write them; b) if the review made them mad, people will often exaggerate to the other direction; If a game someone liked got a 6, he might give it a 9+ when he really thinks the game deserved a 7 or 8. The only reason I'd read reader reviews is if for some reason the original review didn't make sense to me, and even then I'd take everything with a grain of salt, so to speak.

Also, off course I also look at gameplay vids and stuff like that - and if a game that got an 8 interests me more than a game that got a 9 I'll still buy the 8; however, if a game I thought interested me got a 6, I would rarely even consider it.