I’m not sure how much impact our recent conversations about review scores in gaming on EpicBattleCry Skirmish 083 and 084 (along with all of our community’s great feedback) have impacted the situation, but ironically enough, IGN today announced that they will be changing their scoring scale. That’s right, as IGN’s Hillary Goldstein puts it:
“After many long discussions (and really, this has been going on for years), we’ve decided to alter our review scale. From today forward, we will score games on a 20-point scale (meaning games score will be 7.0 or 7.5 or 8.0, etc.).”
So, aside from the obvious need to react to the unyielding power of the ‘Axe, why would IGN make the change: “…more and more the score (with a 100-point scale) has come to define the game, which is not our intention. The score should say, “This game is in the same league as these other games of the same score” and the criticism lives within the text (which we hope you all read) as well as the discussions that occur after the review.”
Obviously, this isn’t some sort of revelation, but for folks like me who have been encouraging gamers to rely less on the score and more on the discussion associated with a particular game, it’s nice to see a large gaming outlet speaking out about the same ideals.
So, there ya have it. IGN has made some changes and I’m curious to get everyone’s reaction. Is this new scoring system more on point with what you expect out of reviews? Will it change your perception of an IGN review? How does this decision fit into the overall discussion we’ve been having here on EpicBattleAxe.com for the past few weeks?
Let us know your thoughts below!
As always, The Axe leads and others follow. Good work.
Axe army conquers all _O_!
Im not quiet sure what this changes… Giving a game a rating till 100 still gives a grade, only by a ten fold higher. And im not entirly sure that I get what IGN is going to change…. Can someone give me a better clue, im a bit doubting what they mean.
A game with a score of 7.6 is now “as good” as a game with 7.4 because they all get rounded down/up to 7.5
I don’t really think it’s going to change that much, but atleast it will stop the fanboys from saying “my game got 0.1 more on IGN and therefore it’s the superior game!”
THE AXE LORDS STEERING THE GAMING INDUSTRY!!!!
I beg you DK, Brent and TG and 3d, please make next topic: Uncharted 3 is coming this year!!!! or Activision is giving away the fuc#ing map packs!!!!!!
i still think games should be scoreless. a 7.5 or an 8.5 dont really mean anything to me. its the content of the review that means the most. more than scores it comes down to sales. if a game that scored 5.5 sold 2 million copies, guess what…that games getting a sequel. how many times have we seen well reviewed games sell like crap and not get sequels. you also wouldnt have people getting fired because of a crappy metacritic. people rely way to much on a number.
This is the Internet. People want quick info which doesn’t mean reading a 5 page review, let alone dozens of them. Scores give an idea of how the game is compared to other games. Generally if something gets higher than 70% it’s worth playing, if you’re interested of course.
I guess this is a good thing? It still doesn’t change the fact that most people are going to use this new scoring system the same way that they used the old one in relation to purchasing games. But since there’s gonna be a new scoring system that people won’t totally understand right away, maybe it’ll force some people to read the article the reviewer puts up. Who knows. This could start a whole new trend of relying more on the written/typed word of the reviewer, rather than a numerical score.
lets wait and see simple as that
Thanks for that, but then you can still have the problem off is this game really a 8.5. Then you would give a game that is in the range of an 8.7 the same as an 8.3, but that is a significant difference in grade and not quiet fair for the better game. Even besides the fact if grades should be given
20 points? all you need is seven points on a 5 scale.
1 = shitty like a turd
2 = shitty as a good looking turd
3 = average if you like the genre it might be good
3.5 = average but sweeter
4 = very good
4.5 = almost perfect
5 = the shit
what you want to know about review score is just this.
I dont go and buy a game simply because it has 7.8 instead of 7.4. Thats just stoopid.
What you want to know is… wait for it.. if its a good game or not without it being spoiled.
Axes rules the world pbreea!
Basically what IGN actually did is they removed the .1 for .5 whilst keeping the current 1-10 model intact. Basically this changes nothing…
They are still stuck in using a 1-10 model its just going to stop the IGN boards and others being filled with .1 difference. I hope this doesn’t mean more 10′s -.-
Game scores are only there to tell whether a game is terrible, mediocre, alright, pretty good, or the HOTSAUCE OF AWESOMENESS. Its why i think games should be graded on a letter scale rather than a point scale. i mean lets be honest, do we REALLY need to know the difference between a fuckin 2.5 and a 3.5…hell no its a shitty game period. Games that are in the mediocre to alright range (D->C) are the games that should be judged by the gamers interest. I mean every gamer has different tastes. The original modern warfare blew my mind but MW2 shouldnt have gotten better than a 9 by my standard but everyone else thought it was the end all be all of gaming. A review score should be made AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE so that 1) we can end all the useless debates of which game is better than the other (even i find myself falling prey to these petty arguments) and 2) so that gamers can decide whether or not they want to rent, buy or pass on a game. I have a game fly account and im not afraid to get a game with a score of a 6 because i have the ability to do so. Now everyone doesnt have this luxury but what im getting at is the more complicated a score is the more if forces gamers to hold themselves to a stricter standard when getting a game cause they are balling on a budget. Its better for gamers to SPREAD OUR WINGS and not keep ourselves confined to the same type of games that we are used to.
Its better for the industry if we make it simple because it will make gamers explore and diversify their playing tastes.
NOW LETS ALL SIGN UP FOR A GAME FLY AND PLAY ALL THE GAMES WE WANT ^__^!!!