Why do gamers get so emotional about game reviews?

I was watching this video review response to gamer feedback bashing the reviewer for giving Max Payne 3 an 8 out of 10 . Last time I checked, an 8 out of 10 was a pretty good score. The reviewer reads some of the virgin force comments from angry Rockstar fans left on his page. One commenter was 'crying in anger'.

This reminded me of the laughable nerd rage about gamespot's Skyward Sword review

and the insane disappointment of gamespot's Uncharted 3 which had a lot of readers complaining about the 9.0 rating.

I can somewhat understand gamer's anticipation for AAA titles but why do gamers get so emotional and sensitive about an opinion or critique about a game they will still buy and support anyway?

Even worse, if a game receieves an 8 / 9 out of 10 or 4 / 5 stars, isn't that a good thing?

I thought gamers only commented idiotic, angry feedback about why they're most anticpated game scored a measley 9 out of 10. When that reviewer in the Max vid said people were emailing him insults about his opinion on the game, it made me wonder just how pathetic and insane some gamers really are to be that angry over a game review.

People just want the game they like to be the one with 10's across the board. When that doesn't happen, it tends to cause some backlash.

If it's a series I like and it gets a bad review it doesn't really bother me. In the end it is just someones opinion.

I only really take note of reviews if I'm really unsure whether or not to buy a game straight after launch.

I blame the lack of real criticism as the root cause to people getting angry with scores. Video game journalists are far more forgiving than their peers in the movie or music business. For example, if you go over to metacritic The Avengers has an average score of 69 with the critics, and it is labeled "green" as in positive. If you go over to games, Sorcery has an average of 69 and it's labeled "yellow" for mediocre or mixed.

There are some sites that are pretty critical. Eurogamer comes to mind. Others are far less so. IGN gained the nickname 9GN for a reason. Last year they gave a ludicrious amount of games 9s. This year, they're seeming to be a bit more critical, but there hasn't really been a huge title released yet that they underscored by the community's standard, though. The community is ready to go crazy over lower scores because they're so used to everything scoring so highly.

Not really sure. I guess some people just want others to love a game as much as they do. I agree it's ridiculous, it's just one guy's opinion and shouln't affect the enjoyment you have with the game.

If you think people sending e-mails full of insults is bad, you haven't seen the worst. Reviewers have sometimes gotten death threats over less-than-satisfactory scores.

i've tried to understand this too at one time but now am pretty sure there is no worthwhile reason behind it. it's just stupidity that's best ignored. i'm willing to bet if you would find the person again, say a year from now, and ask them why they acted like they did, they wouldn't be able to tell you either.

If it's a series I like and it gets a bad review it doesn't really bother me. In the end it is just someones opinion.

I only really take note of reviews if I'm really unsure whether or not to buy a game straight after launch.

tomo90

If you think people sending e-mails full of insults is bad, you haven't seen the worst. Reviewers have sometimes gotten death threats over less-than-satisfactory scores.

c_rake

Are you serious? Death threats over a game review score? WOOOW. Gives you an idea of the mind state of the people around you if that type of reaction represents the average person.

[QUOTE="c_rake"]

If you think people sending e-mails full of insults is bad, you haven't seen the worst. Reviewers have sometimes gotten death threats over less-than-satisfactory scores.

HipHopBeats

Are you serious? Death threats over a game review score? WOOOW. Gives you an idea of the mind state of the people around you if that type of reaction represents the average person.

I wouldn't say that reflects the 'average person' at all - more of an extremely fanatical person with psychological issues.

I will say that one of the problems now is that some people seem to have mentally moved the goal posts when it comes to review scores, so now anything less than an 8 is considered trash in their minds. This kind of mindset has also been aggravated by some game review sites giving inordinately high scores to games that simply didn't deserve it, and this has been happening for some considerable time.

A 5/10 or 3/5 stars should mean an 'average' game, with a 7/10 for a good game, an 8 for 'great', a 9 for 'exceptional', and a 10 for 'outstanding in the genre'.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the 7 seemed to become labelled the 'average' score, and everything else had to shift up two places, which means the whole review scoring system is pretty broken at this point. So people demand 9s and 10s for games that are just very good, instead of exceptional, and so the cycle repeats itself.

I actually applaud some sites that have done away with review scores altogether. Just write a review, highlight the good and bad points, and let gamers make up their own minds. Because at the end of the day, every individual on the planet is going to have their own opinion about what is good and bad in a game, and no one should be relying on game review sites to make their purchasing decisions for them.

If you think people sending e-mails full of insults is bad, you haven't seen the worst. Reviewers have sometimes gotten death threats over less-than-satisfactory scores.c_rake

I was watching this video review response to gamer feedback bashing the reviewer for giving Max Payne 3 an 8 out of 10 . Last time I checked, an 8 out of 10 was a pretty good score. The reviewer reads some of the virgin force comments from angry Rockstar fans left on his page. One commenter was 'crying in anger'.

This reminded me of the laughable nerd rage about gamespot's Skyward Sword review

and the insane disappointment of gamespot's Uncharted 3 which had a lot of readers complaining about the 9.0 rating.

I can somewhat understand gamer's anticipation for AAA titles but why do gamers get so emotional and sensitive about an opinion or critique about a game they will still buy and support anyway?

Even worse, if a game receieves an 8 / 9 out of 10 or 4 / 5 stars, isn't that a good thing?

I thought gamers only commented idiotic, angry feedback about why they're most anticpated game scored a measley 9 out of 10. When that reviewer in the Max vid said people were emailing him insults about his opinion on the game, it made me wonder just how pathetic and insane some gamers really are to be that angry over a game review.HipHopBeats

I think a lot of the people who take all these reviews so seriously spend more time complaining than actually playing games. They want everything they like to be a 10. So silly to get worked up over one person's opinion.

It's natural for people to get emotional at those who disagree with them.

It's natural for people to get emotional at those who disagree with them.

turtlethetaffer

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

It's natural for people to get emotional at those who disagree with them.

MethodManFTW

I've seen alot of it IRL. And there's SW to consider.

[QUOTE="MethodManFTW"][QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

It's natural for people to get emotional at those who disagree with them.

turtlethetaffer

I've seen alot of it IRL. And there's SW to consider.

If you think people sending e-mails full of insults is bad, you haven't seen the worst. Reviewers have sometimes gotten death threats over less-than-satisfactory scores.

c_rake

The only thing I can remember is Killzone 2 got a average score from couple of gaming websites, KZ fanboys went gorillas & lost their minds. Some gamers don't need to be listening to professional gaming reviewers anyway. Why? They still going to buy & enjoy the game, no matter what. As for CVG's review on Max Payne 3, I felt that the nickpicking in that video was just too much.

[QUOTE="turtlethetaffer"]

[QUOTE="MethodManFTW"] You really think that?MethodManFTW

I've seen alot of it IRL. And there's SW to consider.

I didn't mean out of control emotional, but just frustration or whatever.

Because, ironically, a lot of gamers have no grasp on the concept of subjectivity, which is ultimately how the entire hobby is critiqued.

Because, ironically, a lot of gamers have no grasp on the concept of subjectivity, which is ultimately how the entire hobby is critiqued.MadVybz

I think the press is partly to blame for that. There was a long time there where just about all of them claimed to be reviewing games from a totally objective point of view; that their writing was the authoritative source and contained no ounce of bias. No doubt that colored their ideal of what video game reviews are or should be.

[QUOTE="MadVybz"]Because, ironically, a lot of gamers have no grasp on the concept of subjectivity, which is ultimately how the entire hobby is critiqued.c_rake

I think the press is partly to blame for that. There was a long time there where just about all of them claimed to be reviewing games from a totally objective point of view; that their writing was the authoritative source and contained no ounce of bias. No doubt that colored their ideal of what video game reviews are or should be.

[QUOTE="MadVybz"]Because, ironically, a lot of gamers have no grasp on the concept of subjectivity, which is ultimately how the entire hobby is critiqued.c_rake

I think the press is partly to blame for that. There was a long time there where just about all of them claimed to be reviewing games from a totally objective point of view; that their writing was the authoritative source and contained no ounce of bias. No doubt that colored their ideal of what video game reviews are or should be.

EDIT: I feel that a large part of it is also similar to why we have SW; a consumer would be inclined to think that the product they enjoy and have invested in is the best thing on the market. So emotional attachment would become a natural, and someone that provides a contrary would burst a lot of bubbles.

Why do gamers even care about critic's reviews anyway? I stopped caring after they gave Sonic Unleashed a 3.5, a LOWER score than Sonic 06. Which I thought was ridiculous.

But I wasn't butthurt over it. I didn't send angry emails to Gamespot.

People need to realize that critic scores don't mean anything as long as you like the game. You need to play the game for yourself.

The only thing that is frustrating about reviewers giving your favorite games bad scores is the fact that a lot of other people won't play those games because of that.

i wish people would review a game themselves they take reviews so serious some of the best games to even get to see the time of day

I think it's mainly people who don't know much about games. They're used to AAA titles like COD, Halo, Gears of War, Uncharted, and other big releases getting big scores. Then when they see something a little more under the radar but big in the gaming community, such as Dark Souls (which I'll never understand the high score while ignoring the massive slowdown the game has in a lot of sections, though it's still great fun to play), get an equally high score they may believe that a game needs a 9 or higher to be good.

Even if they aren't the people complaining, those who do complain really shouldn't, as it doesn't matter if one person doesn't like a game and you do. I know I'll be getting Dragon's Dogma and it really has a mixed bag from 9/10 to 5/10.

I know people who don't like getting games if they score under an 8/10, and it's ashame since they're missing out on some good games (right now I'm enjoying AVP, sure it's by no means great, but as a fan of the AVP universe it's pretty cool, and I think it got a 5/10 on GS). Even Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is a fun game that'll be skipped over by many people (well, truth be told it's really only fun when playing with friends, but when that happens it can be very fun).

I think it's almost more annoying when people complain about games getting high scores. Yes, I liked the ME3 ending, and I'd definitely give it a 9/10. I couldn't believe how many people were convinced sites and reviewers were paid off by Bioware/EA to give the game good reviews. I don't like GTA IV (San Andreas remains my favorite GTA), but I'm not about to go all over the internet and complain about how I don't think it deserved 10/10 scores.

I don't get emotional but I do hate it when critics review a game and have no idea what they are talking about, for example, some Mafia II reviews complained the game didn't have enough gameplay, but they game Metal Gear Solid 4 a 10. Then there was also PlayStation magazine giving Tomb Raider Underworld a 5/10 complaining it was not like Uncharted, well no sh*t, the games are part of two diffirent genres.

When you look at all the tens of millions of people who have bought consoles this generation, even if 1% of those have no life save for video games, that's a pretty huge amount of people.

Besides, that's the same mindset that keeps System Wars going on a day-to-day basis. "Oh I spend a few hundred bucks on this and my entire manhood and self-esteem revolves around it being better than the other one that you guys bought!!!"

Meh...whatever:P

Because most people are that stupid that they need to be told what to think, say, do and believe in.

[QUOTE="HipHopBeats"]

[QUOTE="c_rake"]

If you think people sending e-mails full of insults is bad, you haven't seen the worst. Reviewers have sometimes gotten death threats over less-than-satisfactory scores.

RobertBowen

Are you serious? Death threats over a game review score? WOOOW. Gives you an idea of the mind state of the people around you if that type of reaction represents the average person.

I wouldn't say that reflects the 'average person' at all - more of an extremely fanatical person with psychological issues.

I will say that one of the problems now is that some people seem to have mentally moved the goal posts when it comes to review scores, so now anything less than an 8 is considered trash in their minds. This kind of mindset has also been aggravated by some game review sites giving inordinately high scores to games that simply didn't deserve it, and this has been happening for some considerable time.

A 5/10 or 3/5 stars should mean an 'average' game, with a 7/10 for a good game, an 8 for 'great', a 9 for 'exceptional', and a 10 for 'outstanding in the genre'.

Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, the 7 seemed to become labelled the 'average' score, and everything else had to shift up two places, which means the whole review scoring system is pretty broken at this point. So people demand 9s and 10s for games that are just very good, instead of exceptional, and so the cycle repeats itself.

I actually applaud some sites that have done away with review scores altogether. Just write a review, highlight the good and bad points, and let gamers make up their own minds. Because at the end of the day, every individual on the planet is going to have their own opinion about what is good and bad in a game, and no one should be relying on game review sites to make their purchasing decisions for them.

I agree and disagree. I think people in general definitely feel more entitled egotistically to have a sign of approval to validate their choices instead of making their own decisions. We are at a point where any constructive criticism about anything we like or appreciate is consider a personal attack on our decision making so we lash out and respond with 'hater' and 'idiot'.

If you scroll through any review site comments section, youtube comments etc, you will see that these 'extremely fanatical' people are coming out in drodes. hence, the 'average' person. An earlier post mentioned the internet being a voice for the unheard and that is true, but the ego seems to be the main issue.

It's the reason why lines around teh corner will form at Apple to get the latest Ipad, so people can feel like reassured they have the best of the best.Why else would anyone catch feelings over a 9.0 review??

I think the only time I was legitimately upset about someone's review was that review of Skyward Sword. Way too harsh.

I think it's cause ppl are upset about a game they didn't like (COD ones for instance) that get good reviews & then a game that they really enjoyed didn't get just as good or better of a rating. You get the system wars all the time in the comments where ppl complain that GS favors Xbox games compared to PS3 games. The other one that always comes up is how GS is a big corporate sellout & rates big name games (COD) because of $$$ they get from various companies.

because of system wars...

because these people are kids

because its a justification of a purchase...

because they have a passion

At the end of the day I get a game based on what I think of it from previews and other research I made. I do read Gamespot's reviews, but a lower-than-expected score wouldn't change my mind.