Not the ESRB ratings, those are great. I am all for kids not getting their hands on GTA V. Not because I think it will turn them into the next Columbine kids, but because I don't think kids should be seeing chainsaw sex-toys at the age of ten... But I digress, I'm talking about the _ out of _ ratings system we have come to let govern whether we buy a game or completely overlook it.
If I gave into ratings, I most likely would have never played Alpha Protocol -- a widely underrated game I think should have effing seen a sequel! As much as I hate that CoD has stolen many gamers from Halo and Gears because of its uber-simple gameplay and accessibility, it's still an alright game series. BO2 kept me busy a little bit around Christmas time before I was done with it. If I were to rate it... 8.
That score, from me, most likely means nothing to anyone, but if maybe Adam Sessler were to give it an 8 (yes, I know he uses the 5-star rating system, which I actually like more) that is a very serious thing. That 8 means to one group to NOT buy. It's garbage, quickly spread word about its crappiness. Hastily flock to all the game sites and rate it 8, no, 6! If you even have a fragment of a thought of buying this Body Odor 2 game, you're a stupid loser, stupid!
To another group, that means its a good game. Buy it if you have the money, wait for a price drop, or rent it otherwise. These people will play the game and they will like it, because they were told it's a game worth 4/5 of your enjoyment.
If that 8 were a 9, that would change everything! That one number, that one point closer to '10' changes the whole outlook. It's now an 'Amazing' game. It's now a definite 'buy'. Black Ops 2 getting a 9 from Sessler now creates a few new batches of people.
The first batch will still overlook the game, falsely rate it low scores on every site, but now they HATE Sessler now. He's now a moron. This game is corporate garbage, and because of his high rating of it, he deserves death. He's just a filthy sheep. To the other group, as said before, it's a must buy. Amazing game, super fun. Buy, buy, buy. Unfortunately, you have to listen to all the cool hipsters who hate it, Sessler, and you for playing it.
To the other group of people that 8 or 9 is worth as much as a 1, a 2, a 10. It's an opinion. It's nothing but an opinion of one Adam Sessler. They understand a person's rating is just an educated (sometimes an uneducated one [see Group 1]). They will take into consideration what the reviewer said, and they will say to themself, "Hmm, should I buy it? I certainly don't want to throw 60 dollars to such a glitchy game. But he did say to expect a patch soon. Hmm, maybe I'll rent it? Hmm, let me see if someone else was having this problem."
I certainly am not the first, second, third or 1,000th person to come to this, but I think one of the main problems with the game industry today is the dependence on ratings. So many people let the thoughts -- that's what a review is, one person's thoughts of a game -- decide FOR them whether they will buy the next GoW -- Gears or God. Speaking of that, that whole ordeal was unnecessary. Fighting over which one was better due to Meta's score was one of the dumbest things I've witnessed. "Gears got 79, God got 80! Take that, lems!" "No, Gears got 80, it just hasn't updated yet, moron!" Ridiculous.
Developers can't spread their wings due to fear of getting off the beaten path and getting lashed at by their publisher. Publishers won't allow a game be too innovative because that's not what Call of Duty is doing. They want a return, they want good reviews. A developer's super-awesome idea is too different; too great of a risk. With the rise of indie development, we get these new amazing games (Samurai Gunn looks fun as hell, look it up), we get the awesome, old-school games and even new things we never imagined, but it's a catch-22; with the rise of indie development, there's so many games released that the really good, but not all see the limelight. A really great game can easily be shrouded in the sea of indie-crap.
We as gamers need to realize these reviews and ratings are merely opinions of others. I have see PS3 fanboys -- self-declared fanboys -- review Xbox 360 games, and vice-versa. I have seen people who dislike racing games review racing games. In all contradicting scenarios, the reviewed game received the, shall we say, chocolate-covered end of the stick. People, reviews are one person's opinion. Take their view into consideration, but don't let it rule your decision to buy.
If you do want to go off reviews, read multiple reviews from different people. That said, I don't give a rat's ass what anyone says about South Park: The Stick of Truth. I'm playing it and I will play it until my 360 explodes! If you have kept your eyes locked on a soon-to-be released game, or any game for that matter, play it.