Buying games without public opinion..

Have any of you bought a game at gamestop or whatever without having any knowlege about the game besides what was on the box? I used to do this alot and found it more rewarding and made me buy games I normally wouldn't due to ratings and other peoples opinions. Now I find that if I don't look up reviews and gameplay videos before I purchase, I will be very carefull on buying it even if its a game everyone should have for the ps3 or other said console.

So far with the ps3, I did this with MAG. All I knew was that it was a love/hate thing. So I thought what the hell and bought it had had a blast with it whenever I start to play it. Has anyone else done or even still do this?

I used to do that with PS1 games, back in the days before I had the internet or any gaming magazines. I ended up with a lot of really crappy games. Between the TV ads and the box art, they can make anything look pretty good. I had pretty much lost interest in gaming, but then I got the internet and started looking up game reviews and seeing what was highly rated. Only then did I actually discover some really excellent games - ones I didn't even know existed before.

I haven't bought any PS2 or PS3 games without researching them thoroughly first. I still get some bad games once in a while, but the vast majority of the stuff I buy is really enjoyable.

Yeah, back when new games were like $20. Now, there's no way I'd drop $60 on something that looks okay by reading the back. That crap is for the library, where I can just take it back if it sucks.

No, I always check a little about a game, or sometimes I at least try to recall whether a game receives generally favorable reviews or not.

I don't have a particular cutoff, I give plenty of "mediocre" reviewed games a chance if they seemed interesting to me. However that is usually when I'm trolling the bargain bins, or looking for discounts online. If I'm buying a brand new game it's usually going to be an AAA title, and in those cases I'm usually pre-ordering months in advance reviews be damned.

I've also rented a few teribly reviewed games, just for the heck of it, I find that when a game receives a really bad score, it's generally going to be a terrible to play, the revieweres rarely miss that. It's when the score is in the 5,0-7.0 range that sometimes i feel like games can be underappreciated.

Certain things like NASCAR games from EA over the years, I will buy because I know that 9 out of 10 times the reviewer is ignorant about the science and focus of stock car racing and misses the point ("If you like turning left for lap after lap, then this game is for you. So is a shiny object or a bouncing ball because the game is that boring.")

I've also purchased things like flight games - "IL*2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey" because reviewers complain about how difficult "Realistic" and "Simulator" settings are... to me, it's like "Finally, a game I can't whip into the ground on my first try!"

Games which seem mediocre to some can be breaths of fresh air for others, and while reviews are helpful because I don't want to ever make a purchase like I did buying "Godzilla Unleashed" for my DS on an impulse (I'm a Godzillophile) - Wow, going against review really burned me on THAT one... I knew it was a kiddie game but I didn't realize it was programmed for a cynderblock (that's a brick). It would have made a house cat pissed at how simple and non-game-like that title actually was...

... but I digress.

Buying games off the beaten track is where I've found some of my life-long favorites in gaming. "Sky Odessey" was a launch title on the PS2 and it got middling reviews (6 out of 10 on this site, I think?) but I bought it because it was a skill-based flying game with no gunplay, and I ended up completing the game about six times, unlocking every part, every plane, every minigame, every secret... I still own it and I still play it a TON.

The beauty of this hobby, this way of life, is that we are blessed with so much diversity and creativity, and there is really something out there for all tastes... This is why it is important that user dialogue and forums exsist... reviewers are doing us as consumers a great service by test-piloting these titles, but it's up to us as the consumer to make the final call on whether or not something works for US... I guess what I'm saying is the obvious: Think for yourself.

It's something which is forgotten, or flat-out ignored in this age of the Internets.

I used to do it a lot more.

But I ended up buying a 2 bad games and 1 just ok game. That made me realize I don't have enough money to around wasting it so I read the reviews for those games and it turned out they weren't that great.

Now that I'm a bit more picky about the games I wait for reviews read a bunch or sometimes I just go off of videos and other things if I know the developer. it's worked out a lot better this way for me.

I went blind for games on the ps1 and got a lot of good classics from doing so, i did it a bit for the ps2 and it worked out, i did it once or twice for the ps3, but probably wont do it again, too many bad games in the genre i like to play

Used to do this with PC titles and picked up a few duds here and there (SPEC OPS: Rangers Lead the Way, Police Quest:SWAT).....Some real gems too ( Spycraft, Rainbow Six, Mafia: The city of Lost Heaven) and after playing them, I looked for opinions and generally found concensus between my thoughts and theirs.

Now, I tend to be a bit more cautious purchasing titles up front, but sometimes take risks. Loved Demon's Souls and ModNation Racers (cautious), Dumped InFAMOUS and Little Big Planet (risk).

Reviews help me decide if say, I'm an on-the-fence buyer but if I'm sold on a tittle, I'm sold.

Ive bought a few gameso n impulse cause they look intersting. Even though i know nothing about them. Usually it ends up being a letdown. A good reason why ive neverh eard of them :P

My last mistake doing this was Sonic Unleashed.

Have any of you bought a game at gamestop or whatever without having any knowlege about the game besides what was on the box? I used to do this alot and found it more rewarding and made me buy games I normally wouldn't due to ratings and other peoples opinions. Now I find that if I don't look up reviews and gameplay videos before I purchase, I will be very carefull on buying it even if its a game everyone should have for the ps3 or other said console.

So far with the ps3, I did this with MAG. All I knew was that it was a love/hate thing. So I thought what the hell and bought it had had a blast with it whenever I start to play it. Has anyone else done or even still do this?

SLUSHiNaToR

As I'm from the NES era, I used to do that all the time. Very rarely would I make a poor purchase. These days I keep up with gaming news and am able to make an informed decision, though review scores don't sway me in the slightest.

I did this as a kid, and like TC, I preferred being an ignorant consumer to an educated one. I had fun with pretty much each and every game I ever bought.

I did this as a kid, and like TC, I preferred being an ignorant consumer to an educated one. I had fun with pretty much each and every game I ever bought.

Scianix-Black

ignorance is, as they say, bliss :)

Unless of course you're ignorant about being ignorant. That just makes you annoying :P

I used to do this when I was younger. I look up on the games now and then decide. I keep getting pickier this gen, however I can afford ten times more compared to earlier.

I did this as a kid, and like TC, I preferred being an ignorant consumer to an educated one. I had fun with pretty much each and every game I ever bought.

Scianix-Black

I remember getting quite a few PS1 games that were utter and aboslute junk. Since the Ps2 days, and since internet it's much easier to constantly check up on games to make sure I'm getting the "right" games.

That is not to say I have never been happy when "taking a chance". 2 of my favorite (and most played) PS1 gams were Car & Driver Grand Tour Racing, and Sno-Cross racing (a budget title). Both were relatively obscure games that I'm not sure alot of people bought (at least compared to Gran Turismo 1 and 2). My mom bought both of those games for birthday presents and I'm sure she didn't know what she was doing when picking them out. However looking at the reviews those at least got good solid reviews. So it was just LUCKY that she purchased two reasonable games. Also back then I really didn't follow what games were good or not, so I missed out on playing Castlevania SOTN and games like that because I DIDN"T check popular opinion. The only games I really remember anticipating on the PS1 days were Final Fantasy series, Resident Evil series, etc and of course I was HUGE on the sports games back then

I used to buy games on impulse all the time as a kid, sometimes ended up with classics, sometimes with crap. Nowadays I'm far too tight with my money to spend it on a game that could well turn out terrible. look at my PS3 games and it's made up of all the acclaimed stuff, Uncharted 2, MGS4, Killzone and so on. which is good because I've got less bad games, but kind of a loss at the same time because I don't get the joy of finding a random game that's actually really good. kind of like when you discover a great new band and you don't like your friends knowing about them.

yeah sometimes but i havent done it in awhile.

I use to, not that i care what the public thinks of a game. I find myself reading reviews on games that are in a series, to see what's new, what's gone ect.. like dynasty warriors, sports games, final fantasy ect.. game series that have at least 5 titles in them. It appears what i find a huge deal and what the "norm" finds a make it/break it type thing in a game are completely different. I still get games solely on the premise of liking a previous installment or loving the genre without knowing anything about the game itself.

Yeah, I had over 150 games for my PS1 and half of them were crap.

Yeah, back when new games were like $20. Now, there's no way I'd drop $60 on something that looks okay by reading the back. That crap is for the library, where I can just take it back if it sucks.

Atheos-Arkhaios

I totally agree.

no i always do research on them. i dont feel like wasting 60 dollars on crap. pygmahia5

Simple and to the point. Agreed

I blindly bought Lost Planet 2 recently. Not much to say other than the fact that it's just plain horrible, I totally regret buying it and I've only played 15 minutes of it.

Back in the day like the 1980's their were not good websites with fast internet and reviews none, you had to hope it was a good game. So I was pretty good on picking those games. Old days the SNES, Neo Geo, Sega mega drive, TurboGrafx.

I blindly bought Lost Planet 2 recently. Not much to say other than the fact that it's just plain horrible, I totally regret buying it and I've only played 15 minutes of it.

Dahaka-UK

The game is much better if you play Co-up. Line up 2 ps3 and hook it up and done.