On June 25th, as you all know, Gamespot revamped their reviews to use ratings in 0.5 increments as well as medals for games that are outstanding in some area or another. Many people have complained about this, saying that it will be harder to distinguish between two different versions of the game or, more accurately, saying that it will give users less ammunition in the System Wars forum. I, however, applaud the new system.
Unlike the last system, this system rates the games based on their overall quality, rather than throwing a bunch of different scores together, averaging them, and then regurgitating a new number. Before, the graphics was worth one-fifth the score. However, as we all know, just because a game doesn't exactly have graphics befitting the system it's on, it doesn't mean the game should be docked down two points. Also, a game that is really boring and not a lot of fun to play shouldn't have its rating jacked up because it has outstanding graphics. With this system, Gamespot can rank the game based on how much they enjoyed it and then later award the game Kudo points in the form of medals if the game did something particularly well. This is very, well evidenced by my recent review of Final Fantasy X. I loved the game and would have most likely given the game a 9.0, but based on slightly outdated graphics and a couple other problems that I had to lower scores for, my overall score didn't accurately depict how I felt about the game. This is why the new review system makes more sense. Now, seeing as Gamespot has this great new review system, why isn't it available for users yet?
Giving users the ability to use the same format for the reviews as the Gamespot professionals has many benefits. First, if they allowed us to use the summary "Good" and "Bad" about the game would make users actually think about what they liked and didn't like about the game instead of them just rating everything a 10 and typing "Ths g@me roxxorz!!!!11!!!!!1 U shud get it oor ur stoopid!!!11!1!" and then copying and pasting five times. This would encourage users to be honest about their opinion of the game and keep them from spouting off nonsense. Second, if Gamespot allowed users to award games medals, they could have a counter showing how many users gave a game a certain medal and what percentage of total reviews that is. Also, users would be much more excited about writing reviews so that they could award medals and they may just learn a few things about proper writing. Yeah, I know... it'll never happen. Third, if Gamespot allowed us to use images in our reviews as they do, the user would have an easier time getting their point across. They'd be able to show what they're trying to say is so cool instead of just writing about it. Finally, Gamespot would do well to let the user use the 0.5 increment rating system instead of the five categories because users will be able to rate a game more accurately. Instead of just rating things higher to raise the overall score, they could just rate it based on how much they enjoyed the game, instead of just falsely rating one aspect to raise the game's overall score. By bringing this review format to the user, Gamespot could bring in a whole new generation of reviewers.
Of course, as always, allowing users to use this format would have some problems, though they'd be just as bad as the last format's. Obviously some people would just rate games incredibly low or incredibly high when it's not deserved and then award the game all of the good medals or all of the bad medals and then not even give a reasonable excuse for giving them these medals. However, the problem could be partly mended by raising the required Gamespot level to about 7, thus sifting out the people that really just want to annoy others. Also, the fact that users have to write "The Good" and "The Bad" about the game will make them realise that Dance Dance Revolution doesn't exactly have "Technically Proficient Graphics". I don't think Gamespot has anything to worry about if they just change the level requirement to write a review slightly.
In conclusion, Gamespot's new review system is perfect for the task of rating all of these coming diversified games. Now that we have a huge variety of games coming out, it's time that Gamespot revamped their reviews and reviewed the games a little differently, especially now that the age of casual gaming has come about in which many times the games have sub-par graphics or sub-par sound or cost a little more than they're worth, but the games still have an enjoyable experience. This allows Gamespot to rate the games based on how much fun they were, and then reward them later in the form of medals. I think Gamespot made a good choice switching to this format and I hope they bring it to the users soon as well.
Overall Score:
9.0
Editors' Choice
The Good:
More accurately reviews games based on how much fun they are * Rewards games with "medals" to show outstanding aspects of the game * Allows games that are less than suitable in some area to receive a decent score
The Bad:
No user created content.