Scores and Sales: What do they mean to you?

Does it really matter to you if 5 million people bought some game you're interested in? Does it really matter to you if some GameSpot reviewer (whom you don't know personally) gave some game you're interested in a high score?

Do you really think any of those things actually make any given game any better? Do you ever talk to your friends or family about how well x game sold, or how high y game scored? Like...seriously?

I honestly don't care about scores, but if it's a game I like, I hope it sells are decent. I don't want the developers going bankrupt or anything :(.


Also, no I don't think those things make a game better and no I don't talk to family or friends about what score or how well a game sold lol.

I don't care about scores when it comes to games like Gran Turismo or Final Fantasy I just buy them because of the name. I only care about scores when it is a no name franchise and I care about sales when the game is very heavy on online gameplay.

Scores are just the method by which people brag, and people use as ownage.

sales are the true telling for developers, publishers and system makers. Sales mean hey that game got sales lets make more of that, sales mean hey that game got sales lets publish that, Sales mean hey we made this system lets get that game on this system. the companies don't care about scores they care about sales.

I look at both scores and sales. Sales don't matter as much however. I've seen incredible games only sell 300K or less. Sales never mean a game is good or bad honestly. It just means the brand or type of game is popular. Millions of people bought Myst and that game was awful. I do follow scores though, but I never rely on one site. I'll read several reviews and speak to friends who already own the game before I make my purchase.

yeah. a little.

sales, because that's one thing to go by for hoping an online community will thrive for years. and sequels for games are more likely if they sell well.

scores a reassuring that I'm buying a quality product, but I still prefer researching games based on screenshots and gameplay more than I spend time looking at a bunch of numbers.

Sales and score aren't reliable yardsticks with which to measure the quality of a game, or any other piece of entertainment either. In that sense, I don't particularly care about them.

On the other hand, poor sales can lead to a game I like being deemed a failure, and thus the concepts I liked about it may not be pursued in other projects. Less than stellar scores can add to this, but even some games that are critically successful fail to really penetrate the market. The popularity of a game isn't easy to predict.

I would just as soon let test mice score my games as any so called "professional" gamer. I play for myself. I score for myself. I was born with a brain and the concept of reason. I also have opposable thumbs so I can use a controller..:)

You should have had an option of ...I dont care about scores...BUT I DO care about sales. Sales is all that matters.

The score of a game never affects my experience gameplay wise. If I want to check the game out, low scores aren't going to stop me from doing that. Hell, I rented Rogue Warrior just to see how bad it was because of the low marks it got:P On the flipside a game with high marks won't make me rush out and but it either.

The sales of a game though can sometimes affect your overall gameplay experience. Say you buy a game w/ multiplayer, but it sells horribly. You go to hop online and you can't find a match to get into, or you can never get the full amount of people in a game mode, etc. Sales in part also determine whether a game has sequels, or even DLC.

But at the end of the day, gameplay>>>>>>>>>>>everything.

Sales mean a lot less to me than scores but saying that at the end of the day it's you own opinion on the game that counts more, a game could be scored less favourably but you may still really enjoy it on the other hand a game maybe universally critically acclaimed but that doesn't mean all will like it. There are plenty of well reviewed games that I don't give a damn about. On most cases sales just show how well a game has been marketed to the public or how much of a brand recognition it has, the worst of the worst titles can sell millions if the publisher(or whom-ever) is willing to splash 10s of millions to shove the game in the faces of consumers. Reviews don't a matter a whole lot but I would be lying if I said I don't rely on them on some of my purchases but if I want a game like REALLY want a game than no score will hold me back, good or bad. For example MGS4, NGS2 etc.

Scores don't mean anything to me since I don't care about anyone else's opinion on games but my own. Sales matter to me to a certain degree. If a new IP franchise I enjoy has **** sales then a sequel is less likely but when it comes to games getting a million+ sales I don't care because more likely then not they're fine for future installments.

Scores: Really don't give a flying **** about, since quite a few of the games I like (Gaunet Legends and Dark Legacy being two of them) scored pretty low.

Sales: Yeah, I care. What if one of my favorite games doesn't get a sequel like it should?

Don't really care about either. Only time I care about scores is when I'm on the fence for a game.

Sales and scores mean nothing too me. Unless I'm buying a mediocre blockbuster game.
Scores below 6.0 is a warning-sign though, have to look those up more closely.

Not much, but it makes for some fun reading in here.

I guess I am a bit of an odd one.

I DO care about scores, not about sales tho.

The odd part is that I care about a score up to around AA, but when a game gets 9.5-10 I almost always get really cautious, normally a perfect grade leaves the games lacking in my tastes, since they near always aim for as broad a market as possible, which means the lowest common denominator.

I often expect the 9.5+ games to be really dull, and missing anything that would give said games an identity of thier own, with a world that does not feel overly simplified.

Sofar this gen this has held up. I think there has been one exception on PC, and one on the PS3, otherwise those games irks me because they lack anything that resembles an identity.

I can not speak about the wii games tho, I suspect that the high graders on there, might really be awesome, becasue they are usually a set franchice that aimes at a specificgroup of peopleto begin with.

Scores and sales dont matter at all unless we are talking about a multiplayer focused game. Then sales matter becouse people want to know they will have someone to play with. Sales and scores say nothing about the real quality of the game imo, becouse sales are important to devs and publishers and reviews often cater to the readers avoiding anything that might be seen as a controversial score. A recent example is Black Ops. Now having finally been able to finish the game almost a month after buying it (thanks Treyarch) I can say this: BO is a budget title. its a $20 game + $40 for the brand. The AI is some of the worst I have ever seen. The scripting is so obvious I thought I was playing the last Soldier of Fortune title, the graphics are weak compared to things like BC2. Lengthwise its a joke and yet it one of the best sellings games ever and has great scores from pretty much all the major reviewers.

They make my boring days more entertaining because I can go to SW and see fanboys argue about them.

The only reviews that count are the reviews of my friends.They vary from "Crap, Meh, Good"

Likewise the only sales thatI care about are those of my friends, if my friends buy it, then i'll have someone to play with..

Scores are just the method by which people brag, and people use as ownage.

sales are the true telling for developers, publishers and system makers. Sales mean hey that game got sales lets make more of that, sales mean hey that game got sales lets publish that, Sales mean hey we made this system lets get that game on this system. the companies don't care about scores they care about sales.

WilliamRLBaker

Sales =/= Quality.

Sales: If I like a game, I hope it does well so I have a better chance of getting similat content
Scores: I stopped reading reviews a long time ago. Never been better.

Scores and Sales don't mean anything to me personally.

If I like a game, I like a game...simple as that. No score or number of sales will affect that.

It is nice to see one of your favorite games become successful, however, through critical acclaim. And knowing that a lot of people bought the game, so perhaps you will see a sequel.

Or if the game is online only, or online is a major part of the game, then sales would matter as you need those people to play online with.

Also, if I am a bit sceptical on a game I have been following that looks decent, A review score might help encourage me, or discourage me to buy a game. But in some cases, I'll be following a game, and it'll totally flop and get a low score, I'll still pick it up and love it. Or vice versa, the game might score high, but I either don't pick it up, or don't care for it.

When a game does get bad reviews/sales and you still want to pick it up, the game usually does drop in price quickly :P

sales = popularity

score = expert's opinions about the quality, but still OPINIONS.

That's it for me.

Scores are useless while reviews taken in the right context are valuable.

Sales only matter when it is applied to hardware. More hardware sales means more developers will make games for that hardware. The more games, the better variety and the better chance of having good games available.

sales = popularity

score = expert's opinions about the quality, but still OPINIONS.

That's it for me.

general_KDI

Well, I guess being a reviewer does that you play A LOT of games, and a lot of genres and therefore does of you some kind of expert. I didn't talk about "god" or anything, when I say "expert", I'm just thinking it's not some random people who never played anything but pong and wii sports...

Well, I guess being a reviewer does that you play A LOT of games, and a lot of genres and therefore does of you some kind of expert. I didn't talk about "god" or anything, when I say "expert", I'm just thinking it's not some random people who never played anything but pong and wii sports...

general_KDI

Scores and sales matter to me.

Scores mainly to reinforce what I think about a game, whether good or bad. Sales only to make sure I won't download the eventual DLC it will have and end up playing alone or not at all.

Sales matter to me if they reach the what the developers of said games want. Mostly cause it might lead to a sequel or more games.

In system wars scores matter. In the real world, not so much.racing1750

Scores do not affect me much, my favorite MMO got a 6.6 (EvE online) on this website while one of my least favorite games of all time got a 9.5 (Dragon Age Origins). Sales can be a sign of how active a multiplayer is and how likely a sequel is coming out, though that isn't always the case.With that said a bad score can make me cautious about a game, but it doesnt mean I wont go out and buy it.

One important factor is developer history, which is pretty important in my opinion. For example, I would rather take the next horror game made by Frictional games (Amnesia/Penumbra) than the next horror game made by Capcom even if Capcom's game sold and scored better.

Who cares....when it comes to what entertains you they don't mean ****

Score is reassuring although not ALWAYS right, and often times a TAD innacurate. But overall they help you understand whats good and bad and if you should buy it. Sales dont mean much at all though.

What do scores and sales mean to me?...

Nothing.

Zip.

Nada.

Bugger all.

F*** nothing.

You get the picture.

I rely on demos and word of mouth from close friends, that's about it.