Ever since the first video-games came out way back in the day there has always been people judging the systems and its games, first it was only small newspaper articles and spoken word between friends, but after the internet boom game reviewers have become an extremly important part of the gaming industry.

Today websites like Gamespot, 1UP and IGN have crews that can reach the hundreds, and all that to inform people about video-games systems, games, and accessories. But the questions remains: How big is the role of major gaming websites in the gaming industry? The answer is simpler than you may think: it depends on the gamer, and therefore it depends in what type of games are coming out, which takes us to what the developers are focusing on. The "harcore" gamers are certanly influenced by what they read on gaming websites and gaming forums boards, so it is safe to say that the major gaming websites play a huge role on serious gamers. On the other hand, casual gamers could care less for game reviews and articles, and therefore and much more influenced by other marketing points such as TV, game cover, and finally their friends (stereotypes play a huge role here).

The sad thing about this is that the gaming industry is always focusing more and more on casual gamers, which is estimated to be around 85% of the market (read that at ign somewhere). If we go by that logic reviewers only influence 15% of the potential buyers, which is not that much if you consider how many people may watch a commercial on TV or how cool the cover looks at the shelves.

I support reviwers, in fact I think they know more about video-games than anybody else, its sad however, that the reviewer's role is decreasing generation after generation, which will obviously decrease the quality of games since developers will focus more on casual gameplay. Lets just hope for more hardcore titles this years (Hellgate: London and Medieval 2:Total War both look amazing at this point), as well as hope that big titles such as Gears of War, Twilight Princess, Halo 3, Neverwinter Nights 2, the new Metal Gear Solid games and many other big titles coming out soon focus on both casual and hardcore gamers.

Please comment on this and let me know your opinion on this matter :)

Cheers