I've always thought that it would be a useful feature for users to be able to sort games by user scores in the same way that you can currently sort games by editor scores. Of course, a game would have to have a required minimum number of scores before it can show up in the top games listing by user votes (for example, 500 user scores) to avoid games rated 10 by a few users holding the top position. Even better would be the option for users to be able to choose the minimum votes required and filter top user-rated games that way.
BASIC IDEA: A 'Highest Rated' section like the one currently in place for iPhone games except with a minimum number of votes required to show up ~300/400 at least, or an option for users to choose the minimum required votes.
The following is a list of games that have made me wish for such a feature, and I'm sure that there are many more great games (in the opinion of the masses) hidden by low editor scores or an absence of an editor review.
**Game Name // Editor Score // User Score // # of User Votes // Score Difference**
Monster Hunter Freedom 2 // 5.0 // 8.9 // +3.9 // 3,099
Mount & Blade // 6.0 // 8.8 // +2.8 // 2,576
EVE Online // 6.6 // 8.3 // +1.7 // 2,151
Monster Hunter // 5.7 // 8.7 // +3.0 // 1,765
Monster Hunter Freedom Unite // 6.5 // // 8.9 // +2.4 // 1,636
The Conduit // 6.5 // 8.0 // +1.5 // 1,580
The Godfather II // 4.5 // 7.3 // +2.8 // 1,339
Dante's Inferno // 6.5 // 8.0 // +1.5 // 1,230
Children of Mana // 5.8 // 7.4 // +1.6 // 1,037
Tales of Symphonia II // 6.5 // 8.5 // +2.0 // 1,003
Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines // 5.5 // 7.4 // +1.9 // 846
Kirby Super Star Ultra // --- // 8.9 // --- // 841
James Cameron's Avatar: The Game // 5.5 // 7.0 // +1.5 // 735
Star Ocean: First Departure // 6.0 // 8.1 // +2.1 // 606
Supreme Commander 2 // 8.0 // 6.5 // -1.5 // 850
Sonic and the Black Knight // 4.5 // 7.3 // +2.8 // 747
FFCC: My Life as King // 5.0 // 7.6 // +2.6 // 717
White Knight Chronicles // 6.0 // 8.0 // +2.0 // 686
LostWinds // 5.5 // 8.2 // +2.7 // 530
Excluded Games from this List*:
Games with less than…
- 1.5 score difference
- 500 user votes
- 7.0 rating on both editor and user scores
Closing Thoughts:
I find the editor reviews extremely useful. The score is also often consistent with the user score, but in some cases, like the ones I have listed, the scores are off by a substantial margin. The reason for this? The following are just a few, but there are undoubtedly more.
1. Controversial DRM (I won't name any games or companies in particular, but I'm sure PC gamers can figure it out). A particular editor may not mind the DRM as much as the average user and thus rate the game much higher. Is this a bad thing? Not necessarily. Perhaps the game is great and "deserves" a high score, but the user rating is low because for the average person, the DRM impedes on his or her satisfaction to the extent that the game is no longer fun and thus earns a low rating.
2. Updates. Some games get patched with bug fixes or new content after the editor review. Gamespot has somewhat addressed this issue by updating the reviews for these games in light of such changes, but the scores are not updated. Again, this is not a bad thing, but for people deciding whether or not to buy a game, the user score, which is more reflective of such improvements, is a better indicator of whether or not to make the purchase.
3. Price. A game may not be worth the price for a particular editor, but for the average user, the content is more than enough. The same can work in the reverse.
Both scores are valuable and it would be useful to be able to sort games through either method.
*I have 13 more games that only fit 2/3 of the criteria I decided upon but I can post them if need be.
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