Ready your weapons and prepare for attack its time for another skirmish of EpicBattleCry! This week, we check out the Sly Cooper Collection, ponder the recently announced charity contest for Gears of War 3, team-up for some co-op Shank details, and try to make sense of the Halo: Reach 360 bundle.
With the price of Microsoft Kinect officially unveiled, we discuss the motion-sensing controller’s fate and whether its been priced too high for gamers to take a chance on. The release of StarCraft II is looming and with it comes the inevitable onslaught of reviews. How much weight do reviews carry with gamers and what could be done to improve them?
The Battle Cry of the Week goes to Super Street Fighter IV, annoying gamers online, Rush being featured in Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and Final Fantasy classic titles on PSN.
If you’ve got a comment on the show, sound off below, if you’ve got a Battle Cry you want to share, click here and sound off on the latest topic-started post! Stay sharp.
good Morning
Hoorah! Been holding out all morning
Quality stuff as always.
AW Man lol its 1:35 am atm…so i think ima get some sleep then hit this up. It’ll be something awesome to listen to while i eat my Coco Puffs haha.
if im not mistaken it was leaked that kinect is 2 player only
Great
the new ep once again 
Wait no ” ….. HOW ART THOU???” FAIL!!! :p
(refrence to a previous skirmish 
)
Why didnt no one take a stand?? Get in the forums, use a fake name and start flaming against how DLC is used !!
Fantastic EBA guys.
I totally agree about review scores not being important, and I think Tony is wrong, many gamers simply won’t consider purchasing games that get under 70% on metacritic, hell I know some who won’t buy unless the game gets over 80%
Review scores used to mean everything, back in the Sega Megadrive (Genesis) days games were horrifically expensive and varied in quality by a MASSIVE margin, so review scores and demos were crucial in judging whether it was worth investing or not.
These days there are very few technically bad games. Most games have good graphics, and decent gameplay and narrative so it’s fair to say most gamers would have a decent time with them, particularly if they like that genre.
For example I’ve been having an absolute ball with Mount & Blade on PC. if you look on Metacritic it gets a score of 72, but if you look at the USER score it gets an 8.9. That tells me that reviewers are often out of touch with their audience, and often don’t have the time to invest in a massive title like M&B.
M&B may look dated but it’s honestly one of my favourite PC games. I dare you to pick it up for £5 in the next Steam/Impulse/D2D sale, it’s EPIC.
And that’s just one example, there are other countless examples of supposedly “average” games completely thrilling me!
Perhaps that could be a future BATTLECRY question? What supposedly “average” games do you love and why?
@Thurandes
You can play the classic psone games on any PS3.
I re-bought the FF games on psn. I enjoy being able to play it on the go with my psp, without having to do the remote play though thats awesome as well when i play other psone games that aren’t released here. I’m still waiting for them to release xenogears on psn again They did that in Japan like 2 years ago. I want it here also.
yeah DK.. that is Jims style… he is professional asshole, you cannot compare his “reviews” to metacritic
I liked Brent’s Mr Show lie detector skit reference, about eating the train piece by piece.
In terms of game reviews I think they’re less important now than they have ever been.
Back in the day when I was a young N64 gamer and I was too young to buy my own games my parents used to buy me gaming magazines and a good review from one meant that they might consider buying me the game – if the game got a bad review then they wouldn’t bother as they would consider it a waste of money, which is fair enough – neither of my parents were very knowledgeable on games so reviews were important and trusted.
I think nowadays hype helps a game more than reviews do and we can see that with pre-order bonuses and other such incentives which Publishers thrust upon us. It’s like the poll you did about Splinter Cell conviction where alot of people said they wouldn’t purchase the game now that it had been delayed and thus missed it’s hype-window – even though the delay wouldn’t have made it any less of a game or the way that Capcom said people’s interest in Dark Void had half-lifed since the game got delayed.
I think nowadays rather than people using reviews to guide their purchase, they get hyped up, buy a game and then use reviews to justify their impulses and their submission to all this hype since gaming hype is something real freaking hard to resist. Alot of the time you can tell whether a game will be good before its out and you can tell whether your source of choice will give the game a good review by how they react to trailers and then build on that hype, as a result I end up planning most of my big purchases and pre-ordering weeks and sometimes months in advance because you can tell when a game is going to be good – whether i’d seen a review or not.
Though i think a review can be VERY useful if I’m thinking of buying a game that’s already out which I might not have played, for example I might see a game for cheap on steam which I’m not familiar with and look up it’s score and a few gameplay movies and if it looks appealing I’ll buy it.
I think if gaming websites want to serve the gamers they need to be objective and neutral and honest rather than just responding to hype – they’re supposed to be immune to marketting tricks and be the gamer’s representitive but now it just seems that they’re no different from you and me except their opinion is more weighted – yet it confuses me as to why.
Some good discussion on the Kinect, but you have to remember demoing Move is going to be just as difficult.
Since the tech for both the Kinect and Move is less accurate and reliable as they originally claimed, I see plenty of awkward Miyamoto-presenting-Zelda level moments at stores and such.
I don’t think Wii’s success was that much down to people trying the controls at a store and such, I believe it was much more about word of mouth, of someone’s family getting one, the parents enjoying it, telling their coworkers etc, and people trying it at someone else’s home, their friend’s or relative’s or whatever.
there is nothing better than coming to work, visiting the AXE and noticing that skirmish 83 is ready to fuck*ng roll!!!! AWESOME SHOW!!!!
Hey,
Just wanted to comment about your halo consol descussion.
i dissagree with your view on it, yeah it sucks that the consol isn’t comming with a special eddition of the game but for me im not that phazed by it.
i was going to get a 360-S anyways aswell as halo reach, and i need at least 2 controlers so i can play split screen so this gives me a deal on it.
i get a:
xbox 360-S ($300) -with a sick paint job
second controler ($60) -With another awesome paint job
Halo: Reach ($60)
so bassicaly im saving $20 plus getting a paint job for my consol and controlers that looks completely fresh.
that is why i think that it is a good deal and why i will be picking it up apon release.
sick show
I thought Greg Kasavin was a good reviewer. But yeah, since companies nowadays are making moves we once thought unthinkable perhaps it’s not crazy to think they should do away with reviews. They could promote their games by sending lots of videos as previews to sites, telling people to join their forums on the back of the game case to talk and share opinions. If sites want to do reviews, let them buy their own copy and do reviews on their own.
Hey there my fellow warlords of devastation, so glad I got my EBC fix for the week (check the site everyday for this show).
I love reviews. Mainly comedy reviews. I love watching AVGN, and Zero Punctuation. Both are rants about what sucks in games. Its really funny watching Ben Croshaw rip apart the latest games and then watching James rip apart the games of yesteryear. I love these reviews as they are not meant to be taken seriously, well I dont anyway. When I choose what games I part my cash with I generally stick with franchises I love (Zelda, Mario, Half-Life, COD, Resident Evil, etc, etc) I also tend to pay close attention to certain companies that I like (Valve, BioWare, CAPCOM, Nintendo, etc, etc). I dont really let reviews influence my decisions much, although I will also stick with review sites that I know and like (EBA, GameTrailers, Escapist, etc, etc). If its a game that I am unsure of, and its not a reputable company or franchise I will read up about it first, and download a demo. Much like I did with Limbo. Was a little unsure, some reviews were good and some were bad. Downloaded the demo and brought it instantly (what an amazing game)!
I think we need a revision of metacritic where by it allows the player to grade the demo of the game. That way gamers can see how highly rated a certain game is. Which might entice them to download and try it rather than just base their judgement on one critics opinion.
Thanks once again for my EBC fix for the week. I should be fine now for a few hours and then I might go and chew the arm of my couch until the next EBC
Keep up the good work my troops of annihilation!!!
Now… where did I put my couch…?
Nice..especially the part about Jim and i dont really think he is not a pro…or even a real passioned gamer. But he is not the only one with this profile and the style of reviewing games.
sorry….correct: HE IS NOT A PRO or a REAL GAMER
As always epic show!
My battle cry goes out to Gameinformer’s reviews. They do a good job with their reviews by having different writers doing multiple reviews, so its not just one person’s opinion. They include numbers in the reviews but also a lengthy analysis of the games they review. I may not always agree with them but it a good way to gain a number of different perspectives.
Also amazon.com FTW, 10-20 dollars off the next game I buy?! no contest…and no more gamestop
Also Also I’m currently a Journalism student hoping to some day join the fray. E3 here I come!
woah woah woah…first off, Daniel, you say that you want to hear the “meat and potatoes” of what the reviewers think of the game and then you pull a 180 and agree with Tony when he says that the problem with reviews are that they are opinion pieces. what else is a reviewer supposed to say other than his/her thoughts or opinion on the game? The whole review cannot simply be ‘There are characters in this game. There are also guns. Some guns are better than others.etc..’.
You guys do realize that what Jim does is a shtick right? I mean talk about failure in a review. You guys can’t even review a person or his style. Not only that but you mention how a review is totally about opinion then come down on someone for their review revolving totally around their opinion? At what point does sense enter into EpicBattleAxe? His whole shtick is to promote publicity and it’s worked well, I still say he stole it, he didn’t pick up this shtick till I think about two years ago? Anyway point being you guys are either in on it, or you just super failed. Also prove the point that you don’t review in depth or well enough to know what is going on and if you are not in on it the joke is on you.
I would trust Jim’s review over anything you guys would say any day, because he reviews from HIS POV, and doesn’t expect you to agree, you know then he does his little shtick. Whatever the point being is that the opinion piece is placed as an opinion piece. He mentions bugs, mistakes with the game and all the various information you really want to know. Where as a RACK MAG would tell you everything except how it was bugged out the wazzoo. He knows his opinion is not the sole source of information and doesn’t pretend it to be, like Gametrailers might.
You guys do realize that what Jim does is a shtick right? I mean talk about failure in a review. You guys can’t even review a person or his style. Not only that but you mention how a review is totally about opinion then come down on someone for their review revolving totally around their opinion? At what point does sense enter into EpicBattleAxe? His whole shtick is to promote publicity and it’s worked well, I still say he stole it, he didn’t pick up this shtick till I think about two years ago? Anyway point being you guys are either in on it, or you just super failed. Also prove the point that you don’t review in depth or well enough to know what is going on and if you are not in on it the joke is on you.
Just to point out something here you suggest everyone be professional in the business and yet one of you calls another reviewer a mouthful of expletives. Ironic much? Next time you attempt to call another reviewer out make sure you aren’t acting like an idiot doing it. That’s like a mother telling her 16 year old kid not to smoke while holding a pack of Marlboro’s in her hand.
Give the show another listen as I think you might have missed my point. I stated that Jim is entitled to his own opinion, and I am of course fine with that, but when the comments and the discussion surrounding the review deviate from being about the game to mainly revolve around Jim and the review itself, then the focus is off the game, where I think it should be.
My point was that discussing the merits of a game (both positive and negative) while encouraging productive discussion about it from the community is what I prefer. The condescending tone and lack of constructive discussion associated with Jim’s reviews is what I was bringing up. Of course, some of you seem anxious to defend the comedic angle and fully recognize that these reviews aren’t in fact reviews, but rather a parody of a review or something. That’s fine too of course…Assuming one knows that going in, but I just wonder if Jim intends/desires it to be that way. His defensive comments within his own posts would seem to suggest otherwise.
The thing with game reviews for me is not about what score they give a game but to hear about the gameplay and all the other info to find out what I think is cool about a game. I would rather play a game demo because I know what I want out of a game better then anyone.
Man, if you guys actually read Dtoid, you would know that Jim only calls out people who don’t provide valid points, trolls, and say stuff like he’s ‘biased’. You guys complain about review outlets not using their entire system where Dtoid, and especially Jim, actually do so (he has given 2 games 10′s and at least a few games 1′s, 2′s, and 3′s).
I like reviews, mainly for entertainment, but it is good to get some opinions from the ‘experts’. However, at the end of the day, you have to make the decision to make your purchase, and you have to know what you will like and what you don’t like.
As for review scores, I enjoy the recommendation reviews (Buy it/ Rent it/ Pass), but I know that actual numerical scores are important when it comes to logging games into critiquing websites like Metacritic (which I like). The problem with most scores is the fact that they ignore the rules of a 0-10 scale… it is not a letter grading scale, and average game should get a 5!
Because of this, I enjoy the 5 star method of reviewing. It is easier to decide between a 3 and a 4, where average games will get a 60% and good/great games will be in the 80% realm.
Also, the quicklooks over at Giantbomb.com are an excellent way to see if you might like the game!
dear axe smugglers:
my battle cry goes out to the once funny and inventive Yahtzee, who by now has sadly become a parasitic instant-has-been pimping his own one-note style and his questionable internet cult status to pretty much eyaculate his megalomaniac rants and condescending smarter than thou narcissistic little spiels all over my beloved medium. I do detest assholes, specially intelligent and talented assholes who fall into corrupt habits and have the audacity to use self deflating irony only to then congratulate themselves for having the soulful guts and intellectual honesty to deflate themselves with said fake irony… and then continue talking about themselves as brilliant auteurs lost in a planet of mediocrity. Yup, I hate the guy.
For me the only time I might give a review and a review score a second thought is if I’m on the fence about buying a game and I really need to see that I won’t be wasting my money by buying the game. Even then I wouldn’t just look at one review score I’d probably head over to metacritic and check out a couple of the sites that gave the game better scores and then maybe check out some of the mediocre scores, I generally steer clear of the lower scores because I too think that these are reviewers with zero integrity just looking for a little attention.
If I’m looking forward to a game and don’t want anything to rain in on my parade, I’ll completely ignore the scores because I know a bad review can probably force you to look for the faults rather than enjoy what otherwise would have been a pleasant experience.
Hey guys, great show as always guys.
I use reviews mainly for information and to get some opinions in. I think that reviews have lost their importance from the old days because nowadays people can discuss and share opinions about games online on forums or blog.
I think I have bought more games after listening someone else talk about their experiences with it than I have after watching the review and their scores.
Back in the old days there were ONLY the reviews, and even those were available to you when your parent would be willing to pay for nintendo power or any other magazine. The best I had was going into the store and looking at the damn boxart! And reading the back of the box and looking at the pictures.
The main problems with reviews are the scoring mechanics. I have noticed people arguing how great a game is based on how high the metarating on a game is and I just cannot understand how anyone can be as stupid as to use a score to tell me how much worse Halo is to 3d dot game heroes for instance when I actually enjoyed my time with 3d dot game heroes more then I did halo.
QUESTION! Can anyone explain why Black Light Tango Down wasn’t released in Australia!??!?!? The explanation the Dev’s gave made no sense.
THINK ABOUT IT PEOPLE!!!! A couple of chicks buy kinnect, get that raft game, get naked, jump up and down, then post it on the internet!!!! This has the potential to enrich our lives!!!!
As for who they’re marketing towards, it’s obviously to retards. And I’m not talking about Kinnect, I’m talkin that Halo bundle. Cause you know it’ll sell. Sadly. To sad people.(dont worry fanboys, i kid, i kiiid!)
Hey game trailers guy, IM WITH U BUDDY! If you look around, there’s never any real need for Gamestop. In Aus, JB HI-FI always cuts 20 percent off a game for the first week. On EVERY game. You can always get whatever ‘exclusive’ Gamestop is offering from DLC or ebay with the money u save.
On a point that Tony makes, only gamers check out reviews. Often enough there are the standard casual gamer that stands in a gameshop and wonders what he/she wants to get. Often enough because of that bad games are being bought…
On the subject of reviews, i personally only trust the sites that has a really good connection with their community. (like screwattack)
the only people other than those that i really trust, is the independent reviewers like Sponny and the Angryjoe show.
If you don’t like what Jim does, then don’t read it. No one is forcing you to read his posts. Also, how are his reviews “in fact” not reviews? Do you read his reviews or do you just lurk the comment threads?
What’s up, my bros of bashing, my sisters of slicing,
How art thou !!!
my battle cry goes out to kinect, i think this technology is no good for gaming, it looks like it isn’t developed for gaming but for advanced robot control.
I don’t know if this is already done, but i think the kinect should be used to control robotic arms in hazardous environments, that way, even in impossible environments, accurate and pricise opperations can be executed. those ar my thoughts.
all these xbox bundle deals are great for me , i really enjoy the halo games but since my xbox broke 3 years ago, its now time to get the new xbox with the new halo games so i feel like a stupid kid in gamestop candy store.
as far as the reviews go , i like to play every single demo i can get my hands on just to see whats out there and give each demo a chance to impress me . and for the games i cant play before i buy im either hyped for them or not and if im not i do tend to look at reviews and most reviews do put me off a game , but the best reviews iv seen have been from the people that buy and play the game like play.com where anybody can put a comment under the item for everybody to see
“if you don’t like it don’t read it”. What kind of argument is that? Does that automatically invalidate every bit of critical thought ever conceived? No, it does not. If you write and publish something, you are surrendering your text or opinion to a collective judgment. We are entitled to criticize everything, no exceptions. If I don’t like something, I have every right to disagree with it and epxlain why I consider it flawed, false, or undesirable. You in turn have the right to counter my criticism using real and reasonable arguments as you see fit, as long as they fall inside the fair grounds of civilized discourse. But you have no right to silence anyone, or to invalidate their views a priori with a cheap “if you dont like it dont read it” trick.
Dude, this is the first time I heard of this sorry excuse of a podcast. “All about the gamers” my ass! Jim Sterling is the only honest reviewer out there. He’s not gonna suck the company cocks like you guys do. I guess all that blizzard cum fucked up your head.
Lots of Jim Sterling toadies with sore egos today. Keep the ugliness coming boys, you’re only helping to illustrate the kind of mind that Sterling’s writing attracts.
If you read his reviews. He states what’s bad and whats good. I don’t get it. Films and books have a rating system. Why should games be different? These guys are a bunch of assholes. This site is no different then Destructoid. The only thing is that Distructoid has originality and tells the truth.
You make fun of Jim because he defends his post, but your doing the same, asshole.
I read his stuff religiously and I can say your exaggerating and obviously a hater.
You say its a ‘Sorry excuse for a podcast’,yet DK’s obviously a hater….wow. So few posts, so many contradictions…. DK clarifies in his comments if he thinks someones taken him the wrong way, nothing more. And sucking up to companies? Maybe listen to the old podcasts before opening ur mouth. How many podcasts ago was it u guys ripped on immature morons that like to snipe from their mothers basements? Case and point.
Blacklight: Tango Down: FAILED on the PC, No Chat function, NO FOV settings, AIM assist, no dedicated servers (considering it’s running on the unreal 3 engine), There’s a ton of old mods for UT99 and Quake 3 that are much better, then this 15 download game. WHY are We GOING BACKWARDS on features for PC FPS, especially when the engine its running on has a ded server support built in. PC gamers expect features that been since quakeworld….
I R KILRATHI!
Btw Ultima 7> all rpg’s
Some suggested to Jim Sterling by Twitter to write a response to the EBC comments, here are his tweets:
“They didn’t give me anything to respond to. A messy tangent of fictional accounts and hyperbole does not an argument make.”
“they want honest reviews but not from me because I “call out” absolutely anybody who ever disagrees with me or something stupid.”
“Please stop posting links to that Epic Battle Axe thing in every Dtoid thread. I heard the show. It was bullshit. Fuck them. Case closed.”
Fuck EBC! Jim is an artist.
Keep it simple, I watch GT reviews, and that guids what I buy. I dont have $$$$ to drop on game after game after game. So, if there is something that I think I will like, I watch that review. Once again, that is titles that I am not aware or sure of. If it is say a FF game or a GoW or Gears, doesn’t matter what a review says. I will buy it no matter what.
While I look at game reviewers as overpayed, bloated ass-hats, I need to know what they think on the new IP’s. :/
I respect your point of view, but please express yourself in a more mature manner. I also admire your passion, but you do not have to resort this type of tone. If you have a counterpoint then make it, but don’t post in this particular manner anymore here on EpicBattleAxe.
(If you do not want to read through this black shapes scroll down to the end of my comment)
Hello fellows
This is my second or third episode of EPIC Battle CRY (or in other words ‘The Videogamers Ultimate Pun Show’”) and i love it.
Well where do i begin. What about the Halo: Reach + Console thing?! One Word: Kinect. Why should Microsoft f*** up just once we can’t get enough of it oh yeah
No serious i want to cry out my feelings (definitely a must when it comes to comments) and thoughts about reviews.
What impact do reviews still have? You’re answers was “little impact” but i am not sure whether i should agree with that or not. In the last years Mirror’s Edge, Assassins Creed, GTA IV, Red Dead Redemption or Heavy Rain were one of the most anticipated games yet to be released. Even though the audience for a few of these games was already big enough so have nice numbers of the sales i felt that advertisement really helped a lot to “publish” those. At least here in Germany they showed trailers of the games on – let’s say – 1/2 of available channels which are free depending on the game (GTA IV got no chance before 22:00). So the trailers got a pretty wide range of the audience having 20% of the viewers on a weekday. And suddenly there appeared people in my school talking about those games more than usual. Summing it up: It has an effect on the people.
But not what is the difference between reviews and advertisement? When i was a young boy and the year 1998/99 my parents bought the Nintendo 64 and The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of time for me and my brother (Nice flashback huh!?). Several years later i asked him why the hell he bought a Nintendo instead of a very cool Dreamcast or Playstation and he answered we was reading articles about it and asked sales assistants (I hope you call them that way) and he came to the conclusion it was the best console for our childish minds.
The problem ever for our parents was to get in touch with a guy that knows what he is selling. They don’t know about magazines with reviews of games. With a little bit of luck they know at least what Tetris is and Super Mario, Pac-Man, etc. As GameStop shops – yeah this time on your side – and a few other specialized shops can answer all of our questions it has been easier to pick a game…or wait…has it?
The average interested gamer – being interested in games by the way – has the unique chance to get information:
1) on badly designed websites of the game with a big lack of information and huge sense of glorification of the game.
2) Game reviews
And now to the core of this rather long comment: What is the problem of a review? EBC said: “Metacritic/-score yes or no?” (To be honest i cannot remember what you guys said) The problem of metascores is that people do not know what the what and how much they like it. If you like it rate it 10 if not 0. Undecided? Rate it 5! (By the way as YouTube introduced the good/bad system: It was the best idea ever and a half-baked one). What the gamer gets is a score of a game (usually around 7-8 of 10)
but in the end has no information, not the slightest idea about the game itself. Scores can’t tell you the desire of playing the game. It gives you trolls to talk about.
Reviews are the peoples voice. A review may give the impression of a game being lame. But lame for which reasons. Maybe these reasons make me like the game and seriously: YOU CAN’T RATE THAT! A review my little human, orcs, dwarfs, hobbits, elves, *insert fictional species*,… should give me all the content a game holds. I want to know what the game is about and not what awesome cool features can blow my mind even though it is the reason for me why i bought the game. It can spoil, disappoint, approve. I want to know all of the disadvantages and benefits of the game and in the end i decide.
The best way to rate a way is the following way:
Give everyone a profile and a list of available games. He may rate any game he played. And in the end there will only be a list of this specific user and his ratings – no comparisons. There are two rating system that must be applied to the review/rating: A scale rating e.g. numeric from 1 to 10 or from 0% to 100%. And second a Yes-No rating whether you played the game until the end or at least enjoyed it. I’d really like to crosscheck my experiences with other gamers and discover new games i ignored in the past.
I hope you read until the end and i hope what i wrote is not problematic in anyway. I activated the mail function so be pleased and feel free to answer or question. I may answer everyone.
Now for the lazy ones:
-Microsoft shakes balls with Halo
-Meta-critic or meta scores will never work, because it is like a paid ranking list
-Advertisement is still necessary for games, but reviews have a bigger impact in the future
-We need to boost the quality of reviews in it’s content
-Oh, and Jim? Freak you!
This coming from the show that uses the word fuck and shit every minute. I can say the same to you.
Put this in the Ureview section.
Man I’m can’t wait for next weeks skirmish when you guys address this can of worms! HEHE.
hey daniel, love the puns! Seriously I think they are hilarious, You do such a great job at bringing them up and it cracks me up every single time.
the shotgun in blacklight is very op. even when i used it i could tell that thing is way to powerfull
well the game quickly fell off the steam’s top sellers list. Reminds of me of that awful port of saints rows 2 on the pc as well GTA4.
Anyways I hope Natural Selection 2 does another small company that started life in mods, i have high hopes for NS2
I might, MIGHT, have given Kinect a potential buy-it-to-try-it if it was $50 or less. There is no way in hell I’m going to dish out $150 for this- at least not yet. I think we’ve heard some good points about how both Microsoft and Sony are after a little piece of the same pie that Nintendo has been enjoying. The problem though, is that they’re a little too late and (Microsoft at least) they seem to be looking only at the mechanical aspects.
Now, I’m not into the whole Gam3r 3lite machismo so I’ll say what it was that makes me like my Wii. Nintendo, who was last-gen’s clear technological and financial looser, came out with a new iteration that just happened to blow away the masses. It had the right innovation at the right time. The Wii has a different feel to it, the games are Arcade fun, with an emphasis on silly charm and fun with friends and family together on the couch.
I have been trying to get my Dad to pick up a controller and play with me since I got my first systems. He wouldn’t touch them. I got him to try using the analog stick playing Star Fox 64 and he hasn’t touched a video game since. On a whim, my roommates and I asked him and his wife to play with us and they played two rounds of Wii Bowling- and kicked our asses! My roommates and I played on the Wii for hours at least 3-4 nights a week for 2 months solid before I moved out and started back up with a college semester. The Wii might not provide the same kind of realism or technological might the other systems bring, but no other system this generation can bring 3 or 4 friends over to my place for some fun playing games.
Not only that, they bring a different croud. I can play Wii Bowling with my parents, or play Boom Blox with my girlfriend and her friends. I don’t view my Wii as a lesser console, or a “casual” console, but rather a console that gives me a different experience- one wholly different than what the two other competitors give me.
My Battle Cry (finally) is a cry for hope that Sony’s Move is going to give me more than just a gimick or a Wii clone. I think the novelty of arcade fun with motion controls has passed since the Wii’s release almost 4 years ago. I have no hope for Kinect giving me a better experience… but the Move can potentially take the industry’s leap forward that was the Wii Motion Control to another level. Let’s just hope it won’t be a four year step backward for the industry and will push our leading edge further.
I agree with ozzy 100%. DK, you are so fucking pretentious and blind to see that you actually have NO reason to dislike Jim Sterling. He has done nothing to you or to your site. His reviews are fair and he uses his whole review scale unlike 99% of the other game sites(which you criticized earlier). Jim tells it as it is and does his job and defends his posts rather than just have the site run-a-muck like this one is currently doing. Stop trying to act like you are better than everyone else here and actually make a legitimate point rather than just being a passive prick and doing nothing cause you know you are wrong. Destructoids community and editors are by far the best and I GUARANTEE that a lot less people from Destructoids community will return here to this pussified ‘lets-not-upset-anyone’ trash dump you call a website.
Also, cocks.
My member battle cry is on the subject of game reviewers, and the problem I have with many:
I dont read much reviews anymore.
A lot of critics on the web dont always seem to be people who know a lot about games, just people who enjoy them.
Many of them also let personal bias get in the way of their reviews.
A site like GT for example; it is obvious most of their staff members are not fond of the PC, thats ok but as PROFFESIONAL critics, they should review most of the PC games with harcore interest anyway, and judge them as they would any other game, but they dont always do.
Halo 3 reviews are another example where many critics didnt take a sophisticated look at the game.
Most console gamers by that point were huge halo fans (which is understandable) and many of them would enjoy halo 3 for just repeating the formula they love so muc- which is fine, however it showed in their reviews that they were not judging the game fairly because of the ‘fanboyish’ feelings towards it
Obviously that is all one big generalisation :/
I watch Zero Punchtuation as I find them more honest than a lot of other reviews (and entertaining)
Sorry to bother you guys, you’re probably very busy, but I won the MBC last week and my code didn’t work. I saw it in my inbox and immeadiately tried to use it on Fallout 2, but it said the code had expired earlier and couldn’t be used. I then sent an e-mail to the address the code was sent telling my problem and haven’t recieved a reply, so I’m posting here instead. I know you guys probably think I’m just trying to get an extra code but I’m really not. I was really looking forward to Fallout 2 occupying the dreaded weeks before school starts and keep my mind off the impending doom, but now with Limbo completed and Singularity almost done I’ll be forced to waste away in front of cable for two weeks. I’ve tried the code on multiple games multiple times and it clearly won’t work, I almost cried at that realization. I know it’s most likely not any of your faults but could you guys at least reply or e-mail me so I know I’m getting through.
P.S. I only replied to your post to make sure you saw this.
P.P.S. You Jim Sterling trolls need to chill the eff out. This is a place for constructive discussion, not hate. At least make your point in a polite way.
The fact that you’re replying to a comment on a comment by the poster show’s that he’s trying to control it. So stop trolling or go somewher else.
Read further up on the comments. I’ve posted many times but he refuses to respond to my posts for some reason.Thanks for reading though.
I basically stopped being a drone of the gameindustry many years back….
My purchases today are mainly build on hands on time with whatever i´m planing to buy. This is one of the few reasons i like the internet connectivity of pc´s and consoles….
I no longer put any value on game reviews because ivé been burned so many times before in the past….
The amount of PR (MONEY) used on games these days is ridiculous and most of the time all that money,tv-time,Magazine commercials and speciel previews (EXCLUSIVES) in magazines and gamesite pre/reviews is wasted on a crappy game or “at best” a game that´s just like “all the others”….
This i why i rarely buy a game just when it comes out because if i can get a demo of it or a try at a store somewhere and “play before i pay” 9 out of 10 times i´m really dissapointed and don´t end up bying a crappy game that does nothing to captivate this gamer these titles seemed to be made for….
Now i do realise that i´m proberly one of a few who actually does it this way but i really don´t care what my friends or all the fanboys say like i said earlier i have a mind of my own and have no intension of being a mindless drone who will buy just about anything that has god of war, halo, resident evil, Mortal Kombat or mario written on it….
You really have to give this gamer what he want´s….
Sadly that doesn´t happen very often….
Must agree, I would NEVER pay $150 dollars for kinect especially with the underwhelming quality of the actual games that use it. I’ll play Wii sports and resort if I want that social experience without paying the additional 150.
The thing about Jim is that he calls people out who call HIM out and say “oh this review is biased; it’s just your opinion” which is retarded, everyone understands and you guys admit that reviews are opinion pieces.
My member Battle Cry goes out to…*drumroll please*… Brent Adams, Tony Grice, and Daniel Kaiser. I’ve never been a big fan of podcasts because too much talking bores the hell out of me but you three are hilarious. Your formula can’t be touched or duplicated with Daniel as the voice of reason at one end of the spectrum, Brent all the way at the wild and crazy Viking end and Tony as the angry medium…most of the time. I also love that you all are not blind fanboys yet its very evident which platforms you lean toward with Brent leaning towards the PS3, Daniel the 360 and Tony I think the PS3 but yet and still you guys recognize and point out B.S. from all the platforms and praise the good things from each as well.A lot of different websites have guys speaking as though they own stock in a particular platform but not you guys. I apologize if this sounds like one big ass kissing fest but I have to give credit where credit is due. You guys make me laugh with every podcast with your jokes,sarcasm,tongue n cheek humor and ofcourse Daniel’s plethora of puns, instead of being bored by the usual super nerd-like banter that keep me away from podcasts I look forward to every one of yours. So like my momma use to say, if someone does something good for you, its always good to say thank you so im saying thanks for allowing me to sit in while you guys talk games. B-HEEZY OUT
Can I just something: I’m truly sick of everybody ganging up on Microsoft Kinect and be too skeptical. I remember when Nintendo first announced the Wii and everybody basically pointed fingers and laughed at it. Fast forward and the Wii is dominating the game industry and Nintendo is laughing all the way to the bank with a huge money trail. I understand the point of the the price being too high for the family consumer (Microsoft targeted market) and I think they should put more emphasis on the bundle packs. As a hardcore game myself, I’m very interested in purchasing Kinect not only for gaming purposes but other cool stuff like maybe video chatting or maybe some other cool stuff. Let’s not rush to judgement before Kinect fully hits the market. If Microsoft advertises properly, I think they will sell a lot of units
Wow, the punmachine was on a roll this week… excellent!
Gotta get back to you later on the content side of things, as I’m late for work now.
@Everyone that tries to bash EBA
First off, im gonna defend them so thumb me down if you must.
Secondly, this isnt a game-review site, they talk about gamenews. Hence they cannot be sucking up to a company, because quotes of them arent usable, nor they can give a grade to a game that can be slapped on a game.
Thirdly, Daniel Kayser wasnt saying that the reviews of Jim were bad by any means, but he just didnt like the calling-out by Jim if someone did like the game, and maybe DK interpreted it in the wrong way, maybe there are people that like the game and Jim just wants to know who did. But if he then starts to bash someone because another DID like, that is wrong. Its still an opinion.
@MGFitz, its not that DK is hating Jim as a person, he just doesn’t like the way that Jim does his reviews. Its a personal taste. As a group of people that are interested in discussion, the 3 amigo’s dont want the discussion being used for simply bashing. A F^(( here and there, they dont have any problem with that, but if you just come here and say that, you arent participating in the discussion, you are just trolling.
And by saying right away “you are a hater” that doesnt do didly squat with the discussion.
He isnt talking about the words you use he is talking about how you are being rude to a fellow gamer. They dont call people Fing idiots directly like you did. He means dont make us gamers look like idiots and talk to each other in a mature manner…No need for name calling bro. R E S PE CT find out what it means to you
Great puns DK, I nearly couldn’t stop laughing during the whole episode.
Way to take stuff out of context. the way they use the F word and shit is NOT the same to the way you use it to attack them directly.
My Dudes of Decimation, the Men of Mauling. What guides what I buy is usually is reviews from many outlets of sites and usually demos. Lastly keep the puns going DK.
As I said months ago,this site is biased as hell.They talk bad about stuff in the podcast then lick boot afterwards when they meet someone on E3.Getting paid for advertising OnLive and Blacklight Tango Down is ok,just keep it real.
*pussified ‘lets-not-upset-anyone’ trash dump you call a website*
Perfect description.
A console fanboy talking to console fanboy kids,thats all.
Of to Destructoid.
Wots up?! My Legions of lethargy! My Artisans of apathy! (Am I getting there yet?) Great show guys. Loved the topics this week. Re: Reviewers. Here’s the bottom line; at the end of the day (hoorah! A two-fer!!) whether or not we individually put weight to game reviews, alot of these guys make money from it, its their job. Ergo they should be freaking reliable, consistant and wage-worthy. What happened to pride in your work? Its the inconsistant douche-bag reviewers that add to the culture of games being “laughable”. If our so called experts arent taking the industry seriously, why should the mass-market? Thats the main reason the games industry created the ESRB, to identify and maintain industry standards that allow non-gamers to recognise that maybe games are valuable and bonafide media entertainment that DO have standards and that can have mass appeal. Like them or not, the ESRB tell the outside world that we ARE a serious industry, its a shame that many of our reviewers arent as vigilant with their own roles. Thats why independants like the Axe are so valuable to gamers like myself. As for scores I’m with you guys at the axe, get rid, numbers dont give me facts, I want to hear details.
Hey all! This is my first post here, and I just wanted to give all you guys at EBA props! I’ve been following this podcast for a while now and you guys never fail to keep things informative yet entertaining
You all crack me up! Anyways, I wanted to drop my 2 cents about Blacklight: Tango Down. I picked up the game a few days ago and I can honestly say that I’m having a ton of fun with it. My biggest problem however is the matchmaking system. I’m not exaggerating when I say it can take up to 10 minutes sometimes to actually get into a game. Whatever happened to the concept of a game lobby where you can view ongoing matches and join whichever you see fit, rather than having to que for a particular type of match? Fix this issue and the game will be worth every penny.
FPS, Brent, is the biggest frustration in gaming. Be sure to not hit your head with the controller… like some people do <.<
That lead-in about the guitars totally sounded like a setup for DK’s “fret” pun. You guys were in on it, weren’t you? :p
As far as Kinect (that name is a lame pun in and of itself, btw), I agree that the price is a major blunder. However, I’ll bet anything that they made it expensive on purpose. Making things more expensive can be a marketing trick. There are many people out there who think simply because something costs more, it has to be better. Parts of the casual gaming market might be won over by that because they don’t really know all the inside info about Kinect. Even so, I think it will bite them in the ass. Look on the bright side: it might mean Kinect’s sales will be abysmal and we will never have to hear about dumb fucking motion controls ever again.
Oh, and those Dance Central clips you played during the conversation made me want to kill myself.
Game reviews are all but pointless. Either they are overly slanted for entertainment value, or they are bland and wishy-washy. Every triple-A title receives glowing reviews at all the big sites. These sites and their reviews are in a symbiotic relationship with game publishers marketing departments. The more money pushing a game, the more big-name positive reviews you will see. I’m not saying the reviewers are being bribed or anything, but there are certainly some questionable motivations, especially when there will be some giant ad FOR THE VERY GAME BEING REVIEWED embedded in the website or video of the review you are reading/watching.
I don’t remember who said it, either Brent or Tony, but I agree that they are essentially a form of entertainment. The only two reviewers I visit with any regularity are Zero Punctuation, which is solely for entertainment (as it’s supposed to be), and GT.com, and the only reason I watch GT reviews is because they are one of the few sites that does HD video reviews, so it’s more about the visuals than anything else there.
I agree, scores are arbitrary and absurd, and nobody should base their purchases on them.
I haven’t read this one guy Jim Sterling you keep mentioning, but I’ll have to check him out and see if he is really that big of a douche.
The only review sources I care about? The opinions of trusted friends.
Generally speaking, I will know if I am interested in a game and want to bother with it before ever seeing reviews. Maybe I’m familiar with the developer, a fan of the genre or franchise, etc.
Frankly, I find myself looking more in to reviews AFTER having already played the game in question. I like seeing if they picked out the same strengths/flaws as I did.
Brent, your battle cry on Blacklight kinda made me not want to get it. LOL
That said, spawncamping happens in a lot of games.
I’m really interested in checking it out, but it sounds like the devs left a lot of flaws open for douchebags to exploit (as they always will). Maybe a patch to balance gameplay would be a reasonable request? Mention it to Jared
DK, please tell me you’ve seen the Futurama episode “Anthology of Interest II,” where they have a “what if life were like a video game” segment. Fry requires a 2-liter of Shasta and his “all-Rush mixtape” in order to beat Space Invaders! haahaha
I guess you aren’t the only one who thinks the two go together.
The Back@ya didn’t ring true for me. Even if it works. With Wii, people just bring their controllers around with them to a friends house, so not everyone has to buy 4 controllers. I’ve witnessed it a bunch of times. Can you do that with Kinect? Probably not, or at least not as easily. Might entail rearranging every living room you play in.
Great GT comment. Possibly the best-written comment I’ve ever see on that site.
Great skirmish, I agree with Brent on blacklights spawn campers, the turret guns that defend your spawn need more power and accuracy… Reviews are relative… Kinect is not worth 150 s##ts… I would not be happy if they make the new assassins creed game and take levels out and sell them at a later date but I would still buy the game.
I remember going to a video game store and asking for a recommendation for a kick back MMO. I had a game in mind at the time but I like to hear other games people play and at that time I had played Star wars Galaxies for many years and what that company did to that game burned me out and did not feel like jumping into a big game like WOW or anything to do with SOE. He recommenced Auto assault. I called a friend and he said the game servers died a while back like 2 years ago or something. I ask why they are selling the game and they had no idea the game servers had shut down. It left me wondering what if I was a casual player some one who doesn’t keep up with all the news; I would have been SOL…and I think that is were we are headed now. People not knowing what they are buying and great unknown games passing them by. It is like oo this one is shiny…oo wait this was is shinier and has glitter on it I must have! and the game ends up shitty yet it sells like hot cakes…
Awesome EBA as always guys.
After watching this over on Gametrailers I decided to finally register on your site and make my first battle cry.
So my battle cry goes out to the gamers who make up their own mind when buying a game. I’ve seen countless reviews where they take an awesome game and drag it’s face in the dirt, always pointing out it’s flaws.
They often point out tiny insignificant things and make them sound like complete game breakers.
And i totally agree with you, the rating systems they use are complete crap to say the least.
We will never be rid of these reviews, but I think we can make it a little bit better. What I’d like to see is a show where they have like 3-5 people, with different favorite genres who are optimistic and passionate about games, give their personal opinions about a game and bringing up both the pros and the cons…..
yes I’m pointing at you.
The Ureview is a great idea but sadly there are people who only listen to the “famous” dudes on the Internet “who really know what they’re talking about”…. again, pointing at you… just kidding O.o
To me this sounds like a mission possible for the “King slayer trio” or maybe some other people you might know.
P.S Sadly I’ve watched all of your episodes and you just keep getting more awesome, again great job guys and keep it up!
Great episodes guys! I believe that all “reviews” have some bias and I cannot think of a single site that consistently provides me with a review so that I can get a sense of the “meat & potatoes” of a game.
The reviews I do read, and see however all seem boil down to how “x” game doesn’t compare to “y” game that a particular reviewer either enjoyed or did not enjoy. I find it absolutely exhausting trying to find a reviewer that actually reviews a game on it’s own merit and for what that game provides. It’s down right challenging
! For me it’s almost like having a part time job right around the time a game drops because I spend so much time searching for reviews to give me some sense of whether or not a game warrants a full $60 purchase.
Maybe this will change the day after the world explodes and I get in my X-wing and travel across the galaxy to chill out on Hoth but it is nevertheless my hope that one day we can do away with scored reviews and will eventually see more substantive reviews. For now my main reviewer is my younger brother since we have VERY similar gaming taste and folks from my gaming friendlist. Reviews nowadays = Trash! Thanks for discussing this topic.
Cry Havoc!
*sigh*
If you’re going to hate on Jim Sterling, then that’s fine, because I understand that he is divisive, but I do question the truth in some of your statements.
I’ve never seen Jim beat down someone in the comments section *just* because they didn’t agree with him. Folks who state their opinion in a mature fashion are never poked or prodded at. But folks who claim he’s biased, a Sony/Xbox fanboy, or my favorite, when they say he shouldn’t be “using his opinion to write a review”, then sure, it might draw his ire.
Would it service Jim to ignore these people completely? Sure. But I can’t really blame him for defending himself.
And really, it’s not like Blacklight was pulling in a 8 on metacritic, then here comes Jim with a 3; and even if that was the case, it’s his opinion, right? Heavy Rain scored quite well and I thought that game was terrible – such is life.
And if you actually check out his review scores (and read the review itself), many I think they are very similar to other reviewers. And his issues with Blacklight in his review are *exactly* some of the things that Brent seemed annoyed with – i.e. spawn camping.
It’s cool that you guys like Blacklight. It didn’t do a thing for me. And I found some of the things Jared was saying to defend why his game wasn’t generally well recieved to be ridiculous. It might only be $15, but I didn’t find it fun at any price – just my two cents, of course.
It’s a little puzzling to me why Jim was singled out, because frankly, Jim and EBA have a lot more in common than you might think: you guys, like him, are just being honest and letting the chips fall where they may.
Great EBC topics savagemen (gentlemen is not appropriate here), though I think you guys missed the mark on marketing with Kinect. (wee word pun for the “lols”)
Kinect is not aimed at gamers. In fact, I would argue that Kinect is not aimed at anyone that reads or posts on this or any website associated with games. It’s NOT for gamers and as such it’s entirely logical that as a product it does not appeal to us, and that the marketing seems vapid to you and many others. Microsoft, for better or worse, are an incredibly savvy marketing company. I would even go so far as to argue that Microsoft has gained market share this gen because of their marketing AND Sony’s inept attempts at marketing. I work in advertising and marketing now, and I think I see the points connecting.
With that preface I think that Microsoft is playing the long smart game with Kinect and I’ll tell you why. First, let’s talk target audience. Microsoft does not need to target gamers. They HAVE gamers in lockstep. They are targeting gamer spouses, sisters, parents, kids and relatives. They are USING us as a foot-in-the-door to that audience. I guarantee they are going to make major media buys on NPR, HGTV, HSN, Nickelodeon, Facebook and other outlets that will source those demographics. This is the ploy of the pricetag. If your wife or girlfriend knows you have a 360, and certainly they will since you’re playing it rather than paying attention to her (you bastard), they will seize on the opportunity to play with you or to make use of something that’s already there. The same pitch is there with the kids too. YOU might not buy it for kids, but if your significant other gets pushed enough she’ll push you. That’s more effective than any commercial. Then there’s the evolution of that in the Kinect bundle, wherein someone who has a Kinect wants to use it on the other TV while you’re face-stomping Locust will decide it’s time to get their own.
The second consideration is scope. Microsoft plays the long game. The Xbox was, from a business standpoint, a failure of a system. It never made money, and if we’re honest with ourselves, was really an awkward console that didn’t quite hit the mark. The thing is, Microsoft never intended it to. The Xbox was only a down payment on the 360, a much more intelligent and successful product. Where the Xbox was the foot-in-the-door of the gamer market, so too is Kinect the same to the casual market. Kinect is just the precursor to the much more successful Kinect 2. Which brings me to my final point:
Microsoft is positioning itself to create a sub-brand. In the next generation Kinect will be its casual console and the next Xbox its gamer console. They will market the Kinect as a direct competitor with the next Wii, and since the tech will be much cheaper for the camera by then, they can match price points. I feel very confident that this will be their direction and I think they are missing a hell of an opportunity if not.
As for review scores, I appreciate that you guys want people to better evaluate games before dismissing them, but the truth is that consumers are simply not conditioned that way in ANY facet of life. EVERYTHING in the modern world is pigeonholed into a sterile scoring system. I mean, when you can be denied even consideration for the greater things in life because of a credit score or a GPA I think it’s rather absurd to expect that people won’t focus on score for something as comparatively trivial as video games. A very salient point you guys made was that journalism no longer cleaves to the storied ideals of past eras. Truly, reviews are PART of media buys now. They ARE advertising. It’s very difficult to argue that a publication can be objective about anything when they have a $50 million advertising contract with one of the manufacturers of products they evaluate. This is a problem that extends across all industries.
It would take a lot more than gamer backlash to change that, it would take a cultural revolution. This culture is far to apathetic for that, unless marketing tells them otherwise.
Marketing is a tall glass of contrivance with a twist of honest truth.
Hola, Long time listener first time responder here.
Gaming reviews have always to some extent played a role in my purchasing of games. I am a long time subscriber to game informer, and have been a member of the gametrailers community for about four years. I’m not going to deny that game reviewers can be misleading in their personal bias towards developers or franchises or that game reviews are in fact completely opinion based. However game informer at least gives you a profile on each reviewer giving favorite genres and their likes and dislikes of current content available in the gaming world making your decision to trust them much much greater if you agree. Perhaps if more websites and t.v. shows *cough* x-play did this it would be easier to trust them.
One advantage of game reviews at least for me was made evident with Naughty Bear. Naughty Bear had intrigued me for a long time but having been burned by games before I waited for the reviews. When a game gets destroyed like that on multiple websites and other forms of media its almost 100% likely no one will really appreciate that game. I still decided to try the game at a friends and found the game to be indeed lack luster. Saving me from shelling out 50 dollars of my money. Game reviews really helped me then making me cautious and maybe investigate the game more before buying it.
On the other side of the coin on numerous occasions i have flat out disagreed with many of the opinions of game reviewers and the scores they give games whether they be too high or too low.
On the whole I would say you have to look at reviews on a game by game basis. If its universally liked or disliked you should trust the reviews, and if its on the fence play a demo I.e. you wouldn’t buy a house without looking inside or buy a car without driving it first. Its the responsibility of a gamer to research the content s/he is buying. Game reviews can be a valuable tool in the purchasing decision of a gamer but should not be the only one.
all I’ve got to say is DK isn’t responding to any of my posts because he knows that he is wrong. Take it easy lads im off to Destructoid where opinions matter.
Bye!
My battle cry goes out to Chris Gore’s style of reviews on Attack of the Show. While he is a film critic instead of a video game critic, he does have a good rating system for DVDs which is buy, rent or pass. It is really a good system to discuss games because when I talk about games amongst my friends, my recommendation at the end of the conversation usually end in one of those three words. Also the buy, rent and pass system also provides for some flexibility for reviews. A reason for crappy reviews is the fact that video games are very diverse and reviewers are applying the same scale to each game. With buy, rent or pass, it does provide some flexibility for reviewers. For example, a reviewer can say “Buy this game if your a fan of the previous titles” or “Rent the game and try it out because it could be hit or miss”. In fact, I’m surprised this method of review is not implemented more often. So thank you Chris Gore for giving me a method to rate video games that does not requiring a numerical response.
Ozzy please don’t call the Kaiser Master an asshole. Because of people like you we have the thumbs down feature, make a point without insulting, Im just throwing that out there.
Epic Ronny,you’re the definition of a premature fanboy.
Daniel is neither funny nor smart,also just a premature fanboy.
I just hope everyone realizes that in Dance Central the on-screen characters don’t actually mimic your movements. You’re shown images (poses) and you have to do those poses at the right time (like pressing a button at the right time in DDR or Guitar Hero). The on-screen character then does its pre-recorded moves. You don’t have to “dance” at all, you just need to pose every few seconds or faster, depending on the difficulty level…
At the E3 presentations, those people had just rehearsed the moves and acted in front of some canned animations. That’s not how you’ll look playing the game.
Don’t be hatin’. You’re just jealous ’cause you don’t share Daniel’s name like I do. Yeah I’d be mad too if I had a different name.
to translate. he’s saying calm the hell down and try again. perhaps with some sort of coherrent argument to justify what your saying.
hi guys i’m with you and against you i know the price of kinect it too high to buy but your moaning about kinect price to high to buy 150$ did you know how much it will cost me here in my country around 250$ you moaning about 150$ but can you buy it for 250$??
MS need and should understand that the price of kinect is not 150$ in all country and it should reduce it a bit
Cry Havoc and Let Your Voice Be Heard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i know my english i freakin awesome ^_^
I wish theyd get their facts right, kinect isnt just a camera, it has a depth sensor :”The depth sensor consists of an infrared projector combined with a monochrome CMOS sensor, and allows the Kinect sensor to see in 3D under any ambient light conditions.”
So many comments from Sterling fanboys, and only one of them in a mature fashion. Sigh….Thank u sir, for a real discussion on the opposite opinion. Thats all we ask for here at the EBA.
Thanks man.
I don’t know why some people get outright threatened by an opposing viewpoint. People acting like freaking assholes just because someone doesn’t agree with them is completely absurd.
My Battle Cry goes out to people who can disagree, try to see someone else’s point of view, and not be a flaming dick about it.
Very good set out point of view. Do you might have a link to one of Jim’s reviews, cause i want to understand what the fuzz is all aboot :p
Greetings and salutations EBC!
First time commenting over here. First of all, your show rocks, I just wanted to state that. Daniel’s puns never get old, they always crack me up, keep’em coming PUNisher!
I’m a little embarrassed to say that Daniel’s comments on Jim are what moved me to register, I’ve enjoyed the show for a while now, so I definitely could have taken part already in the dialogue that you guys try to promote, which, by the way, is something I applaud you for, I’ll try to become more of an active member of this community.
So, regarding your opinion of Jim, I can’t help but feel like you are judging him based on recent events and posts or what some people say about him and not really out of reading his reviews and articles for a while, I think if you did you’d realize he doesn’t take himself as seriously as you seem to believe.
He’s not about bashing anyone who disagrees with him, actually it’s quite the opposite. Many people are very passionate about the games they like and cannot handle criticism on them, this kind of people have always been very vocal about it on Dtoid’s comment section. These are not people with differing opinions but insults and all kinds of crazy fabrications so they can feel better about themselves for liking whatever is being criticized.
Jim tends to make fun of all the controversy his posts have caused in the way he writes and talks, that may come as condescending or egocentric, but IMO, it’s always in good fun. Whenever he’s been offensive or otherwise inappropriate, it’s because he’s speaking to people with such ridiculous accusations or statements that they simply cannot be taken seriously, not to people with dissenting opinions.
Now, why am I defending Jim Sterling, and why did I consider this matter important enough to register and make a comment about? It’s because he’s earned my respect. I have grown to appreciate Jim’s style of writing because sometimes we, as gamers who may not have the cash to afford all the games we’d like, need to hear things that way, I’ll give you an example…
Back when his Final Fantasy XIII review was posted I think I actually felt somehow offended, I’ve always loved final fantasy, I was just starting the game (about 4 hours) and I chose to believe that he was just trying to see what to hate too hard. Let me tell you, after finishing the game I had an epiphany, Jim’s review was not only accurate, it was spot on. It described perfectly how I felt about the game, not only the bad but the good parts too, he was the only western reviewer to give it a 4, which is a much more proper score than the average you get on metacritic.
Believe it or not, he is actually a FF fan, he knew the amount of shit he was going to get for giving his honest opinion, he even says he didn’t like the idea of writing THAT review about a franchise and company which have held a spot in his heart for a long time (actually he made a great post about that you could check) but he did it anyways, which I think is commendable. I wish I had come across that review and believed it before ordering the game.
Ever since then, I’ve seen Jim’s reviews on a different light, and have noticed, that he actually does a pretty good job at reviewing games, he’s not even pessimistic, he just does what most reviewers don’t: call out game developers for shit they should get called out on.
Another thing you should consider is the kind of site Dtoid is, it’s not about being objective or politically correct, it’s also a site famous for its editorials, many people enjoy reading just that and appreciate it, like Brent said, Jim’s opinions are now one of my “go to”s, though they’re certainly not the last or ultimate by any means.
Also you guys seem pretty fixed onto the idea that Jim is deliberately pessimistic in his reviews and belittles dissenting opinions, which from my experience on Destructoid I’d say is an unfounded affirmation…could you elaborate or give more precise examples of people giving proper/polite differing opinions and getting treated like shit for that? Again, it seems to me like you haven’t paid close attention to the reviews or what’s been said or commented or maybe have misinterpreted something, if there was ever that kind of behavior it’s never been towards people properly expressing themselves, but towards flagrant trolls or people doing exactly what you accuse Jim Sterling of .
Sorry for the long post and somewhat awry way to start participating in this community, I do love your show, keep doing what you do!