People...
... when reading a review, let's all keep in mind that we are reading the words of a fellow gamer, not some statesman or politician who claims to be above some sort of moral line we can all ascribe to be. These are human beings who have feelings and attitudes, and though they try to put a lot aside and give as even-handed a treatment to any given title they will make mistakes and they WILL allow their feelings. It's one of the things we as readers almost DEPEND on... if we can't count on their passion for the hobby, then we can't judge their reviews.
We don't all enjoy the same author (for those of us who still buy a book on occasion), and yet we expect reviewers to be more universal... Some reviewers will be more in-line with your tastes than others, so you find ones you agree with the majority of the time and you find out what THEIR opinions are (if possible) and then stick with them. I used to know the EGM reviewers by name and could watch for the ones who had similar views on games and catch their perspective (there were generally three reviews to a title so you got three different perspectives).
Don't get upset if a game gets a "bad" score when you liked it or loved it. That reviewer may not hold the same view as you, that's all. But you wouldn't think a poster on this forum's opinions were God-Given... why would you think that of Tom McShea? The only difference between Tom and any of you other goobers is, he works for the site.
Outside of that little detail, he's a twig just like us.
I have posted some stuff lately which has upset the thread to the point where I have run for my digital life... for instance, I think "BioShock" is lame. I think it stinks on ice, in fact, and I think that people are just monjin' on it's sausage because they're worried that if they don't show aproval someone will question their sexual proclivity.
Do I deserve to be vilified or my sanity questioned?
(Don't be a ****, it was a retorical question)
No. It's only my one single solitary opinion. It means nothing to people who don't know or respect my other views. The same should be done with any reviewer or website/ magazine/ community member. I don't think I have ever read one review for a NASCAR title over the last fifteen years by a writer who understands the sport let-alone one who actually LIKES it... and yet every year I had to read the same dumb "Drive-Fast-Turn-Left" horse apples out of some college-aged toolshed who thought he came up with redneck witicisms and left-turn gags for the first time ever on planet Earth and just had to share them, all the while avoiding talking about the GAME whatsoever. It used to really get my blood boiling. ANd I ended up just going out and buying the game because, I thought, I'm just gonna make up my OWN mind about it, and perhaps write a review of it myself so that others like me will have something from a FAN perspective...
Those writers injected their attitudes, so I injected my OWN.
Now, I don't know if those reviews and posts over the years ever made any difference to other gamers, but I know it made a difference in ME as a consumer and as a gamer... and a writer for that matter. I stopped reading every review with my own judgement out-front, and started just trying to read what the writer was meaning to convey.
It may be that the environments are repetitive in the Tformer game. That, to a more casual fan, might be a negative. There may be issues with gameplay, try to see it OUTSIDE the Eye of the Fan for a second... the writer may have a simple point which was ehter over-emphasized by them or amplified by you, the reader. And hey, maybe the writer just doesn't "get it". So write your own review and post an apposing viewpoint.
That's the beauty of free speech. Long may it reign. Spelling errors and fact-checking aside.
8)
The one thing I think IS pretty unforgivable is the getting the name wrong... there should be some editor nads getting slammed in a desk drawer for that. But otherwise, it's all just perspective.
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